Why Detours Define the Real Path
Lessons from blending sports discipline, medical science, and tech curiosity.
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What does a Jones fracture, a digital camera, and a cardiac rehab unit all have in common?
For me — they were waypoints on a journey I never could have scripted.
The Dream That Started with a Ball
Like a lot of kids, my early dreams were written in sweat, grass, and hardwood. Would it be basketball — the sport that lit me up inside? Or football — the one I was probably better at?
That question carried me to Humboldt State University (now known as Cal Poly Humboldt,) where I laced up for hoops. Five years later, I left with a degree in Kinesiology, a surgically-repaired left foot, and something even more valuable: a first glimpse of my future.
A Jones fracture stole one of my playing years, but it gave me something more lasting. I found exercise physiology and nutritional sciences — my first clinical bridge between sport, health, and human performance.
The Mentor Who Changed the Trajectory
Every pivotal journey has a person who nudges the wheel. For me, it was Mary at Sharp Healthcare in San Diego.
I was a young grad student, dipping my toes into cardiac rehab, when she planted a seed:
“You ever thought about becoming a doctor?”
That question rewired me. Suddenly, the pieces fit. Helping cardiac patients rebuild strength and resilience was more than exercise physiology — it was medicine. And I wanted in.
Always the First to Tinker
Here’s the thing though: even while basketball, physiology, and medicine pulled at me, another thread ran underneath — tech.
I was the first guy on my team with a digital camera. The first to build an online photo album of our season. The first to have a cell phone.
In college I taught myself early HTML and Flash. I tinkered with graphic design, coded websites, and pushed broadband to its limits back when it was a dial-up novelty.
That part of me never turned off. Through medical school, residency, and beyond, I always had one hand in the technical — whether it was informatics, workflow design, or the nerdy side of healthcare systems.
Coming Full Circle
Looking back, the arc makes sense:
Athletics taught me discipline.
Exercise physiology gave me the lens of performance science.
Medicine opened the door to impact lives directly.
And tech? It’s been the connective tissue all along.
Which is why the startup world feels like home. It’s not just building tools — it’s building futures. It’s asking: how do we scale care, efficiency, and joy in medicine the same way we once scaled bandwidth and photo albums online?
The Jones fracture that once felt like a detour wasn’t. It was a portal.
Looking Ahead
The next chapter? More exciting than any season opener.
Because the intersection of medicine, systems, and technology isn’t just my story — it’s where the entire field is heading. And if the late ‘90s internet felt like a revolution, healthcare’s transformation is going to make that look like a warm-up drill.
💡 Takeaway: Your detours might be the truest part of your trajectory.
What about you — what “Jones fracture moment” rerouted your path?