Hi! I'm Katia Wheeler, a developer based in Kansas City. I've had the opportunity to work on some really cool projects with a wide variety of technologies. My niche is frontend development with React and React Native, but I have extensive expertise building fullstack applications in a variety of languages and frameworks.
In addition to coding, I have a passion for mentorship and helping others grow. Before getting into tech, I was teacher which is why mentorship is a core part of my identity. I've done some public speaking on Atomic Design in React and have taught both JavaScript and React courses at a local college.
Employment-wise, most recently I've been improving the user experience for both buyers and merchants in the Shop app while helping to create new features for Shop Pay. Prior to this, I've been fortunate to have worked at a wide variety of companies ranging from an advertising agency, a non-profit, and a few mid-sized companies.
Outside of work, I'm either spending time with my wife and kids, reading a good book, fiddling with a guitar or piano, playing video games, or drinking coffee.
I'd love to connect so feel free to reach out on any of my socials to say hello!
Experience
2021 - Present Senior Developer • Shopify
Led multiple projects involving key features for a merchant's presence on the Shop app including technical architecture, design, and development utilizing React Native. Created both the frontend and backend of a new admin tool for merchants to customize their storefronts' appearance in the Shop app utilizing React and Ruby on Rails. Built and maintained critical components for Shop Pay Installments across multiple repos and technologies.
Served as the Development Manager for 6 months for a team of 8 developers ranging from junior to Staff engineers; duties included setting the team's goals, priorities, and technical direction. Actively mentored mid and junior level developers as well as multiple interns who then transitioned to full-time employees.
- React
- React Native
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
- Ruby on Rails
- MySQL
- GraphQL
2019 - 2021 Senior Developer • Limeade
Team Lead for the web portion of an Employee Experience platform. Implemented a micro-frontend architecture utilizing React. Responsible for the creation and maintenance of an internal shared React component library and other utility libraries. Coordinated and assisted contractors helping with our efforts to make our platform completely accessible following WCAG standards.
Served as a member of the Kaleidoscope Council, an internal organization whose goal is to positively impact the culture of Limeade through DEI initiatives. Actively mentored mid and junior level developers.
- React
- TypeScript
- .NET Core
- AWS
- Storybook
2018 - 2019 Software Engineer • Balance Innovations
Developed and maintained modular user interfaces and component libraries for a Software as a Service product utilizing React, Redux, and GraphQL (Apollo Server and Client). All code was expected to be highly performant, well-tested, and well-crafted. Updated and enhanced APIs within a micro-services architecture utilizing .NET Core and AWS.
- React
- Redux
- GraphQL
- .NET Core
- AWS
- Storybook
2017 - 2018 Software Engineer • iModules
Utilized Test-Driven Development and Pair Programming paradigms to create both the front-end and back-end of an email management system built in React with TypeScript, Redux, and .NET Core. Maintained native iOS (Swift) and Android (Kotlin) mobile applications for an event management application.
- React
- Redux
- TypeScript
- .NET Core
- SQL
- Swift
- Kotlin
2016 - 2017 Software Engineer I • Valley Hope Association
Created a client-facing patient portal as well as internal applications. Crafted both the back-end MVC architecture using .NET Core as well as the front-end Angular 2 implementation utilizing Material Design principles.
- Angular 2
- .NET Core
- SQL
- JavaScript
- HTML & CSS
2015 - 2016 Full-Stack Developer • BIGSHOT Inbound
Created custom WordPress templates and plugins for client websites from high resolution mockups. Met with clients to determine all requirements, both design and functional, and implemented an end-to-end solution to fit their needs.
- WordPress
- PHP
- MySQL
- SASS
- JavaScript
- HTML & CSS
Teaching
2019 - 2021 Adjunct Professor of Web Development • Johnson County Community College
Taught introductory and intermediate courses to over 75 students in web development using JavaScript and React. Delivered instruction in both in-person and remote formats. Courses were project-based and real-world applicable. Post-employment, continued to mentor past students as they began their careers.
- JavaScript I
- React I
- React II
Speaking
2019 Thinking About React, Atomically • Connectaha - Omaha, NE
Atomic Design is the concept of breaking down user interfaces into smaller, simpler elements. There are five different levels in atomic design: atoms, molecules, organism, templates, and pages. These levels are combined to make user interfaces.
React, at its core, follows Atomic Design inherently by encouraging developers to keep components as simple and as broken down as possible. From this simplicity, we can create more complex components and containers of components to create the user interfaces for our applications. Following these patterns gives us, as developers, an easy to manage (and test) ecosystem within our React applications.
