At Cloud Construct, we are a talented and fun-loving group. Though we all work remotely from our homes every day, we still maintain a high level of camaraderie through daily conversations (some work related, some not) on Slack, virtual happy hours, and also work togethers – when safe to do so. Get to know us as we know each other!

We talked to the talented Mike Paterson for the second installment of the Employee Spotlight Series. Mike has been with Cloud Construct since April 2019 as a technical architect and is always spicing up Slack channels with the best reaction gifs!

Get to know Mike!

Cloud Construct: What is your role at Cloud Construct?

Mike Paterson: My primary job was to take over a lot of the architecture designs, validations, and implementation for new clients. In addition, I do a lot of work for some of our older clients so the rest of the team can work on the new hotness.

CC: Do you have a favorite newspaper or blog?

MP: The Morning Brew is probably my favorite blog. Each morning I get 10 links or so pointing to cool new geeky stuff.

CC: What did you want to be when growing up?

MP: I always wanted to play in the NFL. To this day I love football but I think I’d prefer to be a PGA player these days 😊

CC: Before working at Cloud Construct, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?

MP: There were a few…

1. I did industrial roofing for one day while I was in college. One of the guys I worked with spent about 20 minutes describing how he watched a guy in prison rip off the ears of another prisoner. I decided to focus on my studies.
2. I was a lifeguard on the wave pool at Water Country in New Hampshire. It was a blast.
3. I worked as an equipment manager for the University of South Florida football team. Their home stadium is Raymond James Stadium where the Tampa Bay Bucs play.
4. I did some modeling when I was young. Here’s a picture of me modeling for some Christmas spread in a magazine

CC: If you could do another job for just one day, what would it be?

MP: An astronomer. I was this close to becoming an astronomer my freshman year of college.

CC: What is your favorite sport?

MP: American football. Not even close. It runs in my family and in my blood. Go Patriots!

CC: What is your favorite childhood memory?

MP: Going to Patriots preseason practices with my Grandfather way back when Bill Parcells was coach.

CC: What is the worst thing you did as a kid?

MP: When I was in the fourth grade, my best friends went door-to-door collecting money for a trip to Niagara Falls for our Boy Scout troop. Anyone who donated more than $10 would get a post card and anyone who donated more than $20 got a t-shirt! However, none of us were in the boy scouts. We spent all of the money on baseball cards and Wendy’s. We also got caught but that’s a story for another time.

CC: What is your favorite movie and book?

MP: It is impossible for me to narrow it down. My wife and friends all make fun of me that my top 10 list is 1000 long.

CC: Any favorite line from a movie?

MP: “I know who I am! I’m the dude playin’ the dude disguised as another dude!” –Kirk Lazarus, Tropic Thunder

CC: How do you balance your career at Cloud Construct and family?

MP: I try my best to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my family every day. Once or twice a week I’ll take an hour or two to help my kids with their martial arts classes. And on occasion I’ll take a long lunch to take a walk as a family.

CC: How has Cloud Construct helped you in your career development?

MP: On any given day, I am asked to troubleshoot or learn some different technology that I’ve never used before. Plus, I love the cloud and getting to use so many cool Azure technologies is really outstanding.

CC: If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it?

MP: One T: The Art of Correcting People’s Spelling

CC: What do you find the most challenging at Cloud Construct?

MP: The thing I find most challenging is also the thing I like the most: the requirement to learn new things literally almost every day.

CC: What has been your favorite project at Cloud Construct?

MP: Tough question! So many to pick from. But working on RA Capital (racap.com) or Hxro (beta.hxro.io) are probably my favorites. For RA Cap (and a few others) I got to design the Orchard Core implementation from the ground up and Hxro just uses so much cool technology (SignalR, Azure WAF, Functions, Sentinel, Stream Analytics, etc).

CC: What is on your wish list for the next 10 years with Cloud Construct?

MP: To get a few Azure certifications, become more active in the public space (blog posts, videos, etc), and become a contributor on Orchard Core and other open source projects.

CC: What is on your bucket list?

MP: When my kids go off to college (someday many moons from now) I would love to backpack across Europe.

CC: What is your proudest moment at Cloud Construct?

MP: This may sound extremely nerdy, but finding and fixing a memory leak for one of our clients made me so happy. It took way longer than it should have but it was a great feeling.

CC: What would you like to be famous for?

MP: Eating the most pizza rolls in one sitting. I love them. I can’t explain it.

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