Todd Tobin
Founder & CTO
Todd Tobin is the former Vice President of Technology at ServiceMagic. During his six years with ServiceMagic, the site grew to generating over $500K per day in revenue. Prior to working at ServiceMagic, Todd held engineering roles at Level 3 Communications, Virtela Communications and American Management Systems. Todd holds a bachelor‘s degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder where he studied Information Systems and Finance.
Bret Hanna
Founder & Director of Design & Development
Bret is the former front end architect and senior software engineer at ServiceMagic. During his six years at ServiceMagic Bret was responsible for implementing and architecting many of the technological innovations that helped ServiceMagic grow to a $200M company. Prior to ServiceMagic Bret held design and development positions at MSR and McKenzie Scott Partners. Bret holds a bachelor‘s degree from the Art Institute of Colorado in Multimedia and Web Design.
Kirsten Matti
Director, User Experience
Kirsten has over a over a decade of experience designing and building websites. Over the years she has worked closely with a wide range of companies including MapQuest, Goldman Sachs & Schwab (although she thinks Craftsy has been the most fun site to date).
Kirsten learned fashion sewing from her mother and grandmother, and has recently taken an interest in sewing vintage 40s & 50s patterns. She has reupholstered her couch 3 times (bad kitty, bad!). She is also an avid painter who has held gallery shows in both Minneapolis & Denver.
It’s also a little known fact that she’s a huge fan of the Dukes of Hazzard (the show, not the horrible movie). Yeeeehaw!
Jay Gietl
Sr. Engineer
Prior to joining Craftsy, Jay spent over 8 years as a Software Engineer at ServiceMagic where he also held the title of world foosball champion. He has a degree in Computer Information Systems from Metropolitan State College of Denver. Jay grew up in Colorado and enjoys skiing, golfing, four wheeling, motorcycle rides and spending time with friends and family. He also likes cars…a little too much. Jay hopes to learn some new skills in sewing so he can continue work on restoring his 1977 IHC Scout II.
Rachel Hiemstra
Director of Product
Rachel is the former Director of Product Expansion at ServiceMagic, responsible for developing and launching products within new vertical markets. Prior to ServiceMagic, as a Content Director at Leopard.com, she lead a team of writers, strategists and designers who executed online and offline marketing communications for high-tech clients including IBM, SAP, CDW, and Level 3. Rachel’s experience also spans teaching gifted kids at The Logan School in Denver, and a year at a web startup building a virtual world for ‘tweens. Rachel holds a BA and an MA from Stanford University. Most important, Rachel is a (sometimes sleepy) new mom and a beginner quilter, who loves to cook for relaxation and telemark for fun.
Matthew Boeckman
Director of Technical Operations
Matthew comes to Sympoz with over 14 years of systems and networking experience. He has worked in, and designed, both startup and enterprise environments. He loves the OSI model, linux, webservers, databases and clouds. When he is not grepping the inodes, he can be found in the kitchen hacking yeast or making something savory out of butter and onions. Matthew has no artistic talent or crafting ability whatsoever, but subjects his family and coworkers to spontaneous outbursts of song.
Previously, Matthew was a recreational sky diver, roller coaster enthusiast, and racer of automobiles. Finding these pursuits lacking in sufficient excitement, he and his wife produced a son, Ian, and a daughter, Cora, who together provide ample levels of joy and adventure.
Ed Barnes
Head of Mobile Development
A Haiku:
Many years of dev
Enterprise architecture
Mobile apps take world
Ed has 15 years of experience in software development. He has worked in several industries including real estate, insurance, automotive and home improvement, specializing in mobile development, web development, and enterprise architecture. Ed has a bachelors degree in Technology and Cognition from the College of Education at the University of North Texas, a program focused on learning with technology.
Nate Thomas
UX Engineer
Nate, aka Natetron, but please call him Nate, has worked in start-ups in North Carolina, California, and now here at Craftsy doing user experience/user interface design work. He has a BA in Multimedia Arts and Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Nate’s from Pittsburgh, PA and loves his Penguins, hates the typeface papyrus, and loves independent films. His hobbies include hand-making cards and prints for friends, homebrewing tasty beer, gaming, and pretending to be a Top Chef judge when his girlfriend cooks dinner.
Ryan Barr
Front-End Architect
Known as the guy who rarely understands pop-culture references and never removes his hat, Ryan loves building front-end applications. When not working, you can find him spending time with his family or playing video games.
Rolly Sarmiento
Mobile Developer
The son of a potter and later a grocer, Rolly’s love for the sea and mobile development started at a young age. At the age of 12 he dropped out of school to enroll in the Royal Oats Navy where it quickly became apparent that Rolly was a veritable powerhouse on the seas. Steering a ship through twenty-foot swells whilst coding in objective-c earned him the respect of seafarers across the globe. After a tragic harpooning accident, “One Eye Rolly” decided to retire his sea legs, and joined the team at Sympoz.
When not performing two seemingly impossible tasks at the same time, you can find Rolly chowing down at Red Lobster, testing out the latest Old Spice scents at the grocery store, or just following the north star, living by his own rules.
Chandler Prall
Software Engineer
Before joining the Craftsy team, Chandler spent the last 10 years developing web sites for real estate, travel, and entertainment. After spending 2 years in overly sunny Arizona, he has moved back to his home state of Colorado in order to enjoy the more outdoor-friendly climate with his wife and one year old son. When not experiencing the great outdoors, Chandler enjoys playing the piano and the accordion, or geeking out on various board games.
Noah Yetter
Data Architect
Noah studied Economics, Computer Information Systems, and Math at Metropolitan State College of Denver, while working for the college’s I.T. department. He had this crazy idea of becoming a college Economics professor, and moved across the country to pursue an Economics Ph.D. at George Mason University. But after one semester he realized he was not cut out for academia, and moved back to Denver to resume his previous dream of having a career in technology. Between then and now Noah worked at ServiceMagic for 7 years, progressing from Database Developer, to Data Architect, and finally to Director of Software Development.
Noah’s craftsy-ness is limited to building with Legos, assembling computers, some amateur carpentry, and being married to a knitter/spinner/weaver/sewist. Noah is a native Coloradan, and lives in Lakewood with his wife, son, and four(!) cats.
Tory Lynne
SEO Marketing Manager
Tory came to Craftsy with the things that we value most: personality, passion and purpose. She is truly dedicated to the craft of white-hat SEO, and we are glad to have her scouring our site with a fine-toothed comb, ensuring you can find the content you want!
Outside of work, Tory is a loving pet owner and jet-setter. She and her soon-to-be-husband have traveled to England and Ireland, and are hoping to add India, Japan and Croatia to that list soon. Her “pet collection” is centered around her two dogs, Obi (border collie + cattle dog) and Potus (Italian greyhound + chihuahua). She is… let’s call it “tolerant”… of her husband’s cats.
She’s always got another craft lined up, but the growing list of hobbies that Tory enjoys are oil painting, sewing, DIY projects for the house, and gardening.
Jill Carty
Product Manager
Jill joined Craftsy in June 2012 as a Product Manager. In the months since, she has helped bring new features to life on the site, and had more fun at work than she ever thought possible. In her free time, Jill enjoys reading, learning new things, and staring longingly at unfinished crochet projects. Prior to joining Craftsy, Jill was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, where she helped Fortune 500 companies with strategic challenges.
Sam Byrnes
Sam grew up a country girl in the wilds of rural Utah. She fled for the bright lights of the big city 13 years ago and has no plans of returning any time soon (aka never). Sam went through several degree paths including an Associates of Science and two years towards a bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering before settling on Computer Information Systems. In her spare time she enjoys photography, gardening, crazy socks, microbrew beer, and indulging her coffee habit.
Joey Mazzotta
UX Engineer
Before finding his favorite job ever at Craftsy, Joey spent his last 12 years designing and developing websites such as Avis.com, Budget.com, Denverpost.com and Dexknows.com. He also spent some quality time with the local Denver design firm, TheFirmGraphics.com, sharpening up his design and print skills. He keeps busy with freelance design and print work and lately has been doing projects for the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
Joey grew up in Denver and the surrounding areas, and most of his childhood was spent skateboarding, drawing and learning graffiti. Having lived here most of his life, he has pretty much eaten everywhere, so if you need to know of a good restaurant in a certain neighborhood, he is the person to ask. He and his wife are always on the move, either on weekend trips or vacations, and hope to one day fill up their passports. Oh, and don’t let the tattoos fool you, he is actually pretty reserved most of the time.
Shawn Gardner
Senior Engineer/Architect
more to come
Clint Milner
Front-End Engineer
Clint is a Colorado native from the small mountain town of Granby, but has only recently moved back to the Centennial State. Prior to joining Craftsy, he was building websites across the pond for 6 years in Buckinghamshire, England. Apart from sometimes driving on the left side of the road, mixing up dollars and pounds, and spelling color with a ‘u’, the transition back to his home state has been a smooth one.
When Clint is not busy making the website look good, he enjoys spending time with his wife and dog (both British), skiing, hiking, and photography. He also spends a fair amount of time yelling at the Broncos and Rockies.
Jesse White
iOS Engineer
Jesse spent the last decade in Los Angeles, and after visiting Colorado several times he decided this is where he wanted to live. He loves snowboarding and the outdoors, and couldn’t think of anywhere else that he would rather live. After 6 years of systems programming at LoopNet he started developing iOS apps a few years ago independently. Most recently he worked with FortyDigital to release the Trivia game Stumped, which has been one of his favorite projects. He has enjoyed watching it grow and continues to learn more about the mobile marketplace. His passions are software development, music, and experiencing life to the fullest.
Mike Eberhardt
UX Engineer
Mike is originally from Buffalo, NY, where he grew up in the lakeside frozen tundra. He has always been in love with the outdoors and started snowboarding at the age of 12. Mike has taught snowboarding for 3 years, and is certified (AASI) American Association of Snowboard Instructors, Level 1.
Mike moved out to Colorado in 2006 to experience the best “outdoor playground” in the US. He has made a few batches of homemade beer and is always open to “test” others creations. When he’s not pushing pixels or discussing tech, Mike likes to play racquetball, cycle and hike.
Amy Graham
Product Manager
Amy has recently returned to Denver after spending a year in San Francisco. While she claims to be “from” Colorado, she actually grew up in St. Louis, where she acquired a great appreciation for the game of baseball and an understanding that it’s okay to put ranch dressing on most foods. Her upbringing also nurtured a creative spirit and a love for all things DIY.
As part of the Internal Tools team, Amy loves coming up with innovative ways to make her co-workers’ lives easier. Outside of the office, she loves exploring the city and the mountains with her fiancé and their dog, Biggie. Her other passions include yoga, Motown and soul music, expensive cheese & cheap wine.
Ryan Brandle
UX Designer
Ryan is a former freelance Graphic Designer with a focus on websites, email campaigns and visual identity systems. Throughout his 9 years of experience, Ryan has worked through many different mediums of design both domestically and abroad. After traveling the world and spending a year freelancing (and surfing) in Costa Rica, Ryan returned to his hometown of Denver and joined the Craftsy team.
He graduated with a BFA in Visual Communications from the University of Kansas… and his fiancé describes his obsession with KU basketball as “unhealthy.” And don’t let him into an all-you-can-eat sushi joint. DON’T DO IT.
Annette Seifert
Quality Assurance Engineer
I came to Craftsy after spending nearly 8 years in the gaming industry, I attended the Art Institute of Portland with a dual focus on Game Art and Design and Apparel Design. Being artsy and crafty is in my blood and my hobbies include knitting, sewing, crochet, painting, cooking and gardening. I have two cats, one large dog and an extremely tall husband.
Elsewhere