• Our mission is helping others grow. For clients, I want to provide second chances or new opportunities to get to that next level. For partner freelancers and agencies, I can be a launch pad for bigger or better things. For everyone else, I want to be a resource and maybe (hopefully) and example of a different kind of agency.
• We like being small. I believe there are big advantages to staying small. We move quicker, adapt faster, and every client relationship is personal. Most important, I can keep Craft+Story focused on the kind of projects and clients that will get the best results without a lot of overhead to pay for.
• We specialize in helping small teams. I don’t know much about large corporations with infinite resources, but I know alot about running important sites with a handful of people. Our goal is always to help clients be more effective with what they have instead of forcing unnatural growth.
• We don’t specialize in tools. I’ve built websites in a dozen systems and languages. I’ve built mobile apps using Apple’s toolkit and the newest cross-platform frameworks. What’s always been consistent is a passion for problem-solving and a core understanding of best practices.

• We want to be effective, not efficient. We are not a factory, and we don’t churn out templates. We work with a small number of clients each year, and we dedicate ourselves to finding the best unique solutions.
• We make tailored solutions. We don’t re-sell templates to our clients. I specialize in custom development to meet their goals, whether that means modifying existing solutions, building plugins, or creating apps from the ground up.
• We build systems, not just sites. A good website will look great on launch day, but the systems (style guides, custom modules, project management, etc.) are what makes it sustainable. I make sure to deliver both.
• We don’t compete on price. There are no shortcuts to the right solution, and cheaper is normally not better. I choose to spend my time with clients who care more about long-term results than short-term savings.
• We build things to live beyond our involvement. Everything we do is made to run and grow long after we’re gone. We make understandable systems for our clients because we don’t expect them to need us after we’re done.

After attending the United States Air Force Academy, I worked in-house for ministries and small agencies for over a decade before creating Craft+Story as an independent studio to build websites and apps that could be managed by the small, internal teams I used to lead (or just one person). Now, I use my experience as a creative director and full-stack developer to help in-house and agency teams grow to a new level.

Right now, Craft+Story is me and a close cadre of specialists that I bring in for different projects. I never outsource parts of our projects to hidden contractors like some agencies, but instead pull together a team of experts specific to each project. Craft+Story may grow to hire more in the future, but I really believe in staying as small as possible to serve clients best.

Through Craft+Story, I build tailored solutions for your small team. Like many agencies, we’ll work with you, ask a lot of questions, and deliver a finished product. Unlike a lot of agencies, though, we’re going to spend more of our time working with you to build systems (content strategies, project management, and more), tailoring the CMS (content management system) for your needs with custom content elements and backend systems, and then showing you how to run it. With your new systems in place, you can run everything yourself, keep me on retainer, or bring in your own experts; and you’ll never have to worry about paying a studio to update your content or manage your site.

If you want to know more about me, you can check out my personal blog or the book I wrote about customizing one of my favorite CMS solutions called TYPO3 Templates.

If you have a small team (or just yourself), and you are looking to reach the next level with your website or app, get in touch!