I’m a lifelong learner who graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of California, Irvine and immediately started programming for a living—an early career change ;-). Eventually I moved into a life of research and teaching, where my focus was on security in distributed systems.
In 2004, together with some good friends, we cofounded a wonderful company called Pluralsight whose aim it is to democratize professional technology learning. There I spent about a decade helping to develop the content delivery platform, eventually playing the role of CTO.
In 2010, I married my sweetheart Mari, and we chose the name Sparkjoy as it reflected the aim of our lives – to spark joy in the world.
Later in my career with Pluralsight I studied organizational health, with a focus on the work of W. Edwards Deming. Deming believed that long lasting companies and joy in work result from everyone cooperating to optimize the system. Other interests include the evolution of human consciousness as modeled by Clare Graves, Brené Brown’s work on living wholeheartedly, and Joseph Campbell’s study of mythology. I spent much time using Alfie Kohn’s work as an index into the research on human motivation, parenting, and schooling, because I was interested in understanding what lies behind the culture of self-centeredness and materialism in my country. Recently I am studying Terry Real’s work to understand how to empower relationships, and here in the crucible of my own family, I am seeing results that I never thought possible.
In March of 2018 I was honored to be invited to serve on the board of the Deming Institute.
I am working to become a better man, a better father, and a better leader, which should be great preparation for whatever comes next. Not done yet 🙂
Mari Sparkjoy and I enjoy learning new things, aviation, and traveling in our free time, as well as spending time with our children, who bring us an immeasurable amount of joy.
keith sparkjoy 