Renee’s Rambling

It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this for 30 years! westXdesign has undergone some pretty significant changes since 1992 when I first started. Changing technologies, major moves, shifting family dynamics…the first big change was a major name and image change in 1999 that came with a geographic move. It took a couple of years for me to really settle into the new westXdesign – that was back when I first moved to Fort Stockton, and after working and living in El Paso, Tucson, and Beaumont, Fort Stockton took a little getting used to. But I embraced the benefits of small-town life and found westXdesign was needed, and appreciated, here more than anywhere else.

30 years ago, providing technical services was more about doing things FOR the client – they didn’t want to do things themselves, and the technology was beyond most of their abilities. From building basic websites, registering domains, and fixing office equipment, even how to install and use financial software. Over the years, as technology has become more end-user friendly, and more and more people use it in their personal lives and therefore are more comfortable with it, our primary business focus changed from doing to consulting. But we are still there for those who prefer not to HAVE to do it for themselves. And even if someone is comfortable with the technology and tools available to them, it doesn’t mean they know the best way to implement them in a business setting. The focus may have changed, but the underlying principle hasn’t – ensuring small businesses and individuals have the tools and services that they need available to them and integrating technology into small businesses to improve productivity and save costs.

Over the years, I have pursued other businesses alongside westXdesign, including many years spent working closely with my family in a “dream” – something we talked about for years and finally were able to make a reality. During those years, westXdesign didn’t take on any new clients, so I could be sure to have the time and attention needed for my existing clients. Sadly, that business wasn’t able to recover from the COVID-19 closures of 2020. Throughout it all, westXdesign was there, helping others like it always has. In the past two years, westXdesign has doubled in size, not just in clients but in service offerings and staffing as well.

I don’t know what the future holds for me, personally, but westXdesign will be there as long as I am because, above all, it has allowed me, for the better part of my life, to do something I have always believed strongly in:

Providing users with the tools they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities and helping them to use technology instead of letting the technology use them.

So what do you say? Ready to join me and see what the next 30 years brings?

– Renee