- 10-year Air Force veteran
- Former restaurant owner, Papa's Dogs and More, Grand Rapids
- Retirement Advisor and Registered Social Security Analyst
- Self-taught developer — started learning to code at 69
- Built and shipped Smart Kitchen solo
Smart Kitchen didn't start as a business plan. It started with my wife Sue asking a simple question after a long day — "What's for dinner?" — and me not having a good answer. I wasn't frustrated with her. I was frustrated that I didn't have a better system.
I sat down to learn AI so I could bring it into my retirement advisory practice. Somewhere in that process, I ended up building a meal planning app instead. One feature led to another: inventory tracking, receipt scanning, family profiles for the people in my life with real dietary needs to manage.
"A stranger is only the friend you haven't met yet."
That's how I've approached every conversation about Smart Kitchen — at craft fairs, in grocery store aisles, at the kitchen table. I'm not a tech company. I'm a veteran and a former restaurant owner who got tired of the same question every night and decided to do something about it.