Born in Houston, Texas, John is a lifelong,multi-generational Texan. He received his BS in Political Science from Texas Christian University (TCU)and, after moving to Washington DC to work on the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004, he served as a Presidential Appointee in the administration of President George W. Bush both in the White House under now-Senator Rob Portman and then at the Department of Defense working for the Secretary of the Navy, Donald Winters. Leaving DC in 2009, he returned to Texas and spent the next 10 years starting several businesses and working in various areas of the oil & gas and private equity industry. Believing in the vital necessity of capitalism but also in entrepreneurship that solves real problems, John began working at Safespill Systems in 2019as Director of Public Affairs. Safespill has developed an innovative & environmentally friendly firefighting solution used by large public companies and the United States military.Moving back to DC in 2021, John works with the Department of Defense and elected officials on behalf of Safespill Systems to support the military’s efforts in phasing out the use of hazardous chemical firefighting solutions and to replace them with Safespill’s technology. John is married to Margot Zanner Athon who is originally from Columbus, Ohio and is a Republican fundraiser.They met at TCU andthey have two daughters both under the age of 9.