Readme
ππ» Hey, I am Shelby!
This might be the first time seeing someone create a readme about themselves, but you are likely not alone! When I was introduced to it for the first time, I was curious and puzzled about the idea. I thought I was not a piece of software on GitHub that needed a manual, but I can attest that it is helpful and something I will continue to update and improve.
What is this?
- Itβs a quick way for you to get to know me.
- I hope to answer some questions that you may have that led you to this page.
- Set expectations about what you can expect from me and what I expect from you.
- What is the best way to communicate with me?
So, who am I anyway?
My name is Shelby DeNike, and as you might think initially, my name is not pronounced like Nike, the shoe company, but more so like SHEL-bee de-NYK. I currently reside in Okemos, Michigan, the same city where I was born and raised. I did move around for 11 years and had the opportunity to live in Los Angeles, California π, Las Vegas, Nevada ποΈ, and Boulder/Denver, Colorado ποΈ, before returning home.
I live with my wife Nicole, who I have known since 6th grade (And was the reason I moved back to my hometown from Denver, Colorado ποΈ), and our two sons, Ryan (13 yrs), Cole (10 yrs), and our mini Bernedoodle Winnie.
When not working as an IT Systems Administrator, I enjoy trying new recipes; I sometimes tend to go too far. Ask me about my quest for a great deli pickle and how I started producing pickles for myself, eventually for resale on a larger scale (Though I never ended up getting past providing countless jars directly to friends and family).
Want to know more?
How did I become an IT Systems Administrator? My background with technology has been all over the place, from support, administration, sales, and customer service, and I did not jump into the Systems Administration role right away. After graduating High School I started working for Casio Computers in their handheld division. I advanced to being one of only two Level Two Support Agents in North America.
After I had experienced all that there was with Casio and honed in on my support skills; I moved to an ISP (Dial-up; For those that don't know, that's the ones that kind where you connect over a slow phone line.) where I continued to hone my skills and develop many more, including using WordPress.
I then had the opportunity to move to an up-and-coming hosting company, Liquid Web, which had only a handful of employees at the time. I was one of the dozen or so early staff members to be hired, and Liquid Web has since grown to over 500 employees to date. I moved to California and started working at InMotion Hosting as their only System Administrator, where I helped build out the internal processes for the Jr. System Administrators while maintaining and growing our data center footprint. I started at Laughing Squid as a System Administrator in 2010, my first taste of an entirely distributed workforce.
After that, I took a role with Pressed (Created by the previous owner of Site5). Pressed was later acquired by Envato. During my time at Pressed, I met Tom Sepper. Tom eventually reached out to me with the idea of joining Kinsta and starting up a new sales team, it was a new and challenging adventure and it was one of the best things I could have done at the time.
Wait, what about WordPress?
I have extensive knowledge about WordPress since using it in 2004 after switching from Moveable Type (I think I should eventually write a blog post about this life-changing event). I have fallen in love with the WordPress ecosystem. However, in recent years, I have taken a step back and explored various other Content Management Systems, including Ghost, which the site is now currently hosted on. While using WordPress I had created a handful of plugins and a couple of themes, and even ended up selling one of my plugins!
While a lot of my time was certainly spent in the hosting world, it was very much startup-oriented where things needed to get done, so you learned to do them as there was no other department to handle the request, so I am very much a hands-on geek that likes to get things working with the bare minimum resources; as well as minimal costs involved.
Expectations for both you and I
Regarding expectations, I think we are all adults, and we know what we need to do and how we do it daily. I try my hardest to remove any unneeded stress or burden from your workday, and I expect the same.
I am here to listen and hope that when needed, you can also be a second pair of eyes and ears on an issue I might encounter. I always try to have my door open as well!
If you are not sure, ask! Humans are constantly learning, and neither you nor I am excluded from this. No one knows all the answers.
Communication is vital when being distributed, whether you are a first timer or a veteran. We are not in an office with a break room where we can chat, let one another know about any issues, when we may be gone, etc., so we have to utilize Slack to its fullest by making use of away mode, status messages, and with as much communication as possible.
Also, do not be afraid to be yourself! I am the first to talk and likely keep talking while adding images from Giphy or emojis to most conversations. I want you to wake up wanting to get to work to say hi and hear my random jokes, rants, or findings and I like the same of you!
Communication Methods
I try to be as available on Teams during the day, even at home when I am near my work phone. Otherwise, I am almost always available via iMessage or Discord, no matter the day or time.
While on Teams, I always try to keep my status updated so you know if I am present or busy, running to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee or even searching for local Mexican food for lunch.
Outside of Teams, I am always available for a call and will do my best to answer when I am not in the middle of something that requires my attention. I'm not going to lie; I am not a phone person, and find talking on the phone a distraction from work most times as, sadly, I can't multitask with someone in my ear. But if a call is needed, please message me first to ensure I am available, and we can hop on a quick call π.
Final thoughts β¦
I hope this gives you some insight into who I am, how I got to where I am today, and how I work. I look forward to the days, months, and years of working together! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any technical questions you may have because if I donβt know it, I would love to dig in and figure it out together!