Member Spotlight: Katie Keith

Katie Keith is Co-Founder and CEO at Barn2 Plugins. She founded the company with her husband Andy in 2009. Originally a web design company, they switched to selling plugins in 2016. Their WordPress and WooCommerce plugins are now used on over 85,000 websites worldwide. Some of their best-known plugins include Document Library Pro and WooCommerce Product Table.

In 2021, Katie took advantage of the freedoms brought to her by WordPress and moved to the sunny Spanish island of Mallorca with her family. She now runs the company remotely, with a team of 17 people working from their own locations around the world.

What do you enjoy most about working in WordPress?

My favorite thing about working in WordPress is the incredible community that surrounds it. I have made so many friends in WordPress and am inspired by the positive attitude of the people around me. As well as working with my own team members, I am in constant contact with members of the wider community and love learning from so many talented people. As an open source community, everyone is very open and willing to share their experience and expertise. This helps everyone to grow together, while ensuring that support and advice is always available.

What do you love most about your Post Status membership?

My favorite part of my Post Status membership is the Slack because it’s a place to communicate with other members of the WordPress community. It’s almost like a WordPress business directory because if you want to contact someone who you haven’t previously had contact with, then there’s a high chance they’ll be on Post Status Slack. It’s a chance to communicate – publicly or privately – with people of all levels of experience, including community leaders and people just starting out. People often contact me to propose partnerships or other opportunities through Post Status Slack, including some very high profile people who may not have contacted me otherwise.

What business/web/WordPress advice do you have for others in our industry?

My top advice is to use data to inform the development of your business. Without good data about your customers, product usage and marketing activity, you’re working blind and can’t make an informed decision on how to improve. This will help you to grow your success over time.

Also take the time to learn from others in the WordPress community, and to join in wherever possible. Read articles from industry leaders, listen to podcasts about topics that are relevant to your work, and maybe even offer to be a guest on some of them! Attend WordCamps if you can, and stay in touch with fellow community members via other methods like Post Status Slack and Twitter in between WordCamps. This will provide a remote support network as well as plenty of opportunities to learn from others.