About

Mike PotterMPotter_ProfilePic-01-sm

  • grew up in West Michigan
  • attended the University of Chicago

At college, Mike learned

  • a lot about history, research, and critical thinking
  • some about Japanese animation of the mid-1990s
  • a very small amount of French, but enough to order 500 grams of chocolate in Brussels eight years later. (If you’ve had Belgian chocolate pralines, you understand it was worth it.)

Post-college, Mike moved to St. Louis with his husband, Talon. Demonstrating the huge demand for history majors, he became the Saint Louis Symphony’s computer network administrator, building on his tech interests since the late-1980s. Mike moved back to Michigan in 2004 to work with a labor organization, revamping its communications program and its IT infrastructure.

In 2010, Mike joined University Bank as Help Desk Manager, serving as Information Systems Manager from 2011 to 2016. During this period, he also completed a series of classes, learning conflict resolution skills and studying communication styles and methods. He also wrote and proofread materials for the European information security community (ENISA) and presented at a few conferences in the US and Europe. 

Mike and Talon moved to Portland, Oregon in 2016. While planning the move, Mike also spent time studying for the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) certification, which he received in December 2016.

Enough resume summary, who am I? I’m a reader (Portland is an oasis for books) and I love to travel. I took my first camping trip when I was 22. And I started riding motorcycles in 2007 by taking a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCourse (best $25 I’ve ever spent).

And why “4 Horizons”? It is an allusion to the Four Directions of Native American spirituality. It reflects my approach to work and life, looking at situations from many perspectives to find a range of solutions.