# About Steven ## Hi, I'm Steve. **Lead / Staff .NET engineer. St. Louis area, Central time, fully remote for seven years.** I have spent twelve years building full stack software in C#, SQL Server, React and Azure. I have been the only engineer on a live financial platform, where I shipped more than 200 releases with no downtime, and I have been the lead who built a team of four. I am happy in either seat. ![Steve and Katie smiling in sunglasses at a table on a vineyard terrace, autumn trees and a hillside behind them](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/steve-and-katie-vineyard-960.jpg) - [Read my resume](https://theyard.stevenstout.biz/api/docs/resume) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenwstout) - [GitHub](https://github.com/SteveStout/TheYard) ## [What colleagues say](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenwstout/details/recommendations/) ## How I lead ![A team drawn in teal, formed into an arrow, with one gold figure out in front](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/how-i-lead-960.jpg) **I build the systems that make delivery boring in the best way, then coach people inside them.** ### Decisions written down Every architectural choice in TheYard has [a decision record](https://github.com/SteveStout/TheYard/tree/main/docs), served from inside the running app. A new engineer reads why, not just what. ### Tests that guard the business Every version passes one gate before it ships: the .NET tests on both databases and the front end's unit and browser suites. [The test record](https://github.com/SteveStout/TheYard/blob/main/data/test-results.json) shows the last run. ### Tradeoffs in the open When the roadmap is bigger than the team, I put scope and date on the table, with the cost of each, and leadership chooses. [Adding a second database](https://github.com/SteveStout/TheYard/blob/main/docs/decisions/ADR-059-a-second-store-priced.md) was one of those calls, priced in writing before it shipped. ### Coaching inside the system Good systems give engineers a safe place to learn fast. My favorite part of leading is helping each person on the team become the best version of themselves. ## Away from the keyboard ### The lake, and no boat I grew up at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, and neither my parents nor I have ever owned a boat. My dad always said BOAT stands for "Break Out Another Thousand." Ha ha. ![Ha Ha Tonka from the air in autumn: the castle ruins on a limestone bluff over the turquoise water of Lake of the Ozarks](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/ha-ha-tonka-castle-aerial-960.jpg "Ha Ha Tonka photograph from 417mag.com.") ### History I read a lot about Ancient Rome and European history, which had more to do with the American Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase than you might expect. Fun fact: Lewis and Clark set out from St. Charles, Missouri, which is my part of the world. ![The Pantheon in Rome at dusk, its columned portico lit gold beside the obelisk fountain of the Piazza della Rotonda](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/pantheon-at-dusk-480.jpg "Pantheon photograph from fullsuitcase.com.") ![Steve holding Katie's hand as she steps across a small stream in a garden](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/couple-crossing-stream-960.jpg) ### Games Mass Effect, Hades and Star Wars: Republic Commando. I will defend all three. ![The Mass Effect crew in front of a glowing blue planet, with ships streaking past](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/mass-effect-legendary-edition-960.jpg "Mass Effect Legendary Edition key art © Electronic Arts.") ![Steve and Katie standing together on a wooden footbridge over a pond](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/couple-on-wooden-bridge-wide-960.jpg) ### Modding Republic Commando, brought up to date with Claude: a crash fix, 4K textures and a controller layout. The Witcher 3 is next. ![Delta Squad from Republic Commando: the lead commando, all in white, points the way, two of his squad behind him with their visor lights cutting the dark](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/republic-commando-delta-squad-960.jpg "Star Wars: Republic Commando key art © Lucasfilm, remastered to 8K by a fan on r/StarWars.") ![Geralt with his sword drawn in front of Ciri, Yennefer and Triss, a dead tree and a pale sun behind them](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/witcher-three-wild-hunt-960.jpg "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt key art © CD PROJEKT RED, from ign.com.") ### Food I am a soft foodie, always looking for a new place to try. Steak, sushi or Mexican and I am in. Recommendations are welcome. ![A charcoal grill on a driveway with flames rising off the coals, its lid and a chimney starter beside it](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/grill-flames-on-driveway-960.jpg) ### The doors My most ambitious home project so far was replacing every interior door in the house, with a lot of help from my father-in-law. We went two months without bathroom doors. Katie was very happy when they went back on. ![A white six-panel interior door hung in its new frame, the trim not yet on and the wall around it still rough](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/interior-door-in-new-frame-960.jpg) ![Steve in a navy suit and Katie in a white dress smiling at each other under a weeping willow, sunlight through the leaves](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/couple-under-willow-960.jpg) ### Freya and Vincent Katie and I have two rabbits, Freya and Vincent, our little white snowballs. Think vegetarian cats more than hamsters: they are litter box trained, they can live ten years or more, and they need room to run. > **My one PSA:** rabbits do not make good Easter presents. ![Two white rabbits asleep side by side on a grey rug](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/rabbits-both-lying-on-runner-960.jpg "Fun fact: a rabbit in deep sleep looks alarmingly like this. They are fine.") ![A white lop-eared rabbit sitting on a blue rug, a white rabbit with upright ears behind](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/rabbits-lop-on-blue-rug-960.jpg "Rabbits see almost all the way around them, with one small blind spot right in front of the nose.") ### Too many house plants I have too many house plants. I try to con my wife into watering them, and my rabbit into not nibbling them. ![A peace lily and two pothos in white pots on wooden stands, leaning toward a clip-on grow light in a corner](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/house-plants-under-grow-light-960.jpg) ![A pothos in a blue and white pot trailing from the top kitchen shelf past the canisters, a cross-stitched fox on the wall beside it](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/pothos-down-kitchen-shelves-960.jpg) ### St. Charles I live in St. Charles, Missouri. It was the first state capital of Missouri and is now a glorified suburb of St. Louis. Main Street is still brick, and from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve it turns into Christmas Traditions: carolers in Victorian dress and Santas from around the world. In 2024 the Today Show called it the Merriest Main Street in America. I have no plans to argue. ![Main Street in St. Charles at night at Christmas: a brick building hung with wreaths and garlands, bicycles with red bows, and trees wrapped in white lights along a brick walk](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/st-charles-main-street-christmas-960.jpg "St. Charles photograph from midwestliving.com.") ![Two white rabbits, one lop-eared and one with upright ears, on a wooden board under a hay rack, on a green and white rug](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SteveStout/TheYard/main/api/TheYard.Api/wwwroot/images/author/rabbits-under-hay-rack-960.jpg) --- If any of this sounds like someone you would want on your team, I would enjoy the conversation. - [Message me on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenwstout) - [Read my resume](https://theyard.stevenstout.biz/api/docs/resume) --- Photos of Steve and Katie at the stream, on the bridge and under the willow by McKinley Griggs.