For those of you that don’t know Erik you should know that he is a patient family man that is more than willing to help out another dev on a problem. He regularly assists people on twitter and is an active member in the weekly chats. He also teaches a class for other devs to learn how to build add-ons for EE. In general, he is a pretty awesome dude and we are glad he is part of our community. So let’s learn a bit more about Erik…
Can you tell us a little about Erik? If you were to write a bio for your about page what would be important for the reader to know?
That depends. How long is my about page? I do know that I wouldn’t bore people with industry-based info about me.
I would start off by bragging about my family. My wife and daughter are pretty much the coolest gals around. Without their support there would be no Erik on Twitter or in the EE forums. I love them with all of my heart and really enjoy having the opportunity to provide for them.
In high school my plan was to be a rockstar and/or studio engineer and producer for a living. After high school I went to school to be a music educator. Music has a huge impact in my family and I can’t imagine that changing anytime soon. If you haven’t noticed though, I changed my mind on the rockstar status.
A few years ago I realized I wanted to run my own show. Make my own hours. Build a business worth investing in. My ultimate business goal is to have a company that does rock-solid work and enables employees to love their work, but more importantly love and enjoy their life.
Funny, music seems to be a common theme in the web design community. What did you study? Do you play additional instruments?
I’ve noticed that music is a common theme in the design community as well. I joked (partially) a while back that there should be an EE band at the next EECI.
Specifically, I studied Music Education (BME) with a focus on (or “primary instrument” of) Voice. I basically sang for grades. Both of my parents are former music teachers, my grandmother is a piano teacher (she’s pretty much amazing), my father plays classical guitar, and the list goes on. I started taking piano lessons at a pretty young age, but haven’t practiced in over a decade. I can still play to a degree, but I couldn’t just hop on a stage and jam at this point. My main instruments are guitar and voice now-a-days.
Don’t let me mislead you though - I studied music, but didn’t graduate with a degree in music. After studying music the way the professors told me to I decided I didn’t want to do that for a living. I changed my major to Computer Science after completing two semesters for my BME. That being said, I never even took a CS class. I had other things going on (like meeting my wonderful bride) that made me realize I didn’t even want to be in school at that time. So I guess I’m technically a college dropout.
Along those same lines, what are your musical tastes? Do you have some music that is your “go to” for coding marathons?
My taste is pretty eclectic. As I type this I’m listening to Ahmad Jamal Trio (Jazz, for those unaware). The morning emails started off with Needtobreathe as my soundtrack. I do have a playlist called “Now This I Can Work To” but even it isn’t limited to a particular genre. Some artists in the list are Waterdeep, John Mayer, Glad, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jake Shimabukuro, 2Cellos & The Roots.
When it comes to “coding marathons” I have a pretty refined subset of songs I listen to. They have to meet a specific criteria. They need to be pretty upbeat (if not rhythmically, then energetically). They can’t be too musically intriguing (or I’ll just want to stop and listen) and they can’t make me want to pick up an instrument. That might sound strange, but it makes for the most efficient coding sessions for me.
So how did you get your start in the World Wide Web?
When I was in 6th grade my dad was my computer teacher. In his class (and outside) he encouraged me to learn HTML (3.2 at the time). I dabbled in HTML and Javascript here and there for a few years. Somewhere along the way I started using FrontPage 98. I built my first paid website with that. It was pretty horrible, but I didn’t know any different.
Later in high school I went into some server-side languages and Flash. I really liked Flash for a while and was coming up with random projects for it. I spent many hours in the flashkit.com forums (as a member and also a moderator) learning more than I needed to know about Flash and Actionscript. I later saw the light and put my Flash days behind me 
I know you are a visual individual as we’ve spoken about your love of photography before. I find it interesting that you moved into code versus design. When you think back was there anything in particular that moved you in that direction?
I left out the design history because frankly, it stunk. I know my way around Photoshop pretty well. I’m not too bad with a pencil and a piece of paper either. What I’m not good at is coming up with something on a blank canvas. I can’t create something new, or from my imagination even. Not anything pretty that is. However, if I can look at and review the lines, shapes and depth of something I’m not too bad a reproducing it.
I like reproducing things but it’s ultimately not fulfilling.
When it comes to code I had a knack for seeing a problem and creating a solution. I didn’t need a diagram or outline to make it happen (not all of the time at least). Because of this I drifted more toward the code rather than the design. You mentioned photography. It’s actually a similar story. My wife takes 90% of the photos in our family because she has an eye for it. I just answer the occasional technical question about ratios, depths and lighting angles.
So, now you find yourself part of a successful design studio. Can you tell me a little about how Focus Lab came about? And what your role there entails?
Focus Lab has existed for about 4 years. My business partner, Bill Kenney, and I met when I saw an ad for a Flash developer needed for a contract job. I met with Bill and our personalities instantly clicked. We were both doing freelance work as a part-time job. We talked over some details and decided to just partner up and combine clients and efforts. By April of 2010 we both had switched over to running our business full-time. At that point we renamed our business to Focus Lab, LLC and defined some clearer goals for the company. The rest, as they say, is history. Except for the future that is. That’s not history. We need to make it first.
My role at Focus Lab (at this point at least) is hard to nail down ultimately. Being a small company we owners wear more hats than one. I suppose the most relevant one is that I’m the lead developer. I make sure that the development that goes out of our doors is solid and sharp. I also lead the EE training and consulting that we do. Ultimately I’d like to hand over the reins on the development and focus more (see what I did there?) on business development.
Is that before or after you quit your day job to be a comedian? In all seriousness though, Focus Lab is doing some amazing work. Can you give us an idea of what your process is for new clients?
Wow, thanks!
For any project we start by asking clients to explain (or we help identify) the problem they are trying to solve. From there we work through possible solutions based on the timeframe and budget. The idea is simply that in the end they have a product that we and they are proud to showcase. There is a variety of unicorns, black magic and Monty Python references in between those steps, but that’s mostly how it goes.
So switching gears a little, how long have you been using EE? And you are now part of the Reactor Team for ExpressionEngine. How has that experience been?
I’ve been using EE for about 3 or 4 years. It started at my then day job when I was looking for a solution that allowed me to manage content for multiple sites across multiple domains but sharing content and members. As you can imagine, EE’s MSM fit the mold quite well.
My first look at EE turned me off instantly. I didn’t get it therefore I didn’t like it. However, after going through Train-ee’s tutorials and watching some helpful screencasts I had the “ah-ha” moment I was needing. I haven’t looked back since.
Being part of Reactor is really fun. I’m having conversations I may have not otherwise had. Most of my participation thus far has been centered around ideas and planning so the first EE release with Reactor contributions won’t have anything from me. I have some goodies in the works though. I’m really excited about the experiment as a whole and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
What do you like to do to recharge in your off time? Any hobbies or activities that you enjoy?
Time with my beautiful wife and daughter is certainly at the top of that list. They inspire, motivate and encourage me in so many ways. I love the time I have with them and am very grateful for having them in my life.
In terms of hobbies, I mainly have three right now. I love music (as mentioned earlier) so picking up the guitar is always an instant sense of peace for me. I also love billiards. I wish I had more time to play but I still get to a table a few times a month. Lastly, as of late I’ve picked up running. It’s way more enjoyable than I would have imagined. It gives me some time to not think about much of anything.
Erik, I want to thank you for your time. Before we go is there anything else you want to share?
Sure! If anyone out there ever wants to chat with me about anything I have an open inbox. From development and business to family and faith. I love having a good conversation and learning with others.
Also, I’ll insert the obligatory shameless plug. Keep an eye on Focus Lab this year. We have a lot of exciting things on the horizon!
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