Meet Catherine Quamme: Finding the Beauty in Life and Software Development

Welcome to Jumpmind Reveal, a blog series showcasing some of the talented folks we have here at Jumpmind. In today’s installment, we bring you a profile on Catherine Quamme, a software engineer for Jumpmind. 

In our Q&A with Catherine, we explore many beautiful things: art, flowers, and last but not least — exquisite coffee. 

You have a rather “colorful” background prior to launching into your career as a software developer. Tell us about that –  

Sure, one of my great passions is theater. My mom was a theater reviewer for The Columbus Dispatch and she always would take me along to see the productions, and I was in the Drama Club in high school. I graduated college with a degree in theater and a minor in video arts, and after college I worked as a video editor for several years. 

Years later, my brother was working as a software developer and my boyfriend (now my husband) and also his brother were also software developers. At first, what they did sounded difficult, but I quickly realized that my logical mindset was in line with the key attributes needed to be a programmer. I went back to school at The Ohio State University and got a degree in Computer Science and the rest is history. 

Most developers don’t start in an arts career, but it gives you a fresh perspective; it allows me to be perceptive about the needs of a software user as someone who knows nothing about software development. 

How did you end up at Jumpmind? 

I applied to over 100 different companies for internships. And when I met with Jumpmind, I liked the company culture and the products that I would be working on. The people I met with were very kind and it seemed like a good environment to learn more. From Day One, I had the opportunity to work on an actual working product, which was very exciting to me. 

What’s it like to be at home with two software developers under one roof?  

It’s helpful because when we’re stuck on a problem at work, we can discuss it and get some outside perspective. 

It also comes in handy in other more surprising areas of our life. For example, we bought a pretty magnificent top-of-the-line Gaggia espresso machine, and we’ve been making some amazing Afogatos to enjoy on the weekends. But recently, my husband took it a step further, hooking up an Arduino programmable logic controller to add new levels of control for both temperature and pressure. So even coffee is something we have a knack to hack!  

You have some pretty amazing tattoo art. Is there any particular story or meaning behind the artwork?

I love flowers, so I have many depictions of different types of flowers and insects. The daffodils and honeysuckle are reminiscent of my parent’s property where I grew up. In choosing flowers for my tattoo art, I figured flowers will never disappoint and they’ll never grow old. 

I started with a small tattoo because initially, I was afraid of the pain. But it didn’t hurt, so then I had more work done. They are significant to me because when I was acting, I always had to look a certain way to get a part. And today they are one way that I’ve reclaimed my body and I’ve found this I started with a small tattoo because initially, I was afraid of the pain. But it didn’t hurt, so then I had more work done. They are significant to me because when I was acting, I always had to look a certain way to get a part. And today they are one way that I’ve reclaimed my body and I’ve found this very liberating.