CREMA - Key Persons
A native to Pennsylvania, Aaron has been passionate about programming since high school. He pursued a Computer Science degree from Virginia Tech and worked on the front-end of applications in the insurance industry for the first two years of his career. Aaron is excited to have the opportunity to engage with Crema's culture and to use his skills to provide as much value to clients as possible.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Responsible for leading overall direction and performance of their team, maintaining and leading quality relationships with their clients, providing overall engagement direction, and nurturing growth opportunities.
Ashley graduated from college with a degree in Print Management, emphasizing design. She began her career as a prepress manager for 6 years but switched paths in 2015 when she applied to and got on StartupBus. This was her introduction to the world of tech. During the next few years, Ashley worked a side business of design and Wordpress website creation. In 2017 she took a 23-week intensive code program (LaunchCode) and joined the Crema team as a test engineer shortly thereafter. Since then, she has worked on several projects, testing on multiple platforms and devices. Being able to code when she creates automated tests is the special ingredient to round off all the things she loves about her job.
Aubrey enjoys all aspects of product design, but she finds the strategy and planning portion most exciting. This aspect interests her because all great products start with a strong foundation that will most effectively meet the needs of users. Notable clients include H&R Block and Cerner.
Brings user-centric design leadership to product teams throughout the software development process while pushing the design team in its craft development.
Job Titles:
- Senior Application Developer
Blake went to college for a graphic design degree. He started his career as a User-Experience intern at a startup in Kansas City. Following the internship, he realized that he was more passionate about development and made the decision to join the team full-time with a focus on development. Ever since then, he's been fully committed to development while still finding uses for his design knowledge. Blake has worked in startup and agency environments in design and development related roles. He's also used many different web and native technologies, including building Android-based set-top boxes, React-Native mobile apps utilizing image-to-text recognition, Angular and React-based Web Applications, and Node-based APIs.
Builds products as a member of the production team while also helping mentor and give direction to the development team as a whole.
Responsible for leading overall direction and performance of their team, maintaining and leading quality relationships with their clients, providing overall engagement direction, and nurturing growth opportunities.
Brandon is a people-first leader, data-driven product director, and empathic communicator. He has 10+ years of global management experience leading teams of diverse backgrounds to design global product solutions for superior client relations of long-term organizational aspirations.
Responsible for product planning, client/team relations, as well as long-term and short-term responsibilities for team members to reach the overarching goals throughout a product lifecycle.
Brooke Purvis began her career in the events industry, conducting digital efforts for local showstoppers like Boulevardia, Planet Comicon Kansas City and Quixotic. In the event off season, Brooke was a full-time software engineering project manager. In nearly three years, Brooke guided 40 websites and mobile apps from ideation to deployment. After running her hands through many digital products, Brooke made the switch to product management. She is passionate about empowering her team to create digital solutions to solve consumer and client problems with powerful design and development.
Brooke Weathers is an application developer at Crema living in Nashville, Tennessee. She started her career in law after graduating from The University Missouri-Kansas City with a B.A. in Political Science, but has always had an interest in technology. After deciding to switch careers, she graduated from Nashville Software School as a full stack developer and went on to help build a cloud based valuation software for venture capital firms. Outside of work she is inspired by music, reading and exploring the outdoors with her husband and two dogs.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Job Titles:
- Software Engineer
- Application Developer
Bruce has been a software engineer since early 2019 when he started at a company called Yoga International. He studied at Hack Reactor and graduated from their Part-Time Immersive program. He founded and operated a business called Pi Crafters which taught kids and adults the basics of programming and robotics. And, he also founded a company called Lyric Keeper which allows musicians to easily store their lyrics and chords. Bruce loves teaching, developing new and exciting features, and helping others discover the same joys of programming that he's found.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Job Titles:
- Senior Application Developer
Builds products as a member of the production team while also helping mentor and give direction to the development team as a whole.
Responsible for product planning, client/team relations, as well as long-term and short-term responsibilities for team members to reach the overarching goals throughout a product lifecycle.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
For nearly 10 years, Charles' career has given him the opportunity to work across many disciplines. Charles' experience in entrepreneurship and community building has developed a passion in him to hone his craft as well as a desire to see products and businesses thrive while making real connections with their customers.
Responsible for product planning, client/team relations, as well as long-term and short-term responsibilities for team members to reach the overarching goals throughout a product lifecycle.
Brings user-centric design leadership to product teams throughout the software development process while pushing the design team in its craft development.
Chris loves creating value, whether for companies or individuals and uses design practices and principles. Using his background in Service Design and User Experience Design, he strives to think strategically and holistically about how the user engages with each touchpoint through a service.
Explores how people interact with technology and the world around them, driving cross-discipline innovation through real-world prototypes and approaches, supporting a culture of learning by making and collaborating with others across varied mediums.
After 3 years of analyzing data to manage pricing and contracts for trucking companies, Courtney made the switch to software testing when she joined a Fortune 500 freight company in 2007. She's served stints as a Business Analyst and Product Manager and completed the LaunchCode coding boot camp. Courtney is experienced in automated testing, manual testing, and managing testing teams, and has delivered countless well-tested software solutions throughout her career thus far.
Uses exploratory and automated testing to ensure delivery of thoroughly tested, high-quality products.
Job Titles:
- Senior Application Developer
Builds products as a member of the production team while also helping mentor and give direction to the development team as a whole.
Deric first attended college with the intent of getting an engineering degree but was later recommended to a Web Applications program. Starting his career in tech, Deric had the intent to work as a web designer: however, that role didn't exist without more hands-on development. Since then, Deric has been working on mastering his development skills and trying to keep up with the intense flux of ever-changing technologies. Before Crema, most of the work Deric had done was making content sites interactive and visually appealing. Today Deric works on large scale applications while thinking about scalability, working with 3rd party services and APIs, and pushing client-side development to its limits.
Erin started her career as a graphic designer before becoming a self-taught coder who developed a love for software testing. She's a user advocate at heart - empathy, visualization, anticipation of behavior, and communication are some of her key strengths.
George is a user experience designer by trade and an entrepreneur by accident. He's spent the past 10 years growing and evolving Crema, which started as an operation in the second bedroom of a home and has now grown to a 40+ person, multi-location company in the KC crossroads. His background is in digital design and all things UX, although, more recently, his focus has shifted to 1) new product experimentation through Venture Lab and 2) methods and ideologies for building successful product teams.
Over the years, George has helped craft health system websites, social networks for auto-parts, small business lending platforms, construction resource allocation software, and cybersecurity evaluation and automation tools. He's also helped launch startups at SXSW and has overseen innovation projects as they took hold inside their corporate teams. This wide variety of work has shaped the way Crema thinks about product teams. It's allowed our products and clients to grow into multi-million and even billion-dollar businesses.
George's passion ultimately has less to do with technology - or even design. It's really about people! If you'd like to strike up a conversation to learn more about George, drop him a line at george@crema.us (P.S. Please, don't try to sell him a benefits package or insurance options. Thanks!)
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Guy's digital career started in marketing at a tiny bookstore as a Customer Experience Manager. Following that role and being introduced to User Experience Design, he ended up learning to code and fell in love with it. Now as a dev, he wields web tech like a paintbrush to create experiences that leave people smiling. Always learning in UX and web development, he's moved through the retail, bookselling, and InsureTech industries into full-time agency work.
Job Titles:
- Office & Hospitality Coordinator
Hallie taught in Kansas City-area public schools for eight years before arriving at Crema. She first encountered the fine people of Crema while working at the neighborhood coffeehouse in her college days. Ever since, Hallie has had Crema on her radar and in 2021, jumped at the chance to be a part of the team as Office & Hospitality Coordinator.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Israel has a Bachelor's degree in business and experience in the banking and insurance industry. Although technology has always been one of Israel's passions he took a non-traditional approach to pursue his passion. After much research and self teaching, Israel enrolled and completed a Full stack web development program at KU. Shortly after, Israel accepted his first position in the technology industry and joined Crema as an application developer apprentice. He joined Crema full-time in November 2021 and continues to grow his skills and passion for building applications that bring value to others.
Job Titles:
- Senior Application Developer
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Jake has been developing Rails Apps and Web UI Components for over 7 years. He specializes in writing design systems with JavaScript and has experience with Accessibility as well. Apps aren't his only speciality; Jake has been developing games for the past 2 years and has been studying pixel art for the last year and a half. Software is a huge passion of his, fueled by his 1 year of experience writing UI at Garmin, 3 years of experience writing Rails Apps at Cerner, 3 years of experience building design systems at Cerner, and 3 years of volunteer experience writing web and mobile apps for Code for America.
Brings user-centric design leadership to product teams throughout the software development process while pushing the design team in its craft development.
Jeremy brings a unique background to his product design role through a history of brand and advertising design that drives his passion for detail, product vision, unity in teams and understanding the end user. He has worked with a rich history of clients in both the small startup world as well as corporate and enterprise-scale brands. Jeremy is an "inspector" valuing the power of listening, researching, and learning deep knowledge into every project and interest he holds.
Julie graduated from the University of Kansas in the spring of 2019 with a BS in Strategic Communications and a minor in Global and International Studies. The summer after, she began working with Crema as a copywriting intern. At the end of the internship, she transitioned into a full-time role as a content writer and is currently serving on the Crema growth team. Julie utilizes creative and intuitive thought processes to generate highly effective messaging on behalf of Crema.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Justin joined Crema as a part of our Developer Apprentice Program and has quickly evolved into a stellar Application Developer. He's worked in a variety of industries and has had a passion for technology his whole life. Justin's excited to use his experience to help Crema's clients build digital products.
Justin's experience in product management, digital marketing, and video production led him to his current position as a Crema coach, where he comes alongside potential and current clients to help them think through the problem they're solving, what their goals are, and how we may be able to help them. He is a certified Design Sprint Facilitator with a BS in Digital Media Art and an MS in Business Leadership & Ethics.
Works alongside potential and current clients to help them think through the problem they're solving, their goals, and how we may be able to help them.
In her career, Karen explored paths in customer service, management, and administration. She captained the ship at video game stores, absorbed progressive ideas in a bookstore, promoted celebrations in an entertaining space, and fostered connections at an engineering firm. After completing the LaunchCode development program in early 2020, her passions found a home in technology. A friend recommended an opportunity at an innovative software company called Crema. She jumped at the chance to join such a diverse and disruptive organization, and began her new chapter in life as a Test Engineer.
Uses exploratory and automated testing to ensure delivery of thoroughly tested, high-quality products.
Katie went to college for communications and spent years writing content for non-profits around the KC metro, but she always had an itch to dive deeper into technology and really see how things worked. She started studying code in 2017 and began working on websites in 2018 until she got in at a small software company doing tech support. Within a year, she'd worked her way into a testing position and completed an intensive 5-month coding bootcamp with LaunchCode.
Uses exploratory and automated testing to ensure delivery of thoroughly tested, high-quality products.
Kenneth started his creative journey as a photography major at the University of Central Missouri. After spending several years as a product photographer and content manager he decided to switch paths. In 2018 his natural affinity toward technology lead him into software testing where he spent several years working in the insurance realm.
Uses exploratory and automated testing to ensure delivery of thoroughly tested, high-quality products.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Kiley has a non-traditional background for tech. She spent 5 years in the healthcare industry before deciding she needed a career change. When searching for a career, she came across development and started building skills on her own with JavaScript/CSS/HTML. Kiley decided to pursue development as a career and completed an intense, 24-week Full Stack Web Development program at KU. Following the program, she began a 6-month apprenticeship with Crema, where she continued gaining knowledge around React, React Native, TypeScript, Node.js. Kiley joined the team full time in April of 2019.
After a couple of semesters studying Secure Systems Administration at Metropolitan Community College, Larissa decided to instead pursue her dreams of working in a more creative industry. She applied for and received a multimedia internship at Crema in the summer of 2018 and became a full-time Content Specialist in August 2018.
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations & HR
Laura received a broad liberal arts education before a short-lived career in apparel production. She made her way to Kansas City, met the fine folks of Crema and never looked back! She loves the freedom of working in a Results Based Culture and the opportunity to help build a company where employees love to work.
Develops, implements, and updates software solutions for web and mobile applications.
Lex has always had an interest in technology and software development. After working as a tech support analyst for two years, she decided to pursue a career in development. Lex has participated in several of the tech interest groups around Kansas City such as Code For KC, Kansas City Women in Tech, and Launch Code. She also had the pleasure of mentoring for DjangoGirls KC and RailsGirls KC in 2018. Lex was later accepted into the Launch Code program where she learned programming languages like Python and Java. Lex first started at Crema as an apprentice and is now a full-time developer!
Job Titles:
- Senior Application Developer
Builds products as a member of the production team while also helping mentor and give direction to the development team as a whole.
Luiz has been programming since age 15 and has been professionally developing ever since. He's been working as a full-time developer with Javascript applications, designing and building both front-end and back-end. He's passionate about engineering new solutions and creating anything that would make people's lives easier. He has a lot of experience with Node.js, Express, Sockets, MongoDB, Postgres and React. Before Crema, Luiz worked in the Information Security industry as an Information Security Analyst.
Job Titles:
- Director of Product Management
Job Titles:
- Business Development Consultant
Job Titles:
- Senior Application Developer
Job Titles:
- Senior Application Developer