This fall marks my 25th year designing and building websites. It started in Mr. Hoehne’s computer science class as a freshman in high school – writing HTML in Notepad. My process for building websites today is not too different. I still write HTML in a text editor – but now that text editor has autocomplete, syntax highlighting, AI plugins, and millions more online resources to help fix bugs. 25 years ago, I was only writing HTML. Today, that’s expanded to CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and the WordPress ecosystem.
One thing that hasn’t changed for me over a quarter of a century is the pure magic of writing some code and seeing it produce a highly visual and functional webpage. Designing and building a website is the perfect mix of art and science. Maybe that’s why I like doing photography → because it’s also an art and science.
Seeds of growth:
2000-2004
As a freshman in high school, I enrolled in computer science with Mr. Hoehne. He taught us to write HTML in Notepad and to create graphics in Microsoft Image Composer (which was only a small upgrade from Microsoft Paint.)
Mr. Hoehne gave me a computer science award at the end of the year that recognized my skills in web development. That was the first time I thought this could be what I do for the rest of my life. Man, that was huge. I don’t know that Mr. Hoehne realized the impact he had on the trajectory of my life and career.
For the next three years I took the same class, now with Mr. Allen as the teacher. We spent those years redesigning and maintaining the school district website. Mr. Allen, a classmate (Cory) and I had a healthy dose of competition and playful banter about who was the better web designer.
Art school shapes me: 2004-2008
Those early high school years building websites were inspiring but attaining an art degree in graphic design provided a firm foundation for creating more visually impactful websites. Formally, I didn’t learn a single line of code in my college course work. Outside the classroom, I built websites for freelance clients and university stakeholders, honing my coding skills while applying my new art and design skills to those projects.
Where theory meets reality: 2009-2025
This brought me to landing my first job as web developer for a medical school. Of course, there’s a unique power in learning by doing. While art school provided a theoretical foundation, the real-world challenges on the job forged a deeper, more practical understanding of crafting websites.
At the medical school, I spent 16+ years crafting hundreds of websites and honing the user experience for thousands of users. I enjoyed seamlessly blending great design and development and doing the work of what’s typically two or three separate specialists.
What’s next: 2025 & beyond
In 2002 I was bit by the entrepreneurial bug and started doing freelance work while still in high school. My first website client paid me $125 to build their website.
Fast forward to 2009 when I registered an LLC called Creative Improv. This was my avenue to design logos, print collateral, and websites. One freelance client that’s been a mainstay over the last several years is Diamond Banc. I’ve partnered with them to build several websites.
Over the last 5 years I’ve been looking for more. More meaningful work, more responsibility, more ownership, and more projects that challenge me. In May 2025, I accepted a full time position at Diamond Banc as Director of Web Development & SEO. This role has allowed me to take ownership of the business’s digital presence among other things. The work is challenging, exciting, and rewarding. I can see the fruits of my labor and how it affects the business. The sheer volume of learning ahead of me is exciting.
A broader perspective
Today my work looks a bit different (and arguably more exciting) than it did 25 years ago, when writing HTML in Notepad is what mattered. Now it’s more focused on business goals, client acquisition, and strategy. But I still get the chance in most projects to write code in the text editor and see it’s magical results – just like I’ve done for 25 years.
Here’s to 25 more years of growth!
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