About Me

Hey, I'm Lesley.

I've been building stuff on the internet for about 15 years now, mostly in e-commerce. Some of it worked out great. Some of it didn't. All of it taught me something.

What I'm Doing Now

I'm the CTO at BioSteel and Canadian Protein, which means my days look pretty different depending on what's on fire that week. A lot of my time goes into SEO—not just the usual website stuff, but also figuring out how to make our products actually show up on Amazon when people search for them. Product SEO on Amazon is its own weird beast, and I've gotten pretty deep into it.

I also lead our app development team working on the BioSteel Teams app, keep our Shopify sites running (and build custom apps when we need something that doesn't exist yet), and spend more time than I'd like to admit in Amazon Vendor Central managing those relationships. The role is a mix of strategic technology decisions and actually getting my hands dirty with the work—I like it that way. Everything I do leans heavily on data because gut feelings don't scale, and I've been burned enough times to know better.

How I Got Here

I started out as a developer working with PrestaShop back when open-source e-commerce was still figuring itself out. Eventually some other devs and I forked it and built thirty bees, which turned into a popular platform. I'm not with the project anymore, but those years were a masterclass in building software, managing communities, and all the messy human stuff that comes with startups.

Why I'm Writing This

For the longest time I kept work and life pretty separate, but honestly, they bleed into each other more than I pretend they do. This blog is me giving up on that separation—a place to share what I'm learning about e-commerce and tech, mixed with the other stuff that makes up my actual life.

What You'll Find Here

E-commerce thoughts from someone who's been in the trenches—platform decisions, vendor strategies, the kind of stuff you only figure out by doing it. Stories about building and leaving companies, because those experiences shape you in ways winning never does. Updates from our farmhouse in northwest Kentucky, where I head every couple of weeks to reset. Gordon, my cat, makes the trip with me—he's a surprisingly good road trip companion and has strong opinions about which windows offer the best bird-watching. Cooking experiments, because you've got to eat well even when you're busy. And probably some stories about the foster dogs my wife Lara and I take in when we're not already covered in cat hair.

Where I Am

I live in Nashville with Lara, Belle and Gordon, plus whatever foster dogs happen to be crashing with us at the moment. The regular escapes to our Kentucky farmhouse keep me and Gordon sane, and the back-and-forth between city life and rural quiet gives me plenty to write about.

Let's Talk

I'm building this as a place for real conversations about work, life, and how they tangle together. If something here clicks with you—whether you're in e-commerce, managing your own escapes, or just here for the animal content—reach out. I'd love to hear from you.