The Road to OFTS
Outrageous Fortune isn’t the usual name for a tech company. But then again, this hasn’t been the usual road. The name comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:
“Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them.”
To me, that passage has always been about choice. Do we accept the difficulties life throws at us, or do we act – even in the face of uncertainty? That tension between endurance and action has shaped my own journey, and eventually, it gave a name to the work I do today.
OFTS began long before websites. My best friend Layle and I – along with eight others – co-founded Outrageous Fortune Theatre Company. For a decade we performed and taught Shakespeare to thousands of elementary school students, reaching classrooms, Renaissance faires, and even art openings. We learned and taught how to fight safely onstage, how to improvise in iambic pentameter when our lines went south, and how Shakespeare’s themes are still universal more than 400 years later. Theatre taught me how to collaborate, how to hold an audience, and how to remind people that stories matter.
From theatre, I moved into teaching high school English. There I saw firsthand that language unlocks everything else. Reading, comprehension, and communication are the golden keys – they open the door to every other subject, nearly every future opportunity. I spent those years helping students in a “last chance” school graduate, plan what was next, and believe in possibilities they sometimes didn’t even know existed. Teaching honed my ability to break down the complex into the clear, to encourage when the work was hard, and to keep pointing forward.
When the curtain closed on teaching, I stepped into the next act: tech. As part of the bridge generation – born analog, now living digital – I carry both perspectives. I started building websites, coaching people through overwhelm, and troubleshooting the tech details that kept them stuck. It felt natural that this next chapter would still be called Outrageous Fortune. Because websites aren’t just about code; they’re about stories, systems, and support. Tech became the place where I could bring together creativity, clarity, and practical help.
Technology is shifting constantly – new platforms, new tools, new expectations. The challenge is to build systems that evolve, not just survive. For me, the way forward is not easy, but simple: stay curious, stay flexible, and keep people at the center. That’s how I plan to keep OFTS not just relevant, but useful – a source of practical support right where people are, with enough foresight to help them stay ahead.
The name Outrageous Fortune still reminds me of Hamlet’s torment – the way uncertainty can paralyze us between suffering what may come and stepping into action. Both endurance and action have value, but living caught in hesitation is what can drain us. From theatre to teaching to tech, I’ve learned that my path is to act – to build, to support, and to keep adapting with stubborn optimism. And if you ever find yourself staring down your own “slings and arrows” – a confusing website, a tangle of tech, or just the feeling of being stuck – OFTech will be here, ready when you are.
