“I got my geeky-ness from my Dad. He happened to know about computers and would get calls from aunts and uncles who couldn’t fix theirs. Now I do that, too.”

“I learned about computers by playing around with them. Most people just use them as a tool, but I want to break them apart and see what they can do.”

“You have to have a team. Part of being a freelancer or being involved with start-ups is knowing when you can hack it out on your own and when you can’t.”

“Sometimes the home office concept is confusing for clients. They assume you’re going back to a typical desk to do projects, so describing my day-to-day is difficult. People have to look at my portfolio to really know what I do..”

“I’ve been a computer geek since a child. I’m a self-taught developer with a philosophy degree.”

“Freelancing has its ups and downs. There are times when you have no idea how you are going to find the time to get everything done and times when you have to focus on passion projects to fill the day.”

“I kept waiting for a time to celebrate. Our first big project at 4firstnames.com was my first freelance gig. It wasn’t until the money was in the bank that I could breathe.”

“There’s a whole community of geeks in Kansas City. Some of them have corporate day jobs. Some are from the marketing world. Some are into social media. It’s good to get together to say, ‘Here’s what I would do about that.’ ”