Angela Bowman
Experience
@askwpgirl
I have been using WordPress since 2007. I learned the hard way, as most of us do, the best practices for developing and maintaining WordPress websites. I am still learning. It is an endless process. I am passionate about sharing what I have learned with others. I have empathy for people just starting out and not knowing what they don’t know.
I try to share my experience and knowledge with others through my blog, classes, consulting, local Meetup groups, and presentations. I build custom sites for artists, nonprofits, and small businesses, partnering with local designers to create aesthetic and branded themes that reflect the unique vision of each client.
After receiving my bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from CU in 1995, I worked for Roche Pharmaceuticals reconciling capital expenditures. While Roche offered me a great opportunity to manage the chemical inventory for their Boulder plant, my passion for Apple computers and software drove me to leave my high heels behind and embrace the Teva-wearing, rubber-band shooting, yardstick-spanking culture of Quark, Inc., in Denver. I became a senior tech on the online team and coordinated the writing of post-release documentation and training of the technical support staff on new Quark features.
Following Quark, I served as the Interim IS Manager for Sounds True Publishing, managing a Y2K-driven deadline to implement a new enterprise-wide order fulfillment system. I became the royalties administrator for hundreds of authors and known as the “bread” goddess by baking fresh loaves each Monday morning in the Sounds True kitchen. While I excelled at all that number crunching and writing database queries, I missed having creativity in my work. After volunteering at the Boulder County Arts Alliance, I was hired as the Communication Director. For five years, I managed memberships, organized Business of Arts Workshops, taught grant writing to artists, coordinated exhibits, and produced all communication collateral. I developed a comprehensive, online arts calendar for Boulder County which continues today. Working for BCAA gave me a deep passion for the arts, and I love working with artists and arts organizations to help get their work online.
Current Work
As Ask WP Girl, I teach classes at a variety of venues including several classes a year at Boulder Digital Arts and online. I lead a monthly WordPress Meetup for users of the Jump Start Responsive Theme and co-organize the WordPress Builders Meetup. I moderate a Google group for Jump Start theme users and a Pinterest board of latest Jump Start theme projects.
Applying my twenty years’ experience in technical writing, information systems, and business communications, I help small businesses and nonprofits organize and manage their content effectively in WordPress. I specialize in implementing custom WordPress themes built on a robust and mobile responsive WordPress framework.
Fun
When not obsessively coding CSS, I delight in my backyard chickens, high altitude treks, world music, traveling to far flung places, science, good chocolate, tequila, art, live theater, and strategy board games. I have a soft spot for accordion players and square dancing.