Only too often do I hear, ” I hired a Web Designer,payed them big bucks, and they disappeared”. For the life of me I will never understand this way of thinking. I have been a graphic and web designer for over 6 years, and during that time I have been committed to providing over-the-top customer service. I believe it is important to be there for a client when they need you whether it be through email, or even more importantly the phone ( wow, what a concept!).

For the past 6 years I have been helping people just like you realize their dreams online. I started out modestly making header graphics for WordPress sites back when “Hello World” was your only WordPress option. I then shifted gears to incorporate other popular web graphics at the time like ebook covers, software boxes, favicons, and basically anything and everything that is a graphic including animated .gifs (ick!).

Matt Mullenweg ( Creator of WordPress) & I

After making a presence online I quickly found out the one thing people always needed was to have someone show them how to actually use their site after we had created it. So, in my creative and always entrepreneurial brain I thought,” Why not make people their WordPress sites, and show them how to use them!”.

So, voila! That is how I arrived at offering you my services for making your custom WordPress dreams come true, and I really believe I am helping people, and that is what makes me love this work.

Let me give you some background about myself. I grew up in Texas, moved to Colorado when I was 14, and quickly realized I was “different”. No, not that kind of different. Different in a good way. I left high school early to attend Colorado Mountain College in Summit County. I soon found myself frozen to death, and decided to take a different path. I took a tour of The Art Institute in Denver, Co., and I was hooked. I majored in Graphic Design, and then switched gears to Design Management with a major in Graphic Design, and a minor in Web Design.

Lorelle from "Lorelle on WordPress" and I at Phx WordCamp

During my time there I had already created my online business called thebannerqueen.com, where I specialized in WordPress headers and banners, and virtualgraphicartist.com ( which I sold a couple years ago) I was in class one day and the teacher said,” Let’s go around the room, and have each person tell me their career goals”. Almost everyone in the room said, ” I want to own my own graphic and web design business”. By the time he got to me, I realized I didn’t need to be there! I was already living my career goal.

How did I get my business up and running so early in the game you might ask? Well, I am the

Ryan and I in Durango, Co.

daughter of a slightly famous internet marketer. I guess you could call me pretty fortunate to be able to mentor under someone who was a driving force in the internet marketing world. (That one’s for you Dad) But, in all honesty he has really been a large part of me believing in myself and helping me along the way make some of the smartest career choices ever. Mom gets some credit here too, she gave me the competitive determination through the skills she taught me during my competitive barrel racing days. Yes, I actually was a cowgirl, and deep down still am.

After bouncing around the U.S. I settled down with my wonderful fiance Ryan. He has encouraged me to live my career dreams as a web and graphic designer. Without him I wouldn’t be able to do it. Ryan and I live in Austin, Tx. with our two dogs Foxy a papillion, and Chief an Akita/German Shepherd, oh and we are proud to say we both love Jesus.

Fun facts about me: I grew up barrel racing and showing Quarter Horses, I skateboard ( I was sponsored , and competed), I played bass guitar in jazz band, and our church band ( Ryan and I still jam out on the rare occasion), I love WordPress, I secretly love Zelda on nintendo and still wish to kill the cat fur and get across the bridge on my wooden raft, I like to run when my knee doesn’t hurt, and I wouldn’t change what I do for the world.