Who am I?
Hi, I'm Jordan H. I turn code into systems by day and get lost in music by night. I was born in New Zealand, where I spent the first 23 years of my life. After living through thousands of earthquakes in Christchurch, I decided a broken city wasn't for me at the time and moved to Melbourne, Australia in 2014. Eight years later, in mid-2022, I relocated to Austin, Texas for work.
I returned to Te Waipounamu, Aotearoa in early 2024 for health reasons and worked remotely from home. I'm still here but will be back in Melbourne for the next chapter very soon. Coming home was energizing, the warmth and strength of Kiwi culture reminded me how greedy and transactional much of the world had become in my decade away.
What do I do?
I see product development like music. Every layer of the stack is an instrument: you can play them on their own, but when you understand how they fit together, that's when you create something that really sings. Going deep into the full stack lets me architect systems that are stronger, more resilient, and easier to tune when things go off-key.
I thrive on the creative rush of building from the ground up, but I've also learned to appreciate the rhythm of working with existing systems: maintaining, refining, and pushing them to perform better than before. Whether it's writing code, squashing bugs, or shaping the bigger picture, I approach it like composing: build, listen, adjust, iterate until it feels right.
Lately, I've been spending time with AWS, Terraform, Node.js/Nest.js, TypeScript, React, GraphQL, and Python, alongside AI tools. Experimenting with ways to fuse cutting-edge tech into products that feel fresh and meaningful.
What does jch254 mean?
jch254 was my University of Canterbury login username. I've been using it as my handle across GitHub, domains, and everywhere else since 2009. At this point it's less of a username and more of an identity.
Anything else?
Music is life. I'm a musician, producer, and long-time vinyl collector. During the Melbourne COVID lockdowns I leaned hard into that passion, amassing over 800 records, which I catalog and track through Discogs (OS beta tester represent). For me, music isn't just a hobby, it's a way of making sense of the world: listening, creating, and always chasing the next sound that moves me.
I'm also an active contributor to open-source software and have shared a number of my own projects with the community. Beyond code, I enjoy stepping behind the camera to capture moments, and I keep a blog, project portfolio, and GitHub profile where I share what I'm building.
Most importantly, I'm an advocate for suicide awareness and prevention, a cause deeply personal after losing an uncle and two close friends. It's a reminder that behind the code, the projects, and the music, people and connection matter most.