Graduating from Austin High in 1975, John pursued an early career in restaurants, returning to UT in 1985 to finish his bachelor’s degree. He opened the fledgling Bill Analysis office in the Texas Senate in 1986, enjoying a career in government with what would become the Texas Senate Research Center.

In 1991, John married Barbette, the love of his life and on their honeymoon, they decided to buy land in Dripping Springs, giving them a foothold in Texas, no matter where life would take them. So began John’s lifelong interest in real estate from an owner’s perspective. Later that year, John entered McComb’s Graduate School of Business at UT, graduating with an MBA with honors in 1994, when their first child, a daughter, was born soon after graduation. John was fortunate to wind up with one of the most innovative electric utilities in the US, where John experienced and led pioneer work in electricity, telecom and IT. Their family grew with the addition of a son in 1996.

By 2000, John moved on to pursue innovation in the emerging internet. In 2004, John took a project at Austin Energy, which led to the first Smart Grid in North America. John’s career expanded over the next 20 years, with alternating innovation projects and career positions around the world and always, publishing and exploring, always pursuing innovation and change.

Nearing retirement in 2025, John and Barbette faced the question of what to do with those 20 acres they’d purchased so long ago. John decided to pursue a new career in real estate to better understand the challenges of his good fortune, knowing there were others facing similar challenges at this stage in their lives.

The newest member of the West Pole team, John is excited for the future, looking forward to a final, productive career helping others in a similar position as he finds himself, sorting out what to do with his investments and how to operate in a dynamic market like Dripping Springs and the Texas Hill Country.