About Me
The Short Version
I'm a full-stack developer specializing in React and Java. Former lawyer who discovered that writing code is way more satisfying than writing briefs. Based in Happy Valley, OR, currently working as a Tech Lead at Availity building healthcare technology.
The Career Path
Started as a lawyer, realized I enjoyed solving logical puzzles more than arguing about them. Made the jump to software development and haven't looked back.
Joined Availity as a developer and spent seven years building the infrastructure that helps healthcare providers and insurance companies actually talk to each other. Turns out American healthcare runs on some truly wild data formats (looking at you, ANSI X12), and someone has to make sense of them.
Got promoted multiple times as I took on bigger challenges — from individual contributor to Tech Lead. Built configuration-driven systems that replaced dozens of one-off custom solutions, architected workflows that handle millions of transactions daily, and led teams through complex technical challenges.
What Gets Me Excited
- Complex problems — The kind where you have to diagram it out on a whiteboard three times before it clicks
- Scalable architecture — Building something once that works for 1 user and 1,000,000 users
- Developer experience — If the people using your code are miserable, you've failed
- Business impact — Cool tech is fun, but does it actually solve the problem?
The Lawyer Thing
Yeah, I went to law school. Practiced for a bit. Turns out legal reasoning and software architecture have a lot in common — breaking down complex problems, thinking through edge cases, and building systems that hold up under scrutiny.
The main difference? Code either works or it doesn't. Much less ambiguity. Much more satisfying.
Beyond Code
When I'm not debugging production issues or refactoring that one file everyone's afraid to touch, I'm probably exploring new technologies, contributing to open source, or spending time with family in the Pacific Northwest.
Let's Connect
Always interested in connecting with other developers, discussing interesting technical challenges, or collaborating on side projects.