I’m going to try to keep this short. Restraint is something I’m trying to master.

In the beginning of 2013 I had a (less than) part-time job. I was begging for hours on a phone with my boss. All whilst on welfare.

There was no option but to look for another outlet or some sort of income. I was lucky enough to get an interview through a recruiter (Zach Sines) and met with a really nice team at Kenchii. Kenchii was my way out of a dead end and I worked like crazy to improve their site. I was happy.

Happy does not equal finically stable.

I still did not have a full 40 hour schedule so I promoted Alluring Media with BNI (Business Networking International). It was a great experience. A good way for me to not only sell my services but also meet new contacts and polish my sales skills. In fact, the lady who invited me to join and sponsored me ended up upgrading her site. I used a CMS called WordPress along with her existing design elements and information. After about a month and a half of collaboration the site was off the ground with a functional form and a navigation system that was edited out. The site is responsive and can be viewed here.

So, after some networking, I was able to get another interview. I was skeptical at first as I was asked to design a site before an interview. After 1.5 years of interviewing and hoop hopping I must have picked up something that works because I did ok. The site was not up to par with the firm but they must have seen something else they liked. Maybe it was the responsiveness.

Oh yeah, this is going to be short. I was hired.

In the 5 months I have been with The Stoneridge Group, I have written enough code to fill 2 books. I’m working with some incredibly smart people and I’m incredibly grateful for the position I have.

In all, it was a rocky year.  I realize how lucky I am to have the friends and family I do, they were such a huge support.

All that and my second son was born in April – love you Robin, Ryan and Reese.

So much for short.