As one of only a handful of women receiving a Computer Science degree from the University of Illinois in 1989, I had the privilege of working at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). It was here that I watched and participated in the evolution of the Internet and found a love for the care and feeding of computers. Post-graduation, I was offered a full-time position in the supercomputing center managing Unix and graphics computers. I was also a beta tester for Mosaic, the very first Internet browser.

I went on to have a rich career in systems administration. I participated in the construction of software-development workflows, and I worked with customers to ensure that their resource requests met their actual needs. 

Then, in 2000, I made the choice to stay at home with my two sons. During this time I found that my ability to translate technical lingo into plain English was in high demand. I provided technical assistance to my sons’ schools; I ran remote tech support for friends and family; and I created multiple websites for clubs and sports teams. After my young adults left the nest, I knew that I wanted to combine my technological, communication and problem-solving skills to start my own business – Ask Amy K, LLC.