Brett is the engineering team and office lead in our growing Santa Monica office. He oversees projects on the Houzz Shop that help vendors and sellers advertise their products as well as help professionals better connect with homeowners. Outside of work, Brett enjoys spending time with his kids and traveling. His favorite place to visit is the Turkish Coast.
What brought you to Houzz? The amazing opportunity to help build our team in Santa Monica! I have been able to help bring talented local engineers into the Houzz family and focus on exciting projects that provide solutions to the home improvement industry.
What were your first impressions of Houzz? Houzz has a very friendly atmosphere and you can tell that engineers care a lot about the product. I visited our headquarters often in my first few months as we began growing our Santa Monica team and everyone was welcoming and supportive.
What do you like most about working here? Startups in the Santa Monica area are typically early stage, so Houzz offers a unique opportunity to work for a more established startup. It’s a great size of company for an engineer because you can make a big impact on the product, which in turn, will make a big impact on the world. Yet, it’s small enough that there are many opportunities to wear a lot of hats and help set the direction of your career growth.
When did you decide to become an engineer? I’ve known since high school. My father introduced me to computer science and I fell in love. It’s been a straight-line to my life now. I like building things and solving problems.
What type of engineering is your focus? Full-stack, front-end and back-end. I like being able to work on any aspect of a project in order to bring it to market.
Do you have any productivity tips? It’s all about how you prioritize, so that you can carve out large blocks of time to experiment with new ideas. Then, decide whether to spend more time on it or move on. Ask yourself questions like, “Will this work?” and “Is this the right path?”
Keep your time constrained so you can evaluate if something is working or move on. The key to tackling big projects is breaking them into smaller problems and make progress against those in a way that shows continual progress and ensures you’re on the right path.
What are the qualities of a great engineer? Communication is really important and leads to real teamwork. Gather feedback, learn from your team and teach others.
How do you use Houzz at home? I’ve gotten great ideas from Houzz and purchased products for my home – the latest is a hallway bench that corrals my daughters’ shoes into one place!
Interested in joining the Houzz team in Santa Monica? Check out openings at http://www.houzz.com/jobs
