PrettySquares is the web development brainchild of AJ Penninga. Founded in 2006 after a few coffee dates with Mike Boyink, AJ jumped onto the ExpressionEngine platform, and hasn't looked back since. Located in West Michigan, a hotbed of awesome ExpressionEngine developers, AJ has created dozens of EE sites for clients of all sizes; from the Fortune 500 to the "Fortune 5,000,000".
AJ has been a PHP developer for more than a decade. After being introduced to ExpressionEngine by Mike Boyink, he's embraced the unique "blank slate" that ExpressionEngine offers for his clients. Crafting a unique content management solution for each client, AJ loves designing easy to use solutions for his clients. We enjoy slicing your designs into HTML, coding ExpressionEngine addons, and custom scripting with PHP, jQuery, and more.
AJ was born at University of Michigan hospital in 1980, and has been a rabid Wolverine ever since. Moving to West Michigan when I was young, I've been a techie as long as I can remember. My dad was a software consultant, and I've always had computers around me. I made my first websites while in highschool during the late 90's, and attended Calvin College, where I fell in love with the web. After graduating with a degree in Computer Science in 2003, I started in the software development field like my dad, but quickly switched to doing website development fulltime.
A rare breed of athletic nerd, I've been involved in competitive swimming since age 8. It's a part of my blood, and it's part of who I am. I competed all through high school and college, finishing my collegiate career as a 14 time All American. I was an assistant coach age group and college assistant at Calvin, where I coached our athletes to 7 individual national titles, 6 national top ten finishes, and 6 consecutive conference championships. I still stay competitive in Master's swimming, church softball, and a few triathlons a year as well.
I married the girl of my dreams in 2009, and look forward to spending time with my in laws in Lake Leelanau, Michigan. I picked up new hobbies of snowboarding and wakeboarding during adventures with the new family, so I've always got things to keep me busy. We recently got a new puppy, Pixel, a black lab/golden retriever mix. She's my new company mascot, and constant companion during the days working at home.
Someday you can follow my adventures at http://ajp.net or catch me ranting on my twitter account @ajp.
