Software
Education
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AI4-minute read
In 2016, GoDaddy acquired WP Curve, a WordPress support business that had just blown up over the previous two years.
My first thought was that GoDaddy would ruin that business (and they did).
My second thought was, how can I benefit from this growing trend in the WordPress space?
Getting in on the Action
By the start of 2017, I had started WP Mantis, a WordPress support and maintenance business.
My big idea was to build this business so that I could sell it in a couple of years, as WP Curve did.
The first “agency” business I built was all about me. My clients called me the fixer and knew Chris could help them.
I knew it would be impossible to sell a business tied to one person, so I decided to separate myself from the results side of the business.
I structured the business to be faceless.
I was the Director of Operations on the front end, but behind the seance, I operated as everything else: support, project manager, billing, etc., all from behind avatars.
Nobody knew they were working with me, and I expected that as I grew, I would eventually hire people to fill these roles, and I did for some of them.
Things went well, but I would later realize at a considerable cost. Not only financial but also personal.
It Ended My Personal Brand
During my first several years in the industry, I became known as the ‘fixer’ by my clients. They knew that if they had a problem, they could call or email Chris, and he could help.
This brought other challenges, but things that could have been resolved without going faceless.
Operating in the shadows meant I wasn’t building a relationship with any of my customers, and they didn’t see my value.
Not that I needed the recognition, but what if my plans changed? What if I wanted to do something later (enter 2025) with my personal brand?
Nobody knows Chris Eggleston as the mastermind behind all of those solved issues.
I segmented out my social posts, not publishing business-related stuff on my personal accounts, which resulted in not posting at all.
If the company was a mainstream business or sold for a bunch of money, I could leverage that to expand my personal brand, but that didn’t/hasn’t happened.
My Identity Crisis
Ultimately, I spent the past five years trying to figure out what to do with my career because I had lost sight of who I am.
I bounced around, trying to figure out how to get the lifestyle I wanted without being who I was.
I would even leave the industry to work as a laborer just to escape the pain and frustration of not knowing.
The disappointment of failing over and over again.
This ‘reset’ or ‘time-out’ led me to land my dream job and move me closer to finding my identity.
To read more of the details about this identity journey, check out this post here.
My Golden Opportunity
At the end of 2024, I would realize my identity and fully embrace it.
I am a problem solver. This is my gift.
To further solidify this, I read Software as a Science, which changed how I looked at and solved problems.
But right about this time, I was frustrated with invoicing.
I needed to invoice a couple of clients, but Stripe wanted to charge me an additional 5% to send an invoice. Other SaaS solutions were charging $11/mo or more.
I didn’t want to pay any of these fees for the one or two invoices I would need to send in a month.
Then I thought, can I build my own invoicing system?
I spent about three weeks piecing together a solution with Gravity Forms.
The result was clunky, but it was a proof of concept that would prove I could solve problems with software.
That dream job I mentioned was at Gravity Forms, and this was the golden opportunity sitting right in front of me.
What’s Next
I’ll continue to run and grow WP Mantis, but I will also be putting a ton of effort into growing my personal brand as your Chief Problem Solver.
The goal is to use software to do more than just build websites; I want to create solutions that solve more significant problems.
I want to be a part of taking Gravity Forms to the next level from the inside.
Final Thought
The journey wasn’t linear, but it led me to clarity: solving problems is my superpower, and I’m ready to use it to create meaningful solutions and share them with you.
