Colton Gillenwater

Tolkien argued in On Fairy-Stories that we create because we are created, that the human impulse to make things is a direct expression of bearing the image of a Maker. It's not imitation, it's the imago dei working itself out through our hands. That idea has always stuck with me, and I think it's true not just in the realm of art and storytelling. I'm an IT Engineer with over a decade of experience building secure, reliable technology for fast-growing companies, and I believe the same principle applies to the craft of engineering. The best technical work isn't cold science executed mechanically, it's an act of genuine creativity. Designing an identity architecture, untangling a fragile inherited system, writing an automation that makes security invisible to the people it protects, these are acts of making, and they deserve the same imagination and care as any other creative endeavor.

I've spent my career thinking and working at the intersection of technology, security, and the humans in the middle of it all, and that last part matters the most to me. I try my best to lead with empathy and make a genuine effort to understand who my coworkers are as people. That said, I'm also an introvert, but I don't see the two as contradictory. I find real energy in human connection, but I need solitude to process and recharge, and I've learned to honor that rather than fight it. What that tends to produce in practice is someone who shows up to collaboration fully present, rather than just physically in the room. I believe deeply in humility and transparency, admitting what I don't know, owning what I've gotten wrong, and trying to extend that same grace to the people I work with. I'm also on a perpetual quest to write more: better documentation, clearer communication, fewer things lost to tribal knowledge. It's an ongoing discipline that I'm currently far from perfect in.

Outside of work, my family is everything. I love what I build professionally, but I work so I can show up fully for them. Beyond that, I'm a foodie in the Bourdain tradition: cook it yourself, eat with friends, let the meal be a reason to connect. I get outdoors as often as I can, partly because a day in front of screens demands a counterweight, and partly because the world is genuinely beautiful when you step into it. I'm an avid reader, from sci-fi and fantasy to history and politics; any book has the potential to make my understanding of the world a little more complete. You'll catch me watching anything from big-budget blockbusters to nature documentaries and listening to everything from The Beatles to 80s synth-pop to modern indie-folk. I've also started getting into woodworking, but that's a journey currently in its absolute infancy.

My wife has this wonderful habit of referring to everyone she meets immediately as friends, and I think about it often. I take seriously the call to walk in love, and I try to move through the world with the belief that everyone I haven't met yet is just a friend I don't know. If you read this far and were hoping to see something about my super triple elite engineering skills, that's what my resume is for. Hopefully, this did serve to provide some insight into the perspective with which I work and live.