I'm Kate. I build the systems solo experts run their business on.
By day I'm a software engineer at a Fortune 500 firm, working on design systems and pursuing my Master's in Computer Science at Georgia Tech with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction. By evenings and weekends, I run Canvas & Kernel.
Canvas & Kernel is a fractional technical partner for solo experts: advisors, trainers, tutors, consultants. The kind of person who is excellent at their craft and stuck on a Squarespace template that embarrasses them when referrals land on it.
I came up through computer science at UVA, an art background that taught me restraint, enterprise software that taught me what scales, and a stint as a Starbucks barista that taught me how much the small details of an experience matter. All of those are the same job, in different clothes.
- education
- B.A. Computer Science, University of Virginia (Magna Cum Laude)M.S. Computer Science, Georgia Tech (HCI focus)
- day job
- Software engineer at a Fortune 500 financial services firm, working on design systems
- current builds
- AI tools and platforms serving thousands of students at EduAvenues
- certifications
- AWS Cloud Practitioner
Your clients shouldn't have to think. They land on your site, understand what you do, know what to do next. The site does that work so you don't have to.
I treat AI as an amplifier, not a replacement. It helps me ship faster. The taste, the strategy, the "why does this feel right" calls are still mine. The boring infrastructure under the hood is still mine. That's the point.
If you're not satisfied with the final build after we've worked through the revision rounds, I refund you in full. I'd rather absorb it than leave you with something you don't want to send people to.
Training for a triathlon, training an aussiedoodle puppy (the puppy is harder), experimenting with high-protein vegetarian cooking, and hunting for coffee shops worth the hype. I make coloring books on the side and read anything that makes me think.