Reducing Bugs Through Better Test Coverage
Acton Academy: National education network
Challenge:
Acton’s custom platform had grown into a large, complex Ruby on Rails application — without meaningful test coverage. Every new feature introduced a risk of breaking something unintentionally. Bugs frequently made it into production, creating frustration for users and slowing down the pace of development.
My Role:
I implemented test coverage across both the frontend and backend, introducing reliable testing practices into their development process. This included writing automated tests for legacy code, as well as building systems for new code to be tested by default.
Impact:
- Fewer bugs in production
- Faster, more confident deploys
- A more stable foundation for future feature development
Why It Mattered:
For a school network operating across dozens of campuses, reliability is essential. Reducing bugs meant fewer support issues and more time spent on educational impact — not debugging broken tools.
Building a Central Hub for Insurance Operations
Hilton Head Insurance: Coastal agency modernizing with internal web tools
Challenge:
Hilton Head Insurance relied entirely on Excel spreadsheets for agents to look up insurance information. There was no central hub for the office manager to track HR records, employee sales, or call logs. The lack of a unified system led to inefficiencies, version control issues, and unnecessary manual work.
My Role:
I designed and developed a centralized internal web application that brought all business operations into one place. This included building secure, searchable databases for insurance records, HR information, and employee performance tracking.
Impact:
- Agents could instantly access up-to-date insurance info
- Office manager gained visibility into employee activity
- HR and performance data was stored safely and consistently
Why It Mattered:
For a fast-paced insurance agency, easy access to reliable information is critical. This new platform streamlined daily operations and gave leadership the tools to support growth without drowning in spreadsheets.
Transforming Static Content into a Dynamic Platform
Momentum Engineering: Industrial firm streamlining training and knowledge sharing
Challenge:
Momentum Engineering was using a static HTML site that offered no way to share training videos or internal resources. They needed a modern, maintainable platform where they could upload and organize technical video content for both internal teams and external partners.
My Role:
I developed a dynamic web application that allowed the team to upload, categorize, and share training videos through a private library interface. The platform included user permissions and search functionality to make content easily accessible.
Impact:
- Created a structured, accessible video training library
- Improved onboarding and training efficiency
- Gave the team control over updates without touching code
Why It Mattered:
Engineering teams thrive on knowledge sharing. This platform helped Momentum reduce repeat questions, improve internal training, and deliver a more consistent experience to partners and new hires.
Refactoring Messy Code into Scalable Service
Prime Trust: Fintech platform for digital asset infrastructure
Challenge:
Prime Trust’s backend API had evolved over time without consistent structure, resulting in deeply tangled business logic, duplicated patterns, and hard-to-maintain code. For a company operating in highly regulated financial sectors, this technical debt made it difficult to move quickly and stay compliant.
My Role:
As a core developer on the compliance engineering team, I led major backend refactors within a large-scale Ruby on Rails codebase. I extracted critical logic into modular, single-responsibility service objects and introduced better architectural patterns across the system. I also owned and built key integrations — including a standalone KYC microservice and third-party connections with Unit21 and Socure.
Impact:
- Transformed a fragile backend into a cleaner, maintainable architecture
- Reduced debugging and onboarding time for developers
- Enabled faster development of compliant financial services
- Supported ongoing audits and risk monitoring through better system design
Why It Mattered:
As a regulated financial infrastructure provider, Prime Trust needed stable systems it could trust. My contributions helped lay the groundwork for a more scalable, compliant platform — critical for both day-to-day operations and future product innovation.
Transitioning From Monolith to Microservices
Rallio: Social media management platform for multi-location businesses
Challenge:
Rallio’s platform had grown into a tightly coupled Ruby on Rails monolith. As more features were added, development velocity slowed and deployments became increasingly risky. Unrelated parts of the system often broke due to hidden dependencies.
My Role:
As one of the only developers at the time, I contributed to the transition from a monolithic Rails app to a more modular architecture. I helped plan and implement key product components as standalone Node.js microservices, working closely with leadership to support a smoother, more scalable development process.
Impact:
- Enabled faster, safer development cycles
- Reduced risk of introducing bugs in unrelated areas
- Created a more scalable, modular architecture
- Made the codebase easier to reason about and maintain
Why It Mattered:
For a lean team supporting a rapidly growing product, agility wasn’t optional. This shift to microservices gave Rallio the technical foundation to grow with confidence — without sacrificing speed or stability.
Contributing to a Scalable Fitness Platform
Xponential Fitness: Multi-brand wellness company building digital class access
Challenge:
Xponential Fitness needed to expand its digital offerings with a unified platform for streaming and booking online fitness classes across multiple studio brands. The challenge was to create a seamless experience for users while maintaining brand-specific requirements and performance at scale.
My Role:
As part of a cross-functional development team, I contributed to the buildout of their online class application — helping implement key components of the front-end interface and working with the backend team to ensure consistent data flow between services.
Impact:
- Supported the launch of a multi-brand digital fitness experience
- Helped improve performance and usability for class discovery and streaming
- Strengthened development velocity in a fast-paced environment
Why It Mattered:
For a company serving millions across major fitness brands, digital access became essential. Contributing to this effort gave me firsthand experience with high-stakes, high-scale development — experience I now bring to smaller teams who need solid systems from the start.