Steve’s Blog

The Hot Air Podcast Episode 13, With Adam Silver

This entry is part 13 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Adam Silver, one of WordPress’s most prolific podcasters, a serial founder, and owner of the agency ConciergeWP. We talk about how his podcasts drive agency business and why a community-first approach pays off. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 12, With Nicola Fleming

This entry is part 12 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Nicola Fleming, who runs WebCoast, a one-person agency in Australia that manages many Joomla and WordPress clients. Her secret is knowing her target audience very well and building clear processes around it. Plus, a little rugby talk. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 11, With Jamie Schmid

This entry is part 11 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Jamie Schmid, a Portland-based WordPress consultant focused on information architecture and content strategy. She cares deeply about the editing experience and shares detailed opinions on Gutenberg and page builders. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 10, With Keanan Koppenhaver

This entry is part 10 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Keanan Koppenhaver, who runs Alpha Particle, a Chicago agency that builds WordPress publishing sites for brands like Rolling Stone and Variety. We cover how the pandemic changed his sales process, plus his work with Webflow, Airtable and headless/JAMstack projects. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 9, With Ovi Liuta

This entry is part 9 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Ovi Liuta, our first colleague on the show, who joined Watchful when we acquired his XCloner backup plugin. He talks about a decade as a solo developer, the unusual challenges of backup software, and why he decided to partner up. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 8, With Parth Lawate

This entry is part 8 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Parth Lawate, who grew Tekdi from basic web development into a 70-person agency in Pune, India, building national-scale projects such as India’s identity card system. He explains how values, socially useful work, and open source shape the company. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 7, With Mike Herchel

This entry is part 7 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Mike Herchel, a senior front-end developer at Lullabot, a 60-person agency that has been fully distributed for more than a decade. He explains how Lullabot keeps a close-knit culture, pays the bills, and protects work-life balance. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 6, With Deb Cinkus

This entry is part 6 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Deb Cinkus, who has made bold moves: relocating with staff from North Carolina to Guatemala, and pivoting Polished Geek from web development to conversion optimization. She walks through how she handles big changes and the personalization tools she relies on. People in this episode

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The Hot Air Podcast Episode 5, With Sander Potjer and Martijn Boomsma

This entry is part 5 of 21 in the series The Hot Air Podcast

The Hot Air Podcast was a series I recorded with my friend Vic Drover for Watchful.net. In this episode, we talk with Sander Potjer and Martijn Boomsma, who run Perfect Web Team, behind some of Europe’s best-known Joomla sites. They explain why they run everything through GitHub, including client communication, and share lessons on performance optimization. People in this episode

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Eulogy for My Dad

In many ways, my family and I were very fortunate. My Dad first had cancer in 2000. He went on to survive multiple fights with several forms of cancer. He had 20 years of absolutely world-class medical treatment from England’s National Health Service. We had 20 extra years with him, thanks to that treatment, and his own resilience and determination.

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