Saying Goodbye to Chris Cree

Our Backstory

I founded Web Savvy Marketing over seven years ago and at that time I had planned on working solely as an SEO consultant. I quickly realized most companies had horrible HTML websites that they could not modify or improve with SEO. Due to this I was forced to push the agency into website development and the WordPress community.

While I had worked on websites in the past, I had not actually done so in a development setting and with a database that needed to migrate to a live URL. When I attempted to do so with my first large client, everything blew up. I mean it went Kaboom!

At this moment Chris Cree entered into my life. I quickly took to his calm voice and gentle spirit.

My client’s website was down and I was in panic mode, so I went to Google and started searching for a WordPress developer that could help bail me out. The agency was brand new and I didn’t have the internal team or my current pool of developer friends, so I was forced to seek out a stranger to help.

Chris Cree ended up being that stranger.

In a calm voice he told me he would help and that everything would be fine. He said I would need to pay a rate much higher then his standard freelancer rate, but he would drop what he was doing and provide assistance.

And he did. Within three hours he had everything fixed and my client was happy with their new SEO friendly WordPress website.

That was way back on February 15 of 2010.

I promptly paid Chris and thanked him for his assistance. Then I kept him close. I connected on LinkedIn, followed him on Twitter and stalked him from afar. I had liked him and knew I needed to keep him close.

The Future State for Chris and Lisa

Flash forward six plus years and I’m writing this post to say a public goodbye and give a loud thank you to him and his wife Lisa.

With a heavy and sad heart I have to wish Chris and Lisa well as they head to Scotland in August to build a new campus for Charis Bible College.

You can learn more about Chris and Lisa’s new adventure at NewCREEations Ministries or via their Facebook page.

Chris and Lisa are following their hearts and while I truly don’t want to see them go, I know this is the plan for their lives and we at Web Savvy Marketing simply need to adjust to this new norm.

Saying Goodbye

Chris has been part of our team for many years and he has worked on everything from theme audits and coding to forum and client support. While he has done a lot of behind the scenes work, he is best known for the excellent work in our theme support forum. He provides thorough advice and coding assistance to our users and enjoys every minute of it. You can see it in his answers and in the response he receives from users.

He has kept me sane when things have exploded and used a gentle approach to talk me down off a ledge. He’s introduced me to a few of our most valued team members and even introduced me to the Genesis framework and StudioPress. He was the one who recommended we launch a theme store for Genesis child themes and he continued to push me every time I rejected the idea.

He’s been not just an employee of Web Savvy, he’s been a dear friend and someone I’m going to miss terribly.

The years we’ve worked together have produced a working marriage and he has long served as my work husband. This is true even though we have never met each other in person.

Distributed companies with a strong process and infrastructure don’t need physical space to bind them together. They simply need good people who are a strong fit for each other. That is the nature of my relationship with Chris.

Chris will continue to help out here and there at Web Savvy Marketing, but his time will be limited and his attention will be primarily focused on the new school and his adventure that lies ahead.

What You Can Do for Chris

Over the years we’ve launched hundreds of custom WordPress websites and sold thousands and thousands of stock themes. This means Chris has come in contact with and/or personally helped more people than I can easily quantify.

If you’ve been one of those people and Chris Cree has helped you, I’d like you to take a moment and give thanks to Chris and Lisa. You can do so in a few different ways:

• Leave a comment below and in doing so explain how he has helped you and/or your business.  Wish him and Lisa well with a personal note and comment.
• Visit his NewCREEations Ministries and offer a small donation to help them get settled in Scotland.
• Give him a shout on on Twitter (@chriscree) and thank him for his years of support and participation in the WordPress community.

It will only take you a brief minute to do one of those three things, but I know it will mean the world to him and it will speak to his heart.

This is a major change for him and I know your comments will help fuel him and give him strength as he moves far away from us and the WordPress community.

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Chris and Lisa I wish you both safe travels, great success with your new school, and a wiliness to keep me close. We may be physically far apart, but you two will stay close in my heart and I will quietly stalk you and your ministry from afar. ❤