Teddy is a father, a Marine, and a Frederick man, the oldest of six. His mom raised them on her own and worked herself to the bone in a neighborhood where drugs, poverty, and violence were just part of the air you breathed. People meet him now and assume he never left. Truth is, he leaves all the time! He just always comes back home, and he brings back whatever he learned out there with him.
He stays endlessly curious; ask him about almost anything and he’ll want to figure it out with you.
Teddy will tell you that instinct to learn is probably the most honest thing about him. Teddy is a learning strategist, by profession, so growth sits at the center of everything he does, including his faith, how he parents, and how he shows up for his friends.
Extracurriculars
Teddy divides his time between many things! When he isn’t spending as much time with his boys as possible, he’s sharing quality time with his social circle in and around Frederick County. It’s never a surprise to bump into Teddy somewhere downtown. He stays active and moving!
Right now, he can’t stop digging into AI. Not the gadgets, but what it can teach us and how it helps him build organizations and move fast. He uses it every day – which is exactly why he also worries about how we use it as a community.
Why we love Teddy
We love Teddy because he shows an interest in everyone and everything. He is often the first to introduce himself to a new member. He will help you with anything if he is able to. He has endless curiosity about people and the world. And his charisma and positive energy are infectious – it feels great to be around him!
Q&A with Teddy
How did you get into your field?
I’ve spent about two decades as a learning and change strategist, helping people and organizations actually change instead of just talking about it. I’m building that into my own consulting practice now, Frederick Civic Works, and Visionary Productions with a team I love (several of them friends from right here at Cowork). Productions is where I get to make things and share messages that matter. Content just happens to be the best way I’ve found to get an important idea in front of the people who need to hear it.
The real heart of it, though, is Frederick Civic Works. FCW is what I want to spend my days on. The goal is simple, and it’s also my life’s work: build an organization that supports and grows civic life, prove it here, then take the model to other communities. I think Frederick is a kind of nexus, a place where a lot of the important work of the next decade is going to happen. The Frederick Forward Club is how I’m finding my political voice, and I’m quietly laying the groundwork to run for office in 2028. FCW isn’t a campaign tool, though. It’s the mission itself.
What inspires you and keeps you going?
Honestly? God and love. That’s the engine.
The love I mean isn’t romantic love, though I value that too. It’s agape. A love for the innocence in people. Kids chasing each other down the street, the hum of a town full of life, a quiet gratitude for getting to do something meaningful with the time I have. It shows up as my kids, as my mother’s memory, as my faith, as my community. I believe I’ll answer one day for how I spent this life, and that I owe the world, and the people who carry my name after I’m gone, something better than I found. Love is what keeps me walking toward that.
Cowork Frederick members tend to be a little unconventional. How does that apply to you?
I keep my life pretty simple. Three rules: show up for the people you love, hold a standard for yourself and the people around you, and take care of your people and your community. That frame cuts a lot of noise out of my days. The hustle-for-its-own-sake stuff, the status games, the kind of success that photographs well and feels empty.
Here’s the part that probably makes me a bit of a rebel. I won’t pick one lane. I’m a strategist and a grassroots organizer and a consultant, a man of deep faith and a relentless questioner. Everyone tells you to focus on one thing. I’ve done the opposite.
Life, I don’t see any of it as some uphill battle. It’s a journey with a purpose.
Which of the guiding values defined by Cowork Frederick members speaks to you?
Authenticity. When I ran for Congress back in 2016, the thing that stuck with me had nothing to do with policy or fundraising. It was this: you can’t outsource authenticity. No consultant or pollster or strategist can hand you a voice you don’t already have.
I’ve never fit cleanly into a political box. I’ve got a libertarian streak, some conservative roots from my family, a few genuinely progressive instincts, and I argue with all of them. I think government should be about people and community, not corporations and greed wearing the costume of justice. For a long time that in-between felt like being politically homeless.
Now I think it’s the most honest place a person can stand. Authenticity, for me, is just being the same guy on a stage, in a meeting, a conversation, and at my own table, trusting people to feel the difference.
Any tips for someone interested in your line of work?
If you want to do this kind of work, my advice is to follow what actually interests you and then go build something. Strategy, change management, civic organizing, none of it opens up because you collected the right credentials. It opens up when you make a real thing and put it in front of a real person. Start before you feel ready. The reps will teach you more than any theory will.
Here’s one thing from this past year that’s genuinely moved the needle for me, with a warning attached. I taught myself to use AI like a workforce instead of a toy, and it lets one person do the work of a small team. So don’t wait until you completely understand a new technology to start using it. Get your hands on it this week. But keep your eyes open about the costs. I’m a believer in decentralized, resilient systems over giant centralized ones. Use the tools. Just don’t let the tools quietly reshape your community while you’re not looking.
Why Cowork Frederick?
I’ve been at Cowork Frederick for about nine years, and the honest answer is the people. I could work from my house or a coffee shop, but then I’d miss the part that actually matters to me, being around other folks who are building things and who push me and pull me forward. The space has a homey feel and the relationships in it are real. My whole philosophy comes down to taking care of your people, so coworking was never really about the desk for me. It’s about who’s sitting near it. It’s been a genuinely good thing in my life.
For those who want to learn more, how can you be reached?