Wesley Sparks of Rainspace

                                 WANTED: IT Guy

MUST HAVE: Ability to remain calm when clients heave desktops out of second floor windows while ranting and cursing in several languages. PREFER: Special consideration given to candidates who don't laugh at clients who ask what a server is.

Humility and freakishly strong computer skills; it's a rare combination in the IT world. Wesley Sparks of Rainspace is a little different that way.

Wesley wears crazy socks. Some say it's a sign of the entrepreneurial spirit I think Wesley just likes crazy socks. So. Cool Socks.

BIGGEST THRILL: Building Relationships 

BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Finding Like-Minded People

We meet in Lincoln Mill, where Wesley's business office for Rainspace is located. Cool building. Cool grungy downtown space. We sid down. We chat for over an hour.

Wesley grew up in Peru, Indiana, a tiny little Midwest river town, and the "Circus Capital of the World." Aside from the fact that Wesley loves big cats and animals of all kinds, the circus thing doesn't really figure into his story, but it's a fun fact nonetheless.

Welsey Sparks listens to a speaker during a Rocket Hatch retreat

Small town Mascoutah, Illinois. Image via: Wikipedia

From Peru, life took Wesley to Mascoutah, Illinois, another midwestern river town. He took a job with the company that is not AMCOM: Aviation and Missile Command, as a data entry specialist and moved to Huntsville with the BRAC relocation in 1997.

"When I got here I did data entry for the AMCOM contractor on the arsenal. I had gotten interested in computers through my wife's dad. We always played games and over time it started kind of piquing my interest. I think I have an aptitude for it. I just spent a lot time tinkering and building. Today's computers are very simple to pull apart and put together. Back then, the parts weren't really reliable."

As a data entry technician, Wesley was paid well, but not challenged.

"[Data Entry] is mind-numbingly boring. There were certain forms that only one or two things would change on them so we found ways to hit a key combination and it would type all the same thing over again. I started getting into it and then I became the resident IT person. I liked [the troubleshooting] aspect of it. Anytime there was a problem with desktop, I got called out."

One job leapfrogged into the next, from desktop support to server support, to a year-long contract position in Dubai, and more IT work waiting for him upon his return to Huntsville. As Wesley shares the way his career has morphed, I begin to realize how great his work must really be: "You've never even had an interview have you?" I ask. Wesley just laughs. "Not really, now that you say that."

Wesley's got that kind of natural ability. And yet he's kind. He's a really good listener. He credits the work he did for a startup with helping him develop those listening skills. The boss had a habit of sending him into hostile, unknown environments with little notice.

 "He was always like: 'This person's having this problem. Just go talk to them.' I'd never met these people before. They don't know me and I don't know them, but I have to fix their things. It taught me a lot about how to depressurize a situation and how to learn to listen. People will tell you everything you need to know if you just listen."

Rainspace is a managed service provider. The company provides solutions for your IT problems, infrastructure for all interfaces, and cloud storage - basically any IT service you may need. 

If you've got a good heart, good listening skills, and an over-the-top technical aptitude, give Wesley Sparks a call. He's looking for cool, kind people. Just like him.

"I get computers. Today I have customers that  can barely click a mouse. I get why they're that way - because technology, it should be that simple. You should not have to understand the depths of technology to use it - that's the whole point of using it in the first place."