A musician, a chef, a developer...Nate’s a synthesizer. He takes eclectic notes, ingredients, or lines of code and turns them into a unified whole. His careers have been varied, but his ardent devotion and curiosity strings them together. “When I pursue something, I do it with hyper focus and put all my energy into that one thing.”
We got to witness this intensity firsthand during Nate’s six-month Sparkbox apprenticeship, during which he wowed the office with both his genuine work ethic and game-changing gourmet cookie recipe. He now joins the team as a full-time developer.
Nate’s first introduction to making websites began during his band days when they needed a website to promote their shows. Nate dabbled in tools and code, eventually teaching himself how to build small websites, which soon became a frequent request from close family and friends. After a handful of years making music, Nate pivoted careers and began making food—really amazing food, as Sparkboxers can attest.
Though he loved his time in the kitchen, Nate couldn’t ignore a compelling hunger to explore web development full-time, so he traded in his knives to shred some lines of Ruby. And to his delight, he found that web development required the same mentality he had invested in meticulously learning all about quality knives: “It’s about having the right tools, taking care of them, and enjoying using them”—be it knives or developer tools. We’re thankful Nate’s obsession has planted his feet firmly on web-related ground, and we’re thrilled to reap the harvest.
When Nate’s not at Sparkbox, he’s catching up on his favorite tech podcasts on his commute to/from Columbus, where he lives with his lovely wife Suzanne and their newborn daughter; honing his coding skills with personal web projects; or reading technical books. “I’m on a journey to become as good as I can at programming. If I have an extra couple of hours, I will pick up a project and dive into it. For me, that’s fun and relaxing, whether or not it turns into building something.” It’s this kind of curiosity and playfulness that is a common ingredient of Sparkboxers and what makes Nate fit in so well.
If you’d like to taste a cookie that’ll change your life or just want to meet the newest developer on the Sparkbox block, drop Nate a note.
