About

Mike, smiling, wearing a black shirt against a gray backdrop.

Hello! I'm Mike Aparicio. I've been making websites for over 30 years and have found a niche at the intersection of design and engineering — building CSS-based design systems where engineers don't have to write CSS and helping product teams develop a shared language for building on the web.

While I work in tech, my background is in journalism and theater. I studied sports journalism in hopes of one day getting paid to watch and write about the NBA, until I realized people would actually pay me to make websites. I also completed the conservatory and writing programs at Second City. This odd combination of skills has helped me write and speak about web development, and occasionally make a dumb video.

In my free time I enjoy watching movies and TV, and playing video games. Every year I do a 24-hour gaming marathon called Extra Life to raise money for my local children's hospital. To date I've raised over $50,000 to support Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago to honor the memory of my daughter, Olivia.

I live in the Chicago area with my two sons and two dogs.