I’m sad to say that as of February 14th, I will no longer be working onsite at Church Media Group. I’ll be joining Fort Worth-based music startup The Music Bed as Lead UI Developer. I’ll be working on some exciting upcoming projects. It will be a bittersweet transition, but I think it will bring some new opportunities to grow as a person, and in my craft.
I’ve been a part of some hard, exciting, and stretching experiences. Fighting a slew of MMA matches in a cage. Leaving my hometown to help plant a church in a different state, with no job or clients, and no home to go back to. Moving again to a state I’ve only been to a few times for a few days to take a Senior Designer position. And now, leaving the comfort and familiarity of great friends and steady work to take a position at a startup. Why do I continue to do things like this?
Stay around me long enough and you’ll realize that I’m never satisfied. I’m always looking for the next challenge. I never accepting the status quo. I’m always trying to push myself further. My CMG crew are all too familiar with me trying to convince them to use Sublime Text, LiveReload, Grunt.js, Gulp.js, Sass, Amaretto, Vagrant, Laravel, or any of the other exciting technologies I’ve been playing with. I’m energized by learning new things and this transition brings the opportunity to do that. I want to love my wife well, and do the best work I can.
What can I say about my friends at Church Media? From my early days doing Photoshop comps for Ismael Burciaga, to meeting my good friend, CEO and mentor Yuri Star, to working alongside some great designers, developers, support staff, and project managers, I can say that I’m blessed to know these people and to have worked with them. There’s plenty to miss about each one of them.
I’m gonna miss petting Solomon in the mornings. I’m going to miss 7-11 runs for Big Gulp Dr. Peppers. Endless Double Dave’s pizza. I’m going to miss 3:00 Coffee Time. All the endless GIFs. I’m going to miss writing nonsense on our whiteboards and I guess I’ll never know who Jurgen Beck is. But most of all, I’ll miss working with these people every day. They’re a talented group and I consider them family. I love you guys. Let’s not be strangers.
I’m feeling a range of different emotions right now. I’m nervous and excited about the change up ahead. But I feel at peace about the transition because everyone has been so gracious, supportive and loving.