#FordProud

A Little History

Admittedly, I am not a "car guy". Growing up in Michigan, pretty much everyone's family either works in the auto industry or relies heavily on its success. I was always more interested in technology and entertainment, I wanted to carve our a different path for myself. I didn't see a place for me in the automotive world.

When I went to college, I wanted to create worlds by means of designing video games. I was obsessed with the game Star Wars Galaxies and spent a considerable amount of time dissecting the game and understanding how it was designed. I reverse engineered the algorithms that determined how the various mechanics were being calculated. I was extremely passionate about this game and the community and wanted to be a part of bringing this type of entertainment to the world. Learning more about the industry and engaging with game developers, I learned a lot about the dark side of the industry. It has been well documented about how toxic the industry can be, and I saw a lot of my favorite studios get sold off or shut down. I realized that for the life that I wanted, I might need to follow a different path.

About 6 months before I would graduate as a Bachelor of Computer Science from Lawrence Technological University (Go Blue Devils!), a Ford recruiter reached out to me and told me they came across my resume in my university's system and wanted to know if I would be up for an interview. With graduation looming and only a few job prospects (2009 recession was a dark time in Michigan), I thought "why not. The interview experience would be rewarding enough." In the interview, I was sold. I learned all about Ford's amazing Ford College Graduate program and how it would help guide my career and give me exposure across all of IT. I firmly believe it is still the best entry-level position for a new college graduate to break into the IT world and highly recommend it. To this day, I'm an active Ford recruiter at LTU and try to give soon-to-be graduates the same opportunity that I had.

The Ford Experience

Now, to the Bucket List item... I’ve had the privilege of working for Ford Motor Company for almost 10 years and in that time, I’ve owned a 2010 Escape, 2016 Fusion, and a 2016 Edge. There are so many other great vehicles that Ford and Lincoln offers that I’ve either never driven, or honestly will never own. How will I truly know what Ford has to offer with each vehicle if I don’t get a chance to experience them? What I want to do is work with Ford to get a chance to drive every vehicle that we have to offer to the general public for a month and write an article about my experience, what I did, what made it unique, and offer my perspective and feedback on the product (as much as I want to drive the Ford GT, I understand… kinda).

I know there are many auto experts out there that provide detailed reviews, but I’m not a car guy per se. I’m a tech guy that found myself in the car business. I have a family, including 2 crazy little girls, and drive over 125 miles every day. I want to drive our CUVs, SUVs, Large SUVs, Trucks, electric vehicles, the legendary Mustang… I want to learn how each would compliment my lifestyle and share those experiences with the rest of the Ford employees. I think this would be a fun experiment for the company and something great to share with the employees and potential future customers. I want to have fun with it too. I want to name each car and give it a personality based on what it is designed to do. I'll share the experience with humor, pictures and video, and showcase everything that it's made of.

We'll see if I get a chance to do this in real life. I've reached out to a couple people I know in marketing to see if they would be open this this type of social experiment. With the all new Mustang-inspired electric crossover about to be announced (November 17th!), I'd like to take it for a spin.