I start companies and stick around to run them. Co-founder and CEO of GovSmart, principal owner and CEO of Gracie Charlottesville, 2nd degree black belt instructor and auto racing enthusiast.
I grew up in Madison, Virginia, and started working with computers before I could drive.
I got into computers early. By 14 I was working as a technician at a local computer store, and before I left for college I was running IT for a company back home. I went to George Mason University and graduated in 2006 with a degree in Integrative Studies, focused on IT, internet and multimedia. Along the way I did website design and computer repair on the side.
In 2004, while I was still at George Mason, I joined Panamerica Computers as a senior account executive. That is where I learned the federal IT business, leading a small team that sold to government agencies. In 2007 I helped launch and build Tech-4 for a group of investors in California and Georgia. I developed the concept and the business model from the start, and the company went on to win several multi-million dollar federal contracts.
After that success, I brought the idea for GovSmart to my friend Hamza Durrani, and at the end of 2009 we started it at a kitchen table. We put it in a Charlottesville HUBZone, earned our HUBZone certification, went through and graduated from the SBA 8(a) program, and won spots on big federal contracts like NASA SEWP V and NIH CIO-CS. We now hold NASA SEWP VI in all three categories. Since 2009 we have done more than $3.4 billion in sales, including more than $500 million in 2025, and in FY2025 GovSmart was the #1 HUBZone federal IT reseller by prime contract dollars, per USAspending.gov. GovSmart sells IT, tactical gear and advanced manufacturing equipment to federal agencies and prime contractors, and I am still its CEO.
I started jiu-jitsu at George Mason in 2005 and never stopped. I earned my black belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Pedro Sauer and hold a 2nd degree, with my 3rd degree coming in 2027. I am the principal owner and CEO of Gracie Charlottesville, home to 650 active students, and as a 2nd degree black belt instructor you will still find me teaching on the mat. I am also a part owner of Pedro Sauer Academy in Herndon, Virginia.
Madison is home for my family. My dad was president of Madison Wood Preservers, which makes pressure-treated lumber and fence posts in Madison, and he still consults there. My sister, Kari Gaviria, is its current President. My mom, Patti Lillard, is a Realtor with Montague, Miller & Co. in Madison.
I live in the Charlottesville area with my wife, Jessica, and our two sons, Locklan and Decklan.
Three companies and one experiment, with very different customers: the federal government, people in Charlottesville and Northern Virginia who want to learn to fight, and small businesses with websites that need help.
IT products, tactical equipment and advanced manufacturing for federal agencies and prime contractors. More than $3.4 billion in sales since 2009, the #1 HUBZone federal IT reseller by prime contract dollars in FY2025 (per USAspending.gov), and a NASA SEWP VI contract holder. Headquartered in Charlottesville.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, wrestling, judo and yoga. 650 active students and about 90 classes a week for ages 3 and up, with more than 10 Pedro Sauer black belts on the mats.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, Kali, Krav Maga and practical self-defense in Herndon, Virginia, for adults, children and beginners. Built on the lineage of Professor Pedro Sauer, an 8th degree black belt awarded by Rickson Gracie, with more than 10 Sauer black belts.
An experiment I am testing, formerly called BrandAid: website fixes for small businesses in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Madison and across Central Virginia. Send me your site and I send back a free before-and-after mockup built from your own logo, photos and reviews. If you like it, it gets fixed in 48 hours. Fixes start at $495, and WordPress is the specialty.
I am an auto racing enthusiast and drive a Radical on track. When GovSmart put on its Government Technology Leadership Forum, we held it at a racetrack.
On October 14, 2026, GovSmart hosted the Government Technology Leadership Forum at Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia. Speakers and technology spotlights in the morning. Then a car show, parade laps, track time, and ride-alongs with Colonial Challenge Cup volunteer instructors.
Most people never get to feel what a real race car can do. For a lot of kids, that will not change unless somebody makes it happen. That is the idea behind Dream Laps.
A nonprofit I am working to start that would give free race-car rides to kids who are sick or who would never otherwise get near a track. A real lap, on a real circuit, in a real car, with a helmet on, at no cost to the family.
Not everything here will turn into a company. These are the things I am testing right now, labeled honestly for where they stand.
A jiu-jitsu gi brand. Anybody who trains knows why a gi gets called murder pajamas. The first product is a premium adult gi, with a gi bag, white belts and patches lined up behind it. The Amazon seller account is set up and a full shop site is being built.
murderpajamas.com →Free race-car rides for sick and underserved kids. Not incorporated yet. I am working through insurance and track rules before anything else.
Read more above →A matchmaking service for people looking for a serious relationship with someone in another country. Still in setup.
Not taking clients yet.An idea for a members' road course and driving club in Virginia. It is a concept I am researching. It is not a company and nothing is built.
Research stage.Not every idea turns into a company. These three got a name, a logo and a real try, and then they didn't work out. I'd rather show them than pretend they never happened.
A photo and video company in Charlottesville that I co-founded with Alex Brown in the fall of 2018. That same November we launched Gracie Charlottesville, so I was starting a camera business and a jiu-jitsu gym in the same month. The gym won. I stepped away from PhotoCville in early 2021.
A marketing company for personal injury attorneys. If you had been in an accident that wasn't your fault, FairSettlement was there to connect you with a lawyer so you could claim what's yours. We even made a commercial for it, and yes, there's a guitar.
The ad is below, all 23 seconds of it.A discounted transportation service for winery and brewery tours around Charlottesville.
Business, a partnership, Dream Laps, or something else entirely. Send a note and I will get back to you.