Meet your team

Video games. I've been playing them for as long as I can remember. There's something special about having a wholly interactive entertainment medium that lets you experience such a wide variety of things, from great stories, to fantastical worlds.

-Naveed

People. Family. Outdoors. Singing. Best when multiple are combined. Building things with my hands. Summiting mountains with my sons. Keeping old cars running forever. Downhill single-track on a mountain bike. Helping others grow. These are few of my favorite things.

-Michael

I love reading anything that reveals something new about the world or human behavior, including mysteries and histories, theology, classic novels, and biographies. I enjoy great films, beautiful music of any genre, and cooking for family and friends. My dreams for the future include extended travel, designing my own house, and finishing my pilot's license. I have a heart for abused and forgotten children, and have volunteered in foster care ministries for almost 20 years.

-Justin

In addition to my family, I am passionate about the outdoors, and protecting it for future generations. I also have a passion for assisting the children of southern Africa and do so through the charity Reaching a Generation USA. I love to read non-fiction, particularly related to the history of technology. My two favorite accomplishments are canoeing down the Yukon River in Alaska with my son, and riding in a charity bicycle ride across Africa.

-John

There are many places on our site where you can learn what we do. Here, we're giving you a glimpse of who we are. Our team has a diverse range of interests outside of work, so instead of asking folks to talk about their jobs, we wanted to highlight some of the many things we're passionate about as individuals.

I am incredibly passionate about live music, having played guitar in a country-rock band from 2010-2017. Performing is the best, but I also love going to concerts just as a fan. If Dead and Company are in town, you will likely see me on the lawn! I am also extremely passionate about East Carolina University football. Go Pirates!

-Charlie

Music is in my blood, passed down from my musical family. My undergraduate degree is in piano. I love everything from Brahms to Van Halen to Esperanza Spalding, from Shirley Horn to New Order to Kendrick Lamar. And, I don't want to be mired in the old; I want to continuously evolve, to seek and find the great and bold, the passion in the new. One of life's greatest gifts is discovering new music.

-Elizabeth

Cycling is the perfect sport—great exercise, expensive equipment, and cool data-gathering devices. My passion for cycling comes instead from the solitude. It's just me, wind in my face, enjoying the serenity of trees and farms, the long vistas of the coast, or the beauty of the mountains. Other cyclists make it the best of both worlds—alone with friends. Cycling is also when I feel closest to God, enjoying the glory of His creation.

-Bill

More than I can list here. Reinventing business, creating companies that put people above profit. Writing, in fiction, non-fiction, and everyday life. Media, from books to movies to music; I constantly crave input. Food, not just haute cuisine, but meals of all sorts: I've flown to Spain for a dinner, but I've also crossed six lanes of traffic to experience a two-for-a-quarter hot dog. And, of course, family and friends, those we choose to love.

-Mark

My wife and two girls are the driving force behind everything that motivates me. My passion for my family pushes me to do good work, treat others with kindness, and help people whenever I can.

-Trent

I'm passionate about my family. My wife and two boys mean the world to me, so it's amazing to watch them excel in their own interests, whether it's music, technology, or sports for the kids, or graduate studies for my wife. I have a growing army of nieces and nephews I'm proud to be uncle to. I also love traveling. While I love NC, I enjoy seeing new places and need to schedule more trips!

-Corey

I like gaming and LEDs.

-J

I enjoy working on my patio and growing plants and veggies; spending time with family; and playing video games.

-Mike

Apart from spending time with my family and friends, you will often find me reading. As a child, trips to the local library every week sparked a passion for reading and learning that led to a degree in English literature. I am also passionate about helping others, whether that is assisting on projects at the office or teaching preschool children at my church.

-Jessica

More than anything else, I'm passionate about research and ideas. I enjoy games and sports, but what's more interesting to me is figuring out how they work and how everything fits together.

-Nathan

We aim to be the best place to work for our staff. Inherent in that mission is respecting their desires. Some folks prefer not to be on camera, and others simply would rather not have their pictures online. Though we asked folks to participate in this page, we didn't force anyone to have a photo; instead, they could choose a color block or a different image to represent themselves.

My greatest passion is being a dad to my two young girls. We're at the stage of life where they require a lot of attention, and I'm really enjoying getting to spend as much time with them as I can. They constantly crack me up. My wife and I jokingly ask what we did with all of our time before we had kids!

-John

Making memories with my two wild and lovable little girls. When I'm not taking part in our daily living room dance parties, I love to read, play the French horn, and watch hockey. My favorite place to be is around the campfire, enjoying great music and the sounds of nature with the people I love.

-Jen

Dogs > cats. UNC > NC State > Duke. I break for doodles and coffee. Donuts are a necessary evil.

-Jared

Being upside-down. I love doing handstands, AcroYoga, and weight lifting. It's exciting to watch my body progress and be able to perform these cool feats. I am passionate about creating things; baking macaroons, inventing new recipes, wood turning, and developing websites. I love starting with nothing and watching new things blossom. Finally, I am an advocate for mental health—I believe it is important for everyone to respect their brain as much as physical health.

-Michelle

I love to travel as often as possible. When I'm exploring new places, I always try to sample new foods, go for hikes, go for swims, learn bits and pieces of a new language, talk to strangers, leave only footprints, and take only pictures!

-Emily

The look on someone's face when something new clicks for the first time, and getting a behind-the-scenes look at the teamwork and breadth of expertise that go into creating that moment. I enjoy the creativity of cooking and the serenity of yoga. I love long walks with my dog Ollie and my husband Bobby, visiting my family in the Finger Lakes, and watching my beautiful nephews play and grow.

-Claire

Winning. I love the thrill of winning. That sounds like George Patton-esque, American football boosterism, but I don't mean it just in the sense of head-to-head competition, though I can't deny I love that too. I'm thinking of a greater game where the goal is finding paths through complex problems to help everyone involved. There's an undeniable sense of satisfaction in understanding a complex problem and coming up with an inclusive answer where everyone wins.

-Sean

As cliché as it may be as a learning professional, my passion is learning. While I do enjoy learning about just about everything, I'm a cultural anthropologist at heart; I love studying the cultures, traditions, and beliefs of peoples near and far. I consider myself a student of the world and, as such, I am equally as passionate about travel! A life without travel is not one I'd want to live.

-Alana

I'm passionate about connections: relationally, geographically, conceptually, historically, spiritually. Whether it's getting coffee with a new friend, getting to know my city a bit better, drawing together motifs in literature, or asking questions about how things became the way they are, I love making and maintaining connections. There is so much to learn in this world that is so mysteriously and wonderfully held together.

-Elyse

Rediscovering distance running

-Dan

I joined a gym with close to personal trainer coach-to-student ratio in March. I don't know if I can say I am passionate about it, but it has certainly helped me focus on full-body health and eating cleaner and healthier. I guess you could say I am in a better late than never phase of my life.

-Peter

I am passionate about technology, electric cars, aviation, and anything related to rockets and spacecraft that one day will enable people to live on other planets.

-Duvan

A few of the things I am passionate about are traveling, having new experiences, and making memories with family; photography; bodybuilding; jiu-jitsu; and Krav Maga.

-Jon

No. When we first announced this page to our staff, we required everyone to participate—a rarity at PT, where we typically only demand 100% participation if it's a requirement for our business operations. But after hearing strong pushback from a few folks, we made participation optional. Some of our staff object to having any digital presence associated with their workplace, and we wanted to respect that preference.

Travel and music are two of my biggest passions. I love exploring. Whether it's some secluded hiking trail, a huge city, or some ancient ruins, I am happy and content experiencing any and all new places. Music also keeps me going. Not a single day goes by where I don't sing or play an instrument for fun or for church.

-Scott

One of the many things I love about sound is its power to dictate mood and feeling. It can sharpen fuzzy memories, enrich storytelling, and inspire future action. When I'm not engineering at PT, I'm hanging with my awesome wife and cats. I also play drums in Console Command, a metal band that reimagines video game soundtracks and takes listeners on a nostalgic joyride: https://www.consolecommand.band/

-Travis

I'm passionate about great writing. There are lots of elements of good writing, all important and interesting to me, but I particularly love reading an evocative phrase that makes me think about something ordinary in a new and extraordinary way. Those moments are what I most want to achieve in my own writing, and what I love finding in the writing of others.

-Sarah

Forged in Brooklyn, polished in Durham.

-Saad

I love unicorns and the color pink. I treasure my friends and family. I have a precious little boy whom my life revolves around. I enjoy arts and crafts. From sewing to calligraphy to making jewelry, I love it all!

-Becky

It might sound weird that a graphic designer's passion is literacy and reading comprehension, but it's mine. I didn't always have the words for what I wanted to express—until one of my professors helped me find my voice. Now, if I could, I would start a non-profit that helps empower everyone. Having the ability to read and communicate effectively is a superpower no one can take from you once you have it.

-Jacq

I'm most passionate about trying to improve the lives and living conditions of as many as possible through an empathetic worldview. Other pastimes include Philly sports, all forms of media entertainment, and spending time with loved ones.

-Joe

My passion is working as a volunteer Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC). I believe that breastfeeding education and public awareness improves maternal and fetal health outcomes and I actively promote the care and wellbeing of families in my local community. One way I do this is by serving as the NC rep for NormalizeBreastfeeding.org, where I coordinate monthly support sessions, manage an annual public awareness event, and provide advocacy for workplace pumping and public breastfeeding.

-Shelly

I grew up on a farm, and in a lot of ways, I enjoy re-capturing the fun times I had as a kid. I like working with my hands—carpentry, gardening, and caring for my chickens, which my daughter named. My kids work with me, so I can teach them the same things I learned when I was young—that kind of work gives me a sense of peace.

-Craig

I'm passionate about making the world a better place, experiencing as much of it as I can, conserving its natural resources, and earning the friendship of people I meet along the way. I'm also very passionate about faith, inclusion, coffee, hospitality, empanadas, fitness, all things biology, and doing things the right way.

-Greg

We believe titles limit potential. We want to empower each of our staffers to learn and grow outside the bounds of any one role. Without job titles, some folks have worked in multiple areas at once, while others have transitioned their work organically from testing to graphic design, social media to web development, and more—and PT is better for it.

Like most people, I'm passionate about many personal things, particularly making sure my kids and partner are happy and healthy. And I feel similarly about the Durham community, so I proudly serve as an appointed official on the city of Durham Human Relations Commission, working to achieve racial equity in the community.

-Nathan

The outdoors. There's nothing like being there. Especially after being inside in a nice temperature regulated office, eyes focused on screens most of the day. No matter if it's a city park with nice view of the skyline, or a national park far away from it all, I feel at home, inspired, and humbled.

-Sharon

There's so much to see and do wherever you go in life. I love to be out of doors and in nature, and being interested in cars and motoring certainly helps getting to those places! If there happens to be good food along the way, and people to meet along the way, all the better!

-Travis

I'm probably best known for my passion for baking. Thanks to the willingness of my co-workers to consume my creations, I'm able to bake way more than one person could possibly eat (though I think I will always be slightly ashamed of the amount of butter in my freezer at any given moment). However, I like to think that I'm doing my part to keep up office morale, especially on Monday mornings.

-Sarah

Punctuation, popsicles, and the color pink.

-Laura

When I'm not working, I'm spending time with friends and family going to local restaurants, museums, and events (like the pimento cheese festival!). I especially love Carolina Hurricanes games. I love the sport and the atmosphere, and I've gotten really close with my Canes Fam inside and outside the arena. I'm also passionate about photography, particularly macro photography, where you can pick up on details and textures up close.

-Laura

I spend most of my time on the weekends relaxing, spending time with friends, and playing action RPGs—right now, I'm working my way through Westworld and Breath of the Wild on the Switch.

-Nathan

Traveling, spending time with family & friends, playing handbells, and being active in my church.

-Ashley

I am passionate about music, both as a listener and a player. I have been playing music since I was eight years old, when I began taking piano lessons, and have since learned to play a range of other instruments, including guitar, bass, and drums. I also have a collection of hundreds of LPs of a wide variety of genres, from classical to pop to experimental.

-Jesse

I passionately enjoy life and loving those around me. I love capturing priceless moments in time with my camera, especially of my dogs. I love to travel to other cities and to see new places in my own town. I adore a great glass of wine with a fantastic meal and cannot live without music or sports. Passion. It's what living is.

-Beci

The most important thing to me is my kids: my son, Andrew who just graduated from high school and became an Eagle Scout, and my daughter, Addison, who's an extremely creative, artsy ten-year-old. I also enjoy coaching XC and track at Cary High School, and I love music, whether that means going to concerts and festivals or just listening to my record collection at home.

-Victoria

I am passionate about saving the environment and endangered species. One of my favorite places is the Duke Lemur Center. There I can help keep some of the most critically endangered creatures in the world from vanishing. Quiet forests and empty meadows are right up there as favorite places too. And did I mention—lemurs!

-Jennie

I am passionate about people and their stories. I love writing for work and pleasure, and am an information and experience junkie. I'm here to create entertaining and engaging stories that people relate to and learn from. Feed my brain, my soul, or my stomach and magic follows. Interesting fact: I get excited about just about everything that I do.

-Ticia

Equality, environmental preservation of Madagascar and the oceans, prehistoric megafauna, fiber arts, trap-neuter-return programs, and watching bad movies with friends.

-B

Mountain biking, travel, and Finnish sauna.

-Max

Family means the most to me. I have three wonderful kids who keep me and my wife on our toes. I am also an eternally optimistic Wolfpack fan.

-Davey

I'm passionate about all things coding, anime, and video games. I'm really into speedrunning and competitive fighting games.

-Scott

While my work is almost entirely focused on technology, I spend my free time combining technology with art. Photography, travel, and writing are passions that I document on Geek Field Guide. More recently, I've picked up astrophotography, electronics design, and 3D printing as other places to spend brain cycles. Sometimes I remember to sleep.

-Warren