Hi.  I am Brett Perkins.  By day, I am a Software Engineer and Business Analyst in Nashville, Tennessee.  Of course, that is just my work.    By night, I am much, much more.  I hope you enjoy reading my little mini-autobiography.

History

One of the few and the proud, I am a native Nashvillian.  I was born at Baptist Hospital right in the heart of the best city on earth, Nashville, Tennessee.  I grew up only 15 minutes or so from downtown. My mother, Peggy, is an inspiration.  I get a lot of my real-world-know-how and common sense from her.  My father, George, is where I get a lot of my technical know-how and analytical ability.  From them both, I have become who I am, and to them I am grateful, and my successes would not exist without their nurturing support over the years.  I have one sister, Staci, and two brothers, Vance and Ryan.  They, and their families, are amazing.  I am nothing without my family.  Plus, they all have kids, which means I have nephews and nieces.  (as of 2010, the count is 8).  The awesome part about being Uncle Brett is that I can have fun

I went to school in the Public School System of Metro Nashville and graduated from John Overton High School in 2001.  Go Bobcats!!

After high school, I took a year off to just work and relax.  I am glad that I did!!!  I started college in Fall 2002 at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).  College was a mixed bag for me.  It was a great time…  I met many of the most important people of my life at MTSU.  For the first year, I commuted to Murfreesboro, the city in which MTSU is located.  It was about a 30 minute drive every day I had classes.  In the summer of 2003, though, I decided it was time to move out.  I worked at Walmart at the time and in working there I met the two guys that would be my closest friends all through college.  David and Daniel Flanigan, referred to as “the twins”.  Us three, along with another co-worker of ours Chris, decided to get a town home in Murfreesboro near campus.  We all went to MTSU, we all got along, so it made sense.  After a year or so, Chris decided to move out, then it was just me and the twins.  I lived with them until summer of 2008.  Daniel moved out, officially, a little before then.  It was 6 years of growth, friendship, and good times.  In that 6 years, a lot happened.  There were, of course, the typical college experiences:  Parties, classes, relationships, etc…  but more than anything, those 6 years represent a dramatic transformation for me.

After college, I began exploring careers.  I was hired into my first professional occupation immediately upon graduation from MTSU.  I was lucky.  It was before the housing market bust and deep recession, and that job stayed secure for me all through the turmoil of the world at that time.  I worked at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services in Nashville for 19 months where I learned a lot about me, working in technology, and developing technology products and process.  It was a very valuable 19 months where I picked up the experience of several years because there was a lot of opportunity to really expand and explore many roles.  I worked as a technician, a manager, a senior tech, a business analyst, a programmer, and a training coordinator.  I was many things, and in that time, I realized that I had the potential to change the world…  I just didn’t have the expertise in the technology to make that change wise.  So I needed to move to a spot where I would gain that experience.  I left Deloitte in December of 2009.

After leaving Deloitte, I accepted a job offer at Kroll Background Screening, also in Nashville.  This spot, deliberately, was a “little responsibility” spot.  I want to really learn and focus on working within the technology without dealing with the coordination and people aspect of it.  So far, that is precisely what has happened.  I am capable of moving mountains.  I moved them at Deloitte.  But I am wise in knowing that before I can truly make a difference I have to possess the foundation and experience to make those differences mean something lasting.

What do I really want to do in life?

Honestly, I am not sure that a career at some company making money for them is where I truly belong.  More and more, I am beginning to find writing and discussing things more pleasurable than implementing technology or leading teams in that effort.  Ultimately, experience willing, I would like to see myself as a technology consultant and journalist.  In my personal life, I have found great success in giving advice to my friends and family, and I have helped in steering people in a direction that is good for them.  I think that, once the experience is there, I can do the same thing for organizations.  And that is, at least for now, where I really want to go.  I think that it is so empowering to know that, while I may not be writing the software to do something, my ideas can really made a difference.  And if you know me, you know that there is no limit to my ideas.

Beyond a career, though… because let’s face it:  A career is not a life…  I want to find a way to make a lasting contribution to society.  I have NO clue how I am going to do that, and I am not even sure that I can, but my mom has always told me that I have it in me to change the world.  Maybe I can.  But, you know?  What is changing the world.  Is changing the world getting millions together to walk on Capital Hill to make a point?  Maybe.  But maybe more realistically changing the world isn’t meant to be something that will encompass the planet entirely.  For me the world is only what I know, and nothing more.  My world is not the billions of people that inhabit this globe.  My world is my family and my friends.  It is the people that I see every day, or almost every day, and each person’s world is different.  Perhaps it is my destiny to only change the worlds of those around me so that they may take a little bit of me with them as they grow.  I am certainly grateful to those that have inspired me and given me a little piece of them as I explore my world.

As I continue writing, working,  and figuring out just exactly who I am, I look forward to continuing to gain inspiration from those around me, and I hope that I will inspire others along the way.

-=brett=-