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 places you between two generational narratives (too young for Gen X, too old for Millennials). I think they refer to this area as "Xenials" now. Growing up in an analog world while the digital comes of age. I'm grateful I was able to experience both. Labels don’t matter too much unless you prescribe to them. I do believe they teach us something about our unique experiences.
Marion was, and still is, a small town. Like many Rust Belt towns, where industry has declined over the past century, it hasn’t grown in my lifetime. It’s relatively low income and primarily blue-collar. There are always exceptions, but that should give you an idea. I lived there until I was 7, when we moved to a small neighborhood in the country about 10 miles from Marion. Growing up, I never thought of Marion as a bad place! It had a mall with many stores, and even two toy stores directly across from each other for some reason. Those were the days, as nearly all the stores in that now desolate shopping mall are closed. The sad thing I remember from my grandparents is how they described my hometown as once being a thriving, successful little city with a bright future when they were younger. There’s even a U.S. president from my town—Warren Harding (not typically considered the best, but still a president nonetheless).
Between living in-town and moving out-of-town, I was enrolled at a small private Christian school, "Marion Christian School" (very fitting name). It was tiny, much like my city—shrinking, really. My last year there was 3rd grade, and I had just 8 classmates. It was small but effective. When I transferred to public school, I was essentially a full year ahead of my 4th-grade classmates. Private school certainly had its challenges, but I received much more personalized attention from my teachers than I would in my later educational experiences.
I attended the University of Cincinnati as an English Literature major. I wrote a lot back in middle and high school, and at the time, it was what I felt most passionate about. Given that I ended up in technical roles, it’s obvious that I didn’t follow that route to its expected conclusion! I don’t regret it, however, and I also learned many valuable lessons the hard way while at school. I made choices that, with a second chance, I might not make again, but I wouldn’t change them because they are part of who I am and who I will become.
After school, I bounced around to many different jobs—from roofing to serving/bartending, to retail management roles. I even tried selling insurance at one point. Suffice it to say, these jobs held me over until I found something that truly challenged me and I could really enjoy. That something 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, so it took me a while to realize I could work in tech and find both my joy and livelihood there.
My first gig was with a business equipment company. I was one of two support staff in a satellite location in Columbus, Ohio, commuting about 1 hour and 15 minutes each way. Sounds awful, but I loved it. The company had a lot of challenges, but I felt at home in what I was supposed to be doing. I regained my love of learning in that role and never looked back. I achieved 4 IT certifications (Network+, Security+, A+, and Server+) in the first 4 months because I was promised a small bump in pay for each one. I was told I had to stop after the 4th. Fast forward a few years, and I was fortunate enough to join a startup that had a lot of promise but was still in its early days. I was one of only two support people in the company, my counterpart being on the other side of the world. It was an incredible experience, building the team from just myself to roughly 200 people in my organization by the time I decided to take on another startup organization build in a completely different scope—robotics.
Working in automation and robotics was amazing—truly a challenging and exciting place to be. I’ll never regret it. I spent about two years there before the COVID pandemic hit, which placed me in a very challenging position as I worked to ensure I could still support myself and my family. From there, I ended up in Southern California. Once again, I’ve been fortunate enough to be lead other support organizations at great companies, working to create the best experience I can for my team, myself, and my coworkers. I can’t express enough gratitude to all the people I’ve worked with over the years who helped shape who I am.
Throughout it all, I will never stop being grateful for the journey. I couldn't have scripted this life if I had tried. I still love to learn, read, write, make music, listen to music, learn new technology, and stay as present as possible. If you're still reading this far, thank you.
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, and I think I'll need to save that for another day. Much love and thank you for reading.
-Ben