Open to data analyst & AI-assisted developer roles

I build with AI, make data make sense, and think like an artist.

Data analyst in the Atlanta area who builds real web apps with AI. I decide what to build, guide tools like ChatGPT and Claude to build it, then test and ship it. I also turn data into clear decisions with SQL and Tableau, and bring five years of customer-facing experience and a creative background in theatre, film and photography.

Portrait of Steven Guardado
Building with ChatGPT · Claude · Django
Certified Google Data Analytics
2
Full-stack web apps shipped with AI, including Stripe payments
5+
Years explaining technology to customers
5
Technical certifications, including Google Data Analytics
2
Languages: fluent English & Spanish

What I bring

Four strengths, one way of working.

Most people bring one or two of these to a team. I bring all four, and each one makes the others stronger.

Build with AI

I turn what a business needs into a working web app by directing AI coding tools: deciding what to build, guiding each feature, then testing and shipping the result.

  • AI-assisted development with ChatGPT & Claude
  • Requirements and product decisions
  • Testing, Git and deploys on Render

Analyze

Google-certified data analyst. I query, clean and visualize data so the people making decisions can see the story in the numbers.

  • SQL (PostgreSQL, Oracle), Python, R
  • Tableau dashboards & Excel
  • Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana

Lead & communicate

Five years in Verizon retail taught me to translate complex technology into plain language, coach new teammates, and stay calm when it's busy.

  • Train and coach new hires
  • #1 sales rep in the district
  • Promoted within 5 months
  • Bilingual: English & Spanish

Create

Theatre, film and photography taught me to think about the audience first. I care how a product looks, how it feels, and the story it tells.

  • Freelance client work since 2018
  • User-first, visual thinking
  • Storytelling and presenting

Selected work

Real products, built for real businesses.

Built with AI as my coding partner. I set the requirements, made the product decisions, tested every flow and handled deployment.

  1. 01

    Define

    Learn what the business needs and turn it into clear requirements.

  2. 02

    Direct

    Build with AI coding tools (ChatGPT, Claude), guiding each feature step by step.

  3. 03

    Test

    Run every flow, from checkout and payments to auctions, and fix what breaks.

  4. 04

    Ship & maintain

    Deploy to production, manage changes in Git and keep it running.

The Sweet Beaver
The Sweet Beaver cake pop shop page with products, prices and Add to Cart buttons

E-commerce · Live on Render

The Sweet Beaver

Built with ChatGPT. My role: product owner, requirements, testing and deployment.

A full-stack online bakery shop with a product catalog, cart, checkout and order tracking. Customers can shop in English or Spanish, and the owner runs everything from a custom-branded admin.

  • Stripe card and wallet payments alongside manual methods, each switchable on or off
  • Manual payments stay “Awaiting Payment” until verified, so an order is never marked paid on a customer's word alone
  • Pickup-slot scheduling that reveals the pickup address only at the right checkout step
  • Private order confirmation links, customer profiles and marketing-subscriber export
  • Deployed with persistent media storage, secrets in environment variables, sitemap and robots.txt for SEO
  • ChatGPT
  • Python
  • Django
  • PostgreSQL
  • Stripe
  • Render
  • English / Spanish
Alimac Mysteries
Alimac Mysteries live auction page showing the current bid and a countdown to the auction ending

Online auctions & shop · In progress

Alimac Mysteries

Built with Claude. My role: product owner, requirements, testing and deployment.

An online shop and auction platform for a vintage, antique and decor business, with the rules real auctions need: proxy bidding, optional reserve prices and scheduled endings, plus a regular storefront and a sales dashboard for the owner.

  • Proxy bidding, reserve prices and scheduled auction endings
  • A custom background job that closes auctions, enforces a 48-hour payment window and sends second-chance offers to the next-highest bidder
  • Email-verified accounts with saved payment cards
  • Local pickup or shipping to the US, Canada and Mexico, with automatic sales tax
  • Automated tests; developed across macOS and Windows with Git
  • Claude
  • Python
  • Django
  • PostgreSQL
  • Stripe
  • Testing

Data analysis

Tableau dashboards

Interactive dashboards that turn raw numbers into answers. For DDecker Painting, I pulled business data with SQL and built Tableau views of spending and earnings by region to support recommendations to ownership.

Tableau Public portfolio

Experience

Where I learned to lead and communicate.

Years of helping customers with technology taught me what great tech teams need: clear explanations, patience, coaching, and doing the job well when it's busy.

“Lead by doing: understand the work, share what you know, and clear the path for others.”

Certifications

  • Google Data Analytics CertificateGoogle · 2022
  • The Complete Python Certification CourseJobReadyProgrammer · 2022
  • Elasticsearch Masterclass with Logstash & KibanaJobReadyProgrammer · 2020
  • The Complete Oracle SQL Certification CourseJobReadyProgrammer · 2020
  • Getting Started with JavaJobReadyProgrammer · 2020

Education

  • Georgia State UniversityAtlanta, GA · 2015 – 2019
  1. Feb 2023 – Present

    Retail Sales Consultant

    The Cellular Connection · Verizon Authorized Retailer

    • Train new hires through buddy selling, coaching them on needs-based selling and customer communication
    • Break down complex bills and plan math so customers understand their costs
    • Translate technical device and network features into plain-language recommendations
    • Ranked #1 sales representative in the district and consistently among the region's top 10
    • Consistently hit 100%+ of monthly performance targets through outbound calling and appointment setting
  2. 2018 – Present

    Freelance Photographer & Videographer

    Self-employed · @stevfilmstudios

    • Photograph headshots, graduations, quinceañeras, events, food, pets, cars and landscapes for private clients
    • Direct, shoot and edit video in Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, from planning through the final cut
    • Run each project end to end: understanding the client's vision, scheduling, shooting, editing and delivery
  3. Oct 2021 – Dec 2022

    Verizon Specialist

    Best Buy · Duluth, GA

    • Analyzed customer needs to recommend the right product and plan
    • Delivered product presentations and demos for phones, wearables and connected devices
  4. Jun 2021 – Oct 2021

    Sales Advisor

    Best Buy · Duluth, GA

    • Provided technical support and product guidance across consumer electronics
    • Promoted to Verizon Specialist within 5 months
  5. Feb 2019 – Mar 2020

    Coordinator / Lead Host

    Darden Restaurants · Buckhead, GA

    • Coordinated guest flow and relayed special requests and allergies to the team in a high-volume restaurant
  6. Dec 2018 – Feb 2019

    Data Analyst (Part-time)

    DDecker Painting · Canton, GA

    • Built Tableau dashboards visualizing spending and earnings by region
    • Queried business data with SQL to support recommendations to ownership

Creative background

Where I learned to think differently.

Long before I wrote code, I was telling stories on stage, behind the camera and through a lens. It's where my creative problem-solving comes from.

Steven as Hero in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, 2017

Theatre

Lead role of Hero in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (2017).

What it taught me: presenting with confidence, working as an ensemble, and delivering on opening night, every time.

Still from a film Steven directed, edited and acted in: Steven seated in a dimly lit restaurant booth

Film

Director, editor and actor on a film showcased at the Campus Student Film Festival.

What it taught me: running a production from plan to final cut, keeping a crew aligned, and telling a story people remember.

Vintage black car parked on a cobblestone street in front of an ivy-covered building with red doors, by @stevfilmstudios

Photography

I shoot as @stevfilmstudios, my photography brand, covering headshots, graduations, events, quinceañeras, food, pets, cars and landscapes.

What it taught me: an eye for detail, composition and light, the same instincts I use when I design an interface.

Toolkit

Skills I use every day.

Building with AI

  • AI-assisted development
  • ChatGPT
  • Claude
  • Requirements & specs
  • Testing & QA
  • Django
  • Stripe API
  • Git & GitHub
  • VS Code
  • HTML & CSS
  • Python (foundations)
  • Java (basics)

Data

  • SQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • Oracle
  • R
  • Tableau
  • Excel
  • Elasticsearch
  • Logstash
  • Kibana

Cloud & deployment

  • Render
  • PostgreSQL hosting
  • Environment-based config
  • SEO (sitemaps, robots.txt)

People & creative

  • Coaching new hires
  • Technical communication
  • Presentations & demos
  • Bilingual English / Spanish
  • Photography
  • Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Final Cut Pro
  • Film
  • Theatre
  • 100+ WPM typing
Steven exploring a slot canyon in a wide-brimmed hat

About me

A non-traditional path, on purpose.

I'm Steven, a Google-certified data analyst based in Lawrenceville, Georgia, who builds web apps with AI. I studied at Georgia State University, and my creative background began with acting, dancing, and singing at age 15 before expanding into directing, cinematography, video editing, and photography during college. Since 2018, I've combined those creative skills with technology through freelance work for clients, bringing a visual and storytelling perspective to the way I approach data, design, and web development.

For the past five years I've worked in tech-facing customer roles with Verizon, helping people make sense of complex plans and devices and training new teammates to do the same. Along the way I started building websites with AI: The Sweet Beaver with ChatGPT, then Alimac Mysteries and this portfolio with Claude. I own the ideas, the requirements and the testing, the AI writes most of the code, and I keep learning how it all works.

Now I'm moving into tech full time. My goal is to grow into a technical leader who can direct the build, read the data, lead the team, and keep the people using the product at the center of every decision.

Off the clock, you'll find me gaming, watching soccer or planning my next trip. Fun fact: I can tap dance.

Contact

Let's build something great together.

I'm looking for a data analyst or AI-assisted development role where I can ship, learn fast, and grow into leadership. If that sounds like your team, I'd love to talk.