Hi, I’m Ellen.
Firstly, I hate writing these “autobiographical” statements.
I am an Irish-born, slightly lost girl-geek who washed up on the shores of New Zealand in 2008. I did not plan to come to live here, it sort of just happened.
My parents are both English so I have this strange mixture of an anglo/southern/kiwi accent that is unfortunately nowhere near Irish.
I studied music at university but decided to shelve the piano in exchange for a laptop. (As a teenage I had spent many a weekend in a darkened room teaching myself HTML on my dad’s purple iMac.)
In 2007 I was given responsibility of Digital Marketing for Haka Tours, a brand new adventure tour operator who had an innovative business model based on going direct to the consumer online. For 4 years I played a large part in helping the company become the award-winning success that it is now recognised for in the tourism industry. Google them.
Through working with Haka Tours I collected an extensive set of digital marketing skills, in particular copy-writing, search engine optimisation, social media and web design. I love working in the web industry because it takes clever logic and creates beautiful things.
Indeed, my passion for the web led me to leave the company in June 2011 to look for new challenges.
Upon leaving I created this blog to aid me in developing my skills further, and finding where I want to go next.
I now work for a company called Terabyte, one of NZ’s top web design businesses. I spend my week days in Auckland and my weekends in Paihia, where my partner lives.
Outside of work my passions are my friends, music, cooking and everything feline.
– Ellen