My WordPress Career: Joel Butler

My WordPress Career is an employee spotlight on the StellarWP blog. In each edition, we highlight a different team member’s professional journey. 

While each story is unique, they all demonstrate that there isn’t one single way to arrive at a career in WordPress. Our team members come from different backgrounds, and each person brings a different type of expertise to their role. And we think that’s pretty stellar.

Today, we’re talking to Joel Butler, Multimedia Designer for the marketing team at StellarWP.

StellarWP: What was your very first job? Tell us what your duties entailed.

My first job was as a photographer for the social magazines of a national newspaper in the Dominican Republic, and it was just as it sounds. I photographed social events and interviews for the magazines that ran in the newspaper. Although this was my first official job, it was not my first work experience.

In my teenage years, I did some apprentice work with one of my uncles installing adhesive vinyl signs over two summer breaks. Until that point, I was certain I would study to become an architect, but that experience and seeing the design and production side of things sparked my interest. A few months later, my mother enrolled me in a photography class that she wanted to attend, and the teacher needed one more student to reach quorum. From that course on, for the next 14 years, I always had a camera with me.   

I studied photography, then graphic design, and freelanced all through college doing beauty and commercial photography, designing advertisement pieces for small businesses, and also working in event planning and production, both corporate and personal.

What’s your current job at StellarWP? What do your duties include now?

I’m currently working as a Multimedia Designer for the marketing team at StellarWP. My duties include working with brands, brand websites, and any other design needs from the marketing team.

When did your career shift toward WordPress?

In 2008 I took a part-time position in design at a company that runs two classified ads websites. That eventually became a full-time position, and I stopped freelancing for a few years and, since then, stopped offering photography services. Around 2011 or 2012, I started a web design agency project with a friend and one of my cousins, and that’s when I got to know WordPress. I had dabbled with other CMS before, but WordPress just made sense to me as a designer who does minimal development with visual builders and because of the ease of use for our clients. 

Is there anything you learned on your first job that you carried with you to your current role at StellarWP?

I think that from that first experience with signs and vinyl, and my years as a photographer, I’ve always carried the need for sharp edges, clean lines, well-balanced composition, and overall carefully finished work. 

How is working in WordPress different from other jobs you’ve had? What do you like best? Are there any parts that are more challenging?

One thing I´m excited about is that working in WordPress seems to frequently entail working in environments that foster a healthy degree of professional, racial, gender, and background diversity. At the same time, as an extroverted introvert, the overarching presence of the community can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, but I also really enjoy the WordCamp experience.

What do you wish you had known when you first started working in the WordPress world?

I wish I had known that one can truly be a part of WordPress and the ecosystem of tools and products, rather than just a user/consumer. 

What are some of your hobbies, interests, or pastimes outside of work? How did you get started? What is a favorite memory?

I have a small art collection that I’ve acquired over the last 10 years since I started to study and then worked as a Contemporary Art Curator and Exhibitions Coordinator while freelancing in design.

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