Meet our Charlotte web design & web development team

Jay Joyce President

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Jay is a serial entrepreneur and a highly-regarded expert in Internet services and online marketing with over 26 years of marketing, technology and Internet experience. He specializes in core idea development, marketing and Internet strategies, and vision-based leadership. Jay manages the business and client side of The Idea People. Most days you will find Jay managing accounts, working with our web content team, meeting with clients, and planning client marketing strategies. He was born and raised in Houston, TX, attended Tennessee Tech University, and earned his B.S. in English-Journalism. He was a radio DJ in high school and college and stayed in radio broadcast sales and management until starting the business with Bill in 1994. In his spare time, Jay is heavily involved with the Sons of the American Revolution (his Patriot ancestor is General Nathanael Greene), and he enjoys travel, casinos, and the NC mountains.

Bill McCown President, Creative + Technology

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With over 20 years experience in interactive design, Bill manages the creative and technical development at The Idea People. Prior to co-founding The Idea People in 1994, Bill specialized in radio broadcasting, operating and consulting some of the most successful Top 40 radio stations in the country. During this time, Bill went back to college for a degree in graphic art/web design. Over the years, Bill has earned many industry creative and design awards. He works with our web designers, front end web developers, and web technology team members, along with our clients, to make client projects happen. He is known for his attention to details and his persistence to "make things perfect" for our clients. In his free time (yes, he claims to have some), you will find him working with various Chinese Shar-Pei rescue programs, with his own Shar-Pei, Bull, and spending time with his family. "We are in the best place that we can be in the life cycle and health of our company, and the opportunity to use all of our experiences to build custom creative and technology solutions for our clients bridges both of my favorite things together," says Bill.

Lucas Weber Director of Content & Social Marketing

Lucas is our company's patriarch of web content writing and content strategy, and a self-addicted social media marketing magnet. In everyday terms, Lucas spends most of his day on the Internet, writing content for our client websites, updating social networking sites with fresh, relative content, and analyzing the technical trends in search engine optimization. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Pace Law School in White Plains, NY, with a certificate in Environmental Law. When Lucas is not glued to his Mac, you'll find him and his wife, Megan, an attorney with a Charlotte law firm, playing with their two dogs in one of Dilworth's parks. An avid Clemson sports follower and graduate (as well as his wife!), Lucas also has a Chinese Shar-Pei named Henry and a black Lab named Maggie. "One of my favorite parts of working with The Idea People is the open and collaborative environment that we have because it literally fuels our creativity and empowers us to create unique client solutions," says Lucas.

Doug Grubba Director of Technology

Doug has a technology solution for every unique client use and application. Through Doug's leadership, The Idea People have emerged as the largest Laravel-based web agency in the country. "I use open source web technologies to improve the way our clients deliver products, services and commerce to their customer bases," says Doug. "Our goal here at The Idea People is to leverage best-of-practice web development technologies to enhance a client's overall marketplace offering, whether it is through a social media community, an e-commerce store, or a custom web or mobile application." Doug's specialties include PHP, MySQL, Apache, Linux administration CodeIgniter, Laravel, jQuery, Less.js, OOP, API/SDK, GitHub, Twilio Voice, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Doug is married to Stacy and they have a two-year old daughter, Natalie. They have a dog named Monster. Doug plays outfield in the Cornelius Parks Department softball league.

Douglas has a deep background in writing and developing large-scale B2B web applications. He was graduated from the University of Alabama majoring in Management Information Systems with a minor specialty in computer science. "I really enjoy the open minds of our clients here at The Idea People when it comes to unique technology solutions for their businesses," says Douglas. "We develop business applications that empower our clients and their customers to increase overall business efficiencies, and that is exciting work to do every day." Douglas specializes in PHP, Laravel, AJAX, C++, Javascript, SQL, MySQL, Linux, and all of the top web development software tools.

Taylor is the ultimate web developer's web developer. His specialty is identifying a client's specific business goals and expressing the end result with a custom technology solution. Taylor is highly-experienced as a team leader in PHP and Javascript development, Google Maps mashups, MySQL database design and management, NginX and Apache server administration, Git and Git Hub management, Wordpress CMS customization, and iPad/Mobile application development.

Diego leads our e-commerce web development team here at The Idea People. His passion is developing custom e-business applications, shopping cart solutions, paperless transactions, custom database reporting, and the Magento platform. "We are early adopters of forward-thinking e-commerce trends here at The Idea People, and for 2013, those include a real focus on localization, M-commerce (mobile commerce), simpler e-commerce transactions, increased online security, and stronger inclusion of all types of content," says Diego. He is engaged and the wedding is set for spring 2014.

Matt Stvartak Sr. Web Designer & Developer

Matt is multi-talented web developer, web designer, CSS architect, and video guru here in Charlotte, and we're lucky to have him with The Idea People. "I thrive on designing websites like our clients have never seen before," says Matt. "We are focused on the user experience when we design, and I think a major part of the UX is the actual creative design for the navigation and content." In addition to web design, Matt is our resident video producer, After Effects animator, cartoonist and illustrator, and WordPress Blog designer/programmer. In his spare time, Matt enjoys photography, watching Zombie films, playing guitar, reading Scott Pilgrim stories, playing retro video games, brewing home beers, and creative cooking as an accomplished chef.

Adam is a classically-trained graphic and web designer by education from UNC Charlotte. "At The Idea People, I really focus on creating both graphic and web designs that are artistic, brand-appropriate, and consistent across every surface that the design will be viewed, from laptop to tablet to mobile," says Adam. He specializes in responsive web design, custom typeface and font design, UX centered design, and APP style interfaces. Adam is very active with AIGA Charlotte and currently serves on their board overseeing various group events. In his spare time, Adam is an avid disc golfer, a Spotify music fanatic, and a coffee lover.

Kyle has been creatively designing things as long as he can remember! A 2010 graduate from Full Sail University in Orlando with a degree in Digital Arts and Design, Kyle has focused his skills on being the country's best web designer, concentrating on user experience and user interface design. He is a Wordpress expert and loves designing websites with a creative flair. Kyle has won numerous awards and recognitions for his creativity, and in 2010 launched his own urban boutique street fashion brand called Realeyez Apparel, a targeted lifestyle brand. "Being a senior web designer at The Idea People really offers me the opportunity to contribute to all of our client brands on so many different levels of creativity," says Kyle.

Alex is an amazing front-end web developer and our go-to resource for making our client websites function flawlessly across all browsers and platforms. "I enjoy working with our web design team and bringing the technical functionality to their designs so that new web trends and technologies can shine along with their creativity," says Alex. His specialties include complicated WordPress integrations, Javascript solutions, JQuery, CSS, PHP, iOS and Android programming, Ruby and Joomla. In his spare time, Alex has developed a computer game that was actually rated #1 in Malaysia for the most downloads. He and his wife Jessie are expecting their first child this summer.

Marco Raye Content Writer & Client Marketing

Marco earned his bachelors in English (concentrating in professional writing) with a minor in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He has strong content research and writing experience from a stint with 3DFS Power Solutions, a premiere energy conservation technologies company, as well as assignments for Encore Magazine as a musical and culinary columnist, Communities-In-Schools Cape Fear as a field writer, and Innocinema LLC as a social media coordinator and editor for product manuals. With a passion for writing, and an eye for attention to detail-type subject matter, Marco is a strong part of our content writing and marketing team. In his spare time, he enjoys everything outdoors from hiking to camping to whitewater adventures at the US National Whitewater Center.

Chris is a highly-experienced and influential writer with a degree from Jacksonville State University in Alabama. For two years, Chris wrote content and press releases for FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, even participating with the media response for Hurricane Sandy. "We have so many different types of content writing assignments here at The Idea People, because we have clients in healthcare, manufacturing, telecommunications, recreational sports, and so many other marketplaces." In his spare time, Chris is an active rugby player here in Charlotte. He is married and lives here in Charlotte with his wife, Kate.