After establishing himself in America 20 years ago by way of his Haitian family, Lenny Pyrrhus has made a name for himself and continues to thrive one new skill at a time.

According to CNBC’s “Make It” series, Pyrrhus’ immediate family made the trek to the states after his uncle, who was also a well-known musician (Ti Pierre), was killed during a political protest in 1991. His family settled in the northern region of the U.S., and the then-26-year-old does not take the things they endured to get here lightly.

“My family went through so much suffering before I was even born, and then for me to have gotten that kind of opportunity in America, I tried to figure out how to make the best of it,” he shared with CNBC.

Talent Opens Doors

From a very early age, Pyrrhus was drawn to mathematics.

Now, as an infrastructure developer for JPMorgan Chase, Pyrrhus brings home a yearly income of $130,000. Initially, he studied biomedical engineering in college to fuel his desire to “help people.” Later on, Pyrrhus switched over to the industrial side of things after he realized he wanted his work to be more “hands-on.”

Constant Evolution

While participating in an internship for a semiconductor manufacturing plant in 2017, Pyrrhus got exposure to work in that sector, and ultimately found himself in a position as a computer engineer for Lockheed Martin in 2018. During his time there, he worked on weapon control systems and brought home $69,000 annually.

It was here that Pyrrhus, yet again, discovered a love for something new within the field of engineering and began to focus his talents on cloud computing and software engineering.

“I fell in love with it, even though I didn’t really do it much in school,” he explained. “A software engineer has to not only be creative, but understand how operations work, too.”

Opportunities Are Endless

Now, as he looks ahead, Pyrrhus is continuing his studies through a master’s program at Syracuse University, where he anticipates a 2024 graduation.

His main focus at this point in his career is refining his skills as a developer and honing in on bettering his finances through investing and paying off debt.

“I want to definitely change my trajectory and [gain] some financial freedom,” he explained. “And upskilling changed my life because it brought me to where I am today.”