You’d think that after spending my entire life with myself, I’d have plenty to say—but whenever I’m asked to describe myself, I never quite know where to start. I assume people are looking for something specific but don’t want to reveal their hand, leaving me guessing at the true nature of the question. As I sit here now, I’m still not sure exactly what you want to know, but I’ll lay it out as best I can.
Work
I've been a front-end developer for over 25 years. I started out building GeoCities and Angelfire sites for all sorts of things—mostly for my own enjoyment—but I also built a site for my EverQuest guild (<Runed Knights> on Cazic-Thule) and later for my first band (Failed Again). And like all terminally online millennials, I customized my own MySpace page.
Professionally, I’ve been a front-end developer for 7 years. I graduated from the New York Coding + Design Academy (NYCDA) 12-week coding bootcamp in January 2018. The program focused on full-stack development using Ruby on Rails, and while I enjoyed learning the backend and how it ties into the frontend, I was always more drawn to the design and interaction side of things. I love knowing that users can see and experience what I create.
NYCDA
After graduating, I had the opportunity to be a teacher's assistant at NYCDA. While I wasn’t immediately hired by a company like some of my cohort members, it was an honor to be considered knowledgeable enough to assist students. My daily responsibilities mainly involved testing and grading assignments, but I also helped out with technical issues whenever I could.
IntuitSolutions
After 3 months of being a TA at NYCDA, I was offered a position at IntuitSolutions—a role I would hold for nearly 7 years. It was here I truly cut my chops as a developer, progressing from junior developer to senior developer. Over the years, my work and responsibilities included:
- Full site builds and customizations
- Addon development for BigCommerce, enhancing functionality
- SEO, accessibility, and performance optimizations
- Collaboration with designers, project managers, and clients
- Team lead / Senior developer
- Mentored and assisted department members
- Worked cross-functionally to develop and execute company initiatives
- Designed and implemented internal systems/tools to improve development efficiency
Languages
- HTML
- SCSS
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- React
- Handlebars
Technical Skills/Tools
- Git
- APIs/GraphQL
- Postman
- SEO
- Accessibility
Not Work
When I'm not working, I'm a father to two girls and a husband. Nearly all of my time outside of work is spent with my family, when I do get some time for myself, I enjoy:
- Reading fiction, history, and philosophy
- Playing guitar and piano, writing music
- Playing Magic: The Gathering (Commander) once a month with friends
- Working on the house/yard (I genuinely love doing this)
- Building crypto miners
- Designing Quake levels
- Skateboarding
There are also a few things I’d like to pursue further:
- Digital art
- Fishing
- Creative writing
- Mathematics
- Backend Development
- Learn C and Assembly
- Make an NES game
All in all, my journey as a front-end developer has been a constant mix of learning and growing—both in my career and personally. From those early days making GeoCities sites to my current work leading teams and optimizing projects, I’m motivated by the challenge of creating great user experiences and solving real problems. I’m always looking ahead, excited to dive into new technologies and push my skills even further. If you’re looking for someone with a solid background, a love for problem-solving, and a genuine passion for web development, I’d be excited to see how we can work together.