Welcome
Hey! I'm Kyle James (KJ), a dad, husband, athlete, and professionally I work as a product and engineering leader. I've spent time working in a variety of organizations, from startups to large enterprises, and I've worn a lot of hats. I'm most comfortable as a product and engineering leader, but I've also worn the hat of a developer, a consultant, and project manager. I pride myself on doing the right thing and treating people with respect, and doing all of the little things well to make a difference.
Why Me?
I've built a reputation for being a quick learner, a team player, problem solver, good communicator, and a hard worker. As a leader, I keep myself sharp by staying up to date on the latest in technology and best practices, and I'm always looking for new challenges and opportunities to grow. I practice building products and I'm constantly learning new frameworks and tech. I thrive in fast-paced environments and appreciate roles that give me agency to make a difference and make decisions.
Here is the link to my personal operating system.
Interests
- 3d printing, woodworking, and building something every week
- Pratice reading, writing, and playing chess
- Listening to business and tech podcasts
- Snowboarding, climbing, running,lifting weights and chasing my kids around
Values
- Leadership and teamwork
- Integrity
- Curiosity and Humility
- Continuous Growth
- Hard work
- Maker and Builder
Personality
MBTI
Clifton
Aspirations
- I aspire to be a professor one day and teach students about technology and leadership
- I have a dream of running a 100 mile race and ironman triathlon
- I have a big goal of building and selling and profitting from a tangible product
- I aspire to be an exceptional dad, husband, and role model for my kids
Stretching
- UW Hackathons '21, '22, '25: Mentored the UW Women Informatics hackathon as a representative from Disney
- UW Informatics Capstone Judge '23: Judged and presented graduate school students capstones projects with the "Innovation" award
- Mentee of a rotating panel of entertainment tech executives for Women in Technology Hollywood (WITH) '22
- Ran multiple org-wide hackathons for Disney and was the organizer of the Disney Corporate Tech Hackathon '22 and Global InfoSec Hackathon '25.
- Hired and mentored 4 interns at Disney with success retaining them. Mentored multiple early career and mid career engineers and PMs on their journey to become more advanced technologists