About

Hello, I am Billy McCord Father, Maker, Technologist, with more than 25 years in the information technology industry, and a “Maker” my entire life. I grew up near Lexington KY on a cattle farm where my grandfather also ran a Vermeer farm machinery dealership. From about the 4th grade on I worked in the dealership’s repair shop every summer and after school. Learned to weld and purchased my first tool a century 5 star AC/DC  welder featuring a high frequency arc generator  and TIG my 6th grade year, a $1,200.00 item which I negotiated down to $600.00 because it was a demonstrator model. Seeing the value I was able to add with the machine my grandfather reimbursed me for the tool. 

During my high school years was fortunate enough to play football my Jr year, and  I was a member of our local Future Farmers of America chapter each year of high school , eventually chairing the public relations committee my SR year. I also completed in with the FFA welding team and received high rankings in state competitions.  Along with the usual college track and general education courses, I also took wood, metal, and electronics shop classes.

3zi4prdq15jd0nq3j1lcp3wag496851972-3My father enjoyed a long and prosperous career with IBM, and his influences and success  left me torn between my interest in the computing industry/business  and my love of agriculture, my parents always encouraged me to follow my aspirations and while nudged me one way or another they allowed me to make my own life decisions as I matured.

Towards the end of my Sr. year my grandfather offered to have me take over the Machinery dealership as I had become integral portion of the repair shop business. Wanting to pursue college, I turned down the opportunity and it remains to this day one of the difficult decisions I have ever made. I attended Kentucky Christian College (University now) my freshman year, and later transferred to the University of Kentucky and completed a degree in Computer Information Systems.

In retrospect I realize it was the best decision for me, as I continue to have a long and wonderful career in Information Technology serving in education, government,  finance, retail, and manufacturing industries. Eventually serving as the CIO of a retail credit banking organization and currently a manager for a top consulting company in the Cincinnati market serving a Fortune 20 customer managing a team of 26 consultants.

While I have been a maker my entire I have taken renewed interest in the past year focusing on but not limited to woodworking projects, in April 2016 at the encouragement of Izzy Swan from (izzyswan.com) and Nick Ferry, (nickferry.com) I posted my first YouTube video and was hooked. I look forward to shop time every day which being a single father is difficult to fit into the busy life. I have many projects planned for my YouTube channel and look forward to posting new content a few times a month. I strive to produce better content, and place a focus on learning new skills weekly.  I would be honored if you would join my YouTube channel as a subscriber and feel free to critique my work.