It’s not uncommon for a new WebDevStudios (WDS) teammate to have started off as a fan before joining our WordPress agency. Oftentimes, it’s simply word of mouth that leads new talent our way. In the case of Lax Mariappan, Backend Engineer, it is both.
Lax’s story is interesting and his passions for WordPress, open-source technology, and connecting with communities extend beyond his workdays. Keep reading to learn about this newest member of the WDS crew.
Lax Mariappan, Backend Engineer
As is the case with most anyone who joins our team of experts, Lax has a great appreciation for WordPress, saying, “I like the simplicity of it. WordPress is easy to install, deploy, maintain, learn, and customize.” He also raves about the WordPress community describing it as the element that makes WordPress powerful.
Regarding WordPress 5.8, Lax says he personally likes how the project is evolving. “Full site editing is going to improve WordPress user and developer experience,” he states. “Making widgets as Gutenberg blocks is also a nice move. So, there are going to be more cool core features to depend on than a page builder. Like other WordPress developers, I do expect granular access control for blocks, but this is a good start.” Lax warns that there will be bumps along the way, but adds, “We have to embrace the modern tooling to deliver high-performing websites.”
For a couple of years, Lax had been keeping up with WebDevStudios, using both our Custom Post Type UI plugin and wd_s theme. Additionally, Lax says that every time he Googled something about WordPress, he’d come across our blog.
However, it was by observing his friend’s experiences working at WDS that Lax knew he had to apply when he found the job opening for Backend Engineer. That friend is Senior Frontend Engineer, JC Palmes. “I’ve had a conversation with her about life at WDS,” explains Lax, “I’ve also witnessed the giving back to the community through Five for the Future, continuing education, and cool WDS swag all from JC’s tweets.”
So far, Lax is acclimating well to WDS, already making an impact by publishing his first blog post for our agency’s blog. Are you interested in learning how to disable Next.js telemetry? Lax shows you how in this blog post.
“I learn more every day, either technically, or through other skills, like communication,” says Lax. “The stand-up calls, one-on-one calls, and scrum meetings helped me to adapt faster. There are no dumb questions here. All questions are welcomed.”
Lax reports that his onboarding week went very well. He met with all of the WDS team members, including CEO, Brad Williams. “That really removed some inhibitions, like, I am no longer talking to strangers. I met everyone already,” Lax explains.
Between the Zoom meetings and Slack notifications, Lax describes his workdays as never lonely. “I eagerly wait for the engineering scrum where I learn new stuff and ask questions,” he says, adding, “I am impressed with the radical transparency that occur at the company scrums on Fridays, revealing what is going on with the agency, from sales to the support department, and I enjoy Jim Byrom‘s team-building activities. Plus, it’s good to hear weekly successes, birthdays, anniversaries, and jokes!”
Lax’s enthusiasm for WordPress and connecting with others spills over to his free time. He is a member of a few tech communities in the Philippines, including LaravelPH, a community of Laravel enthusiasts. Lax attends meetups at WordPress Iloilo and WordPress Bacolod and attends and presents talks at WordCamps and Drupal Camps in the Philippines.
If that wasn’t enough to keep Lax busy, he’s also one of the founding members of React Iloilo, a sister community of Javascript Cebu Philippines. Lax is also an advocate of cyber security and is an ambassador of the popular identity platform Auth0. In fact, he was awarded as the ambassador of the month in October 2020.
Join the WDS Crew!
WebDevStudios is hiring. Review our job opportunities and apply today. We’re still recruiting for Backend Engineers, like Lax, but have other positions open, as well. Visit our Careers page to find a job role that fits your skill set.
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