Name: Rebecca Bollwitt
Occupation(s): Co-Founder of sixty4media, Founder/Editor-in-Chief of Miss604.com
Who is your role model: I look up to many people; my husband and my parents in particular. But, I’m inspired by legendary Vancouverites like E. Pauline Johnson and Chuck Davis.
What do you like most about your job: Being my own boss but also having my husband as a business partner for our website development company.
Daily ritual: Wake, walk, write, code WordPress websites.
The most rewarding part of my job is: With building websites, it’s giving companies the tools they need to excel online. With the blog, it’s sharing knowledge, helping non-profits, learning more about the city everyday, and doing plenty of giveaways. Organizing events like Blogathon and Twestival, to support global and local causes is incredibly rewarding as well.
What has been your biggest strength that’s helped you succeed in your industry? Persistence. When I started blogging the platform hadn't matured yet. It took time to become respectable, trusted, and part of a new, professional industry. There were many times I wanted to quit, but I had to adapt, grow, and learn as I went. The same thing with WordPress website development. It has grown from a blogging platform to being the platform that powers over 20% of the websites in existence. Everyone has to start from somewhere.
Memorable celebrity encounter/interview: I could say the Dalai Lama or Jane Goodall, or spending time with Trevor Linden or George Stroumboulopoulos, but I think when I met the guys from the band Less Than Jake it meant the most. I built my first website in 1997 as a tribute to the Florida punk/ska band and in 2009 I interviewed them at the Commodore. It meant a lot to have come so far in my online career.
Photographs provided by Nordica Photography.
Favourite quote: I recently found this one and really liked it: “If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got.” from W. L. Bateman but I also enjoy this sassy one from the Iron Lady: “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.” - Margaret Thatcher.
Describe your personal style: Not sure I have a personal style. I used to live in jeans and t-shirts acquired at tech conferences with clever social media sayings on them. Now I live in jeans and tops from RW&Co and The Bay. Shout out to Vancouver designer Malene Grotrian though, she dressed me for the NHL Awards in Las Vegas last summer.
Dream vacation spot? I’d love to vacation in the South of France, visiting family in Germany, or hiking up to Machu Pichu with my husband. In terms of sunny & warm with no work involved, I've always had my eye on the Four Seasons Bora Bora.
What is your favourite thing to take pictures of? Vancouver plain and simple. From the gumball-speckled sidewalks to those days when you look over at the mountains and can point out every single evergreen.
What has been your favourite event to attend? I love the City of Surrey’s events like Fusion Festival, they’re always so organized, have a great line up of bands, and great food choices. We Day is also a favourite to cover since it’s so inspirational and they bring in amazing speakers (like the Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev, etc.)
Describe your personal style: Not sure I have a personal style. I used to live in jeans and t-shirts acquired at tech conferences with clever social media sayings on them. Now I live in jeans and tops from RW&Co and The Bay. Shout out to Vancouver designer Malene Grotrian though, she dressed me for the NHL Awards in Las Vegas last summer.
Dream vacation spot? I’d love to vacation in the South of France, visiting family in Germany, or hiking up to Machu Pichu with my husband. In terms of sunny & warm with no work involved, I've always had my eye on the Four Seasons Bora Bora.
What is your favourite thing to take pictures of? Vancouver plain and simple. From the gumball-speckled sidewalks to those days when you look over at the mountains and can point out every single evergreen.
What has been your favourite event to attend? I love the City of Surrey’s events like Fusion Festival, they’re always so organized, have a great line up of bands, and great food choices. We Day is also a favourite to cover since it’s so inspirational and they bring in amazing speakers (like the Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev, etc.)
Favourite Restaurant: I love our local West End places like Nook and Wild Garlic but I’d have to say our most memorable dining experiences have been with Araxi in Whistler.
What is your biggest indulgence? Dark chocolate… and watching “cake shows” (as my husband calls them) on Food Network.
If there was more time in the day you would: Jog the seawall every morning.
Favourite social network: Twitter, hands down. It connects us all with such quick updates and it’s been an invaluable asset to my blog. One week it beat out Google as the #1 referring website for my blog.
Favourite Blog: I love VancouverisAwesome.com but it’s much more than a blog. They have interviews, daily and weekly features, amazing guest authors, and always have such a positive tone when it comes to our region.
Where do you go for good ideas? VancouverHistory.ca
Last song you downloaded: Leave it Alone by Manchester Orchestra (from iTunes).
What is the most challenging thing you have ever done? In my blogging career, it would be staying up for Blogathon (blogging every 30 minutes for 24 hours, for charity) and embarking on some incredible (and sometimes frightening) adventures like going to Ghana, rappelling down a building, or staying overnight in a haunted Ghost Town hotel.
What are you obsessed with right now? Baseball. I always hated it but since reading WP Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe (the book upon which Field of Dreams was based), visiting the Field of Dreams movie site in Iowa (near where my husband grew up), and going to Canadians or Mariners games, I have a new-found appreciation for the game. The sport still hasn't gripped me entirely but the fan experience, the history, the nostalgia… all of it is fascinating.
Photograph provided by John Bollwitt.
Any other comments/thoughts you’d like to add: I split my day between coding/developing WordPress websites for North American businesses and writing on Miss604.com. While I covered about 70,000 kms in travel in 2011, I’ll be staying closer to home in 2012 and possibly working on another book.
CountDown Events would like to thank Rebecca for being our #FF of the week. You can see Rebecca’s wonderful blog by visiting her at Miss604.com and don’t forget to connect with her on twitter @Miss604
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