Hallway Chats Topher DeRosia and Nyasha Green

Introducing Nancy Lyons







CEO and co-founder of Clockwork, an enterprise web development company in Minneapolis MN. We’ve known her through the internet for years, and it was a delight to get to talk to her in this episode.







Show Notes







https://www.nancylyons.com/







https://www.clockwork.com/







Transcript:







Topher: Hey everybody, welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m Topher, your host, and my regular co-host is Nyasha and she’s here. 







Nyasha: Hey, I’m Nyasha.







Topher: And I stepped on her introduction, and I’m sorry. 







Nyasha: It’s okay.







Topher: Before we get going, I want to say thanks to Nexcess for our hosting, and for sponsoring us. They’re good friends. They’re good hosts. They have some really cool WooCommerce automated testing. I don’t know anybody else that does that. Automated testing is awesome, and will save you time and money. They have a cool Sales Performance Monitor and a plugin performance monitor to keep your store running super fast. 







All right, our guest today is Nancy Lyons. Welcome. 







Nyasha: Thank you. Thanks for having me.







Topher: You’re welcome. The first time I ever heard of you was my wife and I bought a remote ticket to Prestige Home and we put it on TV. So we watched your talk on TV. And as it was going, it was like, is it too late to get there? How many hours is it to Minneapolis? And we decided we probably couldn’t get there before you were done. Then we came back the next year just to meet you and you weren’t there.







Nancy: That’s rude.







Topher: I’ve been mad at you ever since. 







Nancy: I’m just glad that you liked the talk. But I feel like we’ve talked off and on over the years on Twitter.







Topher: Yeah. 







Nancy: Like when I realized who this podcast was with, I was like, “Oh, I know that guy. He and his wife are like a power couple of WordPress. Power couple.” 







Nyasha: Oh, yeah. 







Nancy: Right?







Topher: Yeah. Well, we try. Yeah, I thought it was funny because usually I get requests all the time, all the time from office assistants. Hey, my boss is somebody who is so awesome. You really want to have him on your podcast. I’m just so tired of them, I just delete them almost out of hand. I literally was like, “Nancy? Oh, well, yeah, let’s do that.”







Nancy: Sweet. I’m glad I didn’t get deleted. You know, we are on a growth mission, so we have a relatively new, about 18 months chief growth officer. And one of her tactics in the broader marketing plan is just a podcast campaign. So she’s actually working with a booking agency to identify relevant podcasts where, you know, I might be a helpful guest. And then they’re doing the outreach, which is weird for me too. Like, they do the whole media kit, and then they sell me.







So I actually had a recording earlier today even and it’s weird to do a couple of recordings in the same day because then you’re like, did I say this already? Is this menopause? But it’s actually been fun because I’ve met, you know,

Introducing Evelyn Maina







Evelyn is a very unusual guest in that we brought her into the WordPress community! Years ago when Liam and Tara started this podcast they hired Evelyn as their transcriber. Since then, Evelyn has gotten to know more than 175 WordPressers by transcribing their interviews here on Hallway Chats. Her perspective as an “outsider” was quite heartwarming.







Show Notes







https://havenscribe.com/







https://glowfaceportal.co.ke/







https://www.linkedin.com/in/evalyn-maina/







Transcript:







Topher: Hey everyone, my name is Topher. 







Nyasha: And my name is Nyasha. 







Topher: And this is Hallway Chats. We’d like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, Nexcess, a Liquid Web. brand. Nexcess has been a solid web host for the entire HeroPress Network. So if you need hosting, check them out. 







Our guest today is Evelyn. Welcome. 







Evelyn: Thank you.







Topher: You know, I said that the American ways. Is it right? Just the normal way? 







Evelyn: Yes. Right.







Topher: Okay.







Evelyn: Yes. 







Topher: So by way of introduction, Evelyn does the transcription for Hallway Chats and a lot of stuff at HeroPress, and has been magnificent. So I feel like she’s already a part of the WordPress community because she read so much of our stuff. But that said, I know almost nothing about you, Evelyn. I don’t know your last name. I know you live in Kenya?







Evelyn: Yes.







Topher: And that you do transcription. That’s it. So who are you? 







Evelyn: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate. My name is Evelyn Maina. I’m an accountant by profession. 







Topher: Oh.







Nyasha: Wow. 







Evelyn: Yes. So here in Kenya we call it CPAK, and I have a degree in finance. 







Topher: Okay. 







Evelyn: So I started transcription since 2016. So that’s what I’ve been doing all along. And kind of like I no longer practice accounting. 







Topher: Okay. So you’re a full-time transcriptionist now? 







Evelyn: Yes. 







Topher: Okay. What made you get into that, and what made you fall in love it so much that you quit your current job? 







Evelyn: Well, it was actually by accident, I would say. Back in 20… actually 2015 I was working in an insurance company and I got exhausted at some point. I would get anxious and stuff like that, so I decided to take a break from accounting, and from that firm I was working for. And as I was doing that, at some point, I went back to that company to pick up a check that I had left. And a friend of mine told me… because the idea was to take a break for three months, and then get back to it. 







Meanwhile, within that three months, the idea was to find another job. And I went back to that company, my friend gave me a contact of a person and she said, “By the way, there’s a way this friend of mine who work online…” She actually said “work online.” She never mentioned transcription.

Introducing Aisha Adams and Marcus Burnette at WordCamp Birmingham







In February Topher and Cate went to WordCamp Birmingham and Topher was able to interview both Aisha Adams and Marcus Burnette in the hallway.







Aisha’s Links:









* https://aishaadamsmedia.com/







* https://wordpress.tv/speakers/aisha-adams/







* https://www.facebook.com/aishaadamsmediagroup









Marcus’ Links









* https://mburnette.com/







* https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/







* https://wordpress.tv/speakers/marcus-burnette/









Transcript:







Topher: Hey folks, welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m your host Topher. This week we have an interesting collection of Hallway Chats from WordCamp Birmingham. A few months ago, Kate and I went down to work in Birmingham, and I got to talk with Aisha and Marcus. We’re going to listen to both of those interviews in this hour today. 







But before we get started, I want to say thanks to our sponsor Nexcess. They’ve been really good to us and a faithful companion for a long time now. If you’re looking for a good web host, check out Nexcess. 







Hey, folks, this is Topher. I’m at WordCamp Birmingham. I’m here with Aisha, and we’re having an honest-to-goodness hallway chat right here in the lobby of the venue. Aisha, where are you from? 







Aisha: Hi, I’m so excited to be here. Actually, I’m originally from Birmingham, Alabama. 







Topher: Wow.







Aisha: And that is why WordPress, y’all, is so important. 







Topher: Good. You said “originally”. Are you still from here or did you go away? 







Aisha: I actually live in Asheville. Asheville, North Carolina.







Topher: Okay. All right. Awesome. So I don’t know the South. Is that very far away? Do you fly?







Aisha: It’s about six hours away. Have you not been to WordPress AVL?







Topher: No.







Aisha: WordPress AVL. You gotta come to WordCamp AVL.







Topher: Okay. 







Aisha: You gotta try it out. 







Topher: I will do that. Did you drive or fly to get here? 







Aisha: We drove. Actually, my husband… Whenever I do WordCamp, he’s like, “Let me just drop you off.” So he dropped me off and took a trip to Atlanta without me. 







Topher: Oh. That’s not so bad.







Aisha: So I’m here with all my friends and enjoying… Just enjoying being with… It’s been so long since we’ve been together, you know? 







Topher: Yeah. Oh, that’s great. So why are you here? What do you do for WordPress? 







Aisha: Mostly just have a good time and meet people and learn a lot of things. But I like to get back to the community that gives so much to me. So today I spoke on diversity, equity, and inclusion. And when I’m not speaking on DEI,

Believe it or not, this is Robert's second time on Hallway Chats! His first was back in 2017 with Liam and Tara. Since Ny and Topher had never talked to him on here, we decided to give it another go!

In November 2022 Topher went to WordCamp Italy in Milan. While there he had several conversations with attendees and sponsors.







Episode Transcript







Topher: Hey folks, welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m your host Topher. This week is going to be a little bit different from usual. This last November, I had the opportunity to go to WordCamp Italy in Milan, or WordCamp Italia in Milano, depending on how your mama says it. 







While I was there, I got to have some actual in-person hallway chats with a number of people. And this week is going to be an aggregation of five of them. So you’re going to get to meet five really cool people that I have the opportunity to interview, and I hope you find them just as great as I did.







[00:00:40] 







Hey, everybody, this is Topher. I’m at WordCamp Italia in Milano, and I’m here with-







James: James Baldacchino.







Topher: James, why are you here? 







James: That’s good question. I’m here because I met two of the organizers in WordCamp US who told me it was coming up, and I said, why not? They also asked me whether I’ve been interested in applying to for a talk. My first reaction was, would I do? So I applied, they liked it, and here I am. 







Topher: That’s great. So you were at WordCamp US in San Diego? 







James: Yeah. That was fun. 







Topher: Did we meet and I forgot? 







James: Yes. 







Topher: I’m sorry. 







James: You met a lot of people.







Topher: I did. All right. Cool. So how did you get into WordPress? 







James: I joined Ellipsis 18 months ago. As simple as that. I’ve been using WordPress personally, of course, like most other people for a long, long time but I never realized there was such a huge community and such huge industry behind it. I have found WordPress incredibly useful. For example, when I was in a marketing job, which had zero budget, and I pulled together a lot of great websites for very low price. I loved it. But I never knew it was a beautiful shock to find out-







Topher: That’s a great word—beautiful shock. 







James: Yeah. 







Topher: When did you first realize the community was like that? Was it at WordCamp Us or did you find the community online? 







James: To be honest, the first year of working with WordPress, there was no WordCamp because it was all online because of the pandemic. WordCamps just cemented. But before, what made me realize what a tight-knit community this is was the fact that such a lot of information is shared so freely. 







Topher: Ah, yes. 







James: And there’s a lot of it as well. I’m coming from industries where if you have information, you don’t publish it, because you don’t want your competitors to know.







Topher: Right. Right. Proprietary.







James: So it was shocking and it was wonderful. I said, okay, then there must be more to this than what I realize.







Topher: And then you went to WordCamp?







James: And then I went to WordCamp Europe, which was massive. 







Topher: Oh, Porto? 







James: Yes. 







Topher: Did we meet there and I forgot?







James: No. 

Topher and Sophia met with Benjamin Zekavica and Moritz Bappert, both WordCamp Europe 2023 volunteers.







Show Notes







Episode Transcript







Topher: Hey everyone! Welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m Topher and my co-host is Sofia. 







Sophia: Hello. 







Moritz: Hi. Nice to meet you. 







Benjamin: Nice to meet you two.







Topher: It’s great having you here. Once again, our guests are from WordCamp Europe. Please tell us your names and what your role is for WordCamp.







Benjamin: I’m Benjamin. I’m 24 years old, and I’m a volunteer here at the WordCamp. I am the photographer and photographer organizer to take the picture from the SD card to the computer and to give it to the social media team. And I’m really happy to be here today.







Topher: Great.







Moritz: So my name is [Moritz? 00:05:05] and I’m here for the second time on WordCamp Europe, first time as a volunteer. So I’m excited about that. I was on the sponsors team today, helping the sponsors with everything they needed. And one more shift that I have is as a speakers assistant, so calming down the speakers before their speech, and then guiding them to the stage, and helping with anything else. 







Topher: Cool. Did you say this is your second WordCamp? Europe? 







Moritz: Yes. I’ve been at one in Berlin in 2019.







Topher: I was there. And Benjamin, it’s just your first WordCamp Europe? 







Benjamin: No, it’s my second. I was also in Berlin. 







Topher: I was there too. 







Benjamin: My volunteer is now first time and I’m really happy to be here. Because after COVID it’s now a freedom to have again here with much people to communicate and so on. I’m really happy to have our life back. 







Topher: Yeah, yeah. So where are you each from? Where do you live? 







Moritz: I’m from the Black Forest area in Germany at the very southwest, bordering France and Switzerland. 







Topher: All right. 







Benjamin: I live in Aachen. It’s near Cologne. It’s wonderful, small city.







Topher: Very nice. It’s morning for us. I don’t want to say early morning anymore because I don’t want to seem like I don’t get up early. But it’s midafternoon of day two for you. How’s it been? Are things going well? Is it smooth? Having fun?







Benjamin: I think we are a little bit tired. Now it’s okay. I think it’s completely good for us to work, I think, four hours, if not more, and it’s really good for us. It’s not the full day. And you can choose your shifts. It, for me personally, was relaxed and good. I was really happy because to see the attendees. I was really happy with the speakers that was known for more different things and learned other new technical things. I am really proud about that. 







Topher: That’s cool. 







Moritz: For me, it’s really exciting in that way. Of course, it’s also exhausting because I’m talking to so many inspiring people and I’m like all over the place. I’m having lots of fun. The party yesterday night was nice. There’s gonna be a party too this night and tomorrow night. So it’s a lot. You need to see how you’re managing everything. But yeah,