Typescript aficionado and full-stack web app developer
I've been writing web apps since 2012.
My friends & colleagues would say I'm a "jack-of-all-trades". I usually glorify that by saying I'm a "T shaped" professional. You'll understand what that means in my about page.
I've worked on everything from websites and web applications to dev tooling and browser extensions. My passion for software allowed me to run my own small businesses and helped me play a key role in 2 thriving startups. Want more? Check out the work page.
In late 2017, I joined the two co-founders launching HumanFirst, an AI-focused startup. Those 7 years allowed me to learn a lot about genAI & NLU tooling.
In the first year I developed our conversational assistant (browser-extension) that integrated directly over the interfaces of Zendesk, TawkTo, Intercom, Olark and LiveChat. This product allowed us to secure our seed round.
I co-developed our marketing SDK; an e-commerce script that used automated interactions to nudge & assist visitors in their online shopping experience across a variety of host websites, boosting cart values.
My main source of pride was my involvement (frontend architecture & development) in our flagship product, HumanFirst Studio, which was used by multiple fortune 500 companies. This product helped us secure additional funding and allowed us to grow the team from 5 to 25 within a year.
HumanFirst was an exceptional experience because it exposed me to every aspect of the startup cycle. I learned about the importance of moving fast and accepting that most code is thrown away as markets (and inevitably requirements) change. I also learned how to grow and lead an engineering team and of the importance of the developer experience to efficiently onboard new hires.
In 2015, I joined PasswordBox, a Montreal-based startup that had recently been acquired by Intel. This unique experience taught me how to navigate and collaborate in large development teams (30+ engineers).
This software engineering role had me involved in the development of our browser extension password manager for the Firefox, Chrome and Edge browsers as well as a desktop version of the web application. I spearheaded quality initiatives by improving our development experience with more robust testing suits and utilities. I also helped the team transition from a legacy backboneJS application to a more modern single-data store architecture using Redux.
In my final year of university, I co-founded Handy ERP, a web-based management platform for small businesses.
This was an exciting frontend-heavy single page application (SPA) which introduced me to technologies such as Redux, Handlebars, MongoDB & MySQL. I architected the entirety of the frontend portion of the application and was a core contributor to the database schemas used by the RESTful API layer.
In 2009, I launched my own consultancy while pursuing full-time university studies. My focus was on website development, online advertising & website analytics.
Running the consultancy required that I learn various technologies quickly. I was exposed to a variety of requirements from different customers, leading me to explore multiple CMS platforms and custom NodeJS-backed websites. It is without a doubt these 5 years that helped hone my HTML, CSS & Javascript skills.
If you read my intro, you know I'm considered somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades.
I've always been fascinated with the potential behind programming. When I was a kid I was the one who would code "maps" for games with my friends. Later, I'd codify game optimizers in Excel VBA. That eventually led me to my first tech-gig where I would create application prototypes in Excel. That lasted only long enough for me to get fed up with the limitations of Excel and start learning a mix of PHP & javascript. Today I'm very skilled with Typescript, I specialize on the frontend of the stack and am swiftly progressing towards full-stack competency.
I started doing full building renovations when I was 19, and have completely overhauled 2 duplexes, 2 chalets and 1 house over the years (I'm now working on my 2nd house project). I can confidently say I can cover most of the crafts. Building has always been a silent passion of mine, the kind that you don't acknowledge publicly, but realize is boiling within you whenever you embark on a project. By now I've fully acknowledged my passion for building; ask my friends, they're tired of hearing about the latest renos!
Yep, that's right. I garden and I love it! Not just a small garden
with some cute flower beds, no, I mean full-blown almost a
homestead kind of gardening. No one knows where this passion came
from, but almost 10 years ago I suddenly became interested in
gardening and the passion has only been growing. So much so, that
my wife and I bought 3 acres of land so we could garden more!
I'll
be sure to share more about that adventure as the family garden
and orchard take shape. There'll be some chicken pictures, too!
This has always been a part of me for as far as I can remember.
When I was a kid I read the Dragon Lance series, and have since
covered so many works in the genre: The Wheel of Time, Lord of the
Rings, The Hobbit, The Witcher, a unfathomable amount of LitRPG
books, the list goes on. I also played pretty much every RPG there
was on the SNES (super nintendo) back then.
As a teenager I
discovered Dungeons & Dragons (yeah, I'm a real geek, I've
been playing this since 3.0) and to this day I still enjoy a good
DnD campaign!
Today, with my career and family, I don't have as much time as I
did to enjoy these delights, but that only enhances the value of
the experience when I do.
