It began on a hot summer day in 1997 as a bored teenage kid escaping the summer heat with a new hobby. Thirteen years and countless lines of code later I’ve found my calling.
About Me
My first website was a fan site dedicated to '90's Grunge rock legends, Nirvana. I was 13 years old and knew nothing about creating as website. Armed with a 14.4kbps modem, teenage angst and a regrettable amount of Mt. Dew, I was ready to take on the web. For the next five years, I surfed the waves of the information superhighway through countless design trends, new technologies and a bubble that burst. It was a great ride with some notable accolades such as magazine mentions, words of encouragement from former band members and a partial sponsorship from a record company, I decided it was time to move on from the music fan site world.
Throughout the early '00s I worked as a freelance Flash / web designer and eventually added PHP to my skill set while attending Western Michigan University. During college, I worked three concurrent jobs as a PHP Developer and Designer. After graduating with a BBA in E-Business Design in 2006, I moved to Chicago.
After originally taking a job as a Analyst / PHP Developer, I later shifted into a front end development role, working with XHTML, CSS, UI Design and JavaScript / AJAX. In addition to Front End Development work, I also worked in client-facing capacity creating research reports, site analyses and conducting on-site trainings.
I currently work at Emmis Interactive where I develop and maintain front end code for large market radio stations and publishing companies and participate in various shenanigans.
When I am not in front of the monitor I enjoy traveling, photography, cooking and exploring new and interesting cuisines from around the world. I am also an avid runner having participated in many races including a marathon and enjoy spending my summers cheering on the Chicago White Sox.
Areas of Focus
Although I have worked with numerous technologies, platforms, bikini models, languages, and frameworks my current areas of focus are:
- Semantic CSS / HTML Markup
- JavaScript / jQuery
- User Interaction Design
- PHP Development
- Codeigniter MVC Framework
- Usability testing / benchmarking
- Wordpress customization
- Social Network driven marketing
