About Greg Colker
I am a husband and father, entrepreneurial marketer, full-stack developer, and grateful inheritor of Western Civilization and the Catholic Faith.
Formally educated in the classical liberal arts and with a lifelong interest in business and computing, I enjoy helping people deliver true goods and services. Combining ancient principles and modern technologies, I work to maximize efficiency and delight, while minimizing waste and drudgery. In contexts ranging from freelance to bootstrapped startup, I have experience in product, full-stack web development, marketing, IT, and leadership. I enjoy challenges, learning in flexible and fast-paced environments, always finding ways to leverage my knowledge and experience to generate value and make people's lives better.
Born in the United States, and privileged to have experienced life on several continents, I now make my home in Florida with my wife and children. We volunteer in our local community and parish, and enjoy building relationships with the people and families around us.
Would you like to connect? You're welcome to contact me.
Skills
Marketing
I enjoy connecting people with goods and services which improve their lives. Whether through high-level planning or in-the-trenches copy writing, SEO, paid Ads, or other methods, I help drive measurable growth with whatever means are available and have hands on experience from top to bottom building and optimizing conversion funnels.
- Strategic planning, and bottom-line focus
- Copy writing that's clear, connects, and converts
- Deep technical understanding of tracking and analytics
- Experience with various ad platforms
- Non-scammy SEO
- etc.
Leadership & Management
I have served in leadership and management roles for small teams in various business, non-profit, and community organizations including complex cross-cultural, international, and fully remote contexts. I enjoy working towards a good vision, breaking down big ideas and goals into organized parts and systems, then working with those responsible to achieve them with order and harmony.
- Fosters culture of excellence, trust, and success
- Shares knowledge to build up team
- Comfortable navigating complex or difficult situations
- Goal-focused, proactive, ownership mentality in everything
- Excellent communication, listening to understand, building consensus and taking responsibility
- Experience in practical details of getting work done in and across teams, and project management
Web Development
I'm at home in the terminal and prefer simple, solid tools and systems, but adapt as needed. I enjoy learning new things rapidly as needed, but do not chase the new and shiny.
vim
,git
,npm
...- HTML, CSS, JS
- SASS & Tailwind
- "Vanilla" JS & Web Components
- Bash, makefiles
- CI/CD and modern tools
- etc.
System Administration
My workstation is Linux, and the servers I am responsible for are as well. I prefer a homelab for personal systems, and VPS for business with self-managed software over proprietary SAAS.
- Linux
- Bash
- Docker
- Domains, SSL Certs, DNS, CDNs
- Many & various self-hosted FOSS projects
- G Suite & Office365 w/ Exchange Administration
- Ansible
- etc.
Design & UX
I have a good eye and am comfortable with modern design tools, though I often go from wireframe sketch directly to code. In the early days, design-build was the only way websites were made, and I got my start in that era. I have a strong appreciation for quality typography, balance, and simple forms.
- Web, digital, & print experience
- Figma (et al. such as PenPot)
- Inkscape, GIMP, & command line
- Affinity, & Adobe Suites
- etc.
Experience
Marketing & Full-Stack Developer for Various Clients
As an independent full-stack developer and marketer, I helped both SMBs such as local farmers, small manufacturers, and non-profit organizations as well as large Fortune 50 companies with various marketing and web development projects.
- Understood business goals and obstacles, leveraged technology to achieve and overcome
- Designed, built, and maintained growth focused and problem solving websites for various clients
- Researched, planned, and executed marketing campaigns for various clients
- Managed clients, projects, business finances, etc.
Director Digital Services at a Startup
As one of the first on the team, I was responsible for IT, digital tools, and websites for the company and the digital products and services offered to clients. As we rapidly scaled, pivoted, and grew, I played key roles in shaping products and delivering them. Fast-paced, and with a small, fully remote team, I helped foster a culture of excellence, trust, personal responsibility, and focus on client success.
- Designed, built, maintained, and improved consumer-facing websites internally & for our clients
- Set up and managed Linux servers to serve web sites and run services
- Saved time, and delivered unique features by building API integrations across services & websites
- Roadmapped website and related product features and fixes to drive bottom-line growth for clients
- Assessed, recommended, implemented, and maintained self-hosted business services, as well as SAAS products
- Hired, managed & collaborated with all other developers (juniors/freelancers/outside agencies)
- Maintained low cost of digital services by disciplined focus on simplicity, stability, and self-sufficiency through rapid business scaling and pivots
- Implemented successful B2B and luxury B2C SEO, digital and print ad campaigns with design and data teams
Marketing & Sales at an American Manufacturer
Primarily engaged in B2B sales, offering contract packaging services for chemicals in liquid and aerosol form. Researched prospects, built relationships with potential clients, and was responsible for managing the ongoing client relationships. Additionally, revamped marketing materials for the company.
- Generated new customers and revenue
- Managed & grew existing customers
- Launched new website, marketing materials, and sales-aid
- Streamlined internal processes and documents
Missionary, Training & Outreach Staff in Europe, Asia, and Africa
As an early high school graduate, I accompanied my parents and siblings to full-time ministry in Eastern Europe primarily serving orphans and widows. Later, I traveled to Western Europe, Asia, and Africa first as a trainee and then as staff responsible for training others and leading programs focused on teaching English, providing aid, and reconciliation in conflict zones.
- Navigated cross cultural situations in challenging contexts
- Planned, organized, and executed international missions
- Provided one-on-one development and facilitated small groups
- Assisted in organizing, planning, and running training programs
- Engaged with local communities, non-profit and government organizations to provide various types of aid
Education
B.A. Classics & Early Christian Literature from Ave Maria University
AMU is small Catholic university with a reputation for serious academic rigour, adherence to the Catholic faith, and authentic expression of the Liberal Arts. I had the privilege of studying under some truly outstanding professors benefiting both from their personal examples of virtuous living and their professional excellence.
Interests & Hobbies
An incomplete list of some things I'm always more interested in than I have time to pursue.
- Architecture
- Bitcoin
- Camping
- Catholic Theology
- Classical Philosophy
- Cooking & Charcoal Grilling
- FOSS
- Florida
- Gardening
- Hiking
- How Stuff Works
- Knowledge Management
- Linux
- Local Planning & Development
- Our Neighborhood & Town
- Parenting Well
- Pipe Smoking
- Politics & Society
- Private and Secure Computing
- Project Management
- Radio (GMRS & Ham)
- Real Productivity
- Self-Hosting
- Urbit
- Web Development
- Weight Lifting
- Woodworking
- Things I forgot to list