Employee spotlight: Liz Tremblay

What makes 84.51˚ an intriguing company? Is it the hybrid work, the free food regularly found around the office or the challenging problems that we tackle? While these aspects are undoubtedly great, it’s the people that make working here truly special. Check out our Employee Spotlight series to learn more about who we are and the unique traits of our teammates. 

Hometown:  Frankfort, IL  Office Location:  New York  Start Date:  June 2023  Job title:  Software Engineer 

Describe your role.

I am a part of the Meridian team, which is 84.51°’s design system that influences the look and feel of our products at a high level while also providing developers and designers with a component library to make coding and designing faster, more efficient, and more consistent. The team often compares our component library to IKEA showrooms. Designers and engineers take our components (the furniture pieces) to build out experiences and bring workflows to life (the show room). Most of my work is fielding requests from users, but I’m otherwise improving our design system through optimization, accessibility, and refinement efforts. 

How long have you worked in software engineering and what inspired you to pursue this field?

I only recently graduated college and started fulltime in June (so technically only about 8 months), but I did several co-op rotations while in school and three of them were with 84.51°. During my last rotation at the company, I was a product & design co-op on Meridian. I learned a ton from my manager and mentors about research, UX design, and front-end development. Frontend engineering comes with its own set of challenges – I love collaborating with users and bringing designs to life. I love understanding the user experience and flexing my (small) designer muscles whenever I can. Meridian made me fall in love with front-development, and that's much of why I came back full-time. 

What interested you in joining 84.51°? 

As a continuation to my last answer, I had such a positive experience working at 84.51° as a co-op and wanted to continue learning from my amazing team after graduation. So far, it's been amazing, and I’m really grateful I got to come back full-time.  

What has been the most memorable experience or favorite project you’ve worked on?

One of my favorite projects I’ve worked on so far has been integrating accessibility checks into our testing framework. Meridian is striving to make our components WCAG AA compliant. There are three levels to WCAG compliancy (A, AA, AAA) and at the AA level, we are going beyond the basic standard to make our components usable for a broader context of individuals with disabilities. Creating accessible code and designs has become the baseline for our team. 

What’s your favorite part about working at 84.51°? Do you have a favorite benefit or perk that is offered?

Hands down, the people and the culture. I love coming to work every day because I get to work with awesome individuals. I think 84.51°’s culture inspires people to be themselves and create meaningful relationships with co-workers and that ultimately empowers them to put out higher quality work and uplift their teammates. Having a generous amount of vacation, of course, helps with that too. 

What advice would you give to those who are considering working in this field?

It's generic, but I think networking is still very important as an engineer even though it doesn’t seem like it. Especially if you’re in front end and collaborating with people in design and product, knowing the individuals you’re working with beyond the standard introduction can make your work a lot more rewarding, collaborative, and even fun.  

What do you like to do in your free time outside of work hours?

NYC has a lot to offer in terms of activities and food, so I love exploring the city with friends, spending my paychecks in SoHo, and eating at local restaurants (I’m particularly partial to Korean food). When I’m at home being a bum though, I like playing video games and cooking delicious food with my partner.