WP Weekly Spotlight – Stephanie Brinley

With a life-long passion for art and a BFA in Visual Communications, Stephanie is a branding specialist and digital designer. Stephanie is the owner of Flightless, specializing in hand-crafted logos and extending brands beyond the business card. She has been involved with the Florida WordPress community since 2014 and has been honored to share her knowledge at WordCamps Ann Arbor, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and US. Most weeks you will find her attempting to balance design and homeschooling, exploring the world of flavors she can invent in her kitchen, and sometimes on Twitter @sjbrinley.

Michele: What do you do in the WordPress ecosystem?

Stephanie: Help run WordCamps, small business sites, digital graphic support

Michele: How did you get involved with WordPress?

Stephanie: My husband finally convinced me to attend WordCamp Orlando 2014 once I had started poking into the back-end enough to feel like a developer talk would be beneficial to me.

Michele: Please tell me one story of someone who has inspired you within the WordPress Community?

Stephanie: Kathy Drewien is an amazing woman! I don’t even remember where I met her, but we invited her as one of TWO keynote speakers to our very first WordCamp Jacksonville 2016. At the time, our local WordPress community was very small. We knew Kathy was big on community so we wanted her to speak about how important that is. Everyone left that presentation inspired, even the developers that, “don’t do inspirational talks.”

Michele: What does the Open Source Community mean to you?

Stephanie: It means the freedom to collaborate and see each other as partners instead of adversaries.

Michele: Please name some of your favorite plugins. 

Stephanie: Disable Comments, BackWPUp, Under Construction Page, and WordPress SEO Plugin – Rank Math

Michele: Do you have a favorite theme or framework you like to use?

Stephanie: Beaver Builder

Michele: If you could change one thing in WordPress, what would it be?

Stephanie: The funding process for WordCamps.

Michele: What is your most memorable WordPress moment?

Stephanie: Being on stage in front of 600 people at the inaugural WordCamp US to give a lightning talk.

Michele: What is one piece of advice you would give to someone just getting started with WordPress?

Stephanie: Take your time, focus on understanding all the main components and how they fit together. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. When you start feeling like you don’t have enough power, then dive a little deeper.

Michele: What do you think is in store for the future of WordPress?

Stephanie: I don’t make predictions, but after 10+ years it still seems to be going strong.

Michele: Just for fun, share one memory that makes you proud to be a part of the WordPress Community.

Stephanie: We brought our son to the first WordCamp Jacksonville event. He was 7 years old. We didn’t have a KidsCamp, so he just went to sessions with us. He was so excited to go he invented the Plush Wapuu, sewed one himself, and handed out flyers to sell them at WordCamp. Everyone was so encouraging, several people ordered Plush Wapuus, he inspired the WC US Wapuu, and just had such a good time.

You can find Stephanie Brinley at Flightless

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Michele Butcher-Jones

Head Geek at Can't Speak Geek

Michele is the Head Geek at Can't Speak Geek. During the day she works for Thrive Agency as their WordPress Technical Support Specialist. She is also a beginners and advanced WordPress instructor and travels the globe sharing her love of WordPress. When not on the computer Michele enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter. Sometimes she takes the time off to read a great book.