We sat down with our new Project Manager to discuss everything from his home life and meditation right through to how he got into digital project management, here is what he had to say:
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Richard and I am the new digital project manager at J B Cole. I live with my fabulous wife and our 3 gorgeous children along with 3 cats and a dog so there’s never a dull moment. My wife’s family is from Naples so food is a big part of our life – I’m always in the kitchen! Whether preparing the evening meal while the kids are having breakfast or baking with my daughter (who makes a mean chocolate brownie!).
I love almost all types of music, and particularly enjoy messing around making up different tunings for my guitars, much to the annoyance of everyone else in the house.
To balance out the madness of home life, I have to dedicate some peace time! I meditate most mornings to set me up for the day and try and take a good walk every day to recharge myself.
3 top tips for being a good project manager in the technology industry?
- Ask, never assume.
- Be available and responsive.
- Be respectful.
- (if I’m allowed 1 more!) Be a sponge! Absorb information from all sources. Inspiration can come from anywhere.
How did you get in to project management?
From my first job as a junior graphic designer, I’ve always been interested in the wider project that I was working on. I got a real appreciation and understanding of project management when I was self-employed and managed the projects right from inception through to completion, whether carrying out the work myself or managing external resources.
What’s your history within tech?
I started being interested in tech at a young age – my dad brought an Acorn Electron computer home from work and subscribed to Acorn User magazine. I loved the section in each issue which gave you the code to write to get the computer to make noises – about 100 lines of code to make it fart! Later I got into making music using an old battered Atari with an Akai sampler and a Yamaha drum machine (amongst other things) – again the process of tweaking and fine tuning to get just the right results was a passion of mine. When I started my career in graphic design Flash was ‘the thing’ everybody wanted their websites to be built in, which appealed to me as a creative way of being nerdy! I also started learning HTML & CSS and building ‘proper’ websites, moving into PHP when WordPress came along. I love reading about new innovations and how they benefit, but more importantly how they work!
Why J B Cole?
Right from my first conversation with Josh, I immediately got a real sense of his passion for digital tech and that he wanted to use that passion and knowledge to help other businesses. It seemed to create a culture of innovative thinking within the company which really appealed to me. I was also impressed with the company’s approach to working methodologies, which seemed in line with my own. Although I do have some ideas for improving them! (always tweaking!)
You can check out Richard’s Linkedin or the J B Cole website below. We’re always keen to discuss and help businesses grow and develop technology led solutions.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rfriscuolo