Introducing Olga
Hey all! I’m Olga and I’m a software engineer here at Litmus. I started a few months back, but haven’t had a chance to say hello—I’ve been busy working on the exciting launch of our new features!
What am I working on at Litmus?
After working at companies big and small, I found that I thrived in a startup environment. This is just one of the many reasons why I’m excited to work at Litmus (that and the fact that it’s run on Ruby on Rails!). Everyone here loves and cares about what they are doing. We are all free to experiment at ways to make Litmus better, and all encourage each other to do so.
My first project at Litmus was building the functionality for Community Snippets. This task gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the codebase, and gain hands on experience with the way projects are worked on here. Everyone on the team was very supportive of my work—and seeing our customers using something I’ve built is incredibly inspiring.
Between the product redesign and the addition of some amazing new features, I joined the team at a very exciting time—and it’s been great. More amazing features are still to come—and I can’t wait for our customers to try them out!
What did I do before Litmus?
I got my first job as a front end web developer when I was 18, and have been building websites and web-based applications ever since. At that time, I researched backend technologies and discovered Ruby on Rails—and fell in love with the Ruby language.
I’ve spent the majority of my life in Russia, where I had some amazing opportunities to work at numerous web studios. It was there that I learned to both code and to thrive under the pressure of deadlines.
One of my most notable positions was working with the founders of a successful video sharing service, COUB. They showed me how passionate developers can be, and taught me that being a developer means always learning, always trying something new, and believing that no matter how complicated the goal is, time and dedication will help find the solution.
I moved to the United Kingdom three years ago, and spent my first year as a freelancer. While it was fun and exciting, it made me miss the days of working on a team—and sharing knowledge with people and learning from them.
I ended up taking a position at Journl in Oxford and my time there helped to shape the developer that I am today. Being one of only four developers, I felt that I had a major stake in every project and every decision I made mattered. While the company was (unfortunately!) closed after a few years, I’m so happy that I was able to be apart of it.
And then….I found Litmus!
What do I do in my free time?
When I’m not keeping up with the latest web developments, I love gaming. After I purchased a PS1, I haven’t been able to stop playing computer games! That being said, I was very excited to find out that most of my colleagues at Litmus share the same gaming passion—we’re currently all playing “Heroes of the Storm.”
My other passions lie in photography, cooking, ballet, and taking care of two very silly cats. And, I’m currently learning how to play the violin! All of these fun hobbies are possible since I’m able to work remotely and don’t have to waste time commuting.
JOIN ME ON THE LITMUS TEAM
Between catered lunches, top notch equipment, 28 vacation days, and so much more, Litmus is a great place to work. And, guess what? We’re hiring!