My Favorite Find is the biggest dream I've had in a long time. This vision resided in my mind and I wanted so much to bring it to life. I knew that finding the right team was key. I have to like the people I work with, trust them, and in a way, put much of my dream in their hands.
Eventually, my search led me to North by Northwest, an amazing Spokane-based digital studio, specializing in film, video, and web. I first met some of the NXNW crew when an old family friend, Peter Coyote, was in town shooting a film. Our oldest son Cody and I spent a few hours on set watching Coyote (yes, we call him Coyote... remember my hippy childhood?) bring his character to life, and getting to see the crew work their magic.
You know how when you meet someone and you know that they're right? Yeah, me too. And when we met to discuss My Favorite Find, at long last, I knew I had met my team.
Now, after all this time, I'd like for you to meet them too!
Jason Miller: He's always full of ideas and I like that even though he knows the developers will probably roll their eyes at some of them, he still shares. The day of the big MFF launch, he worked a 12 hour day, lost his wallet, had a family member get in a car crash, and son get a black eye at school. (And I thought my day was stressful!)
Shawn Bendinelli: Shawn is creative and helpful and willing to tell me if he disagrees with something. That's important! And I love that he and his wife are entrepreneurs too. You can find his Evoke Apparel Company, a business on a social mission, here.
Alex Cross: I think I make Alex wrinkle his brows in question, A LOT. Alex has been key in building the MFF site and making it function like a dream. Unfortunately, I don't speak techie but he's learning to speak Farm Chick. He's one smart cookie.
Anthony Beran: None of the guys know this, but I secretly refer to Anthony as Wilson. Remember Home Improvement? All I saw of Anthony's face for several months was the top part of his head over the computer monitor. And sometimes his eyes. This guy is FOCUSED.
Tyreil Poosri: I've worked with a lot of designers in my day and I know a gem when I see one. That's right Tyreil, I'm calling you a gem.
Stephanie May: Although Stephanie works out of the Boise, Idaho office, she was involved a lot in the early brainstorming stages of the project. Her insight was wonderful as she's a seasoned weekend junker and antiques enthusiast. Much of the mapping feature on the site is thanks to her insight.
Carlos Rivera: I enjoyed working with Carlos and seeing his ideas for the overall look of the site, some of which were integrated in.
I've talked about this before, but will say again, you only have so much time in this life, it's important to spend it with good people. These are my people and I'm so blessed to have them helping me bring my dreams to life. And while you're clicking, sharing, and discovering on My Favorite Find, now you'll know who's working behind the scenes to maintain and improve the site to make it better for you.
P.S. A big part of bringing My Favorite Find to life was another group I assembled to test things out, and give good honest feedback. The site wouldn't be the same without them. They're my Focus Group and I'll introduce them to you soon.
