About Steve

From Frozen Fingers to Profitable Web Design
Back in the day, I was a photojournalist in upstate New York, chasing stories and freezing my fingers off. I hadn’t figured out how to make mittens and camera equipment work together. A personal highlight was covering the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

Eventually, I traded snowy mountain peaks for sunny Florida beaches, moving to Clearwater where I started blending photography with design—creating brochures for hotels and resorts. That was back in 1986, when design was a bit more predictable. An 8.5×11 page was an 8.5×11 page. Simple.

Then the late ’90s happened. I dove headfirst into web design during the wild west days of GeoCities—you know, when animated GIFs ruled the internet, neon green text on black backgrounds was considered “edgy,” and website backgrounds were so busy you couldn’t make out the text. Those were dark times. (For the record, I used Dreamweaver—I had some standards.)

The Technology That Didn’t Exist Yet
Growing up, I wanted to be an architect—to design and build things. I didn’t realize that what I wanted to do didn’t exist yet: website architecture, content strategy, web design and development, Photoshop, and all the technology woven in between. As a lifelong learner, I thrive in this constantly changing environment, staying up on the latest digital tools.

Fast forward to today, and while we’ve thankfully moved past dancing hamsters and Comic Sans, web design remains challenging—especially when it comes to making a decent profit. Unlike the 8.5×11 page that stays 8.5×11, a webpage is fluid—it can have 2 sections or 20, look completely different on desktop versus mobile, and somehow your client’s perfectly chosen brand blue mysteriously turns purple on their ancient 2012 monitor.

Why Savvy Rooster Exists
After decades of navigating these challenges—and learning some expensive lessons along the way—I realized that many graphic designers diving into web design struggle not because they lack design skills, but because they lack the business systems to make it profitable.

This is exactly why I created Savvy Rooster. To help graphic designers stop feeling overwhelmed by web design and turn it into a significant profit center for their business.

We tackle all the stuff they don’t teach in design school: how to price projects so you actually make money, how to spot problem clients before they become problems, and how to keep projects from spiraling out of scope.

Because having great design skills is just the foundation—knowing how to price them, position them, and profit from them is what separates the successful designers from the struggling ones.

When I’m Not Working
I love to explore new destinations and disconnect at state and national parks and hike. I always travel with my camera. (Once a photographer, always a photographer.) I’ve hiked all 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains (in my younger, more ambitious days), and I share my home with a cat who’s convinced he’s the CEO and I’m just the guy who opens the food cans.

My travel wish list includes all the places with spectacular scenery: Alaska, Austria’s Lakes District, England’s Cotswolds, France’s Burgundy region, Italy’s Tuscany, New Zealand, and Switzerland. Plus about a dozen national parks across the American West.

My steadfast conviction? If you’re going to do something, do it right.