Today is the end of 16 great years!

My wife and I and two small children moved back to Utah in 2003 after spending close to five years completing college and beginning my career. Two months after we had arrived back in Cache Valley, I applied for a sales position with a small tech start up in Providence Utah called WestHost. I explained in my job interview my desire to find a position in Human Resources, which at the time, WestHost wasn't large enough justify the role. There were only about 10 people, but the company was really starting to grow. After accepting the sales role, only a couple weeks later the CEO invited me into his office and asked if I would be the companies HR Manager to help with all the hiring, and to put all the necessary benefits, policies and procedures in place. I was grateful for the timing of that job opening, which has ended up leading me into experiences I would have likely never had.

During my first 5 years, WestHost, through the leadership and work ethic of a very talented CEO, grew into a significant player in the web hosting space. These years were hard, but rewarding. We were recognized in as one of the fastest growing companies in Utah. We enjoyed steady growth not just in Utah, but around the United States and globally, as we built an organization that truly focused on serving our clients web hosting needs. Finding and attracting top talent to join our team was instrumental in building a strong foundation. I was fortunate to work with many great people during these early years.

In 2008, WestHost was acquired by UK2 Group, a London based web hosting company. I was nervous about the changes in ownership, and what my future would then be. I soon realized that UK2 was eager to grow the Utah offices to further service the needs of a much larger global organization. Now, with offices in Chicago, London, and later Lviv Ukraine and India, my opportunity to work with colleagues from around the world greatly enhanced my experiences. We welcomed many people to our offices in Utah, excited to take them around our beautiful state for hikes, snowmobile rides, skiing, sporting events, and a little peace and quiet. We continued to build our Providence office, with close to 140 people at one point. These were exciting years, filled with a tremendous influx of talent.

In 2010, another acquisition occurred, this time from a private equity group called Lloyds Development Capital, also based in the UK. Similar concerns arose with nervousness about the new ownership group, and what that meant for our jobs. Fortunately, we continued to maintain operations across our Utah, UK, and Ukraine offices. The teams worked hard to maintain growth within the business, despite tight financial budgets. Some of these years were challenging, but we pushed through. We began to focus more of our attention on the dedicated server and high bandwidth markets rather than shared hosting. We strengthened our sales and marketing teams to help with growth plans. We repositioned our business strategy and targets. Our global operation consisting of close to 250 employees worked together to meet the goals of the business. Again, a very exciting time surrounded by incredibly dedicated, bright, and hard working people.

In 2017, The Hut Group, a large Ecommerce company in Manchester England acquired UK2 Group. There was tremendous optimism after this acquisition, as THG had experienced incredible growth over the previous years. UK2 was going to be instrumental in transforming THG into a stronger player in the tech space, and to allow the business to meet their impressive growth plans. With offices in Kentucky, New York, and employees based in Texas, Florida, and multiple offices across England and Europe, THG presented additional opportunities for professional growth.

Now, after 16 years, 3 acquisitions, servicing hundreds of thousands of clients, sitting through thousands of employee interviews, eating lots of hamburgers at summer BBQ's, sorting hundreds of medical insurance questions, skype calls with people from around the globe, system upgrades, pizza orders, and office parties, my time is wrapping up today. More than all the work experiences and projects I've dealt with over the years, I'm leaving with an extreme amount of gratitude for the friends I have made along this journey, and for the patience, trust and confidence people have had in me. I feel fortunate to have enjoyed exceptional mentors and leaders along the way who have provided me with so many opportunities.

Companies are successful because they work together as a team, encouraging, supporting and building every employee to be their very best. Great companies have great people. I've been fortunate to work with so many great people over these 16 years. To all of my current and former WestHost, UK2, and THG friends that are scattered across the world, thank you for a great ride!