The Journey
I didn't take the traditional path to software engineering. I graduated from Central College in May 2014 with a double major in Physics and Spanish—not exactly the typical CS background. I spent a semester studying abroad at the Universidad de Granada in Spain in 2013, and played baseball for all four years. But looking back, that combination taught me two things that still define how I work: how to break down complex systems into understandable parts, and how to communicate across different contexts.
After college, I spent a year teaching high school math and science at Abundant Life Christian Schools in Gracias, Lempira, Honduras (Aug 2014 - Jun 2015). That experience—translating complex concepts for students at different levels, adapting on the fly when something wasn't clicking, and bridging language barriers—shaped how I approach technical communication today. When my students went on to receive scholarships (including international and full-ride awards), it reinforced that meeting people where they are actually works.
Then came a detour that surprises people: irrigation. I got licensed as an irrigator in Texas, became EPA WaterSense certified, and spent nearly a year designing and maintaining irrigation systems. It sounds unrelated, but it was my first taste of systems thinking at scale—water pressure, zone coverage, efficiency optimization. I even started a Spanish training course for new technicians and migrated the team's paper inspection system to digital.
The Imagine Learning Journey
In June 2016, I joined Imagine Learning as a Product Support Specialist. What was supposed to be a stepping stone became a nearly decade-long career with six promotions:
Used T-SQL extensively for custom reporting, data fixes, and stored procedure creation. Gained experience in object-oriented programming in C# and .NET.
Educated team members on advanced troubleshooting. Developed MongoDB/SQL data fixes. Supported over 500,000 concurrent users in production. Received company "Edgy" award for Excellence.
Developed cloud-architected applications for both Azure and AWS. Wrote applications in .NET Core, C#, SQL, NoSQL, Blazor, and Razor/React.
Developed for AWS services including DynamoDB, Lambda, and Fargate. Consistently delivered ahead of schedule while improving code quality metrics in legacy code.
Developed cloud-architected applications under budget and ahead of schedule. Integrated Kotlin Micronaut apps with .NET using the strangler fig pattern. Saved tens of thousands of dollars by improving response time and reducing web servers at peak load. Spearheaded automation testing in deployment pipelines.
What I Do Now
Today, I design and build cloud-first applications. My recent work has focused on:
- Cloud migrations—leading the move from Azure to AWS, implementing containerization and infrastructure as code practices that saved the business real money
- System modernization—migrating .NET Framework applications to .NET Core, unifying authentication with Okta
- Technical leadership—participating in planning sessions, translating business needs into technical requirements, mentoring teammates
I practice TDD, implement design patterns, and apply SOLID principles—not because they're buzzwords, but because I've seen firsthand how they make systems reliable and maintainable over time.
What I'm Looking For
After nearly a decade at one company, I'm ready for a new challenge. I'm interested in high-leverage roles where I can drive outcomes, not just ship tickets. I want to work somewhere that values depth of experience, where solving hard problems matters, and where I can continue growing as both an engineer and a technical leader.
I'm particularly drawn to roles at the intersection of product and engineering—places where understanding the "why" behind a feature is just as important as the "how."
Beyond the Code
When I'm not debugging production issues or architecting cloud solutions, you'll find me: