Every month, we like to shine the spotlight on our team members who make the biggest difference for our subscribers. This month, we interviewed Sean Lee, a DevOps Assistant here at Liftoff! Sean may be new here, but he’s already such a valuable asset to Team Liftoff! Let’s learn more about Sean and the skills he brings to our team.
Liftoff: Sean, what brought you to Liftoff?
Sean: I can’t believe it has already been 4 months since I joined Liftoff. Time flies when you’re having fun! My position here at Liftoff as a DevOps Assistant is my first real breakthrough into the IT world. Before Liftoff, I taught basic coding to kids and teens for a bit at iD Tech and did some translating/interpreting at SK Battery America.
Liftoff: What’s your role here? What do you enjoy most about being a part of Team Liftoff?
Sean: As a DevOps Assistant, my current duties consist of whatever Caleb throws my way! To be a bit more serious, my focus over the past couple of months has been on working toward PCI compliance. Liftoff is moving to become PCI Level 1 compliant, and there are quite a few requirements that must be met. I also got a taste of working with CI/CD pipelines not too long ago. My greatest enjoyment in working here is learning about industry-related tools and knowledge. With every passing day, I feel that I’m growing as a professional.
Liftoff: What’s your favorite part of the Liftoff platform?
Sean: Full transparency here. I’m not a developer who makes features for Liftoff, nor am I someone who demos the product, so, in my four months here, I haven’t had the chance to learn too much about the customer-facing end of our product just yet. But overall, I love that this company is 100% on the cloud, which is very cool, and we have a well-established system to deal with problems and incidents!
Liftoff: What has been the most pivotal moment in your life so far?
Sean: The pivotal moment in my life was when I decided to earn my AWS Solutions Architect – Associate certification. Previously, I’d chosen to be a Computer Science major, not out of passion, but out of familiarity, and my lack of enthusiasm showed in my performance. I even lost my HOPE scholarship for a semester.
Pursuing this certification marked a major turning point; it required weeks of dedicated study and broke a cycle of indifference and poor performance. Securing the certification boosted my confidence and reignited a “can-do” spirit.
This drive led to valuable projects and further certifications on my resume, catching the attention of Caleb and Michael, which brought me here to Liftoff!
Liftoff: Enough about work. What makes you happy, Sean?
Sean: Well, I’ve been a video game and anime nerd for as long as I can remember. Painting miniatures is also something I picked up a couple of years ago.
As for something a little more active, I’ve ended my hiatus and started going to the gym again, lifting weights. This has also led me to my latest obsession with Pickleball. I definitely didn’t think I’d be so into it when I first tried it – I was just bitter over my gym’s monthly fee and looked for something to convince me to keep paying for it. Safe to say that I found it!
Liftoff: Thank you for sitting down with us, Sean! It’s been great to get to know you better. Do you have anything else you would like to share?
Sean: Though I may be behind the curtain, so to speak, every project I contribute to is done with our customers in mind. I’m proud to be part of a team that prioritizes delivering the highest quality experience possible!