Between the Brackets - Daniel Slovinsky, Frontend Engineer

Ready for another exciting edition of Between the Brackets [ ] ? We're thrilled to spotlight another fantastic Webstacker on our team! 🚀

This time, we’re featuring another brilliant engineer who has developed some of the finest B2B SaaS websites on the web. Hey Daniel Slovinsky! 👋

About Daniel

Glad to have you on Between the Brackets! Tell us more about yourself.

Hello! I’m one of the rare breed at Webstacks originally from San Diego. Ok, technically Chula Vista but close enough.

I studied Communication at UC Santa Barbara but spent most of my time working at the Daily Nexus preparing for a career in journalism. Boy did that not go as planned! I got a job at an SEO company where I discovered that as much as I love writing English I feel even more comfortable writing code.

After a 2 year stint teaching English in Korea I made the transition to web development and never intend to leave!

In my free time I love playing guitar and bass, reading, and traveling the world as much as possible. If I didn’t have to worry about money I’d probably spend every month in a new country.

What is your role here at Webstacks? 

As an L3 front-end developer I help lead engagements from a technical standpoint primarily on retainer client work. That means coming up with creative solutions to problems that arise, scoping work, mentoring team members, reviewing code, building out new components and templates, and occasionally working on tools to help developers on new projects.

These days, my main focus has been on Justworks where I work alongside an awesome team with Irene Tan on project management, Chloe Gunter on design, and Gio Flores on development. I also work closely with Curtis Cartier on PHS, and have collaborated regularly with Tracy Yu on a variety of projects.

If you could instantly master any skill, what skill would you choose and why?

I’m terrible at learning spoken languages, so mastering Spanish would be huge. It’ll always be useful in San Diego, plus much of my family comes from Argentina and speaks Spanish, so I’d love to be able to use it with them. And I love traveling, so the more languages the better.

Web Development at Webstacks

What do you enjoy the most about your role at Webstacks?

All the people I work with! Exchanging ideas and getting excited about finding better solutions for anything is my favorite part of development in general, so it’s awesome working alongside people who share my passion. Even when I’m not learning something new, it’s fulfilling to teach newer developers or see clients using the tools I’ve built to create bigger, better websites.

What is your favorite Webstacks memory so far?

Definitely the holiday party for 2021! Almost everyone in the company showed up and it was the first time I got to meet some of my fellow team members in person. Spirits were high all-around and we had a rooftop with a great view all to ourselves.

What do you think is one of the most underrated skills to have as a developer?

Being able to communicate technical concepts to non-technical people! Everyone on a project needs to have a general but accurate understanding of what your code does, what alternatives exist, what the technical requirements for each task are, and how those factor into the level of effort for any given assignment. As long as everyone is on the same page then problems are shared by the team and not the individual, so cohesion never breaks down.

The Wrap-Up

We’ve got a question from Erica! If you were a translator between developers and non-technical clients, what would be your superpower, and how would you use it to bridge the communication gap?

Wow that’s a broad question haha. If it’s a superpower can I like, read code and have them magically understand it? Being able to turn any file into a whiteboard flow chart would be cool. For the most part I don’t think superpowers are necessary; especially with the abundance of high-level programming languages, most concepts can be understood intuitively, but if not then the tools to translate them exist. The real superpower would be getting non-technical people to listen, haha.

Any advice for candidates who may be interested in your role today?

Write as much code now as possible. Doesn’t matter what it’s for. Then rewrite it until you can make it better. Then rewrite it again. Then explain it to your dog. Or your parents. Experience is highly valued for a reason, but that doesn’t mean you have to gain it in a professional setting. Learning important lessons can happen any time!

Join the Webstacks Family

Hope you enjoyed learning more about another extraordinary Webstacks Frontend Engineer here on Between the Brackets! If you're interested in joining the rocketship, check out the Webstacks Careers page to see our open positions!