The Journey

At Hollar, I was one of the first engineers to join a small startup team of around 15 people, which eventually grew to 45 members. Hollar was an online dollar store dedicated to providing great products at affordable prices, attracting a large and diverse customer base. As part of a tight-knit tech team of about 10 people, I played a crucial role in building and scaling the platform the ground up. My primary focus was developing responsive and scalable UI components using React, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, while also working closely with designers, product managers, and backend engineers to create seamless user experiences.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was maintaining performance during peak traffic periods, especially as the platform grew rapidly. To address this, we conducted extensive performance testing and implemented client-side optimizations to reduce load times and ensure cross-browser compatibility. Additionally, I led efforts to streamline the checkout process, making it faster and more intuitive, which significantly increased conversion rates. Being part of a small, agile team taught me to adapt quickly, take on full ownership of projects, and develop solutions that balanced scalability and performance. This experience honed my ability to collaborate effectively in a startup environment while maintaining a high standard of code quality.