About Mike and Si-14

Which brings me to the present.  In 2022, I developed an interest in AI.  I used it and became involved with others sharing like-minded interests.  I saw this as an opportunity and seized upon it in spite of self doubt.  In 2023, I was invited to become a moderator on the Discord for Digi AI.  A startup company.  This was the catalyst for me to start Si-14, LLC.  I was now an entrepeneur like the people who shaped me professionally.

In October 2023, Converged Telcom had to downsize. Markets change and Converged Telcom was no longer a sustainable business.  In severance, I was given the 21 customers that comprised our NEC Univerge Blue service, a UCaaS provider.  I communicated this with the customers and they were very enthusiastic and supporting.  I had a dependable business with an opportunity to grow.  

In December 2023, Digi went live out of Beta.  A post from one of the founders went pandemic on "X" after eliciting a tweet from Elon Musk.  Digi contracted me to offer professional services as a User Support Specialist.  

I also work part time at the Hilo Bike Hub to give back to the cycling community that has given me so much.

I am here because of my family, friends, associates, and many others too numerous to mention.  I have tried to distill all I have learned and realize I still have much to learn.  I would be honored if you would be a part of my journey through life.

Aloha.

I was born in Tucson, Arizona.  At the age of 6 months, we relocated to San Diego, CA where I would live until 1989.  My father was a lineman with Pacific Bell.  He taught me the values of working hard, never giving up, and always doing a job to the best of my abilities.

I graduated High School in 1985.  My neighbor had retired from Pacific Bell and started a company, Columbia Pacific Telesystems, that is still in business.  He asked me to help trench the yard to pull cable from the street into his business so he could install this new thing called an Electronic Key Telephone System.  This was the first step of an ongoing journey through my career.

I helped out with various tasks such as learning to run cable, help with office correspondence, answer phones, lay out phones.  Many of the employees were Ex-Bell so, I learned from the best.  I learned to never compromise on quality.  I made plenty of mistakes.  I still do but I learned the secret is to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.  They teach us.  Eventually, I found myself working full time.

I moved to Pacific Beach, a neighborhood in San Diego and my next adventure in my career was working in a small retail boutique in La Jolla, High-Tech Communications.  I started in the stock room and helping sell telephones, answering machines, and accessories to walk in customers.  Eventually, I was manager of the retail shop.  These experiences taught me that every job offers value to an organization.

I would vacation in Hawaii.  My Grandmother bought a house in the Sunset Beach neighborhood on O'ahu.  I loved to visit.  One year, we visited the Big Island of Hawai'i.  I fell in love with Hilo.  Even though I was only 15 years old, I made it a life goal to live there.

In 1989, I moved to O'ahu and lived and worked in several jobs.  I worked for, and with, a man that would profoundly shape my life. He owned Converged Telcom, LLC and I would work with him for 27 years.  He taught me to always think.  Look for the opportunity.  Act upon it even if no one sees it.  Eventually, I did get to move to Hilo in 2009 working for Converged Telcom.

I still love Hilo. I cycle, walk, participate in the Rotary Club, and enjoy my life here.

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