Michael Cales wanted to be a rock star. He had grown up in Southern California. His dad was a hard-working entrepreneur who laid carpet for a living. When Michael was in high school, the family moved to a small town in Utah to get away from the tensions of urban life and get closer to the land. After graduation, Michael tried going back to California, but he didn’t stay long. Relationships pulled him back to Utah and necessity kept him in his father’s line of work. When his parents moved to Chadron, Nebraska, he joined them on the Great Plains.

He had played guitar in high school. In his early twenties in Chadron, his play turned serious. He spent long hours teaching himself and practicing. “I learned a discipline then that paid off years later when I began telecommuting.” He played with several rock bands, and it was through one of those bands that he met his wife Betsy. In the early 1980s, they moved to Fargo/Morehead so Michael could join a band that seemed to be going somewhere.

 After months on the road playing in clubs in Minnesota and the Dakotas, the rock star dream began to fade. Betsy convinced Michael to go back to school. He applied and was accepted to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. Ten years removed from his last high school class, he was surprised to discover how much he liked math, chemistry and the other classes he took at Tech. He decided to major in computer science.

When he graduated in 1986, there were no jobs in Rapid City for someone with his skills. With a brand new baby, Michael was anxious to find something.

He and Betsy moved back to her hometown — Chicago. Michael landed a job with a company in Northbrook, Illinois that was developing software for property managers. He liked the work, but living in a working class Chicago suburb was tough. The year their first child was ready for kindergarten there was a drive-by shooting at the neighborhood elementary school. In another incident, a woman shot and killed her husband on their block — both husband and wife were police officers.

“We just wanted to get out of there,” Michael remembers. After five years with the company, he convinced his boss to let him telecommute from South Dakota. “He had young kids as well,” says Michael, “so he understood.”

Michael remembers the day that he and Betsy and their young family arrived with the U-Haul at their new home in the Black Hills. “It was one of the best days of my life.” As they stood outside that night, Michael said, “Listen.” “What do you hear?” Betsy asked. “No noise,” he replied.

Michael worked so hard in those first few months to prove to his boss and the company that telecommuting would work, he put in 60-hour weeks. Having taught himself to play music, he understood how to work alone and stay focused. Back in Northbrook, they were astonished by his productivity. Three months after arriving in the Black Hills, Michael was named employee of the month.

Over the last 15 years, Michael has continued to telecommute from his home office in Rapid City. Neighbors curious about what he does have been amazed. His company has changed ownership and management and it has also gone global. Betsy works at the neighborhood elementary school where their children went to school. She walks to work. Now that the kids are older, Michael has started playing rock and roll again. After a long day staring at computer code, a little Pink Floyd does wonders for the soul.