I grew up in the cities of Oakland and Piedmont, in northern California. I attended UC Berkeley and got a B.A. degree in Economics and Political Science. I went on to have a career in finance (this was the 1980’s, after all!). I specialized in Municipal Bond finance for a wonderful firm, Stone and Youngberg (now Stifel, Nicolaus). Although the finance industry enabled me to have a pretty nice lifestyle, I didn’t find it particularly fulfilling. In fact, whenever I put on my power suit and pumps and headed out the door with my briefcase, I felt like I was dressing up to play the role of someone other than myself.
I happily retired in 1994 when I became pregnant with my first daughter. The next 18 years were spent in the domestic/parenting mode, which for me was pretty much all-consuming. I loved being a full time mom, and spent most of my time with my family, or actively volunteering at their schools.
Throughout my life I’ve loved being involved in creative pursuits… drawing, writing, painting, photography. I maybe even inherited a small bit of talent in that arena from my father, who was a cartoonist and writer, among other things. And there has always been a little voice in my head telling me that I should be spending more of my energy doing something creative… When I’m in my creative brain, time stands still, and I go into a “zone”.
The other side of my brain is my nerd-brain. This is the part of me that LOVES technology, computers, gadgets of all kinds. It also is responsible for an almost OCD-level of perfectionism and attention to detail.
I recently reached a turning point in my life. My 20-plus year marriage ended, and my two daughters are nearly grown and don’t require the hands-on attention that they once did (okay, they actually prefer that I give them no attention at all, unless it involves driving them somewhere, cooking for them or giving them money). I spent a couple of years asking myself what it is that I want to do with my life that would allow me to use BOTH sides of my brain (the creative and the nerdy), and it dawned upon me that perhaps I should try my hand at creating websites.
It wasn’t until a good friend of mine asked me to design a site for her that I actually did anything about it. But once I got started, I was hooked! I could be creative and geeky at the same time. Perfect! The cool thing about my business is that there is always something new to learn, and there are virtually no limits to what one can do to make a site more beautiful, functional, or both.
