Just a bit about AJ Hauser
Let's start with Ninja Turtles.
I grew up in a small town in the Midwest during the 80s and 90s. We had things like Ghostbusters, ThunderCats, GI Joes... and as you can see... some pretty sweet Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Donatello was my favorite, because he was smart with computers... but still whooped on The Foot.
I lived in a house with no walls.
It was over 100 years old, and always under construction. Dad worked on it when he could, and even though you might look at it and say, "that house is not complete", we never lacked anything that really mattered.
All in the family.
I have 2 younger brothers who have worked with me at one point at The Hauser Design Group along with my mother (AKA "Cyndy from Accounting"). I haven't been able to convince Dad yet...
A tiny love story.
In high school I met a girl from another small town and fell in love. Somehow I tricked her into thinking I was a cool dude. Years later I proposed to her in the middle of a lake on a boat. She said yes and didn't have to swim back.
Dude - the band is gonna make it!
In college I spent my free time writing music. I drove home every weekend to practice or gig. I earned the money to travel making custom MySpace profiles (thanks Tom) in my dorm room under the name Hangnail Productions. This was my introduction to code.
I still play guitar and love to write and record.
Regulations suck.
We made $300 one Friday night at school by cooking & delivering grilled cheese sandwiches to drunk kids. I got in trouble for sticking flyers outside the "approved areas", so the next weekend all flyers went on the "approved" bulletin boards. I made $20. Lame. We closed up shop.
Well that escalated quickly.
After 4.5 years in college studying Philosophy I moved back in with my parents and continued hacking MySpace profiles for pennies. For some reason my girlfriend made me the luckiest guy in the world and married me... then she decided to one-up herself and we had our first son.
Life is short. Do things.
We were never allowed to have a Nintendo. What we DID have was time together outdoors, starting way back before I could actually remember sticking Great Grandpa Frank in the neck with a fish hook (true story). We try to create memories with our kids the same way :)
(You can even watch a bit of the action on an Outdoor YouTube Channel I work on with a few friends.)
Get a job pal.
Anyway... like I said I'm a dad now, and I realized that custom MySpace profiles for bands with no money wouldn't put food on the table. I set up a home office and changed Hangnail Productions to The Hauser Design Group. I was the entire group. Look at my fancy shirt.
But then, things got real.
After several years of kicking serious ass by myself, I met Kelly Wilson, a killer front-end coder who would become my partner. We decided to hire, and our firm grew to 7 employees and kicked even more ass - and continues to do so to this day. I am still a partner at The HDG where we focus exclusively on premium website development.
Time to give back.
As we built a name for ourselves, people started asking us to come speak. I've had the great privilege of speaking at paid events, free events (even events where they fed me!) for both adults and kids interested in the field.
The family grows.
We now have 3 boys, and we are madly in love with them. Here we are in WI on family vacation with Gammy (Cyndy from Accounting) and Uncles Zach & Vaughn. Gompa is taking the picture. Also, that's Paul Bunyan's boot.
So... what's next?
I love to help people. I live for it. At The HDG I get to help people design and implement new website sections, lead redesigns, manage platform migrations - the works. But all this is only part of the equation. A successful site - no, a successful BUSINESS - needs a comprehensive plan to succeed, so I teach others what I have learned.
From Zero to Traffic
My first book is titled From Zero to Traffic, and it helps website owners go from nothing to something. It helps people bypass the mistakes I've made in my 18+ years in the field. It provides the knowledge you'll need to make a better website, faster, and with less frustration.
That's pretty much me in a nutshell...
I am a real person, and I take my work very seriously. I help people grow, build better websites and better businesses - but I also take time to make memories and do the things that matter most in this life.
* Making money is nice, but it needs to serve a purpose. *
Making money for it's own sake is no way to live. You'll see in my writing that I am a firm believer in making enough, then using it as a tool to serve you.
I'll remind you of this, I promise... because I believe if you keep this top of mind you will live a better life.
Thanks for reading. If you'd like to dive into some of my articles, I'm offering free access for a limited time. You can also check to see if I'm staying true to my word and living a life of purpose while creating memories & sharing them on my Instagram.
I ask all of my subscribers to help hold me accountable ;)
Godspeed friend,
- AJ Hauser
