TREVOR FRY | FRYMOTO
WELCOME TO FRYMOTO
WHO AM I?
tl;dr:
I'm Trevor Fry.
I've had a varied work history and I like to fix and make things.
Still interested?
It took me a while to really find my 'calling' in life. I remember growing up always feeling like I needed to find the one thing that I would do for the rest of my life, but that would change day-to-day from things like a cartoonist, chef, architect, transportation designer, to running my own businesses, it took me a long time to A.) find a career I could feasibly enjoy doing the rest of my life (software engineering), and B.) realizing that I don't need to find just one thing to do. After reading that, this likely won't come as a surprise, but I have a fairly varied job history as well.
I'll try to gloss over the details here; you can check out my LinkedIn or drop me a line if you would like to learn more. My first job was as a CAD Drafter at a local oil refinery while still in high school. From there, I worked at an Indian casino as a slot machine technician, a small automotive performance shop, and eventually working my way into managing inside sales and support for an automotive performance software company. I've had another handful of jobs selling satellite internet, shipping performance parts, and offering technical support for a large ERP software before moving into a department that focused on EDI; this is where I 'officially' got to cut my teeth on software development, and eventually move into a software engineering role and realize that it was something I thoroughly enjoyed and couldn't stop myself from doing.
Looking back, it makes sense; I've been told throughout my life how I am able to fix just about anything given to me. As a wee lad, I was constantly taking things apart (and usually putting them back together) just to see how they worked. I built a tree fort in my parents yard when I was about 10 (also broke my arm via that same treehouse), got around town on a skateboard I created from an old wooden water ski I got a garage sale, rebuilt my first engine on my own when I was 17 (1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo for those interested), and have rebuilt a handful of motorcycles. I'm not trying to stroke my own ego here, just providing some examples of my "if I can build it why buy it?" attitude (I've since learned there are times when it's much better to buy).
Wanting to learn more about software engineering, I started developing single property websites for a friend who wasn't satisfied with the current offerings out there. They started as one-offs with separate databases and code bases for each implementation before I developed them into a single implementation that routed traffic to a multi-tenant solution that uses visual templates to provide options to realtors who are needing single property websites.
I eventually worked myself into scrum master and lead engineer roles of agile scrum teams at another company, before an opportunity to build my own department of engineers presented itself. It wasn't easy, but it is a time I often reflect on as the best time I've had in my career. Being able to prove my own theories (which I've come to learn aren't completely unique) around the idea of keeping employees happy and motivated ultimately produces better products faster really lit a fire inside me and ultimately lead to running a much larger team of people with various disciplines.
That pretty much brings that today, though there have been a few other gigs like running a wedding photography business, selling automotive photography via an Etsy shop, and building websites back in the day via GeoCities and AngelFire (remember those?!) for fun, as well as WordPress and Joomla sites for business. Oh, I've also somehow started a family of little Frylings™ and an amazing wife who has probably been the most influential in shaping me to who I am today.
I've learned from all my jobs and experiences and, like most (all?) people, being challenged and learning is what I constantly strive for in all my interactions.
Interested in seeing some examples of my work? Check out the galleries below.
2020 update: What do I do?
I've recently started evaluating my default answer to the inevitable "what do you do?" question when meeting new people. Instead of saying "I lead engineering teams" I've started replying with "lots of things".
The idea that your career is what defines you is an interesting concept, and though it applies to some, it really glosses over all the other intricacies and interests of a person and pigeonholes people to think you do 1 thing.
Sure, my main passion these last several years has been leading R&D teams, but I really try and embody the idea that with enough time and effort I can do anything and that default response doesn't tell you about my other passions or abilities.
So... What do I do?
Lots of things, and I love jumping into the unknown and working out how to solve a problem.
If you think I might be able to help you out, let's chat!
EASY LINKS
Want my resume? Well go ahead and grab it here, or check out my LinkedIn profile.
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING & DESIGN
Interested in working with me on a project? Contact me or check out some of my projects below
DESIGN WORK
These are some examples of various designs I've slapped together for myself and others.
PHYSICAL STUFF
There's still something about making something tangible that warms my heart. Maybe it's being able to obsess over texture or fitting pieces together with precise tolerances that is hard to feel with digital goods.
Here's a samplin' of projects I've done over the years.
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING & DESIGN
Some of my personal Engineering & Design projects
The Sunset Jewel is a vacation rental down in Joshua Tree, CA. Not only did I setup the website, but I also setup all the accounts (Airbnb, Instagram, etc.) as well as security cameras, networks, furniture, and more!
This initially started as individual single property websites for real estate back in 2010, but quickly evolved into a multi-tenant solution with templates that could be easily managed and swapped out.
As of 2023 this site is no longer hosted.
ROCKBOUND RIDGE
Our 3rd vacation rental in Joshua Tree, CA that I helped design, renovate, and manage like La Casa Estrella and The Sunset Jewel