My Story
Hi, I'm Zoey! I am a full stack web developer who specializes in modern web technologies. I am an expert in web app development using JavaScript/TypeScript and React. Some of my favorite technologies include Next.js, Supabase, Svelte, and Hugging Face. I also like fitness, yoga, literature (especially science fiction), cats, tattoos, retro gaming, and Linux.
I grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and I have dual US/Canadian citizenship. I speak English, Spanish, and French. I spent five years living in Medellin, Colombia with my wife before moving to Montreal, Quebec in 2024. Since arriving in Montreal, I have focused on improving my French and my AI integration skills.
I have been a computer geek since I was old enough to sit in front of a computer. I wrote my first code when I was a teenager modifying my MySpace page. My web development journey began with me dabbling with HTML and CSS just for fun, but when I started playing with JavaScript I fell in love and dove in head first. The next thing I knew I was learning to build apps with React and Node. Soon thereafter, this became my career.
I have over eight years of experience, mostly working with small startups. I am interested in remote work or an in-office position in Montreal.
My favorite browser is Firefox, my favorite editor is Neovim, my favorite operating system is Arch Linux, my favorite password manager is Bitwarden, and my favorite hacking tool is Burp Suite.
Thanks for visiting my website, I am available if you would like to chat :)
Work Experience
Freelance Web Developer & Personal Development
Self-Employed
As a Freelance Web Developer, I continued to apply and advance my skills in JavaScript and other web technologies by building features and fixing bugs on clients applications. This period honed my independent project management, client communication, and problem-solving abilities.
In 2024, I completed a successful international relocation to Montreal, QC. Since then, I have focused on intensive French language acquisition and on improving my tech skills. I attended full time French language classes, and started multiple passion projects to remain up to date on cutting-edge technologies such as AI.
Lead Front End Developer
Shed Suite
Contributed to the success of a complex business management solution for portable shed manufacturers. I was primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of our various applications. I was initially hired to work on the front end of our web apps, but quickly started picking up tasks on the back end as well as our mobile app.
While at Shed Suite, I implemented new modules and features on the front end, improved user experience on existing pages, made our views more responsive, and oversaw the development of our new e-commerce platform.
In addition to writing code, I also interviewed candidates for developer positions, on- boarded and oversaw junior developers, and exposed and mitigated security vulnerabilities in our platforms.
Front End Developer
Language in Motion
Worked with a diverse, remote team to develop and maintain an advanced language learning platform. As a member of the front end team, I worked to maximize efficiency and user experience within a complex React.js environment. My responsibilities involved building new, responsive views, adding new features, improving responsiveness, fixing bugs, and updating the React state management from Flux to Redux.
I look back at my experience with Language in Motion as wonderful learning experience that gave me the opportunity to master my front end skills and prepare me for future roles.
Teaching Assistant
The Coding Bootcamp at UNC
Supported an intensive, 6 month coding bootcamp based out of UNC Chapel Hill involving 250+ hours of in-class teaching through an extensive curriculum using HTML 5, CSS 3, JavaScript, jQuery, Git, Node.js. Express.js, MySQL 5, Laravel, TDD, SEO, and cloud application development.
I enjoyed my time at the Coding Bootcamp, the students and staff were a delight to work with and I learned a lot from the instructors and through working with the students. I do not plan on working another teaching job however, because I realize I still enjoy writing code more than I do teaching it.
Skills & Expertise
Web App Development
I have been doing web app development for over 8 years and have extensive experience working with React, and JavaScript. Some of my favorite technologies to work with are Next.js, Firebase, Supabase, Typescript, Git, Svelte, Redis, Tailwind CSS, and Linux.
I am also familiar with Node.js, SQL Databases (PostgreSQL, SQLight, etc.), Redis, GraphQL, Express.js, MongoDB, app security basics, Sass, and of course HTML and CSS.
I also love working with technologies that I do not have experience with as I’m always eager to learn something new!
AI Integration
I enjoy integrating AI into applications. I like using proprietary APIs such as OpenAI. However, my real love is in working with open source models. I am a big fan of Hugging Face, both for their Inference API and Transformers.
There are many ways to take advantage of open source AI models, from utilizing LLM inference providers to training models with custom data. If you have an AI project? I would love to talk to you!
Clean Code Principles
I believe in writing code that is clean, concise, easy to read, and secure. I always work with the goal of writing code that will be readable and easy for the next person to work with.
Throughout my career, I have always prioritized best practices like cleanliness, readability, and strict coding standards. I have always advocated against practices of rushed product delivery that inevitably lead to sloppy code that becomes increasingly more difficult to work with.
In the age of “vibe coding”, this is more important than ever. LLMs allow us to work more quickly and efficiently than ever before, and we should take advantage of this. However, we must not forget our standards. It's important that we understand and scrutinize all AI written code that we use. LLMs are useful tools that we can use to do our jobs better, not an excuse to be lazy and forget how to code.
Application Security
I am a security enthusiast and member of OWASP. I believe it is important for developers to understand common web app vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them, and for all employees to understand security best practices. I will enthusiastically take on security related tasks and work with security professionals to secure your application.
This is also more important now than ever. Not only has AI made it possible for anyone to deploy a simple application that lacks good security, but it has empowered malicious actors by making hacking easier. As we take advantage of LLMs, we need to remember that we are still responsible for securing our apps and servers.
Portfolio
Beet AI
An ultra‑lightweight AI chat app, built for speed and performance. Powered by open-source LLMs.
Radio-Map
A streaming app that lets you listen to radio stations from around the world.