I grew up in a small town in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada called Estevan. As many hometowns do, it profoundly impacted me. It’s a place built on sensibility, resilience, and hard work–all of which brought me to the States when I started my career in tech at Microsoft, Twitter, and today at Automattic.

I had the honor of returning home recently to keynote the inaugural ICED Rural Conference, put on by the team at the Southeast Techhub in Estevan. Attendees from across North America visited Estevan to learn how they are making a dent in the tech world. Such an emotional week and great to get back out on the speaking circuit.

Great coverage and photos from Saskatchewan Today

Thank you for allowing me to share my story, it was a joy to talk about how future leaders will come from (and how they can stay) in our rural communities.

Yes you can, Estevan!

Sure missing this guy, especially today. Happy Father’s Day to all the father figures out there.

And if you don’t know, my home province of Saskatchewan has a very distinctive pizza style known as “Regina Style” or “Prairie Style”. Pioneered by the Greek community in Saskatchewan, it has a sweet crust, layers of deli style meat and a spicy flavor.

Appreciate @[674030986:2048:Epamenontas Sereggela] for prepping our pies for the cooler and travel from Estevan to Seattle. We had them in the oven within minutes of Trevor’s arrival and they tasted exactly like home.

Learn more about our favorite pizza…..

https://www.towercafe.ca

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-style-pizza-regina-bites-1.5581539

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-style-pizza-good-question-podcast-1.7093698

Happy heavenly birthday Dad! You would have been 80 today.

Merry Christmas! Hope you all are doing great! We are at home in Carnation, Washington waiting on Santa! Where are you celebrating tonight?

A couple of years later this original 1980 RM-125 hangs from the ceiling in my home office. Quite the conversation starter on Zoom calls when people realize that the bike is real.

Original video from the seller – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EgPR9Y_LPg

Mom will stay with us until things improve back in the Okanagan. to all my friends and family in British Columbia.