About me

I was born in Finland in 1980 and grew up in Germany. I moved to the Canary Islands in 2014, embarking on an adventure of a lifetime that continues to this day, slowly renovating an old off-the-grid house, enjoying a wonderful, tight-knit tiny community, and working remotely for clients around the world.

Language & culture

My native languages are German and Finnish.
I speak and write English at a near native level and decent Spanish.

Through extended stays in the UK and USA, I have developed a deep connection to these countries, perfectly fluent language skills, and a good deal of cultural understanding.

From 2011-2015, I completed a four-year program in Interdisciplinary American Studies alongside work, in Tübingen and at Temple University in Philadelphia. 

I have translated academic texts and books from German to English, and vice versa, and written hundreds of thousands of words in English-language technical writing on Stack Overflow and community discourse and feature requests on Meta Stack Overflow.

Values

My greatest joy and satisfaction at work is building products that
work fast, are fun to use, and easy to understand and access.

Growing up in an entrepreneurial southern German family has taught me great flexibility and a deep sense of responsibility – as well as a deep aversion towards wasting time or resources.

When building new projects, I am keen on avoiding silos and strategically preferring self-hosted solutions where possible, and generally keeping dependencies at the unavoidable minimum.

Supporting independence

To me, thriving self-employment and entrepreneurship are hallmarks of a healthy society.

This is increasingly in peril through economic, cultural, and political developments.

I want to assist and empower people striving to build a responsible and self-determined work life.

This is why I am working on Autonomotools and giving advice in several freelance communities.

Interests

I am a nature lover and passionate about drawing, illustrating comics, painting, and writing texts and stories.

On my large finca, I spend much of my time working on various construction projects. I hope to one day find the time to install an irrigation system for the entire plot, to start gardening and growing vegetables.