Bryan Earl
WHO I AM
A look at my life: history, family and passions
HELLO! I'M BRYAN EARL
I have spent most of my working career wearing a great number of different hats. When people ask me "What do you do for a living?" I have always found it difficult to answer that question. At one point I was an IT Manager for a multi-billion dollar corporation and that night I was designing a new ecommerce web store for a local small business. When the weekend rolls around I was recording and mastering a metal band's music before tearing down a race car to rebuild it again from the ground up. That is just a small sample of the projects I take on and how I spend my time.
Because of that, my paper resume tends to look "boring" to me. Granted, it is chock full of relevant IT and Web/Graphics Design work history and experience but there is SO MUCH MORE that I do. I decided to take a break from my other side projects to create my own little corner of the internet where I can showcase who I am, what I have done and what I would like to do more of.
WELCOME!
PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Where I came from, where I am now and where I plan to go from here
A LOOK AT THE PAST
Born and raised in Alaska by a single working mother, I know both sides of the poverty line all too well. When times were rough, we would sometimes go a year or more without running water or electricity. Heat was provided by cutting down trees and chopping our firewood. Light during the long Alaska night was given off by oil lanterns or candles. We used an old hand cranked ringer-washer to clean our clothes and we only ate what we successfully hunted. My sister and I would always make the best of any situation though and would spend time after school running off through the woods to go play with salmon in the river. If the hard life has taught me anything, it is that no matter what, everything will work out. There is no need to stress about things that are out of your control. This fact has greatly contributed to the peace I find myself with now later in life.
When times were good we enjoyed hot running water and an old John Deer snowmobile. We would play "Kings Quest" games on the old 286 computer that my mom used for her college homework and I would tear apart anything electronic that I could get my hands on just to see how it worked. After wreaking havok on family computers over the years I got my very own first computer at age 14 and never looked back. I took an interest in programming and graphics design immediately and split most of my free time between computers and music, playing drums in metal bands and learning how to be an Audio Technician so I could record and master my own music.
I have since held down numerous long term IT related jobs and even ran my own IT business for a few years, all the while building up my Web Design business. I found myself in a semi-successful band that lasted nearly 10 years and was fortunate enough to share the stage with Megadeth, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My valentine, Atreyu, Unearth and more. We played over 300 live shows in that time with many hundreds more practices. However, all that intense drumming had taken its toll on my body and I made the hard decision in 2012 to resign from the band. I still enjoy making music here and there but have accepted that my days of playing metal are over.
A LOOK AT THE PRESENT
I currently live in the Prescott, AZ area with my amazing wife, Beth Earl. We have been married for over 15 years and have a wonderful dog that we consider as our child. Beth keeps me grounded and has been a huge inspiration with her strong morals and ethics. I can ALWAYS count on her to tell me exactly what she is thinking and to stand up for anyone that is being wronged. That is a trait that I rarely find so strong and pronounced in todays world. She has completed her Bachelors in Psychology and currently works for the State of Arizona. In the past she has worked with teens with drug and alcohol abuse issues, physically and mentally challenged adults, and also with inmates in the prison system. Beth truly wants to help those in need and I admire her drive and ambition to make that happen in whatever ways she can.
In addition to my primary Web Design and SEO business and various side projects, I recently worked as an IT Manager in Anchorage, Alaska for a company called Alaska Pump and Supply (A DXP Company). Over the nearly 5 years I was with them, I performed a bit of everything including (but not limited to): projects management, web design, graphics design, advertising & marketing, budgeting, purchasing, networking, end user IT support, vendor management, safety coordination and more. I am always open to new opportunities that will challenge me.
A LOOK TO THE FUTURE
With every project I take on, figuring out how to accomplish whatever current goal is in front of me as I move through the process and solve the issues, I have learned two big life lessons that I apply every day. I try to explain these to people along the way because I truly believe that accepting them has made me a better person:
1. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I do not know.
2. Failure is a natural part of the learning process. Embrace it and learn from it.
I came to a conclusion a long time ago that there is literally nothing that I cannot do. It doesn't matter if I have never done it before. It doesn't matter if I know nothing about how to do it. All it takes is to research, learn and try. 90% of my business ventures over the years started as simple ideas with the same question... "How can I make this happen?"
With all that in mind looking forward, the sky is the limit because I am not afraid of failure and it will not keep me from trying out new ideas. I am open to opportunities coming from any direction. As with most people, I would love to work less and make more but I am not holding my breath on that one.
If you would like a project quote for Web Design or SEO Services, or if you feel that you could use any of my talents, feel free to contact me. I am always interested in hearing about new opportunities.