人HITO · PEOPLE
Start with the people
Every project starts with one question: what purpose does this serve? Understanding the person behind the problem is how I avoid building the wrong thing well.
About
Hi, I'm Gary.
I'm a software engineer in Hoboken, New Jersey, focused on the front end. I care about the people on the other side of the screen, and I love turning hard problems into things that feel simple.
The short version
I came to engineering the long way around.
I started in marketing, designing campaigns, ad funnels and websites for real estate listings and clients across the US. Then I moved to Japan and spent three years teaching English to more than 620 students, from one-year-olds to adults. In 2022 I came home to New Jersey, taught myself to code, and within a year I was solving real merchant problems at Rebuy Engine.
At Rebuy I grew from Support Engineer to Software Engineer 1 in just over three years, across four roles. I launched more than 200 custom storefronts, helped scale Bundle Builder to $6M a month in merchant revenue, and led the greenfield Selectable Gift with Purchase widget from its admin panel all the way down to the database. Along the way I mentored teammates, helped interview new engineers, and became a go-to person for the widgets and cart that serve more than 8,400 Shopify merchants.
Today I'm building Kanji Kaku, an iOS and Android app for learning to write Japanese kanji. I design the system and direct AI coding agents to build it, backed by more than 240 automated tests. The tools keep changing. My job stays the same: understand the problem, own it, and ship something reliable.
How I work
Four habits I bring to every team.
責任SEKININ · OWNERSHIP
Own the whole problem
From a support ticket to a brand-new product, I treat the problem as mine until it's solved. Three years of triaging merchant issues taught me to follow a bug all the way to its root.
設計SEKKEI · DESIGN
Design the system
As AI changed how software gets written, my work shifted toward architecture: shaping the data, the boundaries and the tests, then directing agents to build inside them.
丁寧TEINEI · CARE
Sweat the details
Teaching kindergarten in a second language taught me patience and clarity. I bring the same care to interfaces: every state, every edge case, accessibility, and motion that helps instead of distracts.
“What purpose does this serve?”
The question I ask before writing any code
The path here
Each chapter taught me something I still use.
- 2016
Marketing
How products get sold, and who they're sold to. I still think about the funnel when I build a UI.
- 2019
Teaching in Japan
How to explain anything to anyone, in a second language, to an audience of 1 to 55-year-olds.
- 2022
Teaching myself to code
HTML to Next.js on my own, and the first version of this site.
- 2023
Rebuy Engine
Four roles in three years, from answering tickets to leading a new product.
- Now
Kanji Kaku
Everything at once: product, design, architecture and teaching, in one app.
By the numbers
A few things I'm proud of.
4 rolesin three years at Rebuy, Support Engineer to Software Engineer 1
$6Ma month in merchant revenue through Bundle Builder, which I co-developed
8,400+Shopify merchants served by the widgets and cart I worked on
200+custom storefront launches as a Launch Engineer
95%customer satisfaction across 300+ support tickets
620+students taught in Japan, ages 1 to 55
Toolbox
What I build with.
Front end
TypeScriptJavaScriptReactNext.jsVue.jsReact NativeCSSTailwindHTMLUI/UX
Back end
Node.jsExpressPHPPythonLiquidSQLConvex
AI and workflow
Claude CodeCodexCursorAI agent workflowsGitGoogle CloudShopifyE-commerce
English · native日本語 · learned while living in Japan for three years
Let's build something people enjoy using.
I'm looking for a team that cares about its users as much as its code. Front end, full stack or mobile, I'd love to hear what you're working on.