about

summary of intent

this site isn't to impress.
it's to remember.
to gather all the pieces of who i am and give them a home. whenever i come back to my personal website, i'm always wrestling with the question of who exactly is the target audience. these kinds of things always end up as part biography, part resume, part mirror.
it's for me and it's for you, but i've come to the decision that it's mostly for me. if you want my cv you have my linkedin.

hi, i'm shayna

i'm a software engineer, but that's not the whole story.

my work focuses on building systems that help small businesses grow, automate thoughtfully, and connect with their communities through human-centered design. i draw inspiration from anime, games like chess and mmos, and the spiritual in art. to me, the best technology feels like empathy disguised as engineering.

the work i love most happens at intersections:

between technical and non-technical teams who need to understand each other
between what clients think they need and what will actually solve their problem
between enterprise-grade capabilities and small business budgets
between "we have an idea" and "we have a working system"

i build bridges. sometimes that looks like code. sometimes it looks like conversations. usually, it's both.

how i got here

uiuc .................... learned to write clean code and think 
                          in systems. loved database systems, 
                          systems programming, and ethical & 
                          professional issues in cs 

amazon .................. learned to design and implement elegant 
                          technical solutions for scale. built 
                          data pipelines and dashboards and drank 
                          a lot of coffee 

five star transportation  learned to translate technical 
                          solutions into actual business value. 
                          businesses don't need a "web app," they 
                          need something that either saves money 
                          or makes money 

lenilani ................ putting it all together now! connecting 
                          growing businesses to enterprise 
                          technology they think is out of reach. 
                          translating between "we can't afford 
                          this" and "actually, you can"—bridging 
                          capability to budget, complexity to 
                          usability, ideas to implementation.

uiuc
  learned to write clean code and think
  in systems. loved database systems,
  systems programming, and ethical &
  professional issues in cs

amazon
  learned to design and implement
  elegant technical solutions for scale.
  built data pipelines and dashboards
  and drank a lot of coffee

five star transportation
  learned to translate technical
  solutions into actual business value.
  businesses don't need a "web app,"
  they need something that either saves
  money or makes money

lenilani
  putting it all together now!
  connecting growing businesses to
  enterprise technology they think is
  out of reach. translating between "we
  can't afford this" and "actually, you
  can"—bridging capability to budget,
  complexity to usability, ideas to
  implementation.

i've lived and worked across chicago, indianapolis, honolulu, seattle, silicon valley, and next is tulsa through tulsa remote. traveling is fun! new experiences are fun!