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The WebWell Podcast, Episode 9 - Introduction to Christi
39 Plays1 year ago
We're excited to introduce you to Christi McKinley. Not only is she the Controller at Cascade but she easily tosses on over a dozen other hats too. In this episode, we get to know a little more about Christy, her background, and her role within the company. We will talk more about transitioning into a full-time position at Cascade while successfully juggling being a mom, wife, and runner.
So plug in your headphones, go for a jog, or sit back and enjoy.
Please share your stories about balancing work and life. We'd love to hear your comments as well. Email - [email protected] We look forward to hearing from you!
Cheers!
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Transcript
Introduction to Web Well Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the Web Well podcast brought to you by Cascade Web Development. I'm one of your hosts, Simon, along with Ben. And we can't wait to dive into all things internet, tech, web development, and web design.
00:00:20
Speaker
We'll also be discussing how we balance work and life and exploring the fascinating world of internet innovation. So whether you're a tech enthusiast or just looking for some entertainment, join us on this exciting journey as we explore the ever-changing landscape of the web. Thanks for tuning in and let's get started.
Meet Christy McKinley: Life and Career
00:00:39
Speaker
All right, everyone, welcome to the Web Well podcast, episode nine. I am excited for today's episode in just a glimpse into behind the scenes with Cascade, the heart and soul, if you will, of Cascade. But I'm going to hand it off to Ben to introduce today's special guest, Ben.
00:01:02
Speaker
Thank you, Simon. Yes, episode number nine, it is my distinguished honor to invite Christy McKinley. Many thanks to me. She is not only a controller of Cascade Web Development, we're celebrating 23 years of being married later this week, mother of two amazing daughters and constantly on the go. Whether that's pursuing her own interests with running, nutrition,
00:01:25
Speaker
she's just incredible. I feel guilty most of the time because I find myself wanting to sit down and watch TV or relax and she's a million things to do all the time. So without further ado, Christy McKinley, welcome to the podcast. Hello. Thank you. That's quite the description there. I'm a busy bunny.
00:01:44
Speaker
That's a lot to live up to, yeah, for sure. But that is Mondays at the Cascade, I wasn't going to say the Cascade House, the McKinley House. Mondays, the morning meeting, what did the McKinleys do this weekend, right? And if it's not hiking or skiing, it's running, right? Yes, that's right. Literally, literally and figuratively. Yeah.
00:02:07
Speaker
Well, welcome. Welcome, Christy, to this episode. It's really, it's really all about you. As it should be. So, but yeah, if we can kick it off, tell us a little about yourself.
Christy's Journey: From Oregon to Cascade
00:02:22
Speaker
You know, both both career is as well as you know, where you're from and how you met this handsome fellow next to you and, and we'll go from there.
00:02:31
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, let's see. I've been in Oregon my whole life. I was born in Eugene and my dad, he worked for State Farm Insurance. He was a lifer there and he was up and down Oregon, basically. So we went from Eugene to Roseburg and then ultimately ended up in Jacksonville, which is right outside of Metford when I was 10.
00:02:54
Speaker
So elementary school, I wrapped up in Jacksonville and then went on to South Midford High School for high school. And that's where I met Ben. We met I think the summer before our freshman year of high school. Yep. Our friends both had cabins up at Lake of the Woods just outside of town. And so I think I was actually 13 when we met. Ben was 14.
00:03:18
Speaker
Yeah. And so anyway, that's kind of, that's how we met. And so we had same friend groups, same graduating class, you know, Lottie dot that went off. And I just, I always wanted to be a teacher. So I've always loved kids, spent a lot of time babysitting. And actually I tutored kids even when I was in middle school.
00:03:38
Speaker
And so I got my degree in early childhood education and then after college took a year, a little over a year off. I was a nanny for a family up in Lake Oswego and then went back and got my master's at University of Portland in education. So I have my master's in early childhood development in education. Then I taught. I was a teacher out in Canby. I worked with great people.
00:04:08
Speaker
great kids. I loved all that, but the politics were a bit much and it was also just, just lots, hard. You only can do so much. I wanted to, I think the best way to describe it is I wanted to save the children more than help the children. So it was like, oh, I want to bring them all home.
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, she found herself driving the car full of kids through rough neighborhoods, dropping them off after school and getting cat calls and rough neighborhoods. Heart was in the right spot, but it wore on her and she found herself exposing herself to some unnecessary risk.
00:04:47
Speaker
And Ben started in this industry in, was it 2000 or 99? Well, 98. 98. Yeah, right out of college.
Balancing Roles: Family and Work at Cascade
00:04:55
Speaker
And so I taught from 2000 to 2005. And so, you know, I brought home the big bucks to support this, this, this dream. Enterprise. This enterprise, right. And basically what happened is,
00:05:12
Speaker
my fifth year, completing my fifth year of teaching, Ben, the business is doing well. We were doing well, making money. He was looking to hire people. He needed someone to help with administrative tasks. And I am known for being organized. I'm known for getting shit done, for lack of better terms. And so he said, you know, well, maybe you should work with me.
00:05:39
Speaker
And, uh, it would, it would have cost him more probably to hire someone, um, than I was making as a teacher. So anyway, needless to say, I, uh, decided to go that route and, um, came on with Cascane. It was at Oh five or six. Oh five and Oh five. Uh, so June of Oh five.
00:05:58
Speaker
And if I might jump in, she absolutely was the foundation for launching Cascade and we were doing quite well as compared to the $13,000 that we made in the first eight months of our existence in 98, but not doing great.
00:06:13
Speaker
Um, by, by, you know, modern standards. Uh, but yeah, no, in, in leading up to her deciding to come on board, essentially every, every Christmas break and spring break and summer break, she'd come in and like put the pieces back together. Cause administratively I would let things, you know, get a little bit loose. Uh, so she had, she knew the business. She was familiar with it. We were reliant upon her. And as I joke about even to this day, like.
00:06:38
Speaker
you're not replaceable because you'd be peppering me with all the questions that I would be paying someone else to do the job. So then I'm essentially talking to two people about that. So no, but it's been a pretty fantastic partnership for going on. Well, just over 18 years now. Yeah. Yeah. And at that point, how many employees did Cascade have? Jeez. Fritz knows something. Fritz had just started in May of 2005. I think there were four of us total, right?
00:07:08
Speaker
Five. Five. Okay. Yeah, five. Cool. Yeah. Paul, Steph and Ben, Christy Fritz. Yep. Five. And interns. We were, we were intern heavy in those days. And we had contractors. So yeah, we kind of filled in the pieces that way too. Um, but yeah, so I guess I did, I was always involved well. And then.
00:07:27
Speaker
right when we, when I came on full time with a cascade, we found out I was pregnant. So then, which is great because, you know, get to kind of do the work mom thing, balance that out, you know, which was good. So I've been able to not miss anything with the kids. I've, you know, it's not without a struggle, but I'm able to get the job done.
00:07:53
Speaker
take care of our kids and all of that. So that's kind of how I ended up here. Yeah, that's it. Well, I don't want to skip ahead to talking about the balance like you were about to allude to about kids and balancing. Yeah.
00:08:13
Speaker
But roles wise, you know, officially controller, what other hats have you worn with Cascade and just supporting Ben along the way? And I do want to add this because for any listener that's listening, there's no such thing as like owner and then spouse. It's their owners, right? Like you guys are sitting at dinner and talking about running a business, right? Like it's not Ben and then Christie here, it's you guys together.
00:08:42
Speaker
If you could talk just a little about kind of the roles that you've had to play in. And I'll say it supporting Ben, but also supporting Cascade, right? In your role. What does that look like? Well, I do. We're a small business, as you know. So I wear lots of hats, whether it's janitor, you know, grocery shop or all that. I do.
00:09:07
Speaker
I do the HR piece, which includes, you know, setting up for 401Ks, health insurance. I shop that market. And, oh man, I don't know. I mean, I don't want to sound like I do a lot, but I don't know what I don't do. Oh, well, I mean, I don't sell. I don't sell. But other than that, I, you know, I do all the collections. I communicate with all clients. You should do all the invoices.
00:09:35
Speaker
I have all the invoices. I keep track of all that. I do all the banking. One of the nice, one of the things that, you know, people ask me like, oh gosh, isn't that hard to work with your spouse? And so, you know, the best with my personality, the way it is, it's very nice because I always know exactly what is going on. I know exactly how much money we have, always.
00:09:58
Speaker
to the dollar. And when I say we, I mean, you know, the business, personal, everything. I know it's in every single account. I don't have to ask a question there. I do ask, how was your day? Because Ben, this little area we're in here, this is where Ben generally works. And I'm mainly in the main house. We work from home.
00:10:19
Speaker
So, I do ask how the day went at the end of the day and it's nice because he doesn't have to explain a lot because I generally know personalities of clients and relationships there. A couple of grunts, she gets the point. Yeah. Sometimes he just needs to say the name of a client and I know how it went. Anyway, I don't know where the job starts and stops, Simon. I don't know. That's a hard question.
00:10:48
Speaker
And, and for all the listeners too, like truth be told, uh, we, Ben and I talked about having this topic yesterday. So we, uh, it was a late call. We're like, you know what, this is, this would be a killer topic. I don't know how long this will go. It could go 30 minutes or our normal, like 50 minutes. Right. Um,
00:11:06
Speaker
But that specific topic right there where you said, I don't know where it starts and finishes or stops within a day is probably like Ben and I just spitball like, Oh my goodness that that is worthwhile. So any listener that's out there that's talking about like working with their partner.
00:11:23
Speaker
living with their partner. And this other key dynamic is for a lot of years, you guys had the railroad car, you had an office, a separate location to call work the office, right? Which would probably, I imagine, and I brought it up to Ben and I'd love to hear your side of this, but like would help at least allow you to separate work and home life, right?
00:11:46
Speaker
Yes, the conversation comes home, but physical space is different. In your scenario, in my scenario, this is my home office.
00:11:55
Speaker
out these two doors is my entry and then kitchen. Like, there's not much separating my home life and work life. You two, like the idea of like, well, you brought it home. No, you just like walked from one room to the other and you brought it home. How talk about that with then, you know, in in his role operation, really steering the ship and you, you know, alongside of that seeing
00:12:22
Speaker
all of it,
Remote Work and Lifestyle Perks
00:12:23
Speaker
right? Transparency-wise, like you just said, money and everything. How can you manage that? How is that managed for you? Oh, man, not well. I mean, I won't lie. I'm a horrible liar, so I'm just going to say not well. I mean, I try. I try. And I think as we get older, I try to carve my back.
00:12:50
Speaker
compartmentalize things and compartmentalize. Yes. And so it's like, okay, I'm not gonna talk about this anymore. It's after six o'clock, or you know, what have you wait till I'm brushing my teeth. Yes, 10 to get heart rate spike before I go to bed. That's right. I do that. I do that. I own it.
00:13:09
Speaker
It's just like, or even laying in bed, be like, Oh, hey, crap. We had that meeting tomorrow morning at eight. Are we going together? Are we what? You know, and it's, and then, you know, yeah. Yeah. So anyway, it's the separation piece is definitely not, um, great. Um, but I, it was when, when we had the train cars, it was better and especially for Ben. Um, and when the kids were little, it was basically,
00:13:38
Speaker
100% necessary because otherwise, you know, they're running around, they're loud. We didn't have this little space. We didn't come up with this until during COVID because, you know, with the offices shutting down and everything, then after having had that space was like, I need to have a space. So this has been good for him. But yeah, I just,
00:14:03
Speaker
I try to I I'm old school I keep am a paper planner.
00:14:08
Speaker
What? And so what I do in here and yeah, I know it's like, isn't it cool? It's like from the museum. And I literally will write in there like one to three. Yeah, I swear I write down like one to three, you know, in my office because I have a room in the house. And so one to three, I'll stay in my office, whether I'm filing papers, recycling papers, looking through folders. I mean, that's kind of how I block my time.
00:14:36
Speaker
And then I'll also do just blocks of time, like 10 to 12, where it's like, okay, home stuff. And that means, you know, laundry, kids, groceries. And that's all written in my paper calendar. So that means it happens. And then I get to put a check mark next to it after I do it.
00:14:52
Speaker
Yeah. And what I would say is that, you know, obviously it's not, it's not super easy at times, but there's a few things cooler than, you know, when we, because we've toiled through so much, like, are we going to make payroll? Is this client going to pay, you know, just like just baseline operational goals to be at a point now where we've established some, some cushion, some protection that, that.
00:15:19
Speaker
protects our sanity and our relationship, but to have done that together and not have it be her boss or my boss that are saying, this is what you need to do. But us saying, hey, we're going to sign up for these risks. We're going to pursue them. We're going to avoid these risks and all the potential upside that can come with those, but to recognize we did this together.
00:15:39
Speaker
along with the help of so many others, obviously, but to to you know, our reality is something we had so much more control over like that, the depth and quality of that partnership on top of everything else is something that I absolutely love. But they're certainly like living it every day that can be tough.
00:15:57
Speaker
you know, and compartmentalizing and creating those boundaries. So it's like, you know, we're gonna spend a couple days on the coast to celebrate our anniversary. And it's like, how do we just like, wall off certain topics and say, not not here, let's just get back to the fun, you know, the fun days when we didn't have all that stuff. And, you know, it takes intention, but it's a pretty special connection that we share.
00:16:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think with remote life as a whole, I think a lot of people say, okay, you know, it's not for everyone, right? And you as an employer, you know, it's not for everyone. There's some people that aren't built for it. Likewise, co-owning a business together.
00:16:33
Speaker
and in a remote scenario, so you're doing it all from home. I imagine is not for everyone, but I imagine that you guys, I just, this sounds really weird, you guys, I just picture you guys at dinner like this week, happy anniversary, by the way. You guys are sitting down to dinner. And it's going to come up, work to some aspect, some level will come up. But I feel like because you've been at it for so long that that conversation is able to be pretty efficient, you know, like pretty short, it's this or Ben said a grunt.
00:17:02
Speaker
like okay I got it right and then you can move on. I don't know there's something terribly appealing to that lifestyle to me for you guys like not having to like then when was last time you had a tie on. Like maybe a wedding.
00:17:24
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much. I think it was a wedding. Right? So I mean, but there's like you said, there's there's no boss over one of you. It's it's you two. I don't know. I, I feel like that is for a lot of people, that is the dream that would be a dream. And a lot of people couldn't see it, you know. So that's, that's pretty cool. Our kids even say that.
00:17:48
Speaker
Say what do they say? They will say that too. They're like, you guys have it good. Our oldest daughter who's 17 said that to us. I'm like, what do you mean? And she's like, well, you get to make your own schedule. You get to work when you want, not work when you don't want to. I mean, they're seeing it, which is great. It's great. So I don't know how an eight to five job would ever fit into their lifestyle.
00:18:18
Speaker
You definitely spoiled them. You definitely spoiled them. But the key aspect to that is, hey, if you guys want to make more, you want to become more profitable or bring in more revenue, you just work more. Just that basic concept, I feel like I wish I could implant into my 11-year-old a little more like, oh, you want that thing. Yeah, let's work a little harder then. I'd love to reward you.
00:18:46
Speaker
It just means work, right? So that's interesting because I know that generations above us, you know, my parents, your parents, that that idea would be so foreign,
Pursuing Passions: Industries and Hobbies
00:18:57
Speaker
you know? And I mentioned this to Ben last week. Oh, yeah. My parents are living with me right now while they shop for a house as they retired. I was outside and I did our Monday morning call.
00:19:09
Speaker
And when I came in, my dad was like, you serious? That's like, that's work for you. That's what you call work. And I was like, yeah, it's pretty rough. You know, like that, that I can be in shorts and sit out in the patio and enjoy some morning sun and a coffee and do work and just like, yes, that's what we can do. You know?
00:19:32
Speaker
Yeah, and I've got two thoughts on that. One, I've certainly experienced that from Christie, where I would go to, when I used to go to some more industry trade shows, like the outdoor industry trade shows, and they're fun.
00:19:43
Speaker
You know, it's work, but it's fun. You know, you're demoing bikes and skis and you're hanging out with fun people and, you know, God forbid you're having some beverages and staying out late and, you know, sometimes kind of get these looks like, what are we doing here? Are we accomplishing anything? Like, what are the metrics of success? You know, and so on the one hand, it's been amazing to be able to pursue the industries that we as an organization really care about.
00:20:06
Speaker
And the other thing is just the beauty of software. This industry is generationally unique. And I'm humbled by the fact that I sort of stumbled into this and have found such an amazing group of folks on the development and creative side, because I don't have these skills. But our ability to create significant value for our clients and replicate it and build upon that over time and the loyalty of the team, those aren't necessarily things that if I had started
00:20:33
Speaker
you know, a lawn, you know, or maintenance company for for people's yards or or painting business that that you could have, you know, achieve those things historically, like you said, with our parents and grandparents generation. So really lucky on timing and and certainly, you know, such an incredible team that will afford us some of the flexibility that we've been able to enjoy. Yeah. And I think given the industry, it's easier to be a remote business as well. So that makes it even
00:21:04
Speaker
and the town, right? Like it's where it's celebrated to be a lifestyle business, working in industries you care about, doing things you care about, trying to have an impact, but also being out there and doing the thing. You know, I think there are a lot of places, including when we did the funded startup brand live.
00:21:22
Speaker
which we hatched from Cascade and incubated here in, what, 2008 to 2013. I remember talking to one of our funders, and I was telling him about my ski coaching, and he's like, Yeah, you got to get rid of that. You got to just quit doing that and work harder. Yeah. And I was looking at him going, Whoa!
00:21:40
Speaker
You're not my people, but that's, you know, he was, he and other people like him were investing huge chunks of money and they're like, no, I need every second of passion and time and energy you have. And that doesn't resonate with me. So we, you know, I didn't go down as far that path as I could have, but yeah, lucky to live where we do where there is, you know, appreciation for that. And I think increasingly in general, just people with passion, with purpose, you know, trying to create something
00:22:09
Speaker
outside of work and support others. That's appreciated more than, again, generationally it would have been. Yeah. Well, let's talk about that balance of outside of work. Christy, we talked about you running. You want to talk a little more about those hobbies? Yeah. I don't know if hobby just downplays that, but your other outside of work passions. Either obsessions. There you go.
00:22:34
Speaker
I, yeah, obsessions. Well, I've, I've, I started running quite a bit. Well, I ran quite a bit in my twenties, but more so after I even had kids, because it's just easy. You go out your front door and you can run, right? Um, yes, he did get me a treadmill for Valentine's day after.
00:22:54
Speaker
one of the babies. I know people are like, whoa, what a jerk. I'm like, nope, that's what I wanted. Um, cause I would run, I would run on the treadmill. All the kids were in their little bouncers. So, um, yeah. Yeah. I just, I do. I, I, I, my, then I have a neighbor across the street. She says, Christie, you have so much energy. Like I do. And I think that.
00:23:15
Speaker
Um, why I'm always got my hands in lots of pots. I've always, I've always had more than one kind of job ish type thing going on, whether I was working with brand live. Um, I was there pseudo controller for a number of years while that was getting, um, off the ground. And then obviously with cascade I've been here. And then I, for a number of years, I still was tutoring kids on the side while working for cascade and had our own children. Um, her team mom.
00:23:43
Speaker
Yeah, ran HOA's. I've just done a lot of different things. But I think as far as extracurricular activities, we as a family, we ski a ton. So we spend a lot of time on the mountain. And I mean, we're up there a lot. And so then coaches. So obviously, we're up there for that. And the kids are on teams. And I ski and I uphill ski and downhill ski.
00:24:13
Speaker
And I run, I did like a lot of races for a long time. And I've realized that those, you know, marathons and I, um, longer relay races were kind of what I was into, um, part of my body. So I'm trying to find a little bit more balance, you know, with lifting weights, running a little less, but I still am pounding the pavement several days a week, which brings me joy.
00:24:41
Speaker
Good, so side hustles, what else do you have going on? We recently built a website for you, so we're cool about that.
Christy's New Venture: Health Insurance
00:24:51
Speaker
Yes, yes.
00:24:52
Speaker
Yes, you guys built me a lovely website. Yeah, so I am, again, the kids are getting older. We have two girls that are 17 and 13. And once our older ones started driving, it's like, whoa, I have a lot more time. This is crazy. And I've worked with a gentleman for a number of years on our health insurance for our company. And he has been encouraging me to get my
00:25:19
Speaker
insurance license, health insurance license for like, gosh, five to seven years. He's been like, Christi, you need to do this. You always are asking the right questions and you'd be great at it. So in January I did. I got my license. And so now I, um,
00:25:35
Speaker
I'm an insurance broker for health insurance, and I just took my AHIP test, which is the big test you take annually so that you're able to do this job. But I'm focusing in on Medicare.
00:25:52
Speaker
helping seniors find the right health insurance plans. That seems to be a very growing industry. I think Jim, the gentleman I'm working with, he told me when he first started, I think there were only I think like five to seven different options for like Medicare Advantage, supplement, whatever. Yeah. And now it's I think we're close to 80 options.
00:26:16
Speaker
So it's bizarre, and that's nationwide. I mean, you know, everything's different by your zip code state, whatever, but I still have to learn about all of them. So it's an interesting industry. I know it sounds kind of dorky, but I've always been really passionate about finding healthcare solutions and benefit plans for our employees and our family to serve our needs. And, you know, whether it's alternative care or, you know, your general,
00:26:46
Speaker
going to the doctor type of plan. There's solutions out there. And I think a lot of people get so frustrated. Oh, this is so expensive and so dumb. And a lot of it is. But I think that there are ways around that. And I think it's going in a positive direction, the options that are available for seniors. So that's what I'm focused in on for now.
00:27:12
Speaker
open enrollments, not until October. And so I'm still just learning lots of reading. I have my little actually was going around my little book and getting started with Medicare. So I, like I said, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to that stuff. So anyway, yeah, that's my new little side hustle. So we'll see that where that takes us.
00:27:33
Speaker
Well, that's fun that, uh, it's fun to listen to them. I can say that. Okay. So I'll, I'll, uh, step on, on poor Simon's toe series, but, and it's really fun to see. Cause I, as much as I try and ensure everyone on the team feels appreciated and valued for their role within cascade. Um, you know, it's not surprising that after all that she has done to just kind of prop up and support this business and be that glue that on some level, it's like, well, she's not the one out in front leading it and charging after it. And so to find this passion, this thing that she's.
00:28:03
Speaker
excited about and pursue, you know, some purpose beyond what she's done. I think it'll be a great outlet for that boundless energy and excited to see where it leads for.
00:28:13
Speaker
And I think the other thing that's fantastic is that, you know, as an entrepreneur, I've seen plenty of friends whose spouse tries to take that step from either not working or working for someone else to being a small business owner. And it's just fantastic that I don't have the pressure or that I don't feel really even compelled to try and jump in and be like,
00:28:34
Speaker
Oh, let me mansplain that for you. I'm going to break that down. Let me tell you how it's going to be because she has this amazing champion that that encouraged her down this path. So it really feels like it's her thing. And when I'm invited in, it's great. But otherwise, I don't feel compelled or pressured to try and figure a bunch of this stuff out. I just get to sit back and be a cheerleader and encourage it. So it's it's been a really cool opportunity for me as well. Yeah.
00:28:59
Speaker
Yeah, I was gonna say it's almost a role reversal to early career, right? Where it's you now can support her in something that you don't know about and just be like all ears and listen. A lot of listeners don't realize this too that Christy and I have this in common way before my software career when I went back to school and got my design degree. I actually was an insurance broker as well. So when Christy brought this up,
00:29:26
Speaker
we were speaking the same language. And it was really fun as I was like, oh yeah, so open a moment. So I was very familiar because I had my insurance license as well. I had to pass that same test, sit in that room and put in that time. I mean, I spent hours studying too because I didn't want to fail it. Cost me money.
00:29:48
Speaker
It does cost you many and so much time. It's like what? The two hour time. The good news is now it's, you can take it online. It's proctored. Um, so they're watching you, but you don't have to leave your house. I mean, again, I don't have to leave my house. This is great. That's awesome.
Christy's Impact: Cascade and Beyond
00:30:07
Speaker
Well, I think, for one, Cascade is better for it, for having you, Christy. I think Ben and I both agree in virtually high five when we say that we are better because of our spouses coming in and cleaning up our messes, if you will. But just helping organize our lives, that energy for sure, I think Cascade, Ben, is because of her, that it is the way it is now, you know.
00:30:35
Speaker
I can say that to be true with my life, just being organized and being in the position we're in is not to my credit. I may have been the energy and the voice for some things, but it's not me.
00:30:51
Speaker
Yeah, I know. And that's the thing. You think about the team that we have assembled. And I think one of the biggest reasons we've had the long term stability and success is because we have very different skill sets. There's not very much duplication. A little bit on the development side, because, you know, from a scale perspective, we want more than one person to do the thing. But these other roles like that, I would.
00:31:11
Speaker
I'd be an object failure with the other functions that the other five people on this team, you know, fulfill on this company. And, and so again, that's just the challenge for me is making sure one feels propped up and supported and, and, uh, beloved from that, that critical role they fill. Cause it's, uh, yeah, there's, uh, I get to be the face and I get to, you know, sometimes be the tip of the spear with some wins and client interactions, but.
00:31:33
Speaker
I have to remind clients left and right. The quicker you get me out of the way and work with the real pros, the better off you're going to be. So yeah, grateful for all of that. Yeah. I wouldn't change it. It's good. We're lucky. Fortunate. We're not lucky. We're fortunate. Fortunate. That's a good way to put it.
00:31:52
Speaker
Well, I think that wraps it up.
Conclusion: Working with Spouses
00:31:54
Speaker
I think I'm excited to hear, hopefully we can get some listeners, all you listeners that are out there that get the privilege to work with their spouses. I want to hear some stories. It would be fun to kind of compare those stories on successes, failures, just lessons learned along the way. I think would be a lot of fun because this is a dynamic that, you know, takes Cascade from just a business to a family.
00:32:20
Speaker
uh, an extension said of the McKinley family. Um, it definitely feels that way. And it, it, it's comfortable for those of us that like Ben called me today wants to be a lifer. Yeah, I do. I don't, I don't want to go anywhere else. Uh, we're good with that. So, um, thank you listeners. Uh, thank you, Christie, for joining episode nine web well podcast. If any listeners have questions or comments,
00:32:45
Speaker
please send them to webwell at cascadewebdev.com. We'd love to hear what you have to say. Thank you guys. Thanks to both of you.