When I was 12 years old (1998), my English wasn't very good, so my parents sent me to Kingsley Pines Camp in the US with local kids to improve my English. It was my first time on a plane and my first time visiting another country. That decision from my parents was one of the best things they could have done for me. Strategically, it was an investment in me that has paid off many times over and helped shape who I am today.
After coming back home, I found out I had been named the most communicative camper during my first week there. That news boosted my confidence and made me realize how much that experience had changed me. It marked the beginning of my journey.
Early Jobs
At age 17 (2003), I joined Swallowdale Camp in Canada as Junior Camp Counselor, continuing until age 24 (2010) as Staff Lead. My English improved exponentially during those years, and the camp environment gave me incredible opportunities to grow, connect, and lead. Some of my closest friends today are people I met at that camp, and we still keep in touch after all these years.
After that, while finishing my second university degree, I worked at Spanish companies: Ingeclima (early 2010s) which was my first corporate job, Talgo in commissioning (preparing test procedures on real trains, and actually testing those, in 2011), and Altra Instalaciones as Project Engineer (ages 26-28), building turnkey clean rooms all the way from design to HVAC PLC tinkering and demolition of walls - literally knocking them down.
Tech Career Shift
Then came the turning point at age 28 (2014). One day, I literally walked into a university job fair, and that's when everything came together. My love for traveling, speaking English, and working with technology all made perfect sense.
I joined OSIsoft as Customer Support Engineer (ages 28-31), moving to Systems Engineer/Pre-Sales (ages 31-34) and eventually Lead of EMEA Pre-Sales (ages 33-36). One of the coolest parts was the onboarding: three months at headquarters in San Leandro, California, and four weeks in Frankfurt. During my time there, I visited some of the most interesting factories and renewable energy sites across EMEA. It was an incredible chapter where all my passions converged - traveling, experiencing different cultures, speaking English daily, and working with cutting-edge technology.
Startup Journey and Now
At age 36 (2022), I decided to move into a startup environment and joined Tyk. I started as Partner Support Manager, then moved into Presales Solutions Engineer. That chapter allowed me to grow as a technical leader in the IT world and marked a major milestone: my first community public speaking events. I traveled extensively around EMEA, connecting with developers and the open-source community, and really started making my mark in the cloud-native space.
Now at Traefik Labs (2025-present), I'm continuing that journey as a Presales Engineer while contributing to coding, developer relations, marketing, and everything else needed for our success. The role lets me combine technical depth with community engagement, and I'm having a blast working with a leading cloud-native company.
Looking Forward
40 is just a number, and the journey continues strong. Each chapter has built on the previous one - from that shy 12-year-old on his first flight to speaking at industry events and helping shape the future of cloud-native infrastructure. Here's to the next chapter.
