Carrie Forde
carrieforde.com | @CarrieForde
Carrie spent the first eight years of her career wrangling sales data in the tech industry. While on work assignment in the UK, she attended a blogging workshop where she was introduced to WordPress. After spending several weekends learning about WordPress child themes, Carrie set up her first WordPress site, California Love Letters, and realized WordPress and front-end development is where her true passion lies.
After moving back to California, Carrie had an opportunity to pursue her passion, and enrolled in the Graphic & Interactive Design program at Foothill College where she learned about the graphic design process, and how to properly write HTML and CSS. Before graduating from her program, Carrie created her first theme from scratch on the Genesis framework, and realized that developing on WordPress is what she wanted to do for a living.
When she’s not doing front-end development, you can find Carrie at home cuddling with her four cats K2, Whitney, Minnie, and Paul; enjoying a latte or cold brew at a nearby coffee shop; or exploring the greater San Francisco Bay Area with my husband Darren.
WordCamp Session Title
Supercharge Theme Development with Component Libraries
Why Is This Important?
I have a passion for atomic design, pattern libraries, and modularly building websites. I also have a passion for making the development process as frictionless as possible. This talk takes two things I’m really stoked about, and gives the audience some ideas for making tweaks to their processes to improve their workflow.
How Did You Discover WordPress?
I discovered WordPress after attending a blogging workshop in London in 2013. At the time, I was using Blogger, but the ladies running the workshop highly recommended WordPress because of its flexibility and extensibility. After a few bumps initially, I bought my own domain, created a child theme, and became hooked on both WordPress and development.
How Do You Use WordPress?
I focus on developing the front-end / visitor-facing part of WordPress websites, which typically includes writing HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and some templating PHP. I dabble in plugin development, and occasionally write posts for my personal website.
How Has WordPress Impacted You?
WordPress had a pretty huge impact on my career trajectory. I used to work in the business side of a tech company, but after crunching numbers and wrangling data for eight years, I was given the opportunity to explore other career options. I decided to go back to school for graphic design, but was always more interested in coding, and WordPress is largely to blame for that interest. 😀
What Do You Do When Not Working?
When I’m not working, I enjoy exploring the greater Bay Area with my husband Darren, tinkering on small household projects, and cuddling my four cats, K2, Whitney, Minnie, and Paul.
What Is Your Favorite Candy?
I got hooked on Bounty Bars while I lived in the UK, and I snatch them up whenever I see them here in the States.