From the start, working with computers was more than just a business – it became an outlet of sorts after a skiing accident left me paralyzed at age 13. It was during my time in rehab that a family friend lent me a computer and, with a lot of downtime on my hands, I really got into the machine. Working with the computer helped me cope with the impact of my paralysis. I went from being a four-season athlete to unable to even walk in the blink of an eye. For a time, I tried getting back into sports, and while that passion didn’t come back, there was something about working with computers that was great and came easily to me.

I planned to go into law like my father and started at Tufts University, but the computer never left me. At 4am when you had a paper due the next morning, and the computer was on the fritz, it was my door you knocked on. Towards the end of my studies, I realized being a lawyer wasn’t the path for me, and computers came calling again. I returned to Hartford and spent nine months helping my mother Robin upgrade the computer system at her dental office. As we worked to move the office into a paperless world, the scope grew, and I ended up restructuring the front office staff and building a new administrative team.

From there I went on to run the IT department for an environmental engineering firm. Eventually, the firm saw in me a talent for sales and sent me out on the road. I closed my first pitch and from there, the pressure was on to spend more of my time out in the field selling and less time managing our technology.

After a little less than a year in this dual role, I put it all together and realized that I should combine my sales, team building, and network engineering skills to provide high quality and reliable IT services to businesses. The need for talented staff to help firms close the gap between their business needs and the vast options in technology was clear. With a determination to help small and mid-size organizations harness the power of technology, I founded IT Direct in 2002 right out of my apartment. My first client was my previous employer, and things have grown steadily ever since. After adding staff and clients, we moved to our first office and over time have grown in size and scope; in 2013 we bought our own building.

Through our laser focus on driving client value, we are honored to have been recognized in a number of regional, national and international awards including: Inc. Magazine’s annual list of America’s 5000 Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies for the last three years as well as being recognized by the industry leading MSP Mentor Top 501, the Ingram Micro SMB 500, the Marcum Tech Top 40, and Inc. Magazine’s 50 Best Places to Work in the U.S.