Mike Barra

I grew up outside Boston. When I wasn’t splashing around in ponds and catching frogs I was taking things apart and figuring out how they worked. Everything from hair dryers to televisions. I was building computers from scratch and putting together AV systems for home theater and car audio, and scavenging electronics from scrapyards and garage sales for parts.

Water and mountains

Water and mountains were always in the mix too. I learned to ski first, but switched quickly to snowboarding and fractured my arm on day one. I’ve been hooked ever since! As soon as I was out of diapers I’ve been in canoes and kayaks on lakes, rivers, and open ocean, with many multi-day excursions in the remote wilderness waterways of Northern Maine. One summer I saw some lobster traps for sale on the side of the road, so I bought three of them and towed them out into the ocean on the back of a kayak. All summer I paddled out to haul them up, and I caught so much lobster I was giving it away.

Recreation

I also spent years in recreation departments, working my way from volunteer preschool helper to camp counselor and eventually summer camp director, youth programs director, and assistant recreation director. That work put me in close contact with local families every day, and taught me more about patience and problem-solving under pressure than I expected from what started as a summer job.

On the clock

Eventually I moved to California to chase snowboarding and get into media production, and ended up putting down roots in the Tahoe Basin. 15+ years now. The same instincts that had me building and rebuilding computers as a kid turned into a business with two sides: Flowing Pixels Systems for anything hardware: repairs, custom builds, networks, diagnostics, smart home and internet of things. While Flowing Pixels Studio is for anything creative: web design, branding, apparel and merch, video, photography. Different skill sets, same approach: figure out what’s actually going on, then optimize it.

Off the clock

Outside of work, I’m usually out exploring the Basin with my dog while I wait for hard drive prices to drop.

Good to meet you

If you scanned this card, we’ve probably already talked shop, or you’ve got something that needs fixing or building. Either way, good to meet you. Save my info below.