👨💻 The Quest of Jimmy Wong
"Build systems. Solve problems. Stay curious."
— A software engineer’s guiding compass.
🧭 Level 1: London Beginnings & The First Steps
🏙️ Where it all started: London, UK
🎓 University: Embarked on my IT studies, balancing coursework with late-night coding sessions and the vibrant London tech scene.
Before diving deep into software engineering, I landed my first developer role - a pivotal moment that introduced me to real-world code, teamwork, and deadlines. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, but every bug fixed and feature shipped sparked something new.
🧩 Early Skills Gained: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SVN, PHP, Classic ASP, teamwork, problem-solving under pressure.
But the real breakthrough came when I joined Holler—where I found my true calling in software development, mastering the craft and climbing from junior developer to senior engineer.
This chapter was about finding my feet and falling in love with code.
🧱 Level 2: Building Foundations at Holler (2010–2015)
🎮 Role Progression: Junior Developer → Mid-Level → Senior Developer
🏢 Company: Holler (Digital Agency)
🛠️ Key Achievements:
- Contributed to a major platform rebuild, modernizing legacy codebases
- Introduced unit testing and version control best practices
- Led feature development for real-time messaging and media-rich experiences
- Mentored junior engineers, solidifying my transition into leadership
🌟 Framework Turning Point:
This is where I was first introduced to Symfony, starting with version 1.4. That experience reshaped how I thought about code structure, MVC patterns, and long-term maintainability. Symfony became a foundational tool in my backend development toolkit.
🔀 Version Control Evolution:
Around this time, I also made the leap from SVN to Git — a transition that changed everything about how I approached collaboration and workflow. Branching strategies, atomic commits, and pull requests became second nature, paving the way for more agile, scalable development practices.
🧰 Skills Mastered: PHP, MySQL, Symfony 1.4 / 2+, JavaScript, jQuery, RESTful APIs, SVN, Git
🌱 Lessons Learned: Team dynamics, fast iteration, production debugging under pressure
At Holler, I wasn’t just writing code—I was growing with the codebase. Each refactor, each deploy, each “Aha!” moment was a step forward.
⚙️ Level 3: Architecting Microservices at Bridgeman Images
🏢 Role: Senior Software Engineer
🧩 Mission: Break the Monolith
- Spearheaded the transition from a monolithic legacy system to modular microservices
- Implemented services using the Symfony framework, embracing clean architecture principles
- Introduced API-first thinking, improving modularity, testability, and development speed
- Coordinated deployments, CI/CD pipelines, and service orchestration
🛠️ Core Tech: PHP, Symfony, MySQL, RESTful APIs, Docker, Git, DevOps, CI/CD, Terraform
🧠 Impact: Increased system agility and paved the path for future scalability
This phase sharpened my understanding of system decomposition, domain boundaries, and the importance of developer empathy in refactoring projects.
🧳 Level 4: Freelancing in the Wild
🏝️ Role: Freelance Software Engineer 🌍 Clients: Startups, nonprofits, and "someone with a napkin sketch and a dream"
This was my “digital nomad meets digital craftsman” phase. I wore many hats—engineer, architect, product thinker, even occasional UX critic.
🧠 Challenges Accepted:
- Helped a fintech startup launch their MVP in under 90 days using Node.js and React
- Built a CMS for a global arts nonprofit, optimizing content workflows for non-technical editors
- Refactored an e-commerce platform riddled with tech debt into a modular, testable codebase
- Advised early-stage founders on architecture, dev hiring, and technical debt
🧰 Tech Stack: PHP, MySQL, Symfony, Laravel, WordPress, MongoDB, Node.js, React, Angular, AWS, Firebase
🎨 Bonus Skills: Client communication, scoping & estimation, rapid prototyping
💬 What I Learned: Freelancing sharpened my soft skills as much as my tech stack. I learned to listen deeply, ask the right questions, and deliver not just code—but clarity.
This was more than a gig economy. It was a masterclass in adaptability, independence, and how to turn ambiguity into architecture.
🧭 Level 5: Leading the Rebuild at Maverick
🧠 Role: Tech Lead
🏢 Company: Maverick (Digital Agency)
🎯 Mission: Rebuild from the ground up — team and tech.
At Maverick, I stepped into a role that combined hands-on engineering with strategic leadership. The system was showing its age, and so was the process. It was time to reset both.
🛠️ What We Built:
- Re-architected legacy infrastructure into modern, service-oriented systems
- Migrated critical workloads to the cloud, dramatically improving reliability and deploy velocity
- Established coding standards, CI/CD pipelines, and performance monitoring from scratch
👥 What I Led:
- Recruited and mentored a team of 4+ engineers across backend, frontend, and QA
- Created a collaborative engineering culture focused on ownership, learning, and velocity
- Acted as the bridge between product, design, and engineering - translating business needs into scalable tech
🧰 Tech Highlights: PHP, Laravel, AWS, Terraform, GitHub Actions, React, VueJS 📈 Impact: Reduced tech debt, doubled deploy frequency, improved team satisfaction and delivery speed
💬 What I Learned: Leading isn’t just about code reviews and architecture diagrams. It’s about creating clarity, fostering trust, and removing friction so good engineers can do great work.
This chapter turned me from a solo problem-solver into a team multiplier.
🧠 Level 6: Engineering the Experimental at HYD
🧪 Role: Senior Backend Engineer
🏢 Company: HYD (Digital Agency)
🛠️ Focus: API development, experimental tech, and DevOps automation
At HYD, I found myself at the intersection of innovation and infrastructure. As a backend engineer, I was given the creative freedom to prototype, iterate, and push boundaries—often on tight timelines and evolving specs.
🔧 What I Built:
- Designed and implemented robust REST APIs powering experimental apps and brand platforms
- Worked with multiple frameworks including Symfony, Laravel, and Node.js
- Created internal tooling and services that helped non-technical teams deliver content faster
⚙️ DevOps & Automation:
- Used Terraform to provision cloud resources and streamline infrastructure-as-code
- Built CI/CD workflows to reduce friction from commit to deploy
🧰 Tech Toolbox: PHP, Symfony, Laravel, MySQL, Node.js, NestJS, React, Terraform, AWS
🚀 Projects Delivered: Interactive brand experiences, creative campaign platforms, rapid MVPs
💬 What I Learned: At HYD, I learned how to move fast without breaking things, balance experimentation with stability, and build tools that empower creative teams—not just developers.
This phase reinforced my ability to scale ideas into products, even when the roadmap was still being drawn.
🔮 Level 7: Looking Ahead — The Next Upgrade
🧠 Current Mindset: Curious. Focused. Never done learning.
With a strong foundation across backend systems, DevOps, microservices, APIs, and team leadership, I’m now charting a path toward technical excellence at scale — and the kind of engineering that’s as thoughtful as it is powerful.
🚀 What's Next:
- Diving deeper into distributed systems and event-driven architecture
- Building and mentoring high-performance engineering teams
- Exploring AI-powered tooling and the intersection of LLMs with developer workflows
- Getting better at system design, infrastructure strategy, and architecting for the long-term
📚 Currently Learning:
- 🛠️ DevOps CI/CD Pipelines – optimizing and automating workflows for smoother delivery
- ⚙️ Vue.js – expanding frontend capabilities and mastering a modern reactive framework
- 🐘 Advanced Symfony & PHP Practices – exploring messenger components, service-oriented architecture, and Symfony Flex
💡 Whether the challenge is scaling traffic, scaling teams, or scaling culture — I’m here for it.
This isn’t the end of the journey. It’s just the next level.
🤝 Let's Build Together
Want to talk systems, side projects, or startups?
Let’s connect!
🔗 linkedin.com/in/jimmy8wong
Thanks for reading my dev journey. The quest continues...