My name is Sandra Brownrigg, and I’m a Colorado-based writer, with more than a smidgen of Southern. In my day job, I oversee the Ornery Rooster and his hens; feed and water the snowflake quail; and serve as goatherd and cheese whiz at Big Dawg Farms. I also am a wife, mother, friend, volunteer, dog lover and Episcopalian. Here at sandrabrownrigg.com, you’ll find musings on family life, country living, travel, animals and whatever else may strike my fancy on any given day.
Prior to my current bucolic life, I had a marketing and online technology consultancy called Amplify. I worked with businesses for profit and not-for-profit, that wanted to improve their authentic online presence. Prior to consulting, I spent over twenty years in various facets of high tech, where I was responsible for multi-million dollar products and programs at various times and places. I also taught college, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I started off as the product manager for Fastback Plus, the best-selling backup utility way back in the day, manufactured by Fifth Generation Systems. Also a marketing manager at Lotus Development Company, I left to build Citrix Systems’ first website while I was the product marketing manager for WinFrame. Then, I started my own website development and enterprise consulting company in 1996; kept it running while I managed online commerce – gateway.com, gateway.net, and the corporate and education sites — for Gateway, Inc during their heyday in the late 90s.
Next, I worked for a small enterprise software company called 2WAY in Seattle as vice president of marketing. We built sophisticated survey software for large enterprises. We also launched the world’s first enterprise instant messaging service.
After 9-11, I wanted to spend more time with our son as he grew up. So, I rebooted my consulting business and went to work for nonprofits like Committee for Children and Make-a-Wish.
I also taught communications, marketing, online technology and accounting at the Fort Lewis campus of the Oregon Institute of Technology in Washington state. That remains one of my favorite jobs, because the students I met were so inspiring. Their desire to make a better life for themselves while selflessly serving their country was quite something. They consistently brought their best to the classroom, prepared and ready to learn, and that commitment to excellence was contagious.
Now a resident of beautiful Colorado, I continue to marvel at all the wonderful ways we’ve found to communicate and connect. I like to go on birdwalks – in conversation, in writing, in technology and in person. When I was very young, my father would regularly bet me a quarter I could not sit still for five minutes. I never won. I never sat still until the Internet came along. Now, I can lose hours in front of the computer, absorbed in learning new skills, discovering new things, and, most rewarding, finding new talented people with whom I can connect. Luckily, I get to travel for work and play, and my dogs require a hike or several every day. Otherwise, I could become a couch (desk?) potato.
So, here, you’ll find posts on other passions, in no particular order – SCUBA; hiking; whitewater rafting; travel; language; our chickens, Australian shepherds and Jack Russell; reading fine, witty and memorable writing; ruminating; marriage – the joys and the challenges of the journey; and the usual cares/rants/expressions of pride and woe typical of the parent of a teen.
Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.
Benjamin Franklin
The world is filled with curiosities, and I abound with curiosity as well, so I find the world a happy experience. This little piece of the world wide web is my crow’s nest, to store shiny objects of interest and new-to-me topics I want to learn about and explore in more depth. Music, dance, all things water – SCUBA, rafting, fishing, skiing, sailing, sitting on the dock of the bay – the outdoors, travel, geeks and gadgets, and the beauty of language are all welcome topics. I post on marketing and other professional topics, too, of course – a girl has to make a living, after all :-). So, drop me a line, let me know what you think. Let’s connect. It’s what this webby thing was meant for – learning that what connects and unites us is ever so much stronger than those things we let divide us.
