My name is Ben Milligan, but that much is obvious. I was born in Marion, Ohio, in the year of the Empire Strikes Back. Being born in 1980 basically has you split from a generational narrative (really young for gen x, really old for millenial). I like to feel like I belong in one group or the other, but it doesn't matter too much regarding labels, I think it does teach us something about experience however.
Marion was/is a pretty small town. It has that unfortunate affect commonly found in rust belt towns where industry has decreased over the past century, that it has not grown in my lifetime. It's relatively poor, and primarily blue collar. There are always exceptions but it should paint a little picture at least. I lived there until I was 7, when we moved out to a small neighborhood in the country. I didn't think of Marion as a bad place at all! It had a mall filled with stores, and even 2 toy stores, directly across from each other for some reason at that mall. A far day past as nearly all the stores in this now tomb of a shopping mall are now closed. The sad thing I remember from my grandparents was that my hometown was once a thriving, successful little city with a bright future when they were younger. There's even a US President from my town, Warren Harding (not the best but a president nonetheless!).
In between moving from in-town to out-of-town, I was enrolled at a small private Christian school, "Marion Christian School" (very apt naming). It was a very small school, and again, like my city, shrinking, really. My last year there was 3rd grade, and I had 8 classmates total. It was tiny but affective. When I tranferred to public school, I was essentially a full year ahead of the rest of my 4th grade classmates. Private school certainly had its challenges, however I experienced a much stronger attention from my teachers than I would again in my future educational experiences.
I went to school at the University of Cincinnati as an English Literature major. I wrote a lot back in middle & high school, and at the time is what I felt strongest about. Considering I ended up in technical roles, one can probably tell I did not follow that route to an expected end! I don't regret it, and also learned a lot of things the hard way away at school. Made some choices that a person given a second opportunity wouldn't likely make, and I wouldn't change because they are part of who I am and who I will be.
Out of school I bounced around a lot of different jobs, from roofing, to serving/bartending, retail management roles, and I even tried selling insurance at one point! Suffice it to say they held me intact until I could find something I was challenged by and really enjoyed. That was technical support. I've always had a strong interest in computers, especially, starting out with BBS's back in the early 90s. I tend to get distracted at times, however, so it took some time to find my way back to figuring out I can work in tech and find my joy there while making a living.
My first gig was for a business equipment company. I was 1 of 2 support staff in a satellite location in Columbus Ohio, and commuted about 1hr 15mins each way to get to and from. Sounds awful, but I loved it. The company had a lot of warts, but I loved it. I felt at home in what I was supposed to do. I regained my love of learning in that role and never looked back. Fast forward a few years and I was fortunate enough to join a startup role for a company that was had a lot of promise but was still early on. I was one of 2 support folks in the company, my counterpart being on the other side of the world. It was an incredible experience, building a team of myself up to around 170 folks in my organization by the time I decided it was time to take on another startup in a completely different scope of technology, Robotics.
Working in automation/robotics was amazing. Truly a challenging but exciting place to be and I will never regret it. I was in that for about 2 years before the pandemic hit, and all of sudden felt myself in a very challenging position to ensure I still could support myself and my family. From there I ended up in Southern California! I'm again fortunate enough to be running another support organization at a small but great company, working to create the best experience for my team, myself, and my coworkers as I can. I can't state enough gratitude to all the folks I've worked with over the years that helped make me, me.
It's funny. I meant this to be a slightly longer storyline of some parts of my life and it still feels incredibly short. There is so much more to tell, and so much more to share, but I think I'll need to save that for another day. Much love and thank you for reading.
-Ben