Title: Service and Field Support Technician
Company: Metinteractive
Location: Connecticut
Overtime: Goris is a self-proclaimed TV junkie who also likes to solve puzzles to decompress from the Pro AV grind.
Why You Need to Know Him: In his early 30s, he started all over from scratch, and in a short time has become successful in the field and beloved by his colleagues.
"I didn't want to live in fear."
Meet Jonathan Goris, whose story is quite unlike many in the Pro AV universe. While it is not shocking he wound up in the industry, how he got here is a story of chance taking, resilience, and elasticity … and never living in fear of going for it.
Goris was a curious kid, a curiosity he maintains to this day. "One of the things my mother hates about me is I do not quit researching something," Goris said laughing. "She'll ask me a question, and then say, 'All right, that's it.' No, I [keep going] and need to know the right answer."
He was a tinkerer from a young age, always pulling things apart to figure out how they worked. As he got older, technology was something he truly enjoyed, although he admits he never thought of it as a career path. "If we got a new soundbar or something for the house, I'd be the one setting it up," Goris said. "It was just something that I naturally took hold of."
He didn't really have a direction as to where his life was going to take him. Goris had steady work, driving for his family's heating oil business in New York City (which his father still owns and operates), until that renowned New York traffic finally caught up with him. "One day I decided I couldn't stomach this anymore," he recalled. "I told my dad I was going back to school. I needed to finish."
Even that was an adventure with several twists and turns for the curious Goris. He started by working on an accounting degree and switched to cybersecurity. He moved to Connecticut and was working for a telecommunications company when Metinteractive came calling. It was an opportunity to get out from behind the desk and get back out there. Two weeks later, he started with Metinteractive, and three-and-a-half years later, he's a trusted technician.
Goris embodies the spirit of what Metinteractive stands for: a real "figure-outer" who combines technical depth, composure under pressure, and strong client stewardship. He's now NovaStar and LED certified, and has worked on some of Metinteractive's biggest projects including the Brooklyn Public Library, the University of Connecticut, and People's Bank Arena—partly because of his skills, and partly because he values the relationship with the customers so highly.
So, when did it click? "I can't pinpoint any one project; I mean, this company, we're always doing something insane," Goris said laughing. "I went from a person that didn't know a single thing about AV technology, and I've progressed over the years. When I decided to make this move, I decided to tell myself that I had nowhere to go back to. So, I made sure that I pushed myself every day to do better, be better."
Goris' climb up the Pro AV ladder was not your typical path. He turned no knowledge of the industry into something very successful and a personal passion.
When he thinks of the future of Pro AV, he has advice for those that maybe don't know where they are headed just yet. "Never quit," he said. "There is a world beyond the four walls that you live in. Out of everything in my story, fear is only a construct of your own insecurities. You have to overcome it; just don't let it control what you do."
