StayAwake Design is Officially Open for Business

A few days ago StayAwake Design (www.stayawakedesign.com), the web design company I am the Business Director of, began operations. This occurred after months of planning and years of dreaming. Thedesign firm was a dream of my good friend Justin Coleman (his site is www.justincoleman.com) and he asked me to join him early on in the process to run the business side of things. I gladly accepted this challenge but I can not say I wasn’t a little skeptical. I mean, I didn’t really care about the internet and design especially didn’t matter to me.

However, in just a few short months, I find myself engulfed in design, starting to speak in a new language (i.e. “the HTML is the easy part once the CSS is ready”), and even learning that design, not content, is what makes my favorite sites so enjoyable. I find myself groaning when I see bad design practices, studying well made site, and spending free time learning more about html and css rather than mindlessly watching TV.

I am finally getting used to my new role in this company and I am not going to lie, it is pretty exciting. We had our first conversation with a client today, and while it was a little nerve racking, it was nice to do something I am a little better at: communicating with people. It was a nice change of pace from sitting in front of my computer screen typing away. But the best part about it was how impressed the client was with our previous work, how excited they were about working with us, and just the all around great feeling you get when you know both parties leave a conversation with a positive attitude. I know all meetings won’t be like this, but it was nice to have a pleasant first one.

I am not going to lie, StayAwake Design has a long road ahead of it. The Austin market is really saturated with design companies and I feel I will be doing a lot of driving out of town in order to meet with clients. It could be a pretty tough road. But at least it seems like it will be an enjoyable one. I have a good friend to work with, a new passion to master, and a new opportunity to focus on. Overall, a pretty nice start for a kid from West Texas.