Introduction: Sean Smith, Co-founder, COO & Project Manager

Where did you grow up? Where else have you lived? Where do you currently live?
I  was born in Atlanta, and raised in North Georgia. I moved away from  North Georgia down to Sarasota, Florida when I was 18 and have lived  here since! That being said, my wife and I are moving to Asheville,  North Carolina in 2017.

How would your family and friends describe you (in one word)?
I  would love to say that they would call me happy, passionate, or  athletic - but they would likely just say "hungry" seeing as I always  want to eat, and eat a lot.

How would you describe your family?
Happy,  humorous, active, loving, honest. We're always doing fun things like  playing sports together, watching movies, playing games, and laughing  together. Happiness to us is the most important thing, so making sure we  find that every day is of the utmost importance. We want to enjoy what  we do, who we're around, and treat the people around us well while  always having fun along the way. My wife and I also have two dogs and a  cat, so there is a lot of humor easily accessible all day, every day.

What are the values that drive you (to succeed, in life, as a person, etc.)?
Humility  and empathy above all else. You can't love someone without  understanding them and you can't help someone without putting yourself  in their shoes. Constantly humbling myself keeps me hungry for  improvement, and real about what I need to improve on. I would say those  are the main values that I see as a universal tool to connect and  understand the world around you while also propelling you forward in  life.

What is the most random thing you’ve ever watched all the way through on Netflix?
I  know it's not on the crazy side by any means but Chef's Table I  randomly watched even though I never watch cooking shows and I was  absolutely blown away and inspired by the quality of the content but  also by the actual restaurants that were featured.

Shark diving, bungee jumping, or sky diving?
I've  been skydiving and absolutely loved it, it was one of the most blissful  experiences of my life and I wrote about it extensively. That being  said, I would love to shark dive. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie  though!

Where would you like to go on vacation if you had a month off and money was no object?
I  would experience everything I could in Dubai - just because of the  scale of it - then I would have to take a super car on a road trip  through Europe.

What is your favorite tech tool and why?
Well,  I would have to say my iPhone just because it's the most essential  object to my daily operations that I own. My Mac would be a close  second. Pretty much my computers in general, not surprising. Software  wise, probably Slack or Basecamp though.

Where is your favorite place to go on a weekday afternoon when you have no plans or obligations?
Either  the gym to play some basketball, or to the beach to get some sweet rest  and relaxation. I also have a guilty pleasure of a coffee shop on  Siesta Key that has the best carrot cake I've ever had in my life, I go  there a good bit too!

What is your secret to remote-work success?
Having  a routine. You initially want a remote work environment typically to  escape a routine that is poisonous - like commuting - but  unintentionally people sometimes over-react by thinking the routine was  the problem. The routine wasn't the problem, the problem was a poisonous  component of the routine. Having a (rough) time you get up every day,  and a morning routine truly helps initiate a flow state so that you can  roll through 8 hours worth of work in a couple of hours and get on with  your life.

What is the weirdest scar you have and how did you get it?
I  actually have two from the same event, 4 inch lines on either side of  my right forearm from a compound fracture I had when I broke both bones  in that right arm and had to have steel plates screwed in to put my arm  back in place (which I still have today). Technically I have a third  that is just a small hole where the bones came out, but it's really not  that noticeable.

If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
I  have two ways of thinking about this, if it was a song I had to hear on  repeat constantly throughout my life, I could listen to Strobe by  deadmau5 on repeat indefinitely and will likely have it play at my  funeral. If I had to pick a song that makes me feel incredibly happy and  smile every time I hear it (literally the first song in my "smile"  playlist on Spotify) it would have to be Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder!

Fun Fact!
Sean  used to play e-sports semi professionally, winning global tournaments  in Counter Strike when he was 13. Sean also started his work (and  blogging) in the SEO industry when he was 16.

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