What's Next

Apr 1, 2025

Well, it feels like the end of an era. After five and a half years at Aurora, I’m moving on. I joined when Aurora was still a two-year-old startup, about 500 people working out of a much smaller office. Now they have almost 2,000 employees and are on the brink of their Commercial Launch. It may sound like I drank the Kool-Aid, but I do believe self-driving vehicles can change the world for the better. I’m proud of the small part I got to play in that, and more than anything I’m grateful I got to work with some of the smartest, hardest-working people I’ve ever met. But after more than half a decade, I needed something new.

I’m taking a sort of mini-sabbatical. Over the next few months I’m hoping to spend time:

• Investing in this website. I want it to be a resource for anyone who wants to keep up with Atlassian-related news, and a place to share what I’ve learned during almost a decade in this space. Blog posts, practical guides, maybe even some deeper technical writeups. I also want to expand beyond Atlassian tools. I’m generally excited about technology that helps people work better, especially the potential of LLMs.
• Focusing on my photography. I am way behind on editing shoots. I also recently bought an entry-level professional photo printer, and I’m looking forward to printing more of my work. And I am setting up a portrait studio in my loft apartment.
• Traveling. I’ve only been outside of North America once. I’ve just never had the time to really travel, and when I do I always go home to Alaska to visit my family. I want to change that.
• Working on side projects. I have a few app ideas that would be fun to build, and maybe even a nice source of side income if any of them actually work.
• Upskilling. Completing a few Coursera Specializations, earning AWS certifications, tackling the Atlassian Certified Administration Expert credential, and even exploring grad school. All things I’ve wanted to do for a while and just lacked the time for.

This break feels like a chance to reset a bit and spend time on the things I kept pushing off. I’m not actively job hunting, but I’ve learned that interesting opportunities sometimes show up when you’re not looking. If something compelling comes along, I’ll consider it.

Thank you to everyone at Aurora for making these years so meaningful. I wish you all the best, and I have no doubt you’ll keep doing important work.