A child of the world, Rik was born in London and spent the majority of his youth living in locations from  Anchorage, Alaska to Cocoa Beach, Florida.  This was the life of a Military Brat.  The rest of the story has been primarily the U.S. Marine Corps, Japan and Technology. After rounding out his education at Steubenville High School in Ohio and with few options other than working in local retail or trying to get into the steel mills, he made the decision to continue his life in the Military by joining the United States Marine Corps.

Rik's first role in the Marines was that of a Field Wireman for a direct fire support artillery battery.  Although the work was physically challenging there was no mental challenge to it.  Repetition was the norm.  After a brief stint in the Battalion's Legal Shop, Rik submitted for a move to become a Marine Corps Broadcast Journalist.  The request was approved and after an intense auditioning process he was accepted into the Defense Information School to study Broadcast Journalism.  Upon returning to North Carolina, Rik was dispatched to the Joint Public Affairs Office to cover all elements of the Marine Corps Units and missions that were being conducted out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. There was still something missing. 

Rik wanted to experience the world.  He was given orders to Rota, Spain.  These orders were modified at the last minute and modified for him to report to Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan to work at the Far East Network a full blown Radio/Television station for the Marines stationed there.  It is here that Rik fell in love with Japan. 4.5 years at Iwakuni, and a 2nd place finish as the Department of Defense Thomas Jefferson Award for Broadcaster of the Year left little more for Rik to strive for within the Marine Corps. 

In 1993, after 8 years, Rik left the Marine Corps for life as a Civil Servant working for the Department of the Navy at Yokosuka Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan running the base Cable Television Channel CFAY-7. Although a solid position, the work again was less than challenging and shortly after a position was offered at Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo to run the Television Production Facility for the base Services Division.  The move introduced him to other areas of Marketing, Commercial Sponsorship as well as Video/Radio production.

One summer day in Harajuku in Tokyo, Rik met a graphic designer and after chatting discovered that Reuters was hiring for Video Production staff for their Financial Television Service in Tokyo.  After interviewing, Rik signed on as a Video Editor.  Not long after, he moved into the "Gallery" and began running Audio, Video and Directing for On-Air programs.  The work was fun and the pay was greater than what the Military could have ever offered.  It did however take him out of his comfort zone of living and working around the Military. During this time, Rik became interested in the computer systems that were being utilized in producing the Television programs.  Self-study became his priority as technology slowly became his passion both professionally and personally. 

It was time for yet another leap of fate as he re-wrote his resume and submitted it to the Technology Marketplace.  In months, he was approached, interviewed and hired into a major internation Investment Bank as an IT Support Analyst supporting a Trading Floor.  This was his move into technology, and what he continues to do to this day.