Hi There,
This is a bit of an about me that I wrote so that people could get to know me better.
I'm an introvert by nature and more reserved and softly spoken. I have a personal communication style and it's taken me time to learn how to master that. I'm more of a 'speak in person' over text kinda guy. I've experienced working in holacracies before and I really like them. Joel Spolsky's The Identity Management Method is a great model for workplaces and I work well in these environments. I appreciate genuine, constructive feedback and honest conversations. Please be honest. Please tell me if I mess things up. Please disagree with me. Sometimes I can overthink solutions.
I'm one of those university drop-outs who is self taught, and I've been working in tech for around 10 years now in one form or another. I would call myself an imperfect perfectionist; I like doing things the right way but understand that there's always a balance you have to strike. I'm an advocate for good design and can work with Balsamiq, Sketch, and Figma. When it comes to frontend tech, I'm pretty open-minded. I've worked in AngularJS, Angular/ngRx, and React/Redux. I've also architected and worked in a BEM-lite CSS Framework but I like styled components more these days. I can write decent Ruby/Rails and Python. I like universal style guides and design work that is genuinely accessible.
I like simple, functional design. Typography and space are important to me. I'm also a huge fan of modernism and suprematism. Self-soveregin design interests me.
Something that a mentor once instructed me to do is to remember that when you're working on a product, no matter in what role, to rememebr that the work I'm doing is not just code, or a feature, but an ecosystem. There are intrinstict rules that organise that system. That's stuck with me.
Craftsmanship is a term I like to use when building a product. To paraphrase the late Anthony Bourdain in his renowned book, Kitchen Confidential
Little details matter to me; they ultimately make up the big picture.
Being a Product Manager in high pressure environments has made me both a better developer and human being. Proccesses and values that I like are: co-design workshops, vulnerable leadership, and a rapid iterative design process. I love the writings of Marty Kagan and Scott Berkun.
I grew up in the San Fransisco Bay Area and moved to the pacific in my late teens. I now live in Melbourne, Australia. I have United States, New Zealand, and Australian Citizenship. I'm reasonably well travelled and like cooking, reading nonfiction, music of all kinds, and Aunty Donny.