The story of B. Woods Design
I am a freelance web designer/developer and run B. Woods Design, a 100% woman-owned b
usiness since 2002.
How I got started:
As a child, I always enjoyed creating things. In the summer my parents would sometimes enroll my sister and me in arts & crafts classes, and one time, we made up little magazines out of paper, markers, glue and cutouts from other magazines, pretending we had glamorous jobs as grown up publishers and editors. Even as a youth, I was aware that I was strong-headed and determined and stood out from my peers as a leader. I was always creative and was good at solving problems (not math–I hated math–still do!)
In school, I developed a strong liking and understanding of computers. I learned computer programming at an early age when our class would work with the Apple II computers. We would program and manipulate Turtle, play Oregon Trail, and solve math and word puzzle games.
As I finsihed high school, I wasn’t interested in attending a 4 year college because the idea scared me, and all throughout school I had things I liked doing, but had no idea what I wanted to be when I was an adult.
After awhile, the idea of working in an office environment intrigued me, but I didn’t want to stay living at home with my parents. So after high school, I attended a technical/trade school where I learned all the skills necessary for doing general office tasks such as filing, transcribing, typing, word processing. I was also able to live on campus, and campus life was very interesting, since there were students there from all walks of life, races, and backgrounds. it was like a micro-urban environment and I had a blast. I also learned to take care of myself while being on my own.
Soon after graduation in 1992, I found my first job as a file clerk at an over 100 year-old fraternal insurance company, whose presidents had all been women. It was an interesting job and I met many wonderful people. After awhile I had been promoted to running the mail room and handling inventory (forms and materials for the office staff as well as agents around the country). It wasn’t long before I began to have making my computer doing most of the work, handling the tasks I did manually before. I had programmed a database which kept track of all the form and supply inventory, and kept counts and versions of forms on hand, but there were still tasks I had to do myself, such as hauling mail carts and lifting boxes. I didn’t mind the physical work, but my time wasn’t being managed well when I had to pick up slack in other areas of the department.
I worked there full time from 1993 to 1998, and after awhile I wanted a job that was more computer-related. So I found another job at a larger insurance & financial services company across the street from where I was in Downtown St. Paul. I was working in the purchasing department for two years, doing data entry and database management, spreadsheets, requisitions, filing and was cross-trained to handle other areas in people’s absences. But I did like using the computer, working with e-mail, databases and forms were interesting and enjoyable for me. I also began to understand computer networks and software. I was asked to take care of the software license validation for my entire department, and in doing so I began to further develop an understanding of computer software and all its intracies. This job also sent me into my first foray into the Internet, since we had a corporate Intranet site which staff used regularly and lead us to external web sites. I found the accessibility of all the information available online interesting. Studying the layout and graphic elements of web pages was also very fascinating to me.
With the money I was making, I was able to afford to buy my own computer to use at home, in 1998. I spent my spare time during evenings and weekends playing around on the computer, which at the time had Windows 95 for an operating system. After I had the computer for a few months, I got on the Internet with an online account and started finding web sites that interested me, and it seemed natural to began learning HTML and graphic design as a hobby. This went on for years, as I researched and read, studied and practiced. After a while, I became good at HTML and had a sense of good graphic design and developed a style of my own based on my tastes and skills.
After working full time at that job for awhile, it was clear that the job began to drain me, and I began to spread myself thin with overtime and stress. Just over two years after I began, I tried in vain to post out of my job into a different position in other departments, but failed. I took advantage of the free training & development classes that were offered to all staff, and took two classes, one on communications and the other was a course on finding your perfect career based on testing of your strengths, weaknesses, interests, and working style. Thanks to the last course, I was able to finally determine that the true work for me involved me being the boss. I always knew I was a leader, but this was a validation of sorts, a firmly-stamped piece of proof that I should be either taking the reins as a leader somewhere, or working entirely for myself, in a career where I could combine my creative skills and problem-solving abilities.
I quit working in the purchasing department and started doing temp work for an agency. It was great because I could spend very little time at a job here, a job there, and try to find something that worked for me and fit my interests and skills. I knew that I wanted to run my own business doing something with either web graphics/design, or publishing, but I had to have a steady income while doing anything to start out on my own. Because each job required no real long-term committment, it was easy for me to have less stress and breeze through work each day knowing I would go home and spend time on my newfound love, creating web sites.
I started taking on small paid projects for non profits and small businesses, and when my services began to be in demand, I quit my full time job and started working full time from my home office.
That was in 2005. I now have a portfolio of many sites I’m proud of, done for satisfied clients and have been looking forward to each one. The process of starting and finishing something for someone and making it exactly what they want, while solving problems and being creative, has been a thorough joy for me.
In recent years, I have been making goals toward growth and incorporation. I realize that on my own with no help from others, I cannot fully do web design, development and hosting and be more successful if I do not expand and grow. I’m very interested in meeting other professionals who are programmers, network communications professionals, marketing and sales experts, and other graphic and web designers. I am wanting to build relationships to help each other succeed, but most of all, I’m wanting to start building a team of professionals in this industry who are interested in being part of something successful and getting in on a ground floor opportunity.
September 12, 2007
