Culture

Phillip has worked as an in-house web developer and Internet marketing expert for several firms, subsequently working on multiple projects with a number of Fortune 500 companies. In addition to becoming a multi-talented developer, Phillip has also become adept in interactive design and usability/user experience. As principal founder of Lifeblue, Phillip currently occupies his time with serving as the “Dreamcatcher” by fostering new client relationships and remaining an integral part of the campaign strategies and execution for Lifeblue clients.

Although a born and raised Rhode Islander, I've lived and worked in Dallas for the last six years. I'm a proud English major, began my career in insurance and later moved into tech, staffing developers at companies around DFW. This inspired my transition into Campus Director at The Iron Yard, where I helped people move into careers in web development. Now, as Director of Culture for Lifeblue, I continue to make those same kinds of connections and help people find what I believe is a top digital agency in Dallas. I'm incredibly proud to work for a company that's a certified B Corp, and one that puts the greater good and its employees first. 

Outside of my role at Lifeblue, I work closely with the startup community, including as a host of the downtown Dallas Open Coffee Club (#BigDOCC). In my free time you can find me volunteering on the 91.7 KXT street team, or on my bike exploring new food and events around downtown Dallas with my husband. 

I always had an interest in all-things related to art, from figure drawing and painting to sculpture and graphic design.

I'm originally from upstate New York, and I began my career working in the print world designing logos, identity systems, brochures, and advertising campaigns while attending college in western New York.

In graduate school I started exploring broadcast film and animation along with web design. I worked with multiple design/advertising agencies in the North-East and Mid-West and eventually worked my way out to Texas to work with Lifeblue.

I enjoy the challenge of bring brands to life on the web, but what I enjoy about working with Lifeblue are the challenges and growth opportunities given to every employee. If you’re looking to progress in your career or simply learn a new skill Lifeblue will help support you in that journey. It’s the first company I’ve worked for that encourages it’s employees to become active participants in the shaping of its culture and the way it executes it’s work.

I grew up full nerd. My soundtrack was a symphony of 1200 baud modems and floppy disk drives. But in college, discovered the artist inside of me and immediately launched a career in advertising in Los Angeles. Soon, my tech and art background coalesced into starting my own web design agency. Nine years later, with a wife, three kids, and a master's degree in business, we moved to Texas and bumped into Lifeblue.

Leaving behind my own agency was a difficult decision, but the quality of work coming out of Lifeblue and the familial professionalism in the office was enough to sweet talk me into joining up. Here, I have near carte blanche to do what I love: build, improve, optimize, learn, and laugh. And I can still wear shorts and sandals to work!

While I grew up in Missouri, I’ve been told that after living here for 10 years, you can officially consider yourself a Texan. True or not, I’m claiming it! Raised as a Cowboys fan (thanks, mom), I’ve always loved Dallas and have happily called it home since 2003. My early years here were spent in media sales for the Dallas Observer and D Magazine. Working for these publications not only made me feel more connected to the city, but also taught me how to build strong client relationships. These positions also led to the development of my personal sales philosophy: the best sales people don’t actually sell anything, but rather they provide solutions to their clients’ problems—a practice I have carried with me long after leaving my formal sales roles.

After nearly 6 years in media sales, I took a hiatus to obtain an MA in Advertising at SMU. Since then, I’ve worked agency-side, first at Publicis, then VMLY&R. In these roles, I gained experience working with global brands, supporting them in all forms of advertising and marketing from super traditional to cutting-edge digital executions. Through these roles I found that the rapid evolution of digital marketing and technology seemed to best match my drive for ongoing learning and professional growth. This, in addition to the mission and culture, led me to join the Lifeblue team.

Outside of work, I spend most of my time teaching or practicing yoga and hanging with my husband, Matt and our dog, Jolie. When we’re not at home, cooking, watching football and planning our next vacation, then you’ll find us out exploring new restaurants and cocktail bars or rocking out with our favorite bands at a concert.

I definitely ask why a lot. I'm always trying to get to the underlying reason or meaning behind an experience to effectively improve it.

Yeah, I have too many hobbies, but the variety in my explorations helps keep my design approach nimble.

I've never really had a job -- I've always had a purpose. It makes it easier to get up and get to work when you're driven by passion.

I’ve held a lot of professional roles — running B2B marketing for corporate channels, working as a one-person marketing department for a tech consultancy, and I’ve also been a strategist, team manager, editor, teacher, developer, events planner, logistics coordinator, Taekwondo instructor, writer and an arcade/laser tag crew member, just to name a few more. Throughout all these experiences, I have found myself mastering context and building connections between people and business functions — a company corpus callosum. I appreciate individualization, collaboration and nerdiness, which I believe is just a fun word for passion.

I need to know the "who." The key players, the stand-ins, the rookies, the seniors, the subs. I talk to anyone and everyone to find out the "who." Sometimes I get a clear answer, but most of the time it just gets more complicated, and that’s okay. Business doesn’t always follow a perfect process, and I work within the confines of real life.

Anyone can dream big and make a perfect Experience, it's the budget, buy in, and time-line that challenges us. I aim to create real experiences for real people, which is no easy feat. I’ve learned making assumptions means making mistakes. That being an ally to those over looked by privilege, keeps me humble. Surrounding myself with talented ambitious individuals, helps me grow.

As a self proclaimed "doer-of-all-the-things" I've held multiple roles throughout my career: Sign Language Interpreter, Librarian, Teacher, Customer Service Rep, User Experience Architect, and more. Throughout all of these roles I've grown and learned to hone-in my craft of bringing people together.

1+1=3

I love when people come together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. This mystery led me on a journey to discover how to empower others to create the best work of their lives while developing meaningful relationships.

My passion to understand this challenge informed my decision to study quantitative economics in college, to serve as president of a record label, and empower digital transformation for Fortune 100 companies. The throughline across these experiences is a dedication to the transformative power of doing great work with great people.

Every aspect of the web design process has been a passion of mine since the days of Geocities, and at Lifeblue I get to play in that sandbox every day as we help save the world from bad design. I strive to create thoughtful, accessible websites through clean, modular, and semantic front-end code. From napkin sketch to writing the final line of code before pushing that shiny red "Launch" button, I love being a part of every step that goes into creating an amazing web experience for the end user.

When I was 12, in the midst of being influenced by video games The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and Earthbound, my family got our first computer. I was also becoming a huge sports fan, and spent an inordinate amount of time creating pixel art versions of the team logos and players I liked using my first design software - Microsoft Paint. It wasn't until halfway through college, an abandoned computer science degree, and a degree in journalism did I create my first profit-generating website "just for fun". It was then that I realized I could make this a job.

Since those days, I've worked as a print and packaging designer well-versed in press checks, papers, pantone swatches and overprint ink techniques, an environmental graphic designer with hands in sculptural signage, murals, and hundreds of architectural finishes, and digital design in the worlds of apps, the web and kiosks. I embrace the T-shaped nature of Lifeblue by doing whatever I can to help, including working with a super talented team of developers and designers to make our best work possible.

I have an insatiable curiosity when it comes to technology and how it can simplify people's lives or solve problems for businesses. That doesn't make me "technical," just opportunistic about helping people become more efficient by fully leveraging what they may not have even thought about. This led me through roles of marketing in which I learned to simplify the complex, sales so that I could "officially" be responsible for company growth, and operations to drive efficiency and create value.

My name is Zaq, with a "Q." I graduated from UT Arlington with two degrees: Communication Technology and International Studies in Russian. Over the past few years I've gained experience working in UI, UX, and front-end development.

I've survived both hot Texan summers and cold Russian winters. I also enjoy the usual stuff, such as video games, board games, improv and Ukrainian folk dancing.

I've always been fascinated by how things work, which is coincidentally how I got into web/application development. It involves a process of learning and problem-solving that never fails to intrigue me. These days, I'm trying to focus on User Experience, or "empathetic design," as I like to call it. I love the part of web design that is explicitly user-focused in its design and problem-solving. Lifeblue is an amazing place to nurture my inquisitiveness and ever-growing interests.

As a wee lad from the west coast my imagination was channeled into constant doodling. My passion for illustration grew with me into adulthood, followed me to Texas (yeehaw!), branched off and evolved into a love for all the things design-related. When I'm not working I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, indoors or out. I love to create things, whether it's drawing, playing with Legos, carpentry, or doing crafts with the kids. I love that Lifeblue allows me to be creative and collaborate with so many other creative people, in a culture that most places can't hold a candle to. I'm pretty even keel for the most part, but I can get pretty weird with those I'm closest to.

As a digital storyteller, I've helped companies and people craft their story into a creative piece audiences genuinely want to engage with and experience. It started with the written word, transitioning those skills over to video production and now I'm hard at work mastering the web with Lifeblue. No matter the medium, the world is but a canvas to our imagination. We've got a lot of colors at Lifeblue, and I intend to use them all.

I'm a husband, father and all-around fun dude. I've tried a lot of things to quench the adrenaline bug, but Scuba at Shark's Cove in Oahu has currently taken the top spot on most awesome things I've done.

Being a developer is awesome because it allows me to build things. It's a very 'techie' way to be hands on within the web's DIY movement.

Started from a farm now I'm here. My grandfather had me in his lap on a computer when I was 3 years old. Computers were always a part of my life, but it wasn't until college I discovered this amazing thing called Web Development. It consumed me, led me down a path of long nights and perusing Stackoverflow, and eventually scored me a job at the best company around, Lifeblue! I've had the opportunity to experience a lot of things, but not many can stand next to this place. That said, I'm just a simple has-been collegiate baseball player out here grinding.

I am a husband to an amazing wife, Angela. And father to 3 beautiful kids; Noah, Luke, and Caroline. I took an interesting path to get to where I am now. I went to college at DBU and got an undergrad and graduate degree in religious studies. I then spent about 7 years working in various ministries, while doing freelance development work no the side. About the time I got married, I took a job at a software company and eventually got into their QA department. From there, I came on to work at Lifeblue as a developer. I spent about 4 years here originally, and then went on to a couple other companies before returning to Lifeblue. The thing that drew me back to Lifeblue was that it had something that no other company has had - it felt like home. The work is challenging and fun, and the people are amazing and talented. Although we work extremely hard, coming to work feels more like getting to play with friends than it does actual work.

From history major, to Air Force Officer, to web design business owner, my path has been an interesting one. From a young age, I've always been fascinated with the idea of building a business, and as I got further into it, found that I enjoy all of the behind the scenes work that goes on to make a company successful. One of my favorite things about Lifeblue is watching new employees come on board. Because of the entrepreneurial nature of our culture, so many will take a process, method or product that existed before and make it better for all. The bar for quality here is never-ending.

I love to travel, as seeing and experiencing new places inspires me. I also really enjoy movies, football (although some here may call it soccer), DC Comics and the Internet. I thought I was good at Ping Pong as well, but then Barnhard beat me and smashed my confidence. I'll still take on the challenge.

At Lifeblue, I most love the diverse set of people and personalities, the atmosphere everyday in the office, and the culture.

I was always around sports growing up, as my father was a well-known sports publicist. Following somewhat in his footsteps, I went to the best sports management program in the country at UMass Amherst. My first entry-level job was with ESPN in New York, in their advertising department. I eventually moved on to start my sales career right here in Dallas with Frisco Roughriders. I moved on to management with the Staten Island Yankees, NBA's Indiana Pacers, Washington Nationals, and the Texas Rangers. I've spent nearly 20 years with 6 professional teams in sales including MLB, NBA, and minor league baseball. 

Personally, I love traveling, especially to the Caribbean (I've been to 5 islands), as well as playing sports with my kids (especially baseball). I enjoy playing Madden Football on Xbox, and spending time with family and on my own personal fitness. Professionally, I love helping companies solve their business challenges and figuring out how to best to drive revenue. 

My favorite thing about Lifeblue is the incredible level of collaboration and positivity/can-do attitude that exists here.

I got into IT administration and management at the inception of Information Systems after a center-ring bout with my parents -- I didn't want to major in what I considered a "girlie degree" of fashion merchandising. I grew up a "tom boy" -- working on cars, taking stuff apart and putting it back together, because I wanted to see how it worked. I have been coding, administering, hacking, and transforming for quite some time. My interests will always be in the trenches of coding and administration. I believe that maintaining my technical background will keep my skillset up-to-date with the latest in technologies.

My favorite thing about Lifeblue is our unspoken philosophy of "no (wo)man left behind." Everyone pitches in to help with a smile and compassion for the who needs support.

After studying Creative Advertising, Music, and Graphic Design at Southern Methodist University, I spent time as an Art Director at a magazine company. I soon became interested in translating design into the digital world, so I headed back to SMU to learn to code. My background in design and my new found love for development has given me a true passion for creating awesome user interfaces and experiences - and I'm thrilled to be able to do so along such a gifted and encouraging team here at Lifeblue!

Originally from the land down under: a place beneath Canada called Washington. I grew up on a steady diet of ice hockey, video games, and model cars. In high school, my interests switched from architecture to computer animation to computer programming.

I was blessed enough to work at Cyan Worlds for nearly a decade, building games on PC and iOS like the incredibly popular Myst. I moved my young family to north Texas in 2011 for a fresh start at Lifeblue coding for the web in PHP. In the years since then I've grown professionally in ways that little kid playing Chrono Trigger in his parent's basement could never have imagined.

I am originally from Chicago -- who would have thought moving to Texas would be one of the best things I could have done. I got hired by a great company, Lifeblue, and I can honestly say I enjoy going to work everyday! I have met some wonderful people at Lifeblue and I love how many fun events we have. If I am not in the office, I am at home busy taking care of my 2 boys and 2 rescue dogs. My family and I love to travel, spend time at the pool and attend baseball games. Since we are new to Texas, there is always something new to see or explore and we are enjoying every minute of it.

I started programming TI-83 calculators to cheat math exams in middle school. It was more work than the math which was an early indicator of what I was passionate about – coding. I've been developing ever since for web, indie games, devices, a dabble of machine learning and other binary adventures.

I'm a father, a craftsman, an outdoorsman, and a gamer. I love to camp and mountain bike. I love to spend time with my children and remodel/upgrade our home. I play video games and emphatically think that DOOM is one of the best games ever made.

Lifeblue's Results Only policy lets me work toward what I am passionate about, unfettered by stresses of trivial and frustrating rules. The people are genuine, devoid of unnecessary drama and filled with kindness and appreciation for one another. I enjoy that its smaller, close-knit, and that you actually know everyone whether or not you work with them on a daily basis.

Many moons ago, my brother introduced me to C++. Several years later, when I was 11, I stood up my first server, and my best friend secretly installed a trojan on it, which was inadvertently exploited by some rando in Eastern Europe. That was the moment I abandoned all noble pursuit of trust and kinship.

I love getting to be myself at Lifeblue and engaging with people individually and uniquely. In my spare time I enjoy reading, playing video games, and being lonely.

Xanadu is one of the worst movies ever made. It’s also my favorite.

As a kid, my dad introduced me to the dizzying ‘80s film, which features Olivia Newton-John roller skating around Gene Kelly to the sounds of Electric Light Orchestra. It’s weird, it’s campy and it honestly doesn’t make any sense.

That’s why I love it. I’ve always been drawn to the unexpected, which is why I got into journalism. From covering the chaos of the Texas legislature to reporting the region’s top breaking news stories at The Dallas Morning News, I’ve had the privilege of learning for a living and informing the public through my writing.

Pivoting to PR and marketing recently has let me use those skills to help organizations tell their stories in innovative ways. It’s all about homing in on what makes them different. Essentially, what’s their Xanadu?

I have this theory that every adult male in the John Hughes Cinematic Universe worked for the same Chicago advertising agency, so as a teenager, that’s where I aspired to be. Then, as an advertising major taking a required news reporting class in college, I saw All the President’s Men. I set up residence in the campus newspaper offices shortly thereafter.

I grew up during more than two decades of reporting, writing, editing and producing the news – including 21 years at my hometown paper, The Dallas Morning News – with a commitment to thoroughness, fairness and credibility.

I also fell in love with the art of digital storytelling and the power of reaching digital audiences. I grew to appreciate innovation, iteration and rapid change. And I came to learn that with a solid strategy, a brilliant message and a dynamic voice, all of us can be effective publishers.