Hi, I’m Dave. Or Shep. Or Shepley. Whatever you prefer. I’m new at DesignHammer and excited to dive into a new blog series after a time of Thanksgiving, where folks give thanks for the good things that happened throughout the year. I can say without a doubt that after just over a month, I am thankful for DesignHammer and the good people here.
Let me take you back. I’ve had a long and varied career, mostly in the general areas of PR, Account Management and Development in some interesting industries:
- Major college athletics
- Traditional integrated advertising agency
- Nonprofit & University
- Live television data integration and graphics delivery
- Event planning
- Tech start-up management
Now I’m at DesignHammer, an 18-year-old web strategy, design, and development shop; proud to solve clients’ business problems through technology.
And also proud of our process. I’ve been part of planning process implementation in the past but also lived the frustration of constantly pivoting on the fly. Walking into a long-defined, repeatable process that allows us to finish projects on-time and on-budget has been refreshing.
A few other things happened in 2019 that I’m thankful for. I welcomed my first child into the world in February. Talk about a blessing, but also without a defined process. We’ve never done this before, and every baby is different. No matter how many books you read or advice you’ve heard, you don’t know what you’re getting into until you’re there. Thankfully Archie has mostly been a great baby. As he gets older and more mobile, we’ve learned that between diaper blowups, rolling off beds and couches, and unpredictable sleep schedules; if you don’t start to implement routine (and process), life is infinitely harder for everyone.
About a month after Archie’s arrival I had an unfortunate layoff at work - me. It allowed an extended paternity leave that I hadn’t previously enjoyed. As he grew older, I began to realize that full-time parenting is infinitely harder than a full-time job, at least for me. So I took a part-time job at the world’s largest coffee chain while working on my next step. More later on what making lattes at a busy store at 6 AM teaches you about process.
In future posts I will explain how DesignHammer’s documented, repeatable process correlates to a child who won’t stay still, diaper blowouts and lattes have reinforced the need for process, and crawling before you sprint. For now, I’m thankful for the chance to get to know and share life with you readers, DesignHammer clients, and advocates - and hope you enjoyed your time of Thanksgiving and this festive season.
Up next, Diapers, Lattes and Crawling Before the Sprint.
Add new comment