THE PATH

Ray grew up in Gillette, WY, was working in the oil field and wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to go to college. Hey – he was making good money for a kid…why would he? It wasn’t until he ended up running into a South Dakota School of Mines concrete canoe at the mall (yes, you read that right), that he changed his mind. After he graduated as a mining engineer in a timely 5 years at the School of Mines, he had to make a choice on whether he wanted to stay here or go and explore outside the area. He took a leap – into Tulsa, OK – for an internship and stayed there for a few years.

Even at this point, he was looking back, wondering when he could get a job back in Rapid City. He always wanted to be back here. But because life happens and because moving is, in his words, “not scary”, he ended up taking opportunities in California, Chicago, and Baltimore. He says that you realize that the thing that you find is scary, isn’t so scary after you do it a couple times. Like moving six or seven times in 8 or 9 years. It was in Baltimore, that Ray made the decision to take another leap – this time from Plant Manager of a manufacturing facility to starting a software company.