Work Hacks: Squatch Creative developer Randy Neil

Meet Randy Neil, director of development and founding partner of Wilmington-based design agency Squatch Creative.
Neil, a graduate of Delaware Technical Community College’s web development program and former development head at Wilmington design agency 2 Fish, has worn many hats throughout his professional career. While he was still in college — and in addition to doing freelance development work — Neil was a digital marketing specialist at TA Instruments.
“When you’re freelancing on your own, there’s a lot of different roles you have to play,” he said. Actually, Neil said he didn’t even pick up programming until four or five years ago.
“I always had an interest in building websites,” Neil said. “It was always kind of a hobby.”
When Neil and his three compadres decided to start up their own design agency, he said something just “clicked.”
“Interaction day-to-day is fun. At the same time, everybody is really hardworking, very task-oriented, and excel very well at what they do,” he said. “It’s a really good balance of work and play at the same time. It’s an enjoyable experience.”
Neil said he’s fortunate that he gets to enjoy what he does for a living. Glancing over Squatch’s star-studded clientele sheet, it’s not all that hard to believe him.
“I get to come in and see my friends and great coworkers throughout the day and be a part of something we’re building together,” he told us for our How I Work series. Find out more about Squatch below.

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What’s the first thing you do every day before doing any job-related work?
Drink coffee and find something good to listen to.
How often do you check your email, and do you use any program to get to ‘Inbox Zero’?
I check my email constantly, and tend to use GMail’s labels to archive emails so my inbox isn’t flooded all the time.
When you need to take a break, what are you turning to?
I get to hang out with my friends every day, so just talking to them makes the day a lot better. We bought a ping pong table for the office, and Mike [Gracie] and Marcus [Price] just found a really awesome retro Simpson’s pinball machine, too.
What’s your gear?
Despite years of ridicule, I have 3 Dells which keep me very happy.
What’s a unique aspect of your work style?
Although my job can be done at almost any location with internet, I still really enjoy going to the office at regular business hours.
What’s one way in which you believe your day-to-day work is better now than it has been?
The projects are a lot more fun. It feels better when you know the creative direction is coming from your talented friends.
Is there something you do now (or don’t do) that you didn’t do before (or did) that has made a big difference?
I used to tell graphic designers that something wasn’t possible … now I just smile and nod.
What’s your preferred workday soundtrack? Do any particular artists/bands/genres boost your productivity?
It’s usually pretty eclectic and loud. Luckily, my coworkers don’t mind so much when I switch between Childish Gambino to Jim Croce to the Aladdin soundtrack.  I tend to find that new music keeps the mind turning, so I’m always searching throughout the work day.