Before Joel Meizer was debugging code, he was on stage in Wollongong.
Four years at a performing arts high school taught him to enjoy the craft of doing something well, and to chase the feeling of nailing it. Three and a half years into his time at Pia as Development Support Lead, he's still chasing that same feeling, just with a different medium. The stage is gone. The satisfaction of watching something finally just work is not.
Meet Joel Meizer, one of the builders making Pia better every day.
What's your role at Pia, and what does a typical day look like for you?
JM: My title at Pia is Development Support Lead, which really means managing the day-to-day behavior of our product, addressing issues, investigating new problems, and helping our partners get what they need from it. A typical day involves meetings, a lot of coding, a lot of reading, and a lot of tracking down the root cause of certain problems.
What's something about your job at Pia that might surprise people?
JM: I get to oversee quite a lot of our product. I see how people use it, help build it, and fix problems within it. What might surprise people is that I'm always happy to get directly involved with partners. I'm not the type to keep my distance or avoid contact with partners about issues they're seeking support for. I genuinely enjoy meeting our partners, trying to provide a memorable experience for them, and giving them a good experience with the product.
What's been your favorite moment or win at Pia so far?
JM: My favorite moment isn't a single one. It's just how far I've come technically since I started at Pia a few years ago. The exposure to our codebase, the issues I've helped overcome, and the growth as a developer have shot my career into a whole new level of nerd and put me in a great position for future growth.
What excites you most about the work Pia is doing right now or where we're headed?
JM: I've been with Pia for about three and a half years now, and what excites me most is seeing how far the product has come and being involved in how much further the platform can go. Seeing involvement from our partner base and delivering features that really excite our users, working as a developer shows you that anything is possible if we have enough time to get there.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work when you're not thinking about tech, partners, or tickets?
JM: I'm a bit of a golf nerd, and what's a tech guy without his love for gaming? If I'm not gaming, you'll probably find me listening to music (a heavy metal fan at heart, avid concertgoer) or binge-watching TV shows and movies.
What's a hobby, interest, or random skill you have that most people probably don't know about?
JM: What people don't know, though I think most people at Pia do by now, is that from age 14 to 18, I went to a performing arts high school in Wollongong, where I did singing and other performing arts. It gave me confidence in myself and taught me to enjoy the things I do. That's why I love working as a developer. Seeing things "just work" after many frustrating hours is very fulfilling, similar to the feeling I'd get when I finished a performance.
If you had to describe your personality using only three words, what would they be?
JM: Motivated, grounded, committed.
What's your go-to productivity hack or favorite tool that helps you get things done?
JM: I love to gather as much information as possible from the experienced workers around me. Any time I get the chance, I love to bug my colleagues to really grasp concepts as well as I can before moving on to the next one.
