David Lockie is Pragmatic’s Founder & Director. As a WordPress expert and with a client-centric approach, he ensures we build our clients beautiful, functional, professional WordPress websites that add value to businesses. As leader of the friendly, WordPress-nuts, Pragmatic pack, David understands the importance of looking after his hardworking team. David’s WordPress specialism is web development, which he still works with frequently today. With a background in Zoology, David brings a lot of nature qualities to the business (you might have seen our fun, animal imagery in our blog posts and artwork around the office!).
Read our Q&A interview with WordPress expert David Lockie below:
How long have you been working with WordPress? What are your first memories of it?
I’ve been working with WordPress for the last 8 years (since 2008). My first memories of WordPress involve sitting in a rented flat in the evenings after finishing day job trying to get WordPress working on my Windows laptop and succeeding.
When and why did you start Pragmatic?
I started in Pragmatic in January 2012 after working as a WordPress developer. I found I was too busy to do all the work that there was to do on my own, and needed to share the load.
What do you enjoy most about running Pragmatic?
The best things about running Pragmatic are the people. The team is the number 1 most important thing for the business and therefore for me too.
I also enjoy working with our clients. A lot of developers see clients as a pain or as a problem but I really enjoy meeting and getting to know the clients that we work with. I’ve always taken a lot of inspiration from our clients and collaborators because they’re some of the most motivated and interesting people that you’ll ever meet.
What experiences (work experience / qualifications / life) do you have that help you run Pragmatic?
Before I started working with WordPress I was building small bits of a web marketplace and that’s where I learnt to do any kind of coding. Before that, I did some temping at Ericsson and that’s where I learnt about proper computing, not the rubbish stuff you learn about at school or university. That’s where I got into computing.
What’s your greatest achievement since you started Pragmatic?
Building our capable, knowledgeable team. Having them on board has meant I’ve been able to go on holiday for 4 weeks and not have to worry about the business because I knew it was in safe hands.
What do you like most about web development?
The fact that anyone can learn from anyone else anywhere anytime.
What’s your must-have function in a WordPress website?
A form, because most of the time with most websites the aim is for people to get in touch with you.
What’s your favourite WP feature compared to other CMSs
Not so much a feature but I like how almost anyone can get up and running with it and it is a very inclusive community so that whether you’re a total amateur or a total professional you can still find ways to learn more and get involved.
If you were an animal, what animal would you be (and why)?
An orangutan. They’re pretty cool.