Meet a Hansonite: Mike Louviere
Welcome to the second installment of our “Meet a Hansonite” blog series! In this series, we’re interviewing Hanson team members to learn a little about their background, passions outside of work, and discover what they like most about being part of the Hanson family. Today, we’re getting the conversation started with Mike Louviere, Senior Front-End Developer.
Sally: Thanks for agreeing to chat with me, Mike. I guess the logical place to start is by asking how long you have been at Hanson?
Mike: Seven years this coming July!
Sally: Cool! So describe your role for someone who may not be familiar.
Mike: As a Senior Front-End Developer, I work with leads from other departments to define project scope, estimate work and create SOWs/proposals for clients. Once projects are approved, I setup what we call a “Front-End Framework” which can be thought of as “scaffolding” for developers to build applications on. I also work with the Project Managers to get tasks created in Teamwork or JIRA depending on the project scale. Essentially, my goal is to get our team on the Front-End setup for success, help them solve problems, and remove any blockers they may have so they can be efficient and productive during build. Oh, I also get to build amazing things too!
Sally: What are 3 things you love the most about your job?
Mike: In the almost 7 years of being here at Hanson, the thing I appreciate most is how I am challenged every day from a technical perspective. We like to push the envelope when it comes to integrating technology into solutions, which means I get to work with a lot of very new and often experimental browser and code features. I also love the people I work with, seriously some of the smartest and most dedicated people I know not only on the professional level, but personally the kind of people who would do anything to help one another. The third thing would be the importance the company puts on family, including our pets of course!
Sally: What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now?
Mike: We’re currently working on a 3D visualizer tool for a client. Since it’s still in development, I can’t say much about the details. But the project is pushing the envelope for what is doable on the web in regards to real-time rendering of 3D. So it’s pretty exciting.
Sally: Do you have a favorite newspaper or blog you read regularly?
Mike: For industry stuff, I mostly read “Front End Front” which is a crowd-curated feed of articles related to Front-End development. I also really enjoy the Reverb.com blog.
Sally: What are your passions and other activities you’re involved in outside of work?
Mike: Music for sure. I play guitar in a new band called “Nations” and most people know me as “the gear guy” because of Instagram and because I’m constantly buying/selling music gear. I have a Reverb.com store with a 5-star rating and 167 transactions. I also have a pretty decent sneaker collection and my wife often complains because I take up a good 80% of our walk-in closet space. Don’t judge.
Sally: No judgement here on shoes! Before working at Hanson, what was the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Mike: I grew up in NY State and did some guitar session recording and interestingly, Hip Hop production work. I was in my 20s, I was cooler then. I spent a lot of time at “Pyramid Sound” (a studio in Upstate NY) and still have stuff on DAT there. The owner Alex was heavily involved with producing a lot of big Hardcore/Metal acts in the late 80s/early 90s and to juxtapose, he also worked on producing some of Whitney Houston’s first platinum singles. I learned a ton from Alex and the other engineers there, but creating music is much more enjoyable as a hobby.
Sally: Here at Hanson, our core values are: be yourself, own the adventure, stay curious, get emotional, and embrace family. Which one do you most resonate with and why?
Mike: Probably “Be yourself.” Not a lot of guys are willing to rock a pair of Tartan pants and Adidas Ultraboost to work, so I have that going for me I suppose. Also, I’ve never really fallen into a “genre” when it comes to music, or things I’m interested in. For instance, My Spotify Recently Played list contains music from Intervals, Cam’ron, Periphery and Neptunes (Old Pharrell). The best thing you can do as a person is just Be Yourself, don’t be afraid of not liking something or branching out because of what people might think.
Sally: If you could describe Hanson in 3 words, what would they be?
Mike: Exciting. Challenging. Rewarding.
