About Me

My path to web development started off in New York City, where after 10 years of working for Merrill Lynch, I was laid off. Instead of going back to the world of finance, I decided to see this as an opportunity to learn a skill that I’ve had much interest in and change the trajectory of my career. I enrolled myself in a front-end web development course at General Assembly.

I fell in love with web development after completing the first weekend of classes. I remember being surprised that I could make a living doing something that seemed so interesting and fun. I was at once delighted and worried; delighted because I finally found something that wouldn’t feel like work, but worried because I knew a long tough road lay ahead of me, and I had to make up for a lot of lost time.

I completed the course in June of 2013, and soon after quit my job at an insurance company. I found myself in New York with no job, no way to pay rent and nothing but a dream of becoming a web developer. I made web development my life, often working until 4 am and crashing from exhaustion. I did work for free, and at the end of 2013, I landed my first paid freelance job.

As my savings dried up, I accepted a job selling baby products over the phone to stay afloat. And a week before I was to start, I had a phone interview with AgencyMSI in Chicago. The agency was interested in my work, and they offered me a temporary 3-month role as their web developer. It was hard to leave family and friends in New York, but I knew this was my chance. I packed all I could in my Hyundai and drove the 12 1/2 hour trip to Chicago.

I was hired full-time after two months on the job. Being the only web developer for a major advertising company since April of 2014 has provided me with the challenges and adversity I’ve needed to grow rapidly in an ever-changing environment. I’ve surprised myself regarding the amount and quality of work I was able to turn around in a short period of time, and I’ve been able to build a network of talented designers and creatives. It’s easy to grow quickly once you find your passion, and when you decide what you want; it will become a reality

The Code

I’m experienced with front-end frameworks like Bootstrap and Foundation, and my HTML is valid and optimized for SEO. I use SASS to keep my CSS DRY and my stylesheets well organized. I’m experienced with PHP and JavaScript , and choose WordPress as my content management system du jour. I build themes from the ground up with a focus on user experience and design and make it easy to manage content using ACF once the site is pushed to production.

My Services

I’ve been in business for myself since 2013, and work mostly with small to mid-size businesses, as well as individuals. I’m not a designer by trade, but I work with a great group of designers that allows me to offer a professional and fresh design to all your projects.

I’m available to help on all your web projects, but I specialize in WordPress, and offer HTML e-mail services which include design and the deployment of the e-mails. When I work with you I won’t bombard you with technical jargon, and coding terms, but instead I focus on meeting your goals and putting together a great user experience. Please click the link below if you want to send a message about your current project, and thank you for reading.