I’m Aaron Richards, founder of Atlas Automations. My path here didn’t start in a startup accelerator or a corporate engineering lab—it started in an industrial stone shop. By day, I work as a stone craftsman, cutting dense limestone with diamond-tipped saws. It’s demanding, precise work that has shaped how I think about systems: every cut has to be intentional, every process has to be reliable.

Outside the shop, my primary role is being a father. I share custody of my son and daughter, and my schedule is built around supporting them and making the most of the days we have together. As a single dad, time is my most limited and protected resource, which is a major reason I care so much about building workflows that respect people’s time instead of consuming it.

When I’m not working or parenting, I create. Under the music project Ashen Compass, I released a full-length album called Dead Reckoning, with tracks like Storm Warning, First Raid, and A Weekend at Port. That project was an early experiment in using technology and AI to tell a larger story. Atlas Automations is a continuation of that same idea—using structured systems to bring complex creative work to life.

Balancing a physical trade, half-time parenthood, and long-form creative projects forced a simple realization: manual busywork does not scale. I started designing and customizing automation workflows, building multi-node data pipelines in n8n to remove repetitive tasks from my own life. Those same patterns evolved into the Proof of Automation kits we now offer to other builders.

In August 2026, I registered Atlas Automations LLC with a clear objective: operate as a transparent, technically rigorous automation studio and template library. We run as a digital-first company by design. Atlas uses a professional mailing address and dedicated PO Box rather than a public home address. The reason is straightforward: protecting my family’s privacy while maintaining a clean, auditable business and banking footprint. That balance—family first, security first, and honest infrastructure—is the same standard I apply to every workflow we ship.