An Introduction to Steve Opilo

I suppose I should finally set aside some time to write this now that we're enjoying a bit of vacation in South Carolina. Life has been pretty much nonstop between work, parenting, and renovating the house. My constant battle with procrastination hasn't made this any easier. Seriously, watch Tim Urban's TED talk below; I can't even begin to explain how much this resonates with me.

Anyway, now that you've finished that 14-minute tangent and hopefully are motivated once again to start living, let's get down to business. I'm Steve, the eccentric web developer half of the Allie Knight & Steve duo. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and lived here until I went to college at RIT in Rochester, NY. All through school, as others strived toward clear goals, I never knew what I wanted to do with my life. College was just the thing you did after high school. I always liked math and science, so I started in mechanical engineering. Six weeks in, I concluded that I didn't love math on the same level that engineers loved it, so I changed majors to information technology and never looked back.

I taught myself HTML when I was 13, and have been learning new languages ever since. A lot of companies like to pigeonhole developers into working only on the front-end or back-end, but I love the variety of working on both. For the most part these days, if I'm building web apps, it's for my full-time job. I make time for a few pet projects though, such as this website and NFL Game Picker.

When I'm not in front of a computer, I'm usually spending time with my two daughters or out exploring somewhere new. When the schedule allows, I love to bring them along. My parents took my sister and I to all kinds of places when we were kids, and I think those experiences really seeded my continuing love of travel. I've visited every state except North Dakota and Oklahoma at this point, and I'm sure I'll get to those soon enough. If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Utah; there's so much to see and do there.

Two of the biggest passions that I share with Allie are film and photography. If you see a fancy drone shot in our videos, odds are I was the one behind the controls. I've upgraded through several different quadcopters, but really love the DJI Mavic Pro. Such a brilliant little device; I can't recommend it enough. For still photography, Allie and I split time behind the camera, so it's safe to say that around half of the postcards and backgrounds you'll find in our Octosquad perks program are mine. I'm so glad I get to share the spectacular scenery the earth has to offer with all of you.

Just in case there wasn't already enough on my plate, we recently began renovating our 1800's townhouse. I've always liked the craftsmanship in older homes, and am excited about keeping that original character while simultaneously bringing it up to modern code on the electrical and plumbing fronts. We've discovered some absolutely stunning original hardwood floors hiding under carpet and many layers of paint and I'm so excited to bring those back to life. We are also trying to document as much of the process as possible in case any of you have been considering renovations of your own but are nervous about where to start or what is involved.