For the past 11 years, a little corner of my identity has been tied to one company.
Or maybe more accurately… several versions of the same company.
It started in a tiny office in Edmond at iThemes. I still remember Monday lunches with the team, laughing until we cried, and feeling genuinely excited to go to work every day. It really did feel like a family back then. We had dinners together, parties together, and somehow, work became more than just work.
I’ll always be grateful to Elise for helping me get that job because I truly had no idea at the time how much it would shape such a huge part of my life.
Over the years, things changed. iThemes became part of Liquid Web. Then came StellarWP as more WordPress software companies joined together under one umbrella. Eventually, iThemes rebranded into SolidWP. Nexcess stepped in. More consolidation happened. Teams shifted. Products shifted. The company evolved over and over again.
And honestly? It was strange sometimes.
Not bad strange. Just the kind of strange that happens when something grows and changes so much over time that it slowly becomes something different than where it started.
Now, the Stellar brands are being folded further into Liquid Web, and products like SolidWP will eventually become features within the remaining software brands. For SolidWP, that future is Kadence.
And weirdly enough, even though I’m no longer there, I’m still excited to see where that goes. I think Kadence has a lot of potential, and part of me wishes I could’ve seen the transition all the way through.
That’s probably the hardest part right now. Everything feels a little incomplete.
There’s also a strange numbness to all of this. For 11 years, this job was just part of my life. Part of my routine. Part of how I saw myself. And now suddenly I’m sitting here wondering what comes next and realizing I haven’t even interviewed for a job since 2015.
That feels surreal to say out loud.
But I also know life is full of chapters, and this was a really important one.
It gave me friendships, memories, opportunities, growth, and more laughter than I think most people get to experience at work. I learned so much from so many people over the years, and I’ll genuinely carry that with me.
So now I guess I figure out what’s behind the next door.
And while I don’t totally know what that looks like yet… I think I’m ready to find out.