Words Matter.
Welcome! I’m Doug Bayliss, a public speaker, storyteller, and creator of the Bronto Brothers book series and other tales. I strive to blend imagination (perception) with life experience (imagery) and create stories filled with friendship, humor, and heart.
Life’s Adventures
My career took me from Finance Manager to Purchasing Director, and later, during a mid-life crisis, a complete career change to IT Administrator (after becoming a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer).
- Self-Published Author (Enchanted Horizons, Whiskers Adventure, Bronto Brothers book series)
- Public Speaking & Speech Writing (Toastmasters International)
- Purchasing Director, Industrial Chemical Equipment Mfg.
- Finance Manager, Environmental Engineering
- IT Administrator & Corporate Training, Multi-housing Management
Past, Present & Future
1957-1960
I was born in State College, PA, during my dad’s senior year at Penn State. He received a degree in Chemical Engineering. We lived nearby in Belfonte, PA. We moved to New Jersey when I was two, and lived at my grandparents’ airport, which inspired my first published book in 2024, Little Wings, Big Dreams.
1960-1965
1965-1970
1970-1975
1975-1980
Graduated from high school the year of our Nation’s Bicentennial!
Passed my driver’s license test in my mom’s 1966 Oldsmobile Tornado!
Graduated from Keystone College
I began my career as a bookkeeper for my father’s company, Bayliss Industries, Inc., and later became Finance Manager, handling international shipping contracts with numerous global banks.
1980-1985
Married Michelle Polyak
Moved into our new home in Flemington, NJ.
Happy Birthday to our first daughter, Catherine.
Bayliss Industries closed
Made a deplorable decision and followed my parents to Maryland, where we stayed with them in Westminster over the summer.
Got an apartment in Ellicott City, MD.
Performed temporary/contract accounting jobs for two years.
Happy Birthday to our son, Jared.
1985-1990
Finally received proceeds from the sale of the house in NJ, and bought a house in Catonsville, MD.
Erica’s Birthday
A new day! Contract job as project manager for a company based in Germany.
I was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a form of neuro-muscular dystrophy.
Full-time Work!
Director of Purchasing, Bayliss Technologies, Inc.
Following my contract job as a project manager for the international equipment manufacturer based in Germany, I was hired full-time to help them establish a US-based entity. This wholly owned subsidiary would seek more work in the United States. We hired my Father as chief engineer, and I assumed the role of Purchasing Director. Good times! My dad later offered to buy them out, and we became Bayliss Technologies, Inc. www.bayliss.com was born!
1990-1995
Moved to Pennsylvania
After 5-6 years in Catonsville, MD, we needed a new home. One to enable continuing care, by us, for our highly disabled third child, Erica. The 3-story duplex no longer cut it. We were fortunate to have a ranch-style house in Littlestown, PA. It was a 90-minute commute to Hunt Valley, but it was worth the expense to live in the rolling hillsides of Adams County, PA, and be able to care for Erica.
Bayliss Technologies Shuttered
Within a year of moving, our company was forced into involuntary bankruptcy by a disgruntled supplier, after the US government stopped funding a large waste management project. It’s all but been erased from any archives, but the VPOTUS at the time, Al Gore, was the root cause of mismanagement, and I still won’t forgive him.
1995-2000
Mid-Life Crisis
I obtained an MCSE and sought employment in the emerging field of computer technology. After a year of contract jobs and the fear of losing our new home, I landed a full-time job and essentially (with a co-systems administrator) transformed a decades-old property management company, with multiple locations and 100s of employees, from outdated technology and handwritten memos to the firm’s first wide-area network and desktop computers. Lead corporate training classes on using MS Word & Excel. I completely revamped the collections department, reducing the staff by two-thirds and easily tripling the amount of collections.
2000-2005
RIP Erica Bayliss – April 5, 2001
Erica succumbed to side effects from severe Lissencephaly. I made a website to remember her by. These were difficult years, but a strong family value system kept us all in good spirits. I made a website full of memories here: Erica Michelle Bayliss
2005-2010
2015-2020
I would have celebrated 20 years with my employer, but I retired instead! What a long, strange trip it’s been.
02-Dec-2019 Put the house in Littlestown on the market.
Made an offer on a manufactured home in a well-kept 50+ community. It’s much closer to Michelle’s work, and it’s a nice place to relax for me.
2020-2025
COVID-19 Global Pandemic
Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered all “non-life-sustaining” businesses to close their physical locations by 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2020, to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
- Effective date: The initial closure order was announced on March 19, 2020.
- Enforcement: Enforcement measures for most non-compliant businesses were set to begin on Saturday, March 21, 2020, at 12:01 a.m.
March 19, 2020. We closed on the manufactured home in a title office among a bunch of employees, wearing face masks and wielding disinfectant spray, freaking out about having to deal with us while shutting the office down before they get sick and die.
Earlier that day, we were forced to close the sale of our home in Littlestown, parked on opposite sides of the realtor’s parking lot! We had to stay in our cars while our realtor drove back and forth, passing documents to sign through the car windows!
Wedding Anniversary 9/24/23
Aphantasia
I’ve come to the realization I have Aphantasia, or the inability to visualize something in one’s “mind’s eye.” I found this helpful article informative.:
Does Not Being Able to Picture Something in Your Mind Affect Your Creativity?
I’m enjoying writing now, and I’m currently working on a voice-over project and podcast.
Contact
📧 Email: doug @ bayliss.com
🌐 Facebook: Link
🦕 Bronto Brothers: Website | Wiki
In 1957, Penn State had both a football and a baseball team known as the Nittany Lions. The football team, led by Coach Rip Engle, finished with a 6–3 record as an independent team, while the baseball team, under Coach Joe Bedenk, had a 22–2 record and was the runner-up in the College World Series after losing to the California Golden Bears.
