Member Spotlight: Trey Piepmeier
Meet GW member Trey Piepmeier!
Trey joined Groundwork! shortly after moving to New Bedford. As a front end designer for the email marketing company Emma, Trey joins the ranks of our remote workers, members who work remotely for a larger company.
As far as we can tell Trey stays productive and on-task at his desk, but he’s usually willing to join us in the kitchen for group lunches or a slice of pie.
We discovered that Trey is a photographer early on in his membership, and you can check out some of the images he’s snapped since moving to New Bedford on Instagram at @treypiepmeier.
In this interview Trey shares some productivity tips, app recommendations, and what he’s been inspired by lately:
What’s your profession?
I’m what I like to call a Front End Designer or UI Developer. Basically, I’m what’s generally referred to as a front end web developer but with more of a focus on design and usability and less on JavaScript and building application logic.
Describe a typical work day for you.
I open Slack and see if anything needs immediate attention. I then make a plan for the day in a Google Doc that I call “Logbook” (I also use this document to keep track of what I’ve gotten done throughout the day—this allows me to have a quick reference for where my time has gone and also something to tell my team when we have meetings). The bulk of my day is either coding new features and browser testing them, fixing bugs in existing code, or looking for what to work on next. I also typically have a team meeting or two.
What’s the biggest challenge you face at your job?
Communication can be a challenge at times. Being a remote employee means having to make sure you’re an advocate for yourself and other remote employees, especially at a company that is mostly in one physical location.
Do you have a morning routine?
I immediately make a pot of coffee in my Chemex and check email and Twitter for far too long.
What are your favorite productivity tips or hacks?
I wouldn’t be able to function without my OmniFocus. I use it for anything that I need to track that’s either personal or work related. I loosely adhere to the Getting Things Done methodology.
What do you listen to during the day?
Usually something in the worlds of jazz or hip-hop. I love podcasts, but I only listen to them when commuting (I can’t listen to people talk when I’m trying to concentrate on coding). One podcast I’ve been listening recently is Dissect.
How do you benefit from using a coworking space?
I’m new to this area and I wouldn’t know anybody here if it weren’t for Groundwork. Although I generally keep to myself, I like the situation of being “together alone.”
What’s in your digital toolbox?
Aside from the normal stuff like Spotify, Slack, and Google Chrome; here are some of my go-to apps:
OmniFocus
Atom
Git Tower
Soulver
What is the most surprising or unusual aspect of your life?
I was homeschooled and I feel like working remotely is a lot like homeschooling as a career.
What inspires you?
- Being alive in a time where misogyny, the patriarchy, and racism are being talked about and disputed more than I’ve ever been aware of before.
- The possibility of humanity making contact with an alien civilization.
- Good art; illustration, photography, music, movies. Film photography has been especially inspirational for me the last few years. Both the process and end result of creating photos on film is very enjoyable to me.
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