Meet Jeremy

Before Jeremy started working with Talent inTulsa to find a new role, he ran his own independent web design agency. As a lifelong Tulsan, he is excited about the future growth of the tech and startup community in Tulsa.‍

How did you get into software development and web design?‍

When I first got into web design, I just kind of fell into it at a small company I was working for. They had hired me to write for SEO-type articles, but it turned out I was more talented at development. So eventually, anything web-related kind of fell to me. From there, it was a niche I was able to carve out.

Eventually, I started working with other agencies as an independent contractor to bring their projects to life. I've worked a lot in WordPress and built custom plugins and things like that and became the go-to guy for small agencies and companies. I continued to build expertise and relationships, but the most challenging part was feeling isolated in what I was doing. I was learning on the go, using my resources, looking things up on YouTube, and stuff like that to keep learning and keep growing.

At the time, I was running my own independent web design agency, and while I liked the work, I didn’t like the administrative and sales side of things. I also wasn’t working with any other programmers or developers. I knew that I wanted to begin working as a part of a team and began considering new opportunities. That’s when Talent inTulsa reached out to me.‍

What are you doing in your new role as a Product Operations Specialist at ConsumerAffairs?

‍I'm helping with all technical aspects of keeping the Consumer Affairs site running and improving search engine optimization, accessibility, and things like that. So far, things have been really great, and I couldn’t be happier to be in this new role.

The website is basically one big project that we get to work on as a team. There are ongoing needs like SEO, reporting, and support for various processes that help drive leads for our partner companies. It’s nice that someone handles most of the client-side stuff, and somebody handles most of the content writing, so I can focus on reporting to my manager. I work very closely with him on a lot of projects.

Right now, everything's completely remote due to COVID, but soon we hope to be back together as a team. Even with the challenge of working remotely, things have been great - smooth onboarding, seamless incorporation into the workflow, and great communication over Slack and email. We have a stand-up meeting every morning to figure out what everybody's working on and what anybody needs help with. From there, we are able to go off on our own and get our work done. I feel like that kind of trust in the team says a lot about the company culture.

‍What was it like working with Cassie at Talent inTulsa to get connected with your role?

‍Cassie was great. She initially contacted me on LinkedIn and asked if I'd be interested in interviewing for this position. We had a phone call where she told me more about the role and the company and asked me about what I was looking for in my career. I appreciated that she seemed more interested in what was important to me than anything else.

After that, Cassie passed me along to someone at Consumer Affairs for an interview. I think her questions upfront prepared me to have a great interview. It was clear that it would be a good fit from the start, which is a refreshing change from past interview experiences. The whole process moved really quickly, and I ended up in precisely the kind of position I was looking for.‍

What are your favorite things about living in Tulsa?‍

I've always thought of Tulsa as the best of both worlds between a small town and a bigger city. Most people growing up think they want to leave their hometown and go somewhere bigger and better. But somewhere along the way, I discovered that there's a great balance here of having a big enough town that you have places to shop, places to eat, and things to do.

It is also a great place to raise a family. One of our favorite things to do is go to the Zoo. It is a fun place to take the family and spend a Saturday afternoon. It is on the outskirts of town, but because Tulsa has such little traffic, it only takes about 15 minutes to get there. There are also a ton of other parks and green spaces to enjoy.