When I was a kid, I was always building something. It most probably started from me following my dad’s footprints of always making everything himself.
During my childhood we did some awesome projects together with my dad, and I hope that I can create similar memories with my own kids now when I’m a father myself.
For example, we built a “playhouse” at our summerhouse which was 10 meters tall, but only had 4m2 floor area. It was fully furnished and insulated, and it was my preferred place to sleep during the summers.
I could say that I have always been creative. When I was younger, I was a professional ballet dancer working all around the world. Some of the highlights were when I participated in the Danish state visit to Japan and South Korea in 2004 and performed at the coronation of HM Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, king of Bhutan in 2010. I also had the privilege of working with HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark during multiple productions.
Some of the productions were broadcasted on Danish TV, e.g. “Peberrods Suppe og Fyldt Kaalhoved” (2005) and “Livlægens Besøg” (2010).
I have always had a great interest for computing and since I got my first computer in 1992 the interest has just grown larger. When the internet started to get more common, I started to learn web programming (if you could call it that back then). Soon I was writing code incorporating different databases and learning about serverside coding.
The logical next step was to start doing designs for the websites. The truth is that no one ever appreciates the code what makes things happen, the designer always gets the admiration after, by making it look pretty!
A few years went by and while I was working in Japan I happened to buy an used digital SLR camera. Funnily enough it had just been released in Europe when I came back. The camera opened a new leaf in my life, and now suddenly I had an other place to work within design instead of only working with the web! I made websites, designs for everything you can imagine, from 20 meter banners to even tattoos and photographing most of the material myself.
It is funny what my parents started by just buying that ridicilously expensive 28Mhz computer back in the day.
Start of January 2012 I entered the Finnish Defence Forces and started to work in the ‘Learning Material Research Center’ in the Finnish Military Academy as a graphical designer. I took over 10.000 pictures (everything from parades to large scale military exercises), designed advertising material (everything from massive outdoor banners to internal information leaflets), I was part of the group who was creating the Academy’s own magazine which was published nationwide, I shot video with Combat Cameras and I even illustrated a book for the Defence Forces!
I ended up getting a promotion to Corporal after only 5 months and also received a Dragoon Cross- medal for excellent service.
The year 2013 was quite a special one. I finally decided to get a degree in IT so I would have something to show to the non-believers. While I was waiting for the university’s first semester to start, I took a temp job in one of the larger IT companies in Denmark. The temp job turned into a fulltime job after just 5 months and my studies had to wait. After 5 years I was an IT architect and soon after a Lead Architect, and finally an Enterprise Architect. This is the professional path I’m still on and I’m enjoying it very much. I also managed to squeeze 4 years of part time university studies in there while working. It didn’t end up being IT studies, but Business Administration and Innovation Management instead.
Today I’m still always building something. My days consists of being a father and husband and working with IT. When I have a spare moment, I spend my time with metalworking, electronics, and of course 3D modelling and printing. So when I’m not building digital stuff, I relax by building something physical.