Alignment Statement
Since learning about staking on Ethereum, and finding RocketPool in August of 2022, I could instantly see that RocketPool was who I wanted to use to stake. Fully decentralised, welcoming, helpful community and they really do care about home stakers. I loved seeing how all are welcome, regardless of the knowledge possessed around crypto.
Conflict Statement
I don’t believe I have any conflicts to disclose. I only hold ETH and RPL in my portfolio. I did initially use Lido to stake ETH when I was learning about Staking. Hopefully this isn’t an instant disqualification.
Identity Statement
I’m a 39 male who resides in Canada. I’m married and have a teenage son. My entire working career has been at the same Financial Institution, working in IT, starting on Helpdesk, moving to Server and Storage management, and have recently moved into IT Security, which I am loving. I’ve tried many times over the last few years to get the FI to look at incorporating Crypto in the banking platform, but no one seems interested….yet 
. This type of career gave me some of the skills required to be able to help and troubleshoot issues in the #Support Channel.
Contribution Statement
When I first started out reading how to run a RP validator, I searched for videos on YouTube to help me along the way. I didn’t see any videos, so I took it upon myself to document the steps as best I could and post numerous videos documenting every step. While the videos are somewhat dated now, I just wanted to show people how easy it was to setup a RP validator who may learn better by seeing the process versus reading the steps.
I then took this knowledge and started to help out in the support channel. I love being able to help fellow or potential NO when an issue strikes and get them back up and running, or answering a question that a potential NO might have. I have learned so much, and still have so much more to learn in that space, but I enjoy every minute of it.
Additional Information
My journey like most started with BTC, but quickly learned it wasn’t the coin for me. I found the community to be uptight and it was very difficult to have any type of conversation or debate with a BTC Maxi. This led me to Ethereum, and learning all Ethereum can do. I found the tech to be amazing, and the community open to discussing faults and fixes that Ethereum had. I hope that one day (maybe 10 or 20 years from now), crypto won’t be seen in such a negative light, and that BTC, ETH and other legitimate coins (Like RPL ) can actually be discussed in public without people giving you a weird look. To sum it up, Almost 40, and just trying to live my best life and not take things to seriously. Have some fun, learn some stuff, make some friends.