Hi, I'm Alex

From Intelligence Analyst to Developer

In 2017, after several years as an intelligence analyst, and feeling a bit like my career trajectory was not aligned with my interests and goals, I decided to start building a new set of skills to make a change.

Unsure where to start, I tried everything I was interested in. I studied computer networking, restored old furniture, built a quadcopter (only started one electrical fire!), took a couple Udemy courses to build games in C# and C++, developed a passion for astrophotography, and joined the ranks of thousands of Coursera dropouts. Through this process I learned I wanted to land in a field where I could be creative, where I could build things, and where I could do something technical. I didn't want to incur the financial and time-consuming debt of going back to university.

After a few free HTML, CSS, and JavaScript courses I enrolled in Thinkful's full-stack development program to build some foundational knowledge. For me, web development became an engaging cycle of designing, learning, programming, and creative problem-solving. I was hooked.

In early 2019, I said farewell to my career as an intel analyst. I helped build and maintain enterprise-scale Angular and React applications with Booz Allen Hamilton and Secureworks, working with and learning from some amazing people (and grew an obsession with composing RxJS streams).

These days, when I'm not trying to make my daughters laugh (toddlers are the best audience), I'm looking for new things to learn and build. For examples of my development work and photography, check out my portfolio and Instagram, or connect with me on LinkedIn.