WPMRR WordPress Podcast

In today's episode, Joe and Christie pick out the top episodes they hosted together for the past two years, why these episodes made it to their favorite list and the stories behind the guests. They also talk about their individual growth in podcasting and the benefits of being a host.

Sadly, this is also Christie's last episode as co-host in the WPMRR podcast. Listen in to learn what will change and what to expect in the coming weeks!

Episode Resources

• Visit Christie's website
• Tweet Christie
• Christie is on LinkedIn
• Leave an iTunes review or binge-watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

Favorite Podcast Episodes:

• Should Your Business Take Political Stances or Stay Silent?
• What an Automattic IPO in 2021 means for WordPress Professionals (Brian Krogsgard, Post Status)
• What it's really like to be people of color in the WordPress community
• The future of funding in WordPress

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:49 What's up, Joe?
• 04:09 Sad news: This is Christie's last episode
• 07:53 The truth about why Christie is leaving
• 11:50 Don't do a podcast if you aren't passionate about it
• 14:03 Some of the best moments happened off-record
• 17:10 What's it like recording a podcast for the past two years?
• 19:57 Podcast is just a conversation between 2 to 3 people
• 22:20 The benefits of being a podcast host
• 26:30 Pod episodes on our favorite list
• 37:15 Parting words from Christie Chirinos!

In today's episode, we have fascinating news! WP Buffs successfully acquired WP EZI, a team of highly trained world-class WordPress developers that provides unlimited 24/7 WordPress support, help, maintenance, and fixes.

Joe talks to Paul Kidis, founder and former owner of WPEZI.com and a brilliant Website Specialist at Kidis Creative, about the closed-door details before and after the acquisition, the reason behind it, and a sneak peek at the preparations made for a smooth take over.

Tune in and listen to a one of a kind acquisition story!

Episode Resources

• Kidis Creative - Websites that Make Sale and Rank High
• WP EZI - Unlimited 24/7 WordPress Support
• Check out Paul on Instagram and Facebook
• WP Buffs Acquisition Unit
• Leave an iTunes review or binge-watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:48 Welcome, Paul Kidis!
• 04:44 What is Kidis Creative?
• 07:28 The transition to focus more on Kidis Creative
• 10:40 It's time to move on and let WP EZI go
• 12:52 What made the acquisition push through
• 16:40 Partnering up with the right people
• 19:50 How does it feel about selling a business?
• 23:04 Preparing and getting through the transition
• 26:20 Mixed emotions, fantastic journey, and refocusing priorities
• 31:12 It was about finding a better home for WP EZI clients
• 31:57 What's keeping Paul busy at Kidis Creative
• 33:22 Where to find Paul online

It's another refresher of a past episode with Gregory Karelitz, Global Manager of HubSpot for Startups. HubSpot is a growth platform that lets your entire company to work together — from marketing, to sales, to customer service.

Joe and Gregory explore how HubSpot provides quality integrations towards keeping a solid customer base, solutions the new plugin solves for end-user experience, and the importance of web page functionality.

Episode Resources

• Hubspot Website
• Hubspot Twitter
• Greg Karelitz is on Twitter
• HubSpot WordPress Plugin
• Leave an iTunes review or binge-watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:49 Welcome to the pod, Gregory Karelitz!
• 04:35 Working at HubSpot for six years
• 06:10 How global partnerships work
• 08:23 A look into the HubSpot's integration build-out
• 12:57 The complexity of disconnected tools
• 15:28 Sponsorship of global WordCamps
• 18:06 Gregory's early days in the WordPress space
• 21:18 Did you have a marketing strategy?
• 23:48 The transition into the HubSpot community
• 28:25 Optimizing your business growth with the right features and functions
• 34:36 Innovation towards pushing for mobile-friendly websites
• 37:55 The relationship between sales, marketing, and customer service

In today's episode, we look back to a previous episode with Bhanu Ahluwalia of Rank Math - a Search Engine Optimization plugin for WordPress that makes it easy for anyone to optimize their content with built-in suggestions based on widely-accepted best practices.

Joe and Bhanu talk about Rank Math as a plugin, the company's growth over the years and the team's future plans, the launch in Product Hunt, and how to optimize your mailing list.

Listen in to learn more about WordPress plugins!

Episode Resources

• Check out the Rank Math Website
• Join the Rank Math Facebook Group
• Check out Bhanu's other project My Theme Shop
• Contact Bhanu by Email
• Leave an iTunes review or binge watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:11 Welcome to the pod, Bhanu Ahluwalia!
• 04:45 How Rank Math started
• 07:21 What it felt to reach out to Yoast
• 08:42 What's growth like for Rank Math?
• 12:49 How long did it take to build?
• 16:22 What people can expect from Rank Math
• 22:20 What to focus on to grow
• 25:13 Future plans for Rank Math
• 28:17 The Product Hunt launch
• 31:52 Optimizing your mailing list

In today's episode, Allie sits down with Tracy Levesque, Co-President and Co-Founder at Yikes Inc. - the team that builds smart, effective, creative web solutions for businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Allie and Tracy talk about diversity and inclusion within the company, finding the best pool of talents, the effects of name biases, and prioritizing diversity when hiring people.

Tune in and learn running a diverse agency!

Episode Resources

• Yikes Inc - Professional WordPress Development & Design
• Tracy is on Twitter
• Visit WPAMA
• WP Buffs is on YouTube
• WP Buffs Website
• Tweet WP Buffs

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:50 Welcome Tracy Levesque of Yikes Inc.
• 01:34 What is Yikes Inc?
• 04:01 What's unique about an agency?
• 07:01 How do you prioritize diversity when hiring?
• 11:49 The best place to find a good pool of hires
• 14:27 What exactly is a pipeline problem?
• 16:50 If you need to network, go out and meet people
• 19:05 Men and women co-working in the WordPress space
• 21:06 Challenges in connecting with diverse talent during the pandemic
• 22:20 What is name bias?
• 29:02 Diversity and inclusion
• 41:11 Running a business during a pandemic
• 45:03 Things to focus on to prove you are qualified

In today's episode, Joe and Christie talk with Brad Touesnard, Founder and CEO of Delicious Brains Inc and SpinupWP. As founder of Delicious Brains Inc, Brad has worn many hats. He now spends most of his time managing the product teams and growing the business. Before starting this company, Brad was a freelance web developer, specializing in front-end development.

Joe, Christie, and Brad discuss the challenges of finding good people when competition for remote job posting is high, what it's like for entry level people in companies with limited resources, traditional and unconventional hiring process, and making dependable employees stay.

Tune in and learn about the best hiring practices in the open source environment.

Episode Resources

• Delicious Brains - "We make super awesome products for WordPress."
• SpinupWP - Your Own Extremely Fast WordPress Server
• Brad is on Twitter
• Leave an iTunes review or binge watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website
• Tweet Joe
• Tweet Christie

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:35 Let's welcome Brad Touesnard of Delicious Brains Inc
• 02:24 Rebranding concepts for different company products
• 07:12 How's 2020 job hiring been for you?
• 10:12 Challenges competing with more remote companies in finding new hires
• 17:00 On people switching careers and learning new skill sets
• 22:55 Hiring entry level person with limited resources
• 25:16 Vetting candidates before going through a trial project
• 30:27 Finding the right people is super difficult
• 32:36 Keeping people for years
• 37:31 Promotion and position changes
• 40:22 Active recruitment won't go away

In today's episode, Joe talks with David Yarde, Creative Director and Partner at Sevenality. David's expertise and experience is at the intersection of visual communications and software engineering with a focus in brand development, communications design, user experience problem solving.

Joe and David discuss the importance of knowing your customers and prospects, how to overcome stage fright when speaking in public, maximizing referrals to grow customers, and the interesting journey of being both a developer and a designer.

Tune in to learn more about designing, developing, and business growth!

Episode Resources

• Visit David's Website
• Tweet David
• Leave an iTunes review or binge watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:31 Welcome to the pod, David Yarde!
• 03:15 How did you find yourself at the intersection of a designer and developer?
• 08:35 Having a connection and passion for the industry
• 13:13 Starting up Sevenality
• 18:42 What introverts can do when talking in front of an audience?
• 25:59 What's it like to not have a lead acquisition channel?
• 31:20 How to make referrals a little easier?
• 37:08 Coming up with the referral discount program
• 41:36 The Loveable Brands program

In today's episode, Joe sat down with Joe Simpson Jr. Joe is a Front-End Web Developer and Graphic Designer specializing in WordPress solutions. During days he works at a top-five transit agency, fighting the good fight to ease the commute around Los Angeles County.

They discuss Joe's responsibilities in the digital strategy team at Metro Los Angeles, how he started in the WordPress space, his continuous effort for the inclusion of people of color in the open source space, and the planning for the 3rd WordCamp Santa Clarita.

Tune in to learn how the WordPress environment came to be more diverse!

Episode Resources

• Visit Joe Simpson's website
• Tweet Joe Simpson Jr. or visit his Facebook page
• Check out Dose Media
• Leave an iTunes review or binge watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:11 Let's welcome Joe Simpson!
• 04:16 Visit The Source
• 06:02 How did you get into this area of WordPress?
• 08:13 Getting involved in the WordPress community
• 11:00 Ahmed Khalifa is a common connection
• 13:00 African-American representation in the WordPress community
• 17:27 Creating a more diverse space in the open-source environment
• 22:14 Changes in the WordPress space since COVID
• 29:20 Everyone's first time in a WordCamp
• 32:10 The backstory behind WPMRR's new branding and design
• 35:06 Planning for the 3rd WordCamp Santa Clarita
• 38:30 Proper documentation helps shape a more successful virtual event

In today's episode, we look back into our conversation with Kyle Maurer, Director Of Operations at Sandhills Development. It's the most listened to episode ever in the WPMRR Podcast.

Joe, Christie, and Kyle discuss strategies in hiring right, how a good job listing is formatted, and how to make your applications stand out.

Tune in to learn how to hire and be hired successfully!

Episode Resources

• Listen to Kyle's Get Options Podcast
• Check out Sandhills Development
• Leave an iTunes review or binge watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

What to Listen For:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:28 Welcome to the WPMRR Podcast!
• 02:22 Let's meet Kyle Maurer of Sandhills Podcast
• 04:32 Give Get Options Podcast a listen!
• 08:04 Hiring tactics to hire the right people
• 11:54 How to get a more diverse pool of applicants
• 16:15 What not to include in your job posting
• 21:07 The impact of adding the compensation program
• 24:29 Negotiations in salary discussions
• 28:02 Advertise posting in several spaces to reach out to more diverse demographics
• 33:20 How do diversity of new hires affect the team?
• 36:25 There's a shortage of applicants who go the extra mile
• 42:30 Written and oral communication is important in a global setting
• 44:56 How to create an outstanding application
• 50:19 The biggest cheat: If you aren't a stranger, you have an advantage
• 53:10 Telling stories during interviews to sell yourself
• 56:40 When seeking a job, be curious and have a careful mind

In today's episode, Joe and Christie answer the question: "Should your business be political?" They discuss Expensify's political move during the recent election, why society benefits from staying out of politics, the political roots of every business, and how WordPress remains a political space.

Listen in to learn why politics is present when running a business!

Episode Resources

• Leave an iTunes review or binge watch past episodes
• Send questions to [email protected] for the next Q&A pod
• Visit the WPMRR website

What to Listen For: Audio

• 00:00 Intro
• 02:08 What are you hiring for?
• 07:00 What's up with Joe and Christie?
• 10:45 Should your business be political?
• 11:30 Expensify's political move during the presidential election
• 16:15 The political stances of everyday functions
• 20:10 General rule: society benefits from staying out of politics
• 21:09 Taylor Swift and her apolitical stance
• 24:10 People support brands that reflect their own values
• 28:50 Businesses are deeply political
• 32:00 When it's not you on top making the decision
• 41:59 Being political online from a business perspective
• 45:12 Helping your company make a stand
• 46:55 People become political to be heard, to have their own voice
• 49:50 Your business is already political because it exists
• 55:50 WordPress has opened the gateway for anyone to publish their ideas
• 58:10 WordPress remains a political space