Get to Know the Team: Meet Rian!

As a long time technical SEO junkie and long time WordPress developer (he/we developed the very first RBCM mobile website back in 2011!), Rian leads all things technical at PlusROI.

He’s being featured in this very first team member interview and you’ll see the rest of our team in the future!

The Down-low on Rian:

1.How long have you been working with PlusROI for?

I think it’s 9 years now!

2.How did you decide to pursue a career in tech/online marketing?

I was doing a co-op work term in Shanghai for a podcasting company. Online marketing was new at the time. The CEO tasked me with figuring out what this new “SEO” thing was that he had been hearing about and then do it. I ended up leading all their online marketing, then starting a podcast company of my own back in Canada. That wound down after a few years, but I had met Rob in the process and we have been working together ever since.

3.What’s your favourite aspect of the job?

There’s been several times where we’ve made a really big difference in a small business which has allowed them to grow significantly, or times when we’ve done a project like a website for a small client, then after not hearing from them for a few years they’ve come back and told us how much of an impact that project had. Those kinds of things feel good.

4.You’ve been traveling and living abroad for the past few years, where have you had a chance to visit?

I traveled for about 4 years with my family. My daughter has actually spent more of her life abroad than at home. She only first started Canadian school a few weeks ago at the end of Grade 3. We traveled mostly in Southeast Asia with longer term stays in Bali and Southern China. But I also had a few stops in other areas like Sri Lanka, Perth, Australia, and even North Korea.

5.What were some highlights of your travels?

Being able to work remotely is fun. There have been moments where I’ve settled in for a day’s work next to a waterfall, in the jungle, or even in my pool. I’ve also had some good non-working times of course. Pretty much every weekend in Bali was a highlight because there is just so much to do there. One that stands out is when my family and brother were on a three day motorbike trip around the island and stopped off at a waterfall that you could ride down like a waterslide.

6.Any hobbies or fun facts about yourself? 

I’m addicted to smart home gadgets. For example, I carry around a half dozen Google Home devices as we travel and whenever we arrive at a new place those are the first things I set up. For those 4 years of travel, my suitcase was always more full of gadgets and wires than everything else combined. Now that I’ve finally settled back in Canada, it is getting completely out of control. My Google Home speaker/display collection on it’s own is up to 14 devices. I’ve always got some kind of new smart device in the mail from Amazon. Everything from smart wall sockets to automatic self-changing garbage cans. Getting my entire house onto smart lighting is my next project.