• Focusing Forward

    This post is part announcement, part update, and part commitment to using this blog a bit more. The past year has seen a lot of different things being tried for me, which was incredible, but as the nights draw in and the year ends, the time is for a bit of focus.

    Growing space

    I’ve been growing into a role as a co-founder at Guildenberg for a few months now and have yet to announce it here. This opportunity has been a source of great inspiration for me, and even what we do there has changed so much over the course of the year. 

    What is it? In simple terms, it is a ‘space that helps businesses grow in the WordPress ecosystem‘. There are two main areas: the guild or membership space and the consultancy practice. In reality, this space evolves with each member and project. However, the core goal remains the same: to create and support those who develop products in this realm or wish to collaborate with others.

    Collaborative consultancy

    I am excited to announce all my consultancy work will be available through Guildenberg. Over the past year, I have transitioned to focusing more on my contribution consultancy work through there. Guildenberg will now in collaboration with others, offer a range of consultancy services. I firmly believe that together, we can achieve a more significant impact.

    Fractionally still tinkering

    Outside of consultancy, I am still available for hire fractionally in any combination of the full stack product roles – designer, developer and product. If you have any specific projects in mind, I would love to discuss them with you. My heart is still very much in themes so love to collaborate more around block themes.

    My primary focus for the coming year will be growing the work at Guildenbreg and experimenting with some products. Engaging in both will give me a deeper understanding, which can only be beneficial.

  • A new path to explore

    A new path to explore

    This year has been an incredible ride for me. It looks like it’s not done with the adventure because I am pleased to announce that I have joined XWP as a Senior Product Designer.

    The heart and passion of those within XWP is hard for me to put into words; I am so thrilled to be joining a group of people that put performance and experience at the heart of everything they do. This change will allow me to work on sites implementing Gutenberg and learn how people use it to create with. Not only that, but I feel so fortunate to also be through XWP, having sponsored contribution time. It feels like the perfect combination for me.

    I have created tools and the product for quite some time; becoming part of creating sites is such a positive shift. My passion for Gutenberg and art direction now I get to explore at scale, and that’s thrilling. Not only that, but the people within XWP are each so incredibly talented and energising. It truly is a company where everyone is an expert in their field. I feel lucky to get to work with so many as passionate as I am about this work. I am so excited about how far we can explore the new features in WordPress together on client projects and bring those insights back to the project.

    I couldn’t be more excited about this new chapter in my life, and one of the incredible things that XWP will allow is me time for exploring my projects, so more to come on those as I grow my ideas from seeds. Combining great projects for clients with sponsored contributions and then exploring in my own space is a mixture I feel lucky to enter into.

    For now, I am so delighted to be settling into a new home in WordPress where I can bring the work I’ve been part of creating for so long to client projects, take those lessons back to the product and help improve for everyone. It’s easy to forget what we create for; I look forward to rediscovering that by learning from those that publish daily, use WordPress. This will be such fun, and it couldn’t be at a more exciting time for the project!

    If my new adventure sounds like something you’d want to join in, XWP is hiring – there even is an opportunity to join design right now.