6 Qs with MyFitnessPal’s Paul Radcliffe

Paul Radcliffe has been working at MyFitnessPal as a lead software engineer for a little over a year. He knows more about what’s going on behind the scenes here than most, so we asked him to answer six questions for us. You get an insider’s peek at life at MyFitnessPal, and Paul gets to feel famous on the blog for a day. It’s a win-win!

Hey Paul, we’re psyched that you’re letting us interview you today. Let’s start with an easy question: Who do you think you are? Oh, is that an easy one? Well, I’m Paul Radcliffe, and I’m a senior software developer for MyFitnessPal. I grew up in the Bay Area and I live in San Francisco with my wife. I’m really into electrical engineering, building gadgets, and cooking. I’m actually building a giant wall counter for our new office right now.

How did you end up at MyFitnessPal? Years ago, I wrote a cooking application. It was my personal pet project, and then Mike [Lee, co-founder of MyFitnessPal] said, “Hey, we’re putting a lot of that into MyFitnessPal—you should join us!” So I did, and I’ve had so much fun since. I really enjoy the start-up atmosphere here, and I love being able to work on a little bit of everything—it prevents me from getting stale.

What exactly does a software engineer do at MyFitnessPal? I develop the back-end infrastructure and software for features within the MyFitnessPal app and online. Our mission at MyFitnessPal is to make the world a healthier place. It is such a customer-focused company, and we’re committed to turning our users into healthier versions of themselves. Giving the community the tools they need to help themselves and each other is the vision that drives everything I do here. At MyFitnessPal our goals are incredibly honorable. If you ask the founders and most employees, “What’s more important, making money or helping people?” I guarantee most of us would say it’s helping people.

Exercise is part of our office culture. How do you stay fit? I box and I surf. Though I do both of those activities poorly, they help me stay in shape.

What’s your favorite food? Hands down, it’s my grandmother’s gnocchi. She made the best, and I’m constantly trying to find a place that whips it up as well as she did. My wife has learned to make it for me when she wants me to do something for her. What can I say? My stomach motivates me!

What’s your best healthy-living hack? I often use an avocado in place of an egg when I’m cooking. The swap works for a lot of different recipes, and it’s a great way to get more healthy, plant-based fat in your diet.

Paul’s not the only one with insight on life at MyFitnessPal. Stay tuned for future interviews with staffers and let us know what you’d like to learn about our work place!