Reducing Bugs Through Better Test Coverage
Acton Academy: National education network
Challenge: Acton’s custom platform development had evolved into a large, complex Ruby on Rails application, but it lacked meaningful test coverage. Each new feature posed a risk of unintentionally breaking existing functionality. Bugs frequently made their way into production, leading to user frustration and hindering the pace of development in their software engineering processes.
My Role: I implemented test coverage across both the frontend and backend of the web application design, introducing reliable testing practices into their development process. This included writing automated tests for legacy code and establishing systems for new code to be tested by default, aligning with a microservices architecture approach.
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 absence of a unified system resulted in inefficiencies, version control issues, and unnecessary manual work.
My Role: I utilized custom platform development to design and develop a centralized internal web application using Ruby on Rails, which consolidated all business operations into one place. This included building secure, searchable databases for insurance records, HR information, and employee performance tracking, all under a microservices architecture.
Impact:
- Agents could instantly access up-to-date insurance info
- The 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 web application design streamlined daily operations and equipped leadership with the tools needed to support growth without drowning in spreadsheets, showcasing effective software engineering.
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 developed through custom platform development practices, where they could upload and organize technical video content for both internal teams and external partners.
My Role: I utilized Ruby on Rails to develop a dynamic web application that allowed the team to upload, categorize, and share training videos through a private library interface. The platform incorporated microservices architecture, 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 web application design helped Momentum reduce repeat questions, improve internal training, and deliver a more consistent experience to partners and new hires, ultimately enhancing their software engineering practices.
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 a consistent structure, resulting in deeply tangled business logic, duplicated patterns, and hard-to-maintain code. For a company engaged in highly regulated financial sectors, this technical debt hindered its ability to implement custom platform development quickly while ensuring compliance.
My Role: As a core developer on the compliance engineering team, I led significant backend refactors within a large-scale Ruby on Rails codebase. I extracted critical logic into modular, single-responsibility service objects, embracing microservices architecture and introducing better architectural patterns across the system. Additionally, I 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 through effective software engineering practices.
- Reduced debugging and onboarding time for developers, enhancing web application design efficiency.
- Enabled faster development of compliant financial services.
- Supported ongoing audits and risk monitoring through improved 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 evolved into a tightly coupled Ruby on Rails monolith. As more features were integrated, the development velocity slowed, and deployments became increasingly risky. Unrelated parts of the system often broke due to hidden dependencies, complicating the custom platform development process.
My Role: As one of the only developers at the time, I played a crucial role in transitioning the monolithic Rails app to a more modular architecture based on microservices. I helped plan and implement key product components as standalone Node.js microservices, collaborating closely with leadership to enhance our software engineering practices and support a smoother, more scalable development process.
Impact:
- Enabled faster, safer development cycles
- Reduced the risk of introducing bugs in unrelated areas
- Created a more scalable, modular architecture
- Made the codebase easier to reason about and maintain, improving overall web application design
Why It Mattered: For a lean team supporting a rapidly growing product, agility wasn’t optional. This shift to microservices architecture provided Rallio with 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 through custom platform development.
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 using Ruby on Rails and working with the backend team to ensure consistent data flow between services, leveraging a microservices architecture.
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 through effective software engineering practices.
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 and web application design — experience I now bring to smaller teams who need solid systems from the start.