About Stan and the workshop
A workshop, not an empire. A few friends, a small set of tools, and a shared belief that there are good people in the world when life’s challenges and opportunities arise.
Hi, I’m Stan.
By day I’m the Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Information Officer for a quantum computing company. That’s the formal part, and it’s the least interesting thing about why this place exists.
It really started with a bank adding machine. My dad worked in banking back when the world was sliding from mechanical to digital, and one day he brought one home and told me I could take it apart. It took me days, every lever, spring, and fastener, all of it working together. I never did have to put it back together, which was lucky, but I was hooked. I’ve wanted to know how things work ever since, and I’ve spent my career building things and keeping people safe and secure.
Long before any of that, I spent a few summers teaching kids blacksmithing and woodworking at camp. That’s probably where I first learned how good it feels to hand someone a hammer and watch them make something they were sure they couldn’t.
The other half of the story is the people. Friends, family, and folks I worked with kept seeing something in the rough version of me and putting me up to things I was sure were past my reach. Sometimes they were right. That kind of belief, handed to someone for free, changes what they think they’re capable of. I’ve never forgotten it.
Stan’s Workshop is me trying to hand that forward. Most of what I make, I make for a friend who needed it, usually for nothing more than a coffee or a beer. The workshop is that same instinct opened up: a small place full of people who want to help each other build things, learn something, and get unstuck, with no strings attached. Not an audience. Not a pitch. Just good people, making stuff and passing it on. If something here makes you think “maybe I could build that too,” you’re exactly who it’s for. Pull up a bench.
Stan
Why this exists
Most places online want your attention. This one wants your participation - bring something, take something, leave when life pulls you elsewhere, come back when you’re ready.
What’s here
A short on-ramp to AI for people who’ve been meaning to try it (Try AI with Stan). A list of projects in motion or shipped. A way to book time if there’s something a conversation could help with. A place to share an idea you’ve been turning over. And a build log that shows how the workshop itself is being put together, openly.