Get to know me

My name is Chad Ort, and I am currently the Lead Developer at Snopes. I have been doing development work for over 14 years across multiple industries, including gaming, advertising and media. Recently, my focus has been on WordPress, React, and managing our development team.

I learned to program using Pascal in high school and worked at a computer repair shop. He was a great mentor and got me interested in programming. In 2004, I started building websites for friends and family in my spare time, and then, in 2007, I accepted my first development position. Initially, I focused on the front end and learning to work with different content management systems. My first job was on a team that enforced a high level of code quality and taught me to write readable, maintainable code. Over the years, my focus has shifted to managing development teams and doing backend work.

The two of us enjoy spending time outdoors and working with animals, so in 2016, we bought a tiny house in Tennessee, less than 300 square feet. There was already a pond in one of the pastures, so we raised chickens, ducks, and goats. It was a significant change from working in downtown Seattle, but I loved the contrast between spending my days in an office and my time with animals.

The pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, and the tiny house quickly became too small. When you stop going places or visiting friends, you want more space at home. So shortly after the pandemic happened, we decided to buy a new house while everyone else was doing the same. While we didn't find our forever home, we are happy where we are for now.