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Rob Stickler

Operator · Orange County / Southern California

I run rooms, books, and the systems that keep both honest.

Three and a half years running a wellness studio end to end. Seventeen years at REI Co-op. And a Pizza Hut restaurant with thirty people, full P&L, and 40% year-over-year growth.

Available for operating roles: on-site Southern California, hybrid, or remote.

3.5 yrs

A wellness studio run end to end, 2022 to 2026

17 yrs

REI Co-op: training, quality assurance, escalations

30 people

Pizza Hut GM: full P&L, 40% year-over-year growth, Manager of the Year 1998

WorkProofHow I operate
hello@robstickler.comLinkedInRésumé
Rob Stickler
A full moon in a black sky

Proof

Systems I specified, directed, and shipped. Each one runs without me and reports when it breaks.

A storefront sign laid flat on the pavement before installation

Work

Four chapters of it, with photographs from the rooms where it happened.

A classroom whiteboard headed Welcome to Basic Training

How I operate

A short manual for working with me. The training method is from 1998 and I still use it.

A lenticular cloud capping a snow-covered mountain at dusk

Photographs

Pictures I have taken. Mostly a phone, mostly outside, mostly early.

A therapy room lit entirely in deep red light

Studios

Your studio is worth more than it is running at.

Don't take my word for it.

Robert C. Martin, the author of Clean Code, on AI agents and the people who direct them:

Uncle Bob Martin's avatar, a pen caricature

Uncle Bob Martin

@unclebobmartin

I’m not sure I’d call it a debate. I think it’s too asymmetric for that.

On one side you have significant evidence that workable high-quality systems can be efficiently created by AI agents driven by disciplined humans who don’t spend a lot of time reading the code.

On the other side you have emotional predictions of the doom and disaster that will be caused by AI slop; but no evidence contradicting the above.

It is certainly true that humans can drive agents to create horrible messes. It’s also certainly true that humans can create horrible messes all by themselves.

Disciplined humans create good systems, regardless of whether they use agents or not. Those who use agents are simply more productive.

IMHO.

4:30 AM · Aug 29, 2026

He writes code. I direct it. The discipline he is naming is what the rest of this site documents.

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Say what you need. I will tell you if I can help.

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