About

I'm a software developer with a background in technical operations, support and service management. After more than a decade working across customer support, provisioning, data analysis and operational management, I transitioned into software development through part-time study while continuing to work full-time. Today, I focus on building practical software solutions that solve real problems, with a particular interest in backend systems, business workflows and full-stack web applications.

Career Journey

My professional career has taken me through a variety of industries and roles. I began working in retail and hospitality before spending several years teaching English and Spanish to both business clients and language school students.

After moving to Ireland in 2013 and returning briefly to hospitality, I joined eir in 2015 and began a career in technical operations, working across customer support, service provisioning, data analysis and operational management roles. Over time, I became increasingly interested in the systems and software that underpin those operations.

Rather than simply using technology, I wanted to understand how it was designed, built and maintained. That curiosity led me to pursue formal software development education alongside full-time employment, first completing a Certificate in Full-Stack Software Development and later a Higher Diploma in Computing (Level 8) specialising in Software Development.

Today, I draw on experiences from customer-facing, educational and technical environments while continuing to develop my software engineering skills. Looking back, those experiences have shaped how I think about problems and the kinds of solutions I enjoy building.

Why Software Development?

What initially attracted me to software development was its ability to solve operational problems efficiently and at scale.

Having spent years working with support systems, business workflows and customer-facing processes, I developed an appreciation for well-designed software and the difference it can make to both users and organisations. Software development provided an opportunity to move from consuming tools to creating them.

Today, I particularly enjoy designing applications that improve workflows, automate processes and provide reliable solutions to real-world challenges.

Technical Interests

While my interests continue to evolve, I am particularly drawn to:

01 / Backend Development

Building APIs, business logic and data-driven applications using Python, FastAPI and Django.

02 / System Design

Exploring how applications communicate, scale and maintain reliability through thoughtful architecture and design decisions.

03 / Business Applications

Developing tools that improve operational workflows, support processes and customer experiences.

04 / Continuous Learning

Exploring new technologies through hands-on projects and practical experimentation, particularly in areas such as AI, automation and self-hosted systems.

Current Focus

Recent projects have explored three very different areas of software development:

PaperTrader

A distributed trading simulation platform focused on microservices architecture, Redis caching, gRPC communication and real-time data processing.

Crafty

A full-stack e-commerce application featuring customer accounts, product management and secure Stripe-powered payments.

>_ tick·it

A workflow management platform designed to streamline support operations through team assignment, ownership tracking and structured ticket lifecycles.

These projects reflect my growing interest in building software that combines technical problem-solving with practical business value.

Beyond Development

One consistent theme throughout both my professional and personal life has been a curiosity about how things work and a willingness to invest time in learning new skills.

Outside of software development, I enjoy cooking, travelling, hiking and following Formula 1. I have a long-standing interest in martial arts and hold a black belt in Taekwon-do. More recently, I've started practising Aikido and learning to sail, both of which continue to challenge me in new ways.

I'm also naturally drawn to hands-on projects and practical learning. Whether assembling Swedish furniture, exploring new technologies or taking on a completely unfamiliar skill, I enjoy the process of stepping outside my comfort zone, understanding how things fit together and improving through practice.

I'm also starting to explore areas such as AI, home automation and self-hosted technologies, which will likely become the focus of future learning projects and experiments.