I'm Jen Kauppila (pronounced like "a cappella" 🎶), a backend-focused software developer who naturally thinks in systems.
I don't just notice when something isn't working the way it should. Instead I trace the problem back to its source, and look for a cleaner way to make the whole system work.
I run Hello World Studio in Portland, OR, where I build backend automation and AI-enabled solutions that reduce friction and turn messy workflows into durable systems.
I love building systems that work, but I care just as much about how those same systems behave once real people start using them.
That means asking questions like:
- What happens when the input is missing, invalid, duplicated or otherwise unexpected?
- What breaks after a change, and how do we account for it in the future?
- What does the system do when (not if) things don't go according to plan?
- Can someone else understand, test and maintain the code that was built without the original architect being on perpetual standby?
- Does the implementation actually match the client's stated requirement?
That mindset shows up in the way I build, debug, test, document and improve software.
A production-deployed backend API for managing customers, vehicles, mechanics, service tickets and inventory.
This originally began as my Coding Temple backend capstone, but I later returned to it independently to take it beyond the original course requirements. I reviewed the public API as if I were preparing someone else's software for real users, including: testing behavior, finding security and data-quality issues, documenting reproducible defects while correcting any documentation drift, and hardening the live demo.
What the project demonstrates:
- Python, Flask, SQLAlchemy, PostgreSQL/Supabase
- Relational CRUD APIs and many-to-many relationships
- JWT authentication and ownership checks
- Automated pytest coverage for expected behavior, invalid inputs, authentication failures, API errors and edge cases
- Structured bug reports with reproduction steps, expected vs. actual behavior, severity and status
- Rate limiting and public-demo abuse protection
- Swagger/OpenAPI documentation and Postman testing
- GitHub Actions CI/CD
- Scheduled database-backed health checks
- Nightly sample-data reseeding for a predictable public demo
Try it yourself:
- Languages: Python, JavaScript, SQL
- Backend: Flask, SQLAlchemy, Node.js, Express, REST APIs
- Data: PostgreSQL, Supabase
- Testing & Quality: pytest, Postman, debugging, edge-case analysis, code review, defect documentation
- AI: RAG pipelines, OpenAI, Anthropic, prompt and context engineering
- Frontend: React
- Delivery: Git, GitHub Actions, Render, Swagger/OpenAPI
I am especially drawn to work that involves:
- understanding an existing system before changing it
- comparing expected behavior to actual behavior
- tracing bugs to root causes instead of continually patching symptoms
- finding edge cases before users do
- simplifying complicated workflows
- documenting technical behavior clearly
- improving systems incrementally without losing sight of the system as a whole
Website · LinkedIn · jen@helloworldstud.io
// every hello deserves a world