Steve Peak

Full-Stack Software Engineer and Permaculturist

I've spent 20+ years turning designs and ideas into real, shipped software. Front-end craft, data visualization, and full-stack product work. Design, Art, Management and more plus I'm an accredited permaculture instructor. I've also built and/or managed dozens of permaculture projects and would love to work at the intersection of green and tech.

TL;DR

Full-stack range Front-end craft through back end, APIs, and payments
Regenerative & hands-on Permaculture instructor, natural building schools, off-grid infrastructure
Owner's mindset I've founded and run real ventures and have leadership experience.
Self-taught & adaptable Eager to learn and adapt. Love solving problems.
Creative range Music production, illustration, and design alongside the code
Global & flexible Remote across multiple countries, open to full-time, part-time, or contract

Summary

Self-taught software engineer with 20+ years shipping web apps across the whole stack, and just as many years doing hands-on regenerative work: farming, natural building, and running crews across multiple countries. I care about software that's actually usable and land that's actually productive, and I'll learn whatever a project needs to get it done. Between full-time roles I run my own contract practice covering web, apps, design, illustration, and art. I've founded and run real ventures on both sides, software and land, so I bring an owner's judgment and a genuinely wide range, not just code.

Land, Regenerative Practice & Natural Building

Software is one half of what I do. The other half is real, physical work: building and running off-grid infrastructure, farming, and leading crews across multiple countries. I hold a Permaculture Design Certificate, I'm an accredited permaculture instructor, and I've founded natural building schools on working farms, first in Costa Rica, now in Hawaii. This isn't a hobby I mention on the side, it's a second full discipline, and I'm actively looking for roles at the intersection of the two.

Permaculture & Design

  • Permaculture Design (PDC)
  • Food Forests & Agroecology
  • Site & Master Planning
  • Soil Regeneration

Natural & Sustainable Building

  • Natural / Earthen Building
  • Off-Grid Infrastructure
  • Water Catchment & Filtration
  • Solar & Off-Grid Power

Land & Teams

  • Crew Leadership (teams of 20+)
  • Community & Student Programs
  • Multi-Country Field Experience
  • Admin, Legal & Permitting

Core Skills & Tech

Languages

  • JavaScript (ES6+)
  • PHP
  • HTML5
  • CSS3 / Sass
  • SQL

Front-End

  • Responsive & cross-browser UI
  • Data visualization
  • Component architecture
  • UI / UX
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Bootstrap
  • Alpine.js
  • jQuery

Back-End & Platform

  • Node.js
  • Laravel
  • LAMP stack
  • REST APIs
  • MySQL
  • Stripe & Square

AI & Integrations

  • AI agents
  • MCP servers
  • Policy / gating
  • Zapier

Mobile & Tooling

  • PhoneGap / Cordova
  • Git
  • Vite
  • Linux

Design & Media

  • Figma
  • Photoshop / Illustrator
  • Illustration & animation
  • Music production

Engineering Experience

Founder & Lead Engineer Seedling Systems LLC
2026 – Present Remote

“Software with a conscience.”

  • Founded a software studio and build the whole product line myself, from architecture and APIs to front end, billing, and deployment.
  • Seedling CRM: an all-in-one business platform (CRM, invoicing, projects, bookings, and accounting) built on Laravel, with a REST API, Stripe and Square billing, and integrations for Claude, MCP, and Zapier.
  • Seedling Agent: a local AI agent that runs on your own machine and connects to Seedling to get real work done.
  • SafeNode (safenode.tech): a multi-tenant policy firewall that gates every AI-agent action with allow / warn / review / deny verdicts, weighted risk scoring, and immutable audit logs. Laravel rules engine, Filament dashboard, single evaluate API.
Software Engineering Contractor Self-Employed
2016 – Present San Jose, CA · Remote
  • Independent contractor for web, code, design, and art projects, usually remote, between and alongside full-time roles.
  • Front-end, full-stack, and UX work: websites, web apps, and mobile prototypes, plus branding, illustration, and animation.
  • One point of contact from first scope through launch, across a wide range of clients and budgets.
Front-End Software Engineer Reputation.com
2015 – 2016 Redwood City, CA
  • Built customer-facing modules and components for the new Node.js platform, focused on data visualization.
  • Came on as a contractor and got converted to full-time.
Software Engineer Delvv, Inc.
2014 – 2015 Palo Alto, CA
  • Built the first Delvv mobile app prototype in PhoneGap. Mostly JavaScript, with design and UX along the way.
Lead Front-End Software Engineer Next Generation Insurance
2012 – 2014 Redwood City, CA
  • Lead front-end developer for the California office. Helped stand up CA operations. LAMP stack.
Front-End Software Engineer AppLovin (formerly StylePage)
2010 – 2012 Palo Alto, CA
  • Turned designer comps into cross-browser front-end components, assets, and pages. Built a big chunk of the front end. LAMP stack.
Software Engineer ReputationDefender
2008 – 2010 Redwood City, CA
  • Built a lot of the customer-facing pieces of the original site in JavaScript and PHP, and led a rebuild of the internal CMS.
Software Developer Scoot Mobile
2004 – 2007
  • Early-career software development role.

Leadership & Operations

Founder-and-operator roles running regenerative farms and natural building schools, real ownership, systems thinking, and team leadership across multiple countries.

Founder, Natural Building School & Regenerative Farm TerraLuna Gardens
2022 – Present Pahoa, HI
  • Co-founded and run a regenerative farm and community project, working to implement the best regenerative practices we can across the property.
  • Lead the land team and one of the core LLC managers, teaching hands-on and managing alongside farm operations.
  • Handle off-grid infrastructure and systems, crew and student teaching, plus admin, legal, and permitting.
Founder, Natural Building School & Farm (Sold) earth ayni
2016 – Sold Costa Rica
  • Bought, built, and ran a permaculture farm, natural building school, and education program for several years before selling the property.
  • Ran the food, water, and power systems, the student programs, and day-to-day operations.

Certifications

Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) The Permaculture Education Center

Selected Freelance & Creative Work

Alongside engineering, I take on freelance work across websites, apps, digital art, animation, illustration, and music production. That range feeds straight back into how I design interfaces and solve problems.