How long have you worked for Brightspot? What brought you here?
I started in 2019, right after my family and I moved to Vienna, Virginia. I was hunting for a cool company nearby, interviewed at a few places around Reston, and Brightspot seemed like the coolest one.
Can you tell me about the current project you are working on and your role on the team?
I’m the Principal Front-End Software Developer on the Johnson & Johnson team at Brightspot, where I’ve worked for several years. When other front-end developers join the project, I help the project managers coordinate that work. That’s what I’m doing right now.
What do you enjoy most about your role as a developer? What do you find most challenging?
I love the J&J team. We’re like family: when you work with people this long, you know each other’s strengths and what to expect from everybody. That makes our projects run smoothly, and it makes my job easier as a developer. I also love the technology I work with at Brightspot. The CMS is like a big toy. I get to mess with it, try things out and build new features.
As a front-end developer, your work directly shapes how visitors experience our customers’ sites. Looking back at your time with Brightspot, what’s the coolest feature or design you’ve brought to life?
There are plenty of examples over the years. Lately, J&J has made a big push on accessibility, for people who use screen readers or can’t use a mouse easily. I love it when a team and a client prioritize accessibility, because it makes the site easier to use for everybody. Getting those features and the interface right for every visitor has been some of my favorite work lately.
Do you have any piece of advice for college students or those who are starting their careers in software engineering?
It’s very different today than when I started. Back then, there weren’t even degrees in what I do, and now you need one. That makes it hard for me to see things from a young person’s perspective starting out. Knowing the technology matters, obviously, but so does taking ownership of a task and seeing it through to the end. Do that for your team and the client, and you’ll succeed at integrating into any company. Take ownership of whatever you’re working on.
You recently spent the day at Holistic Horsemanship Services for a Brightspot Mission event. Can you tell us about your experience there?
That day was great, start to finish. I grew up working on a horse farm: lugging hay bales, shoveling manure, hauling water when the pump froze in winter. I haven’t worked with horses in years, but the event brought all those memories back. It’s good, clean, honest work. I like Brightspot’s volunteering opportunities because I get to spend time with people from the company I don’t normally get to work with or interact with much.
Besides the people, what is your favorite part about working at Brightspot?
The work-life balance at Brightspot. It gives me time for my family, and the freedom to support my team more effectively. I also love the web technologies available to me through the CMS: usability, accessibility, all of it. I find that stuff exciting.
What are your favorite activities or hobbies to do outside of the office?
My three kids take up most of my time outside the office. They all have different personalities, so I’m constantly cycling through different interests with them. My family also loves to travel and take day trips together. I like cooking too, mostly new TikTok recipes. Whatever time’s left, I play Dungeons and Dragons with a dad’s group.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I was what they call a foreign service brat. My parents got posted around the world, and my sisters and I grew up mostly in French-speaking countries in Africa, then in France for a while. Someday, with the means and the time, I’d love to explore South America, Central America and the Pacific Rim. Those are the parts of the world I don’t know at all.
What is your favorite tv show? Would you recommend it?
My answer changes weekly. Right now, my youngest kid and I are rewatching every season of Adventure Time. It’s a great show, canceled years ago, but they just released a new series called Side Quest. We’re rewatching everything first to catch up.
