Chris Brower grew up on the beaches of Sarasota, FL with skateboarding, skim-boarding, and music as his main hobbies. Computers and programming were definitely hobbies as well, but they were not at the forefront. However, when a major accident happened at the age of 16 essentially removing skateboarding and skim-boarding from the list of possible hobbies, Chris ended up making computers his primary hobby.
Chris attended LeTourneau University focusing on a Computer Science & Engineering degree. Chris was a part of the IEEE programming team, the phoenix autonomous helicopter program, and the IBM program. Originally focusing more on electrical engineering and the circuit board side of computers, Chris ended up becoming more attracted to web development and the huge amount of potential it was generating at the time. Even as early as his sophomore summer, Chris was working with a company designing web applications to handle international tax forms and submission for Fortune 100 companies. It was also during this time that he would also meet his future-wife, Desiree. Not too long after graduation, Chris & Desiree got married.
Over the next decade and more, Chris would get more and more involved with web development. From the birth of the .NET Framework to the birth of .NET core, Chris has followed these changes in technology and strives to stay current on best practices. Chris also takes an active part in local training initiatives throughout the Tampa area. Involved in gatherings like Tampa Code Camp and Tampa Bar Camp, Chris believes that constant learning and sharing those learned elements is one of the best ways to keep yourself excelling in what you do.
We hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about Chris and his technical background. If you’d like to learn a bit more about Chris, we’ve asked him some questions which he has answered below.
What did you do, or where did you go on your favorite vacation?
My favorite vacation was a two and a half week trip to Peru. This is my favorite vacation as it was just two and a half weeks with just me and my wife. We had no itinerary, just two and half weeks to visit literally wherever we wanted. We ended up all over the place! From Machu Pichu to a place called Huacachina near Ica, we tasted almost everything Peru had to offer. I also tried sandboarding, high speed dune buggies, and more!
When did you get married? How did you meet?
I’ve been happily married for over 10 years now! Desiree and I got married on July 7th, 2007. We had no idea once we had picked that date how hard it would be to book things. Turns out people really liked that date, and we later found out that it’s because July 7th of 2007 ends up being “07/07/07”. We stuck to it, and now I have literally no excuse to ever forget an anniversary!
Do you have any children?
I do! Riley was born in 2011 and Savannah was born in 2016. They are both super energetic. For both of them, their love language is time together. Riley isn’t really into gifts, he just wants to go do something together. They love when I take them with me on the bike trailer. This works great for all of us as Dad gets a workout and the kids have a good time!
Sports? Sports teams?
I play disc golf pretty casually. As far as “normal” sports, pretty much the entire extended Brower family are fans of the Miami Dolphins, but I don’t really follow it all that much. I love watching E-sports though. My favorites teams are TeamMGG (Magic the Gathering) and Team Liquid (CSGO).
Favorite Restaurant?
Dinner and then dessert at Bern’s Steak House in Tampa, FL. If you go, ask for the tour of the wine cellar.
What is your favorite movie?
Young Frankenstein. I quote this movie more than one professional probably should.
Any bucket list items?
Well, the bucket list has changed a lot over the years so I’ll give you some of the latest and greatest ones
- Own a vacation home in North Carolina
- Visit some of the wineries in France