1998

n 1998, I created my very first website, which housed a collection of stories I had written some time ago. My Internet Service Provider (ISP) allowed us to host a website with our internet connection. Without any skills in HTML markup or other tools, I used Microsoft Publisher to create the site. At that time, it didn't even have a proper domain name.

I then purchased a copy of Microsoft FrontPage. It was reasonably priced, and I still only knew about basic layout techniques that appealed to me. Most people were working with tables back then.

As I used the software more frequently, I found that working within the confines of its design view was limiting, as were its form builders and other features. I decided to commit to writing HTML by hand. Although I still used FrontPage, I stopped dragging and dropping elements.

2001

In the year 2000, I met a young woman named Kim. One day, while I was redesigning my story website for what felt like the hundredth time, she asked me, “Why don't you make websites for other people?” It's funny how sometimes the most obvious ideas are right in front of us, yet we fail to see them.

That conversation sparked a change. Kim and I started a small web design studio called RandomActs Design in November 2001. She handled the graphics work while I was responsible for the markup and coding. The name was a play on my story site called "Random Acts of Imagination."

As with most new businesses, we struggled to attract clients at first. One day, my cousin Matthew Golay asked if we would create a website for him because MP3.com was being bought out and shutting down services for unsigned artists.

As his popularity grew in the Fox Valley and Oshkosh area, so did the inquiries about who created his site. Kim and I worked on projects for many musicians, including Copper Box, RPM, Boxkar, Rob Anthony, and The Moon Gypsies. We also collaborated with Mill Creek, a venue where many of those bands performed.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife Kim for encouraging me to enter the business and to Matt for helping RandomActs Design gain recognition in the Fox Valley area among artists and venues. I was even nominated, albeit indirectly, for some WAMI awards for the websites I built for those clients.

Though things were not always busy, I occasionally took on contract work for other local web design and development companies to fill in the gaps.

2009

In 2009, I formed GiantSeed Creative, LLC, with a new business partner I had met through one of the contracting companies for which I had worked.

Things were good for quite a while, but eventually, we found ourselves with different opinions about the company's direction. In 2012, we decided to go our separate ways.

2012

I then formed Pixel Garden Studio LLC and returned to what I was most passionate about: designing, building, and supporting beautiful, responsive websites for artists, musicians, and local shops. I continue to develop Pixel Works, a content management system that allows anyone to manage their own website without needing programming knowledge.