Ryan Debenham, the CTO at Route, recently wrote an article on LinkedIn explaining why he joined Route. I enjoyed reading about his journey to Route and felt that I wanted to share my story as well.

I have been writing software since I wrote a command-line ASCII art game in C++ for school back in 1998. I have always loved the challenge of writing code to get a computer to do something for you. Finding a way to simplify something complex by writing code has always spoken to me. When I first saw the beautiful simplicity of the iPhone, I knew I needed to move from writing websites to building apps.

Since then, I have built mobile apps and teams for both large (50k+ employees) and small (3 employees) companies. In 2017 I decided it was time to try to build my own company and so I left my job and began one of the hardest, but most rewarding experiences of my professional career. Someday, I will write more about the lessons I learned while working for myself.

Why would I leave a growing company that meant so much to me? I asked myself the same question when I came across Route. A former coworker introduced me to Route and explained what they were building. He mentioned that they needed someone to develop the foundation of their apps, as well as build out their mobile development team.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of taking on that role at Route. Two main points tipped the scales for me. The first was the size of the opportunity at Route. If they can build out the roadmap they have outlined, Route is going to be huge — Larger than anything I had ever worked on before.

That alone would be hard to walk away from, but the second point to draw me in is what sealed the deal. The challenge at Route was as large as the opportunity. They had high goals and needed to build some amazing tech quickly. If there is one pattern I’ve seen throughout my life, and in the lives of others, it’s this: you grow the most when you are challenged the most. It’s a life lesson I have tried to put at the center of who I am, and Route was offering up a challenge that could change my life and make me a better developer and leader.

Now that I have been at Route for a few months, I have found that not only are the opportunities and challenges as significant as I had hoped, but that the team here is also fantastic. We all see the challenges ahead and are excited to face them head-on. Working with hard working, dedicated, and kind people makes work more enjoyable and provides an atmosphere of growth.

I am so excited to see where Route can take me, as well as where I can help Route go. Here’s to the challenges in life that help us grow!

As a side note, we are looking to add people to our mobile team. If you are up for the challenge, and excited by the opportunities, send me a message and let’s talk about how to get you on our team.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com. on August 19, 2019