I've been in operations for over a decade. I didn't quit to build apps. I built apps while staying in operations. That distinction matters.
The Turning Point
Late nights counting inventory while my family slept. Doing data entry instead of cooking and creating food experiences. After years of this, the manual processes were taking more of my time than the actual work.
I wasn't building anything. I was maintaining. And the maintaining was endless.
The Food Waste Problem
50 lbs of fresh vegetables expiring daily with no way to redistribute. I tried everything -phone calls to charities, Facebook groups, driving food myself after a 14-hour shift. The system was broken. I couldn't coordinate at scale with manual effort.
The Lightbulb Moment
After years of this, I realized the problems could be solved with software. Not because I had a startup idea. Because the manual process was visibly broken and the fix was obvious -if you could build it.
Learning to Code at 40
Zero technical background. Started with YouTube. Took courses. Learned JavaScript, React. Spent every spare moment learning. Built the first ShareTable prototype in 6 months while still running a full kitchen operation.
Building While Operating
I didn't leave operations -I added building systems to what I already do. That's the whole point. I see problems every day. I build tools to fix them. ShareTable, RentRight, CaterOS all came from friction I experienced in live operations.
The tools ship because they're needed. The consulting is grounded in real work. Neither works without the other.
Why I'm Sharing This
If you're an operator drowning in manual work -watching hours disappear into spreadsheets, group chats, and repeated mistakes -there's a way out. It's not a hack. It's a system. And systems can be built.
That's why I started XenoSoft. Not to sell software. To help operators fix what's broken.