A New Phase of My Life

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I am excited, and a bit nervous, to announce that I am officially setting off on my own as an independent developer/consultant for hire. This is a very big move for me, and I am enormously excited for what tomorrow will bring.

One might ask why I am making this change; especially given the turbulent economy. Lets just say it really felt like the right time to do something new. I yearn to explore beyond my previous role, and start up new projects/businesses where I find opportunity. It is very easy to think 'maybe next year' and settle into what feels comfortable, pushing off ambition and change forever. I find that real learning and growth often comes from change and the confronting the uncomfortable. Having a supportive and understanding wife helps a lot as well.

I am also profoundly sad to be leaving my friends and colleagues. I have worked at Harbour Light and then at Savvy Software (they are sister companies) for about 14 years. This encompasses the entirety of my professional life thus far. Virtually everything in my life has changed in that time except my job, and the people I work with. I owe everyone a huge helping of thanks for the great times, personal growth, opportunities, learning, and friendship. They have been with me through many important phases of my life, and it is more than a little emotional for me to write this right now. Lets just leave it at that.

The good news is that I will still be working with them time to time. A fact that has been more comforting to me then I had initially expected. I have great confidence in the future of Savvy CMS. I love the product and the customers, and am excited to continue to be involved wherever they need me. Savvy Software will be forging ahead without me with ease and their future is bright. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us in the upcoming year.

I also want to take a moment to thank the wonderful and inspirational online community that I often hang out with. I have met many developers from all over the globe--at conferences such as CFUnited, CF.Objective(), RIAUnleashed, NCDevCon, MAX and more. Twitter, blogs, and other social websites have added a great new facet to the community over the past couple years, of which I am also deeply appreciative. It is the CF community that is probably the most inspiring to me. Great job trouble makers, I blame you. ;-)

Regarding the future, I have a couple of clients already lined up. I am interested in talking to others, should there be a good fit. The business model I am looking at involves a small number of clients in a retainer role. X number of hours a month package essentially. I am still ironing out the details, but so far I think it is a great model for certain clients and for me as well.

I plan to be more active in the ColdFusion/Adobe community as well as the local tech/entrepreneur scene. The local area here has a lot of potential, and a lot of great people. I hope to make a few announcements in that regard in the near future.

With my new path I also aim to become much more versed in some of the new technology appearing every day. Part of the reason for my change is to give myself more time to learn. I also plan to blog the exciting and boring phases of my journey. I shall be writing about my struggles and triumphs when it makes sense to do so. Most importantly I am keenly interested in experiences of others and their feedback. The road I am taking is not a new one. I seek the wisdom of those who walk this rocky road.

My contact information will also change. My email and IM is now jcyr at joshuacyr.com. Phone is also new, ending in 4143. If you don't already have that new cell number, email/IM me and I will get you the updated details. I have a one page about me site at joshuacyr.com. Oh, and I should mention my new LLC for all of this. Cyr Initiative, LLC

Thanks again for being a part of my journey.