Hive-ly
Building tools that help workers document workplace issues, understand their rights, and connect with advocates.
Overview
Hive-ly was a worker-focused platform designed to help people navigate workplace challenges, document incidents, understand legal options, and connect with advocacy organizations.
As CTO and Lead Engineer, I was responsible for technical architecture, product strategy, development workflows, AI-powered features, and engineering leadership.
The project combined educational resources, narrative-generation tools, and community infrastructure to make workplace support more accessible.
The Problem
Many workers facing discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage theft, or unsafe working conditions don’t know where to begin.
Information is fragmented across government agencies, advocacy organizations, and legal resources. Documentation is often incomplete, and people frequently struggle to organize events into a coherent narrative before speaking with an attorney or advocate.
Hive-ly explored how software could reduce that friction.
Landing page hero—rights, documentation, and connection to advocates up front.
Building for a Sensitive Domain
Unlike many consumer applications, Hive-ly operated in a space where trust, accuracy, and privacy were critical.
A mistake wasn’t simply an inconvenience—it could affect someone’s ability to advocate for themselves.
That reality influenced every product decision, from onboarding flows to AI-assisted features.
What I Built
Platform Infrastructure
- React and TypeScript frontend
- Supabase backend
- Authentication and user management
- Deployment and monitoring systems
- Engineering workflows and development standards
Product Features
- Workplace incident documentation
- Narrative generation workflows
- Resource discovery
- Community features
- Advocacy and legal support directories
Community infrastructure—Discord and newsletter without requiring a full account first.
AI-Assisted Documentation
One of the most interesting challenges was helping users transform fragmented workplace experiences into structured narratives.
Workers often arrived with dozens of disconnected events, screenshots, notes, and memories.
The goal was not to replace human judgment but to help people organize information into something more useful when seeking support.
Areas explored included:
- Timeline generation
- Narrative drafting
- Incident categorization
- Pattern identification
- Document analysis workflows
Technical Challenges
Hive-ly was built as a small startup with limited resources.
Key engineering challenges included:
- Performance optimization
- Reliability on free-tier infrastructure
- Observability and error monitoring
- Authentication and security
- AI workflow design
- Scaling product development with a small team
What I Learned
Hive-ly reinforced my belief that software is ultimately about people rather than technology.
The engineering challenges were interesting, but the most difficult questions involved trust, communication, ethics, and understanding how people make decisions under stress.
Working alongside advocates and legal advisors also deepened my appreciation for the complexity of systems that sit at the intersection of technology, institutions, and public life.
Skills & Technologies
- React
- TypeScript
- Supabase
- AI-Assisted Workflows
- Product Strategy
- Startup Leadership
- Technical Architecture
- Monitoring & Observability
- UX Design
- Documentation Systems