I was invited to speak at the largest WordPress event of the year which was certainly a privilege. It was held in San Francisco just a short bike ride from my office.

The company I founded, AppThemes was one of the pioneers of “app themes” which meant WordPress users were keen to hear about our industry and how it was developing.

Normally I turn down these sort of speaking invitations because I don’t like public speaking (like most people). But since it was something I was passionate about, I took the opportunity to challenge myself and represent my company on stage.

Prior to our session (Making Money And Having Fun Selling WordPress Themes), I was sweating bullets and felt like I was going to die. Of course it didn’t end up being as bad as I thought. I actually enjoyed it once I got up there. It’s like my old basketball days – right before a game I’d get butterflies in the stomach. I knew how to cope with it when I can relate to it like that.

I presented with two other very popular WordPress theme shop CEOs – Brian Gardner (StudioPress) and Drew Strojny (The Theme Foundry). Both are super cool and successful guys living the dream.

Lance Willett was the moderator (Automattic employee) and did a great job overall. The event was packed and we had lots of questions from the audience.

Overall, the session was a success and I really enjoyed getting to know those guys and present with them.


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