I'm DC.
COULLWORKS is my practice. I am a technical solutions engineer and systems architect based in the UK, eighteen years in, fifteen of those in ecommerce. Self taught, still learning, and happiest with a hard problem and a deadline.
Here is the actual story. No polish, no buzzwords.
The actual story
It started at 14
Then, computer forensics.
I studied digital forensics and network intrusion detection, Java through to manual hex-level work. My dissertation, back in 2010, was a secure Linux distribution built from scratch, with shell-fingerprint scanning and facial recognition to log in. I still use those same manual techniques today to hunt down malicious code injections and byte-level compromises in ecommerce.
Thrown in at the deep end.
Forensics was a gated field back then, so I bounced into schools as a systems tech on placement. The staff meant to be training me were let go, so I ended up effectively running the school's IT for a year: auto-marking software for the language teachers, asset and audit systems, the lot.
Magento in three months, from zero.
A small agency dropped me from PHP and WordPress builds straight into DevOps and full ecommerce builds to fill the gaps. I learned on the job and passed the Magento 1 certification first time, in three months, because the business needed it. That cert isn't worth much now, and I won't be doing another, but at the time it made sense.
Then agencies, AI, and a few rescues.
A multi-brand agency for the Magento 2 launch, more agencies large and small, side contracts for the range. I was building bespoke AI models and framework prototypes when ChatGPT was only just emerging, back when you trained your own and wrote your own loops. An interim-CTO stint. Then twelve months on a failing two-year project, which I rebuilt myself in under four months once it was clear a rescue wouldn't cut it.
Sixteen sectors, one job.
Sixteen sectors, at least once each: fashion, health and prescriptions, SaaS, dropshipping, machinery, education, solar. B2B, B2C, B2B2C. Different stores, same job every time: find the problem, fix it, ship it clean.
How my mind works
My mind doesn't switch off.
It is always running, three ideas deep before you have finished the sentence. Turns out that is the feature: I see the whole system at once, and where it will break. ADHD. It is not a disclaimer, it is half of why I am good at this.
The receipts
- years dev and IT
- 18years dev and IT
- years ecommerce
- 15years ecommerce
- sectors
- 16sectors
- sites audited
- 110sites audited
- platforms shipped
- 12platforms shipped
- maintained
- 20maintained
Off the clock
Family, the outdoors, and a paintbrush that keeps a fast mind still for an hour.
What I'm chasing
Impact, working on ideas that genuinely change lives, and the freedom to choose what I build, and when. The money is just the key to the door.
Also on LinkedIn, the COULLWORKS page and GitHub.