Michele Butcher-Jones is a lover of all things Open Source, a WordPress Core Contributor, an international speaker, and an avid campaigner to leave the world in a better place. She has spent over a decade helping others with their online presence including site building, maintaining, hosting, and security. Michele spends her working time between agency support and higher education. She also runs her own WordPress shop at 13Core and is the Head Geek at Can’t Speak Geek.

Her passion for making the web a better place doesn’t stop there! She gives back to the community as a Meetup Organizer for St Louis and the Lead Organizer for the Southern Illinois WordPress Meetup. Michele is typically up for any type of contributing to the WordPress Community often as a speaker, volunteer, answering questions in the forums, and teaching WordPress to beginners.

Now that she is an empty nester, Michele is spending her time as a photographer, traveler, and collector of jewelry. She is currently working on her first book set to be completed in 2023, and is always down for an adventure, especially if it involves great food or drinks.

What do you enjoy most about working in WordPress?

There are so many things I enjoy about WordPress but I think the one thing that tops it off is that WordPress is open and available to everyone. That a preschool teacher can go from teaching toddlers, to writing a blog, to working in WordPress, to becoming a lead in the all women and nonbinary 5.6 release.

What do you love most about your Post Status membership?

I love the community aspect of Post Status. Everyone there is really engaged in lifting each other up. I also appreciate that it is a “one stop shop” for WordPress news, information, and collaboration.

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

Do not be afraid to ask for help. There is a whole great big global community out there that loves to help in WordPress. Places like Post Status, the various Facebook groups, your local Meetups, and WordCamps are all there for you to learn and thrive. Also, share your passion. WordPress is what it is due to the generosity of its community. For WordPress to continue on, it needs that momentum to continue.