Author
Ted Gould
Principal Engineer
We’re kicking off our employee spotlight, chatting with Ted Gould. Ted is an engineer here at Axiom and was our first employee.
How did you find out about Axiom?
The previous project I was working on was coming to an end, and so I was looking for opportunities. As part of that, I reached out to some old friends who said “we’re working on this thing, we hope to have a company soon.” So I took a few months of severance and became familiar with what they were doing, and got some things done around the house, then started when the company got established.
What do you think about working from home?
I love working from home and I was definitely looking for a new WFH opportunity when searching for a new job. I know that the Axiom folks understood WFH and so they’d get it right, which makes all the difference. A lot of people have been forced into WFH because of the pandemic, but we’re going to find out who really embraced the change and who was forced into it in the next little while. WFH can be bad if you’re in an organization that doesn’t understand it.
What advice would you give to someone new to WFH?
I like to think about it less as “Work From Home” and more as “Work From an Undisclosed Location.” Get out. Work from a park, or a back yard, or a pool, or wherever. Mix it up. Understand that you do have some flexibility and embrace that.
How was working from home affected by the pandemic?
A lot of people were struggling with understanding working from home, while I was struggling with having office-mates as the rest of my family was working and schooling from home. One of the things that my job as an engineer requires is some focused alone time, which was much harder to come by with kids wanting to eat or needing help with their classwork. We figured out how to work together, but it definitely was a different experience for everyone.
What is a goal you have outside of work?
I’m a huge lover of nature and getting out and hiking, biking, canoeing or whatever it takes to get out of the city. I’d really like to someday visit all of the National Parks in the US. Living in the West gives me an advantage, but there still are quite a lot of them!
Where can we find you on a Saturday?
I have two boys who are both into sports, so it’s likely I’m doing something with them. We’re either doing a tournament, team practice or just getting out and throwing a ball around. If there’s nothing scheduled, I usually try to get them out on a hike.
What’s your favorite food?
Since moving to Texas I’ve been really embracing Texas BBQ, trying to learn it and be able to cook (smoke) it on my own. I’ve been smoking mostly brisket and now have honed in my own rub in Central Texas-style. I still like going out to eat at the various great BBQ joints around Texas when I get out of town.
