About

I’m Justin

I live in South Wales with my wife and two daughters.

I’m a data consultant

I specialise in Business Intelligence and the Modern Data Platform, I focus on Microsoft products but my specialisms can be applied across other areas. I am a Microsoft Certified Trainer. I am collecting certifications, some are below, you can see more on my certification page. My latest certs are…

I’m a community advocate

I am active in the data community, I am co-organiser of a popular online data conference called DataWeekender and I am a co-organiser of the Data South Wales user group that is located in Cardiff. I also volunteer at SqlBits and Data Toboggan. I have recently become a STEM Ambassador and have clocked up over 30 hours of volunteering time with local schools.

I’m a business owner

I co-founded Metricy Ltd with Ryan Gillett, a small data consultancy based in South Wales. We are a Microsoft partner. We provide consultancy and training services.

I’m a friend of Redgate

I have been accused of being a Redgate fanboy in the past AND THEY WERE RIGHT. Redgate are a fantastic company and I have historically been a huge ambassador of their products. They continue to make ingeniously simple tools and it was a huge honour for me that in 2020 I became a friend of Redgate. You can read more about that in my blog. My latest FORG badge is…

I’m a tech enthusiast

I have been on a fantastic journey in the world of tech. My Dad bought our first computer, a Texas Instruments TI99 in 1986, when I was 6.

I was interested in tech from a young age, and curious at breaking down stuff to understand how it worked - I remember being sent to the headmaster in primary school for exploring the operating system on one of the school’s Macintoshes despite us all being told explicitly not to click on the apple logo.

My game playing years were spent on a Commodore Amiga.

I was building machines in my early teens. It took me a few more years to realise that tech was to be my career (I thought I wanted to go into Accountancy or Law until it was too late for my A-Levels), but once the journey started I never looked back. I have run down a few dead ends and have missed a few junctions along the way. I am extremely lucky to have eventually fallen into a career that I love.

I’m trying to work in tech whilst not being consumed by it

Josh Duffney’s blog post popped up at the right time. Lockdown left me in one long, always-on, plugged-in day from the moment I get up until I eventually drag myself to bed…and it was exhausting. Reading his digital declutter led to a few trials of different approaches and I am still learning to remain as unplugged as I can.

I’m a huge football fan

I am obsessed with football, I am still dragging myself around a 5 aside pitch despite Rhian insisting I am too old for that sort of thing. My local team is…Manchester United. I have watched Ferguson propel the club to lofty heights and watched everyone since dismantle it. Ole gave me the most incredible (football) night of my life in 1999.

That was until the night Hal Robson Kanu sent the Belgium defence for hot dogs and scored the greatest goal in Welsh history.

I’m starting on a family quest

The Bird Family Quest was inspired by reading Brent Ozar’s Epic Life Quest and in turn, Steve Kamb’s Epic Quest of Awesome. I have always loosely kept a bucket list but never really dedicated time to it. I started putting the foundations of our quest together with my kids to give them something positive to focus on during lockdown. They were promised a special 2020, it’s been anything but.

I planned to document much of this, I wrote out many goals, just never got round to properly document it. I will start putting this together soon.

I’m trying to stay healthy

I have been working remotely for several years - albeit not permanently like I am now - and during that time I have introduced various apps and working practices to help me work effectively. I returned to work towards the end of lockdown and I have found that permanently working remotely and being socially distanced has had an impact on my personal and mental wellbeing.

At the start of 2023 after several false starts, I set about making running a habit. That started with the Couch to 5k program and I have been running regularly since.

I ran my first 10k for Cancer Research in July 2023. And ran the Cardiff Half in October 2023 on behalf of Mind. I raised over £1000 in 2023 for both charities.

I’m a Star Wars fanboy

I grew up with the original trilogy. If I wasn’t a data consultant I would probably have been a Jedi…who could fly the Falcon.

I’m happy to have a chat

If you want to get in touch, please use the contact form.