First and foremost
To God be the glory. He is responsible for providing me my skill set which led to my professional passion. I have tried to do my best and honor Him and develop the skills he gave me. He provided me with an opportunity to work for a God-driven company. He has been with me every step of the way and will be with me into the next chapter of life. Where some would say coincidence, I say divine purpose. My God goes before me no matter where.
I’m starting a new journey in my career. For some, this type of change is inconsequential. For others, it is monumental. For me, this is closer to monumental, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Let’s take a quick stroll through history to catch you up to speed.
My Affinity for Code
When I was 14 (1998) a friend introduced me to my first line of HTML and CSS. For those of you who read that and said, “huh?” to yourself fear not, I’ll explain. HTML, Hypertext Markup Language, and CSS Cascading Style Sheets are the most basic building blocks of code to make web things. That’s the REALLY short description. Upon introduction to said code, I was instantly hooked. I couldn’t get enough of it. I read books. I built things. I tinkered. I explored other languages and marveled at their ingenuity. I had found my passion. I longed to go to school for web development, but it wasn’t in the cards. Not only was the choice limited in terms of higher education, but my financial situation wasn’t exactly noteworthy either. Instead, my college years focused on acquiring an Associates in Business Administration.
More Than a Company, Family
After college, I married, worked several odd jobs, moved a lot until, after 3 years of pleading, managed to land a job with my dream company, Red Clay Interactive. There I have resided for the past 9 1/2 years. How do you possibly sum up over 9 years of life at one place? When I started at RCI I was 22 and, really, no true aspirations to do anything. Today, I’m 31 and the legacy I’m leaving is one I’m proud to leave. When I started, I was a junior developer. I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Over time I grew to Senior Developer and later to Development Director. What is most notable about my time at RCI, though, are the relationships I have built. RCI is more than just a company to me, they’re family. This post does not and could never do justice to how much they mean to me and my family. I am truly humbled by the opportunity I have had to grow not only professionally but personally as well.
The Next Chapter
The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the unveiling of my next chapter. About 8 months ago (from the time of this post, August 2015) my family and I were sitting in a McDonald’s eating lunch. Not that there is anything against the Golden Arches, I love a double cheeseburger as much as anyone else, but we as a family do not frequent McDonald’s often. On this rare occasion, we ran into a former church friend who was there with his kids. We struck up a conversation about all things development. We talked for 30 minutes or so and we bid farewell as he headed out. A few minutes after he left we began gathering our things to leave as well when a guy a few tables away walked up and asked if I was a web developer. He had overheard our conversation and as it turns out is a web dev too. Matt, as I came to find out, and I talked for a few minutes while he and our kids played. We exchanged email addresses and that was pretty much the end of it. We did not talk again until early March 2016.
Matt emailed me letting me know that a Senior Web Developer position was opening up where he worked and that if I was interested I should let him know. I responded with my résumé attached. I applied formally but it wasn’t until mid-April before I heard anything. After 3 lengthy phone calls, a 2 1/2 hour face to face interview (complete with writing code on a whiteboard), and 30+ emails later I was offered and graciously accepted the position as a Senior Web Developer on the PGA.com and RyderCup.com web teams for Turner (Broadcasting)! I officially start on May 31, 2016.
So there ya have it folks. Thanks for following me on this little journey 🙂
TL;DR
After 9 years, I am deeply saddened to be leaving Red Clay Interactive.
I am super excited to be joining Turner!
4 comments on “Teeing Off My Next Chapter”
Great happenings for a great guy ! Congrats, and we are so excited, to watch your talented mind, reveal your ideas to the world of communications.
Love and best wishes,
Sandra & Wayne
Thanks so much Aunt Sandra and Uncle Wayne!
So proud of you Zach! Love you.
Thank you Aunt Sherrie! Love you too!