Career

This is a story about how I became a software engineer and what I learned along the way.

Software Engineering

Own Up

Mission: Helping everyone in the US get a fair deal on their mortgage. Using technology to simplify the home financing process.

Senior Software Engineer

July 2019 - present

JavaScript, TypeScript, Node, React, Redux, Netlify, AWS (CloudFormation, CodeBuild, Lambdas, DynamoDB, S3, X-Ray, CloudWatch, Step Functions, ...), Snowflake, Looker, Hubspot, Split, Gatsby, Jest, PLaywright, Storybook, Github/Git, Github Copilot

Agile Scrum environment
Domain driven design + microservices architecture
Peer-reviewed pull requests
Continuous integration / continuous deployment with AWS + Netlify

Started as Associate Software Engineer.
6 months later, promoted to Software Engineer.
2 years later, promoted to Senior Software Engineer.

Tech lead full stack projects.
Work closely with Product Managers to scope, prioritize, and release work.
Communicate effectively with stakeholders across the technical spectrum.
Tackle tech debt and bug requests with an emphasis on leaving code cleaner than it was found.
Plan and implement new infra work, tooling and best practices to improve developer experience.
Deliver future-proof code with thoughtful test coverage.
Create performant and accessible user experiences.
Run data-driven experiments to rapidly validate product decisions.

General Assembly

Software Engineering Fellowship

March 2019 - June 2019

JavaScript, Node, React, AWS S3, PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails, Express, MongoDB, Heroku

Completed a 12-week, 500+ hour immersive course on full-stack software engineering. Designed and built 4 full-stack applications using modern technologies and best practices. Decided I do really love engineering.

Before I learned to code

Empowerment Through Integration

Mission: Disrupting the narrative surrounding disability through empowering youth with disabilities and accelerating authentic inclusion.

Program Director and Interim COO

March 2018 - March 2019

Spent a year working on disability empowerment and inclusion. Wore all hats. Learned to recognize and avoid performative diversity and inclusion practices. Learned from amazing people who have been doing this work for decades. Developed a huge appreciation for accessibility as innovation.

Addgene

Mission: Accelerating research and discovery by improving access to useful research materials and information.

Customer Support & Operations Manager

October 2014 - June 2018

Spent a few years understanding customer needs and gathering product resources to meet those needs. Managed an awesome team of Support and Shipping Specialists. Learned a lot about getting viruses and dry ice across international borders. Solved new problems every day. Played around with Jupyter Notebooks to back up product ideas with data. Hung out with the developers. Became very curious about engineering as a career option.

Academics

Miami University

No, not the one in Florida. This school is in Southwest Ohio (where I grew up), and sits on the tribal lands of the Myaamia / Miami people who were forcibly displaced to Kansas and Oklahoma in the 1840s.

B.A. International Studies; B.A. Latin American, Latinx & Caribbean Studies

Highlight: Traveling around Cuba on a student visa, which at the time was one of the only ways to get into the country.