The Uncommon Life

Uncommon Personalities: Meet Paul Kvamme

September 22, 2014

Paul Kvamme | UncommonGoods

Paul Kvamme, UncommonGoods Software Developer
My hometown is…
Fargo, North Dakota. Well, I was born in Fargo, but raised in Moorhead Minnesota three miles away. But now that I’m here in Brooklyn I feel like Fargo North Dakota is more representative of where I’m from in the mind’s eye of your average Brooklynite.

The tech project I most enjoyed working on at UncommonGoods was…
Uff-Da, there has been quite a few. Some more rewarding and some more challenging, but I think the one I really enjoyed the most was my first large project. I was a packer in the warehouse who had an aptitude for computers and logic, and my manager picked me out for a pretty complex project (especially for me at the time) writing a script which had the end goal of remapping where everything we sell would live in the warehouse based on frequency of orders, space, and paths people would have to move to get things. It really got my juices flowing in a way I hadn’t had things flowing. It was my first time scripting, and for the first time I was turned on to the idea that I could make a living using my brains instead of my hands.

I’m inspired by…
Roadblocks, I guess. If I have an idea and I can figure out how I may be able to execute it but I keep on running into a roadblock I get obsessed with figuring out how to keep moving ahead. I’ve had so much more fun configuring gadgets to act exactly like I want them to (even if what I want is not what they were meant to do) than actually using them.

My favorite place to hang out in New York City is…
Do I lose points if I say at home with my wife?

An uncommon fact about me…
I don’t like this question…

When I’m not working, I’m probably…
Trying to resist the temptation to read comic books instead of learning new things about programming languages.

The word that best describes me…
Paul Kvamme. Oops, one word… umm… Pawlcuame? Pawlcwaumee?

Since working at UncommonGoods I’ve learned…
I’ve learned how to do a lot. I keep finding reasons to learn new things as I pick up odd jobs from all over the company. When faced with a project, if I know it is possible but I don’t yet know how, it’s that much more exciting.

With a pile of stuff in front of me I would make…
You’re given a foot of string, an empty gallon ice cream carton, duct tape, a pound of shredded newspaper, a long-sleeved flannel shirt, and a pineapple.

Where did I get all this stuff from? Am I on a desert island? Am I locked in a room with this stuff? This question is a little intimidating.

1 Comment

  • Reply Melanie October 13, 2014 at 1:56 am

    Such perfect Paul answers! Love the post 🙂

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.