My journey into the world of IT...

I am on a mission.

They say that if you love what you are doing, you never work a day in your life. I do not know if that is true or not, but what I do know is that I was spending as much time on a hobby as I was spending on my day job. It seemed logical to turn something that I was not being paid to do - something I was doing only for the love of doing it - into something much, much more. After countless hours spent learning something for the sole purposes of passion, I am on a mission, indeed...

What I’m working on

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CompTIA Network+

Expected November 2022!

Projects

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Home Network

Equipment UniFi Dream Machine Pro UniFi Switch 24 PoE UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE UniFi Switch Flex Mini x2 Unifi6 Long-Range AP x2 UniFi G3 Flex x3 UniFi G3 Instant x2 CyberPower 1350VA UPS Configuration Five VLANs (UniFi devices, User devices, IoT devices, Work devices, Xbox) Separate WLANs Firewall rules...

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RPi / Docker / Pi-hole

Steps Taken Install Raspberry Pi OS Install Docker Pull Pi-hole container Point devices on LAN to use Pi-hole as DNS Keep software updated Keep adlists updated

Experience

Account Manager
Benistar Admin Services, Inc.,
Barrington, IL | August, 2011 - September, 2014

Job duties included assisting with the ongoing daily account management and relationship management, manipulating census and data files into formats useful for analysis, and coordinating with carrier partners to resolve issues for clients and their retirees.

Implementation Manager
Benistar Admin Services, Inc.,
St. Charles, IL | September, 2014 - March, 2017

Job duties included the planning, documenting, and installation of a formal implementation process for the company's sales office; coordination and implementation of group retiree medical and prescription drug benefit plans, making the process as painless and seamless as possible for our clients and their retirees.

Senior Account Executive
Benistar Admin Services, Inc.,
St. Charles, IL | March, 2017 - October, 2019

Job duties included managing daily ongoing account management of group retiree medical and prescription drug benefit plans and building relationships with our clients to facilitate both increased retention and increased new business opportunities.

Senior Underwriter
Benistar Admin Services, Inc.,
Bluffton, SC | October, 2019 - August, 2022

Job duties include managing a team that is responsible for new business activity, nurturing relationships with key brokers who provide the majority of those new business opportunities, and pre-underwriting for group retiree medical and prescription drug benefit plans prior to obtaining proposals from carrier partners.

Certifications

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CompTIA A+

Badges & Skills

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Networking Nerd

Education

Master of Business Administration
Western Michigan University April, 2010 - August, 2011

Bachelor of Arts, Accounting
Western Michigan University September, 2007 - April, 2011