About Todd
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Wayne Gretzky
-
Who is Todd?
I am a Todd-of-all-trades so-to-speak. I am a practical, reasonable, focused, creative thinker. I am a planner and a do-er. I think that all issues are challenges rather than problems that can’t be solved. I cherish evolution, and many times I enjoy the journey more than the destination. I value respect, loyalty, and trust, but these are two-way concepts. I love listening to people and take in what they have to say to add to the database in my head. I hold the belief that a company is only as good as the people in it, and that everyone has a voice with great and relevant ideas inside of them that should be heard, and the best decisions are made by a committee rather than a dictator. I believe in learning by doing, and achieving by doing.
-
Todd's Mission
My mission is to help people think, plan, and do their best to achieve their goals to then help drive the success of the company we ALL work for together. I pride myself on being able to see and honor different perspectives and then combine those with my own experiences and perspectives to derive the best solution. I have a vast knowledge of skills and experience to draw from in sustaining and growing businesses. Anything I don’t know, I will seek help or learn it myself to exceed the expectation. I have successfully applied these basic principles and experiences in companies large and small with great results before, and I know that they will continue to work well with any people, business, technology, and industry.
Some of Todd’s Soft Skills
A few skills to get to know me…
-
Attentive listening
Cooperative teamwork problem-solving skills development
Personal / professional / team growth & optimization
Multi-tasking
Resource optimization
Budget development & optimization
Specialty training
-
Complete problem / need assessment & evaluation
Product specification development
Design conceptualization, simulation, & test development
Design review
Lean manufacturing optimization
Model prototype fabrication & testing
Hand-sketching & drafting
Product manufacturing, production, & sustainment development
Product life-cycle development
Packaging design & implementation
Product end-of-life / warranty period ending program development
Technical writing
-
Comprehensive experience coordinating and creating text and illustrations / graphics for according to various audience, agency, organization, and regulatory requirements
Installation / operation / service / owner / user / technical manuals
MIL-SPEC documents / manuals interpretation & amendment process writing
Installation instructions
Marketing / advertising / advertorial articles
Product spec sheets (internal & external)
Case studies
White papers
Technical bulletins
Business operations documents
Quality Management Systems (QMS) manuals
Manufacturing Process & Procedures (MPP)
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
BOMs
ISO documentation
Employee ID card
Failure / evaluation / assessment reports
Meeting / training / update presentations
Training course materials
Other publications
-
Facilities layout design & management
Lean manufacturing layout
Construction & tenant improvement (TI) management
Automation analysis, design, construction management, implementation, & sustainment
Large specialized system spec / selection / implementation / commissioning (e.g., conveyor systems, charging systems, dust collection, wastewater collection & treatment, etc.)
Environmental factor optimization (e.g., energy reduction/production, efficiency, pollution mitigation, wastewater treatment, etc.)Large equipment hauling & movement coordination
Forklift / lift / truck operation
Utility layout & design (e.g., electrical, water, compressed air, vacuum, wastewater)
Security & access system optimization
-
LEAN / JIT manufacturing principles utilization & optimization
GD&T mechanical engineering principles practice
Six-Sigma / GMP / CGMP practices utilization & optimization
Quality standards & system implementation & optimization
Continuous improvement
-
Computer Hardware Setup
CAD (SOLIDWORKS, AutoCAD, VersaCAD)
Cloud Collaboration (Google Drive, Smartsheet, Dropbox, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams)
Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Outlook)
Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Mail)
MRP/ERP (Epicor ERP System, SYMIX, QAD)
Video Editing (Final Cut Pro X, iMovie)
Brief Personal Bio
A little bit about me through the years...
(It’s probably easiest to present this in terms of where I lived over the years.)
-
I was born in 1974 in Oceanside, CA, but grew up in a number of other cities up through high school. Here are some of the highlights from the various places we lived:
Vista, CA - Lived here for most of my early years where I enjoyed digging in the dirt and building (and rebuilding) my Lego town.
Glendale, CA - Lived here for a short time in a rented duplex across from Glendale High School as a second grader at John Marshall Elementary School where I heard my first cuss words and learned “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” in Vietnamese.
Burbank, CA - Lived here in a rented house that I almost burnt down, enjoyed playing with the neighborhood kids, and went to George Washington Elementary School.
Sun Valley, CA - Lived here for about five years near the Burbank Airport where I enjoyed skateboarding (when it wasn’t the cool thing to do there at that time…), playing video games, hanging out with my friends, and trying to avoid trouble...
Simi Valley, CA - Enjoyed the quiet west end of Simi where I rode my mountain bike a lot, met my future wife, Beth, at Sinaloa Junior High School before dating her at Royal High School, and worked a lot at these places:
The Enterprise - Paperboy
Baseball Cards of Thousand Oaks - Sorter and Helper
Little Caesar’s Pizza on Madera Road - Assistant Manager
I then moved away to San Luis Obispo, CA to go to Cal Poly for college…
-
San Luis Obispo, CA - I was fortunate enough to go to California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo (a.k.a. Cal Poly - SLO) on the Central Coast of California where I achieved a Bachelor of Science Degree, Majoring in Industrial Technology.
Cal Poly’s motto is “Learn By Doing,” and I lived that up tot he fullest where I learned electronics, electrical, materials, machine design, manufacturing, safety, food production, quality systems, and business management. I also completed Minors in Packaging and Facilities Management. All of this provided a great foundation for me to build on in everything that I have done in my professional career thus far…
In addition to studying for college courses, I also participated in school club activities, hiked in the local mountains and beaches, traveled back and forth 130 miles each way on most weekends to see my fiancé in Simi Valley (I put a LOT of miles on my ‘78 VW Scirocco in college…), and worked the following places:
Garland’s Hamburgers - Prep Cook
Domino’s Pizza - Delivery Driver
Lucky Stores - Courtesy Clerk (a.k.a. “Box Boy”) - I loved this job…!
Strasbaugh - Drafter / Mechanical Engineer
-
Morro Bay, CA - Once I finished my degree at Cal Poly, I got married to my high school sweetheart, and we moved to Morro Bay, CA for a year. It was a funky little place on top of a garage that had a great view of Morro Rock and the ocean - when it wasn't foggy… While we enjoyed the location, we were soon fortunate enough to buy a brand new house in Santa Maria, CA, and lived there for over 7 years.
Santa Maria, CA - Here we started out family having a girl, Molly in 2000, and a boy, Luke in 2003. We had wonderful neighbors and met some other great people in Santa Maria, “All-American City” winner back in 1997. While we living on the Central Coast, I enjoyed mountain biking, hiking, and going to SLO’s Farmer’s Market on Thursdays, Margie’s Diner, Montana De Oro, and Avila Valley Barn. During this time I worked at:
Strasbaugh - Mechanical Engineer + Senior Technical Writer
Newport Corporation - Senior Technical Writer
Lockheed Martin - Technical Writer
Simi Valley, CA - We moved to Simi Valley, CA at the end of 2004 to raise our kids in the great and stable city that we both grew up in. We are still in Simi Valley today…
Once we came back down to the Los Angeles area, I was fortunate to help my good long time friend Ray at:
Micro Solutions Enterprises - Special Projects Coordinator + Manufacturing Engineer
I then got to help start and build Seesmart, which then turned into Revolution Lighting Technologies where I remained until May of 2022.
Revolution Lighting Technologies - Director of Engineering
What was after Revolution Lighting…? Well that new adventure is TBD…
Todd’s StandOut Assessment
Here is a description of the StandOut assessment developed by Marcus Buckingham, ADP®, and Harvard Business Publishing in response to the COVID-19 global health crisis (https://www.marcusbuckingham.com/test/):
The StandOut assessment measures how well you match 9 Roles and reveals your primary Role and secondary Role. These top two Roles are the focal point of all your talents and skills. They represent your instinctive way of making a difference in the world.
According to my StandOut assessment, I am a PROVIDER and PIONEER!
Want to find out MORE about Todd…?
-
![]()
TODD'S RESUME
Click the button below to Download a MS Word (.docx) file of Todd’s resume. Contains:
Summary
Areas of Expertise
Career Experience
Additional Experience
Education
-
![]()
WORK TODD
Click the button below to see and learn more about Todd’s professional career thus far. See:
Career Timeline Roadmap
Career Highlights
Key Projects
Important Skills
Career Experience
-
![]()
TODD THINGS
Click the button below to learn more about Todd outside of work. See:
Hobbies
Interests
Personal FAQs
Quotes to Live By
Music to Live By
Photo Galleries
