From powering nuclear aircraft carriers to navigating the complexities of cloud computing, my career has been a thrilling journey of innovation and problem-solving. Welcome to the intersection of engineering discipline and tech creativity—I’m Drew, and I love making the digital world a better place, one line of code at a time.
My adventure started in the US Navy where I served as a Nuclear Engineer for nearly a decade. I then leveraged my technical acumen as a contractor, crafting intricate procedures for the Navy.
In 2016, my entrepreneurial spirit took over. I launched Host Octopus LLC, diving deep into web development, hosting, and digital marketing. But, I knew I thrived in collaborative environments, which led me to join Flywheel as a Senior Happiness Engineer. There, I cracked an astonishing 11,000+ tickets—setting satisfaction records along the way.
My next chapter unfolded at Ally Bank, where I wore dual hats as a DevOps and Site Reliability Engineer, streamlining their CDN configuration and optimizing CI/CD pipelines for enhanced developer experiences.
Continuing my journey, I took up the DevOps mantle at Primex, where my focus shifted to AWS infrastructure, Python upgrades, and data management. Concurrently, I’ve freelanced in various DevOps roles to broaden my toolkit.
But it’s not all code and configurations; I have a knack for teaching. Check out my free educational resources at CodingWithDrew.com.
Let’s connect and explore how we can collaborate to build something extraordinary!
Here are some glowing recommendations
Charlie Pilotti
Senior Cloud Engineer at Live Oak BankAmanda Martinez
Senior Software Engineer at FlywheelJo Hoenzsch
DevSecops Engineer at Ally Bank - Worked together on different teamsMichael Struthers
Head of People at FlywheelMegan Pick
Operations Manager at FlywheelJames Pavlic
Principal Software Engineer at Ally - Worked on the same team at Ally BankHe should be a great asset to any team, group, or organization he works for."
Saravanan Ponnusamy
Principal Software Engineer at Ally - Worked on the same team at Ally BankJhuan Pressley
Application Security Analyst - Worked on the same team at Ally BankSean Jackson
Customer Support Specialist at Webflow - Worked on the same team at FlywheelMikah Pinegar
Software Engineer Lead at NCSU - Managed me directlyChris Renshaw
Student of CodingWithDrew.comDrew possesses an impressive level of expertise in a wide range of web development technologies, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and multiple frameworks such as React and Vue.js. His deep understanding of a wide range of technologies allowed him to explain complex concepts in a way that was easy to understand, making it possible for me to learn quickly and effectively.
In addition to his technical skills, Drew also possesses excellent communication skills. He was always available at any time, patient, kind, and responsive to my questions and concerns, even when I asked him the same question multiple times. He also gave me constructive feedback on my projects, which helped me improve my skills and develop a better understanding of the development process.
Overall, I highly recommend Drew Karriker as a mentor, and to anyone in the Software Development space. He has the technical expertise, communication skills, and dedication needed to guide anyone in their journey to become a successful web developer."
Brendan Berkenshire
Student of CodingWithDrew.comHe has a great way of analyzing requirements to ensure we hit the target with our solutions. Overall just a really good-hearted person to work with and will add value to any room he’s in."
Iman Crooks
Devops Engineer at Live Oak BankJesse Luimes
Growth Marketing Manager at KinstaGerald Boullester
Quality Assurance Officer at USS Dwight D. Eisenhower - Directly managed meScott Wright
Engineering Manager at Live Oak BankAlexander Fuller
Firefighter for LA County Fire Department - Worked together in the NavyChris Swift
Principal Developer at Live Oak Bank - was senior to me on the same teamBradley King
Content Developer at Wind River"Drew's passion and enthusiasm is inexhaustible. He's always striving to learn new things and to share his knowledge with others. He's a good guy, and I miss working with him."
John Schuncke
Team Lead at Flywheel - Was my supervisor for nearly 2 years"I had the pleasure of working with Drew at Flywheel for over a year on our support team. As a new person in this sort of tech industry, Drew was always the person I called on to learn from. Drew is extremely technical but has a great way of being a team player and cascading all of his knowledge to anyone willing or needing to learn. Pairing all of that with superior workflows and optimization, any employer would benefit from Drew's skill set and efficiency. We miss him on the team dearly and needed 3 new hires to fill his void!"
John Laughlin
Customer Experience Lead at Flywheel“Drew is a super go-getter and is always willing to go the extra mile. He’s constantly learning and always looking for ways to improve his abilities and skills.”
Victoria Stark
Technical Customer Support Specialist at Webflow“Drew is a curious engineer - which in my experience is one of the best qualities to have. He would be a great addition to any team!”
Mark Mathis
Director of Developer Experience(DX) at Ally“Drew has always been a fantastic culture influencer to work with. He has always been constantly curious to learn the next new thing and careful to fully research an issue while still being one of the first to offer insight and solutions. He has a deep background in various technologies and is an great model of work ethic and community culture.”
Matt Smith
Tier 2 Happiness Engineer at Flywheel“I've had the pleasure of working alongside Drew and very quickly experienced the level of professionalism that he exudes. His high technical aptitude and personal accountability are second to none and his energy and willingness to contribute to his team make him an asset to any organisation. Drew has time and time again proven himself to be a top performer whilst still ensuring that the quality of customer interactions remains at a high standard. In addition to this, Drew has always displayed the passion and desire to improve on our processes and take on audacious challenges. Thanks for being an incredible teammate, Drew!”
Justin Nguyen
Technical Lead at Flywheel & WP Engine“Drew is a fantastic person to work with and has great people skills. He was really good at his role as Senior Happiness Engineer and in the time he was there, had made somewhat of a reputation for working the tough problems & tickets. I had the chance to work with him and provide assistance on a few complex issues. He was very quick to learn & able to quickly understand the solution and not only relay it ahead to the customer in an easy to understand language, but also created documentation to help out other team members.”
Nitant Soni
Site Reliability Engineer at WPEngine“Drew was a coworker of mine at Flywheel and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I would not be as successful as I am in my job without him. He always jumped in to help when I had an issue and was patient but also incredibly thorough. He always had an answer and shortcuts to get to the solution as quickly as possible. Drew was consistently leveling up. He was never comfortable with being just okay, and he has never believed that he "knows enough." Drew liked collecting all the information possible and through this it helped him be an incredible knowledgeable resource and also inspired the rest of us to level up as well. He also uses the knowledge he gains to educate others. Even now he creates resources for people to use for further understanding in different areas of tech. We no longer work together but I know that if I needed help on something he'd be there to assist.”
Breanna Carodine
Happiness Engineer at Flywheel“I had the pleasure to be on the same support team as Drew. He was no doubt a top performer within a team of 16. Drew was always there to offer his expertise and guidance whenever possible while juggling multiple tickets at the same time. Although he started on the team late, he was the first to finish 10,000 support chats. Drew is one of those individuals that I would love to have on my team.”
Nguyen Tong
Happiness Engineer at Flywheel“Drew and I met in the Navy, and he struck me immediately as a very hard working individual who strives to increase his level of knowledge on a continuous basis. Over our time together in the Navy, we worked closely together, and I found Drew to be a great leader and someone who came up with creative ways to improve processes specifically within the logistical processes within our department. We have kept in contact with each other since leaving the Navy, and our conversations have only reinforced that first impression I had of Drew. His passion for learning, deepening his skill set and understanding of relevant matters has not slowed at all, and I believe Drew would bring great value to any company that employed him.”
Joshua Richards
Loss Control Inspector at Hartford Steam Boiler“Working together at Flywheel/WP Engine, I got to know Drew as a someone who's relentlessly passionate about user experience, quality code, and building things the right way. Drew cares deeply about the work he does and how it impacts people. He's impressively curious, never stops learning, and is the kind of coworker who will be the first to step up and support his teammates in the face of any challenge.”