Putting Rubber to the Road: The Beginning of ETES

Every dream seems to have the same beautiful beginning.

It starts as an idea.

Sometimes it is something you have thought about for years. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere. And sometimes one small idea leads to another, then another, until suddenly you realize you might be looking at something much bigger than you originally imagined.

But eventually every dream reaches the same point:

You have to start building it.

For me, that step became real on September 13, 2026.

Although, if I am going to tell the story of ETES honestly, its beginning goes back a little further.

It Actually Started With an Aquarium

The earliest concept that would eventually lead me toward ETES started in early August 2026.

And strangely enough, it started with me looking into building a modular filtration system for reef aquariums.

Aquariums and fish husbandry have become a major hobby of mine, and like a lot of people who get deeply involved in the hobby, I quickly discovered something:

Aquariums are expensive.

I knew that if I wanted to continue feeding my aquarium addiction, I was probably going to need to find a way to generate some additional income.

At the time, I wasn't sitting down trying to invent a new environmental technology company.

I was trying to solve a much smaller problem.

But that small problem started me down a rabbit hole.

Learning to Use AI Differently

Around the same time, something else changed.

For a long time, I had been skeptical about artificial intelligence. Eventually, I stopped looking at AI as something to avoid and started looking at it for what I believe it can be when used correctly:

A tool - not a crutch.

My first real use of ChatGPT wasn't particularly revolutionary.

I was using AI image generation to help develop ideas for Navy Chief Petty Officer Season shirts, challenge coins, and other designs.

Then I started asking questions about another thing I enjoyed: aquariums.

That is when things began to change.

I realized I could ask a question and receive information relatively quickly. More importantly, I could ask a follow-up question immediately.

Then another.

Then another.

It didn't replace doing my own research. In fact, I quickly learned that anything important still needed to be verified independently.

But it dramatically changed how quickly I could explore an idea.

Instead of spending hours trying to figure out exactly what terminology I needed to search for, I could begin with a question, learn enough to ask a better question, research the answer myself, and then continue digging.

That process became incredibly valuable.

Ideas Don't Always Happen Behind a Desk

At the time, I was also balancing everything else in my life.

I am a Chief Petty Officer with approximately 17½ years in the United States Navy. I was nearing the end of a Limited Duty period, helping manage two divisions consisting of nearly 40 Sailors, and completing an extensive external command program assessment.

Then, of course, there is the responsibility that matters more than any of that:

My family.

There aren't a lot of extra hours left in the day after all of those responsibilities are taken care of.

So ETES wasn't born during eight-hour brainstorming sessions in a conference room.

A lot of it happened wherever I happened to have time to think.

I found myself talking through ideas with ChatGPT and Gemini while driving across Jacksonville, Florida.

I thought about concepts while standing over the grill during my normal weekend meal-prep sessions.

And probably more often than I should admit, I found myself lying in bed late at night after Alexia had gone to sleep, still asking questions and working through another idea.

It definitely wasn't helping my sleep cycle.

But something had clicked.

It felt like my brain - and sometimes my heart - were on fire.

Every answer seemed to create three more questions.

Every question seemed to uncover another possibility.

And what started as an idea surrounding aquariums began growing into something much larger.

I Wanted to Build Something Bigger

I have thought about starting businesses before.

I've had plenty of ideas over the years.

Some of them were good ideas.

Some probably weren't.

And several could possibly have become successful small businesses.

But they always felt limited.

They might eventually support me and my immediate family, but I wanted to build something capable of doing more than that.

I wanted to create something that, if successful, could eventually provide opportunities not only for my family but also for some of the close friends and people who have been part of my life.

More importantly, I started thinking about whether a business could accomplish that while also solving real problems.

That thought changed the direction of everything.

The aquarium filtration idea started opening doors into questions about water, energy, heat, aquaculture, coral propagation, environmental systems, waste streams, and how seemingly unrelated technologies might be connected.

The question stopped being:

"Can I build a better aquarium system?"

It started becoming:

"What resources are we currently wasting, and what could we do with them instead?"

That was the beginning of what would eventually become:

ETES - Environmental Technologies & Ecosystem Solutions.

From Brainstorming to Building

There is a huge difference between having an idea and building a company.

I am learning that difference right now.

I don't have a giant investment fund behind ETES.

I don't have a building full of engineers.

I don't have every technical question answered.

And I certainly don't have every step of this journey figured out.

What I do have is an idea that I believe deserves to be explored, a willingness to learn, and an increasing network of people willing to answer questions, challenge assumptions, and point me toward the next step.

Over the past several weeks, ETES has moved from conversations and late-night brainstorming into research, system concepts, intellectual-property exploration, funding research, business planning, and the beginnings of an actual organization.

And now there is something else:

A website.

A place where ETES can begin telling its story.

That may seem like a small accomplishment compared with where I hope this company eventually goes.

But that's exactly why I wanted this to be the first blog post.

Because someday, if ETES becomes what I believe it can become, I want there to be a record of what the beginning actually looked like.

It wasn't glamorous.

It wasn't a multimillion-dollar laboratory.

It wasn't a room full of investors.

It was an active-duty Navy Chief with an aquarium hobby, a lot of questions, a phone, some AI tools, countless hours of research, and an idea that simply refused to stop growing.

Now comes the difficult part.

Putting rubber to the road.

Turning questions into research.

Turning research into designs.

Turning designs into prototypes.

Turning prototypes into evidence.

And eventually, turning an idea into something capable of making a real difference.

This is the beginning of ETES.

I don't know exactly where the road will lead yet.

But I've decided to start driving.

Cleaner Resources. Healthier Ecosystems. Stronger Future.