We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jeff Zalles. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jeff below.
Hi Jeff, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
Much of the work I do is on a pro-bono basis for non-profits. It’s not that the community is underserved, it is that charitable organizations are often underfunded. Contributing my skills means the money they save can go instead to helping others.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Before relocating to Sonoma County, I spent four decades in Upstate New York and then San Francisco where I owned and operated businesses in the service, hospitality and manufacturing industries, and served on the boards of several non-profits. Among the many responsibilities of a typical business owner, those I enjoyed most were in the areas of sales and marketing. I derived a great deal of satisfaction from designing promotional materials such as brochures and advertisements.
Although I spent many decades as an entrepreneur, my passion was always art and design. Upon retiring, I decided to teach myself how to build websites. I was always an early adopter when it came to technology and felt that building websites would be a good way to stay engaged.
I love building websites because the work involves three areas of my brain: Artistic for their design, strategic for accomplishing the goals of my clients, and technical to make it all work. Most of today’s web designs begin as templates. However, I look at websites as an opportunity to create art and therefore always begin with a blank screen and treat every project as a unique package.
Perhaps my proudest accomplishment began when I signed up to run in a 5K race to raise money for cancer research. In order to participate, I had to pick up a paper form at a certain location and at a certain time. and then submit it to another designated location along with a check payable to the organization. I reached out to the organization’s director to inquire as to why they didn’t offer an opportunity to sign up online. Her response was that “we’ve always done it that way and it’s been working just fine….and many of our participants are older and don’t like doing things online.”
About six months later, the same director contacted me to say she had been thinking about my suggestion and was wondering if I’d be willing to help them. To make a long story short, a few years later, I received an email letting me know that the previous year they were the top producing organization nationally – out of 19,000!. There is now a research project at UC San Francisco named after them. I don’t take credit for the hard work that went into their achievement, but I’m proud that I could provide them with a critical tool that aided their efforts.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Now that I’m retired from years as a business owner, I find that creating websites for charitable organizations is a nice way to give back. Not only is it emotionally rewarding but I have numerous opportunities to meet new and special people who are dedicated to serving their communities.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
We all age. Start early. Find the passion that you can pursue throughout your life. One that will provide you with new opportunities as you age. As I mentioned previously, for me website design has opened the door to many new and lasting personal relationships and the emotional satisfaction of knowing how many people I’ve helped through my work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.zallesdesign.com
- Instagram: jeffreyzalles
- Facebook: jeffrey.zalles
