It started early. Mike wrote his first BASIC program when he was 7 years old on the family’s Tandy 1000, with help from his mom, who was learning COBOL and Fortran in college at the time. While still in school he handled the computer and voice networks for his family’s refrigeration company. At J. Sterling Morton High School he built the band’s website and an inventory database for its music and uniforms, and as the theater’s lighting designer he configured new digital lighting consoles and programmed automated cues for live performances.
After high school he moved from working the soda fountain at Petersen Ice Cream Company in Oak Park into the corporate office, where he managed the company’s systems—including a Novell server and a full re-wiring of the restaurant when a new point-of-sale system was installed. He also handled bookkeeping, billing, collections, wholesale sales and credit, inventory, and delivery scheduling. That experience running the business side is why Mike and LAYER3 approach technology in terms of what it does for the business
At the same time he studied Computer Science with a focus in network technology at DePaul University on a Presidential Scholarship, taking electives in business, accounting, business law, and business psychology. That combination of technical training and business electives reinforced the pattern already set by his earlier work: hands-on responsibility for the full technology stack, always viewed through what it does for the business.
For more than 25 years he has designed and supported networks from the carrier circuit to the desktop, deployed and maintained servers (in-house and cloud), phone systems (POTS through multiple generations of SIP and IVR), and built custom applications and integrations that replaced manual processes. At one company the operation still relied on dumb terminals and paper books when he started; by the time he left, the same systems handled originations, payment processing, collections, outbound calling and texting, commission calculation, revenue recognition, internal accounting, and outside audit reporting—largely automated. His specialty is getting more out of the systems that aren’t so easily be replaced — either due to budget constraints or by lack of available out-of-the-box solutions.
LAYER3 was formed in 2023 so other businesses could get that same practical, end-to-end approach: technology that fits how the company actually works, whether that means connecting legacy systems to modern tools, automating work that used to be done by hand, or simply keeping the network, security, and software running reliably.
In his spare time, Mike plays drums and vibes. Early on, his brother and dad formed the family band EEEasy Does It, which once opened for Electric Light Orchestra at LyonsFest, performed at the Sandwich County Fair, and held a regular residency for more than 15 years at Woodsmoke Ranch in Seneca, IL. Mike became a certified SCUBA diver at age 13 and has explored coral reefs from the Cayman and Virgin Islands to Hawaii. He twice participated in Walt Disney World’s EPCOT DiveQuest at the Living Seas, diving among stingrays, sharks, and more than 2,000 other sea creatures while Disney guests watched.
