I began working as a stand alone web developer in July of 2013. Prior to that I had worked at an online marketing agency in McAllen for 3 years as a lead developer/technology director.
Since beginning my business and leaving my previous job I’ve moved 3 times, became engaged, and married my wife Stephanie. 6 months later my wife and I decided we wanted a child and in the 8th month of our marriage she became pregnant. 9 months later our son Nathan was born.
This goes to show that I’m not one who isn’t used to change, and change for the better I should say.
That being said, April was another month of big change in my life. For the first time in almost 3 years I have a job. That’s not to say that I didn’t work before because obviously running a business to provide for your family is a huge job in and of itself. But now I have what most people would call a normal job, except that it’s not that normal.
In April I began working full time with a great company that I’ve done some work for in the past. Roughneck Graphics is a San Antonio based online agency that has been around since 2009 and boasts some huge clients such as Harland Clarke Corporation, and Rackspace to name a few.
Roughneck as I call them, has hired me as a full-time frontend/backend web developer to help them continue building great products for their clients.
So what does this mean for my business and existing clients? I’m glad you asked! A part of the deal with Roughneck, and one of the main reasons that I signed on with them, was because unlike many other businesses which try to lord over their employees with non-compete agreements and the like, Roughneck has allowed me to remain helping my clients independent of Roughneck.
Obviously I wouldn’t want to compete with my employer to begin with. As a member of a team, one must value the team above himself in order for the team to be successful, and that’s exactly what I plan to do for Roughneck. I plan to shift the majority of potential clients as well in the direction of Roughneck because as a part of an agency I believe we can better serve the customer as a group rather than what I could do as an individual. This being said there are plenty of projects that are just too small for the agency to take on that I will willingly accept should they be a good fit for myself.
I also mentioned above that this job is not that normal, and I’d like to clarify what I meant by that. This job is the type of job that really has emerged with the advent of the internet, and the tech industry as a whole. It is sometimes referred to as a remote position which simply means that I can work from home wherever home may be. I will not be relocating to San Antonio, and will remain in McAllen with my family for the time being.
I’m excited for the future, to see what God has in store for me as an individual, husband, father, and member of Roughneck. Please feel free to visit our website roughneckgraphics.com for more information about the business and the services that we offer. God Bless.