The WV Coding Club recently had Joel Bennett, Creative Director / Owner of the Aronfield Agency as its speaker for the students.
Aronfield Agency (https://aronfield.com) works with businesses and organizations with branding & identity, web development & SEO, mobile app development, graphic design & Illustration, video production & animation, marketing / public relations / social media.
Joel Bennett shared he was from Beckley, West Virginia, though he has been in the Charleston, WV area for about the last 10 years.
Until age 15, Joel didn’t have a computer, so he walked after school a couple miles to go to the library to use a computer. He looked at the source code of html pages to try to reverse engineer and learn. At that time there was barely any information out there (like YouTube videos today, etc.), so he had to do more hands-on trial and error.
When he was able to get his first computer, Joel could really experiment with coding. He also learned to upgrade his computer, installing parts himself. Joel also had a small group of friends helping each other learn by challenging each other. These friends have all gone into careers in the Tech world.
When he was 16 he started building computers, learning about the technology and functions. This helped him prepare for many job opportunities that he explored. He was hired for a temporary position at Dell computer, traveling around Kentucky, then was hired on full-time. He also worked in Minnesota, moving around to different opportunities.
Joel has worked in different places, but found a way to come back to WV and make a career here. Soon he connected with Staples and worked into the Computer Sales / Tech Repair section, helping the store grow its business significantly. After realizing there was no more opportunity there and creating side work for himself in his free time, he realized he could do better on his own.
In June 2010, Joel started his business. His middle name is Aron and he wanted his business to incorporate a variety of services and thought the word "Field" helped to encompass that. In working on a TV commercial with a Cable company, he learned they would only work with "Agencies". So, from that, Aronfield Agency was born.
Joel explained that they have interns working at his business. He gets them involved in the various aspects to see what area(s) they might be interested in and more passionate about. Some are college students, but others are not, they are just interested in this type of work. Everyone has a different way of learning and this process helps connect them with areas they can potentially succeed.
Joel shared that they use Slack to communicate with their team on different projects. In developing ideas and working on projects, Joel still uses post-its and traditional planner book, to look at what to do next. He has been thinking about satellite offices and moving home base to have more of a storefront for customers.
Joel shared a poster he made on Nov 13, 2009, charting out various ideas he wanted to do and potential business opportunities to develop. He has kept and still refers to that poster as there is more he wants to accomplish to grow his business. This is a great example of planning your work and then working your plan.
Advice from Joel - Don’t let things stop you from working towards your goals!
Dan McElroy, President of the West Virginia Coding Club emphasized, “Joel is a wonderful example of what it means to be an entrepreneur and it was a great lesson for our students to hear.”
Thank you Joel Bennett for speaking with our WV Coding Club students! Keep Coding!
