Meet the Minds

He has been in the industry for over 23 years, with a wide range of technical experience. His interest in computers and programming started at an early age when his father purchased a Commodore 64 in the early 80s. He earned a degree in Electronic and Computer Technology from a local trade school and started his professional career servicing photocopiers. Seeking a different path, he transitioned to an IT/Help Desk role which led to web development, web server and database administration. Over the years, he continued to learn new skills and expand his experience, too many to list. His primary focus with Mind is helping the technical team improve their operation processes, expand their technical abilities and bring stability to the team’s workload planning.

Alex enjoys solving complex technical problems with a core value of helping people. When he is not dabbling in tech, he is often found hanging with his family and two dogs, woodworking, fishing, kayaking, building things, adding new tools to his workshop or experimenting with a personal project.

After graduating from Lebanon Valley College with degrees in Psychology and Spanish, this military kid finally stopped moving around and settled in Central PA. She's been a professional marketing geek since 2010 and has seen first-hand some of the biggest changes in SEO.

She loves all things digital marketing, but has a special place in her heart for strategy, SEO, content marketing, social media, and data-crunching. An avid lifelong learner and self-proclaimed "nerd of many varieties," she's a fan of books, the Arts, funny hats, hockey, and animals (particularly ponies!).

Also known as “Zim”, he is an experienced full-stack developer who built his first website at age 10! His broad skill set covers modern and legacy systems including PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Vue, Svelte, React, jQuery, node, WordPress, Laravel, other open-source projects, general web development and database usage, server administration, cloud platforms, DNS, and nachos. He has been involved in the management and development of several customized high-traffic consumer websites and web-based applications including system upkeep, maintenance, and configuration. Trained in employee management and customer relations, adept at communicating and adapting to meet demands according to new situations, has a black belt in Google-Fu, with extensive knowledge of operating systems and computer hardware... he's a big nerd.

Zim has two cats, two kids, one wife, and about a dozen computers. He likes numbers, physics, electronics, and code. For some reason, he has a reputation for being cheesy.

Heather began her journey in the customer service realm working at an information desk while attending Kutztown University. At Kutztown, she got a BFA in Communication Design with concentrations in graphic and web design and a minor in Spanish. Since her college years, she has worked as a freelance graphic designer, project manager, and customer support rolled into one.

Because life is too short to not try farming, she also worked on a flower and herb farm while continuing to freelance. At the farm, she worked closely with clients to plan floral arrangements for events while managing projects with a small team of farmers. Here, she occasionally assisted with customer service requests and website design updates. With an interest in web design and a passion for creative problem solving, customer support felt like a natural transition, which brought her to Mind.

When Heather isn't coordinating success for Mind's customers, you can find her spending time in the garden, reading, or rock climbing.

Jake has been a professional software engineer since graduating from Millersville University way back in 2006. Over the course of his career Jake has worked on a wide gamut of projects ranging from enterprise-scale web applications with millions of users, to niche mobile applications for a single person. He admires mindful, intentional people and carefully-crafted, clean, maintainable code, striving to model these values in his own work.

When he’s not at work, you can find Jake spending time with his family, rocking out to his record collection, playing with swords, or just sitting with nature.

As a child, Karen read the encyclopedia for fun. No, really, she did. As a ferocious reader, she encountered many things in books she knew nothing about. Because this was a time before Google, she had no choice but to rely on the encyclopedia (and dictionary) to expand her knowledge. Even though she loved reading, she absolutely dreaded any type of writing assignment. That all changed in high school where she accidentally fell in love with writing. It took just one research paper (and an exceptional English teacher) for it all to click. The numerous hours she spent reading those encyclopedias finally paid off. She was floored at how easily writing came to her and she laughed at the irony of spending so much time dreading writing.

After spending some time in the Great White North (also known as Canada), Karen enrolled at Millersville University to master the skill of writing. There she was involved with the editorial team of the Made in Millersville Journal where she was able to exercise her love of editing. She also picked up a minor in Film Studies for fun.

In her free time, Karen collects way too many books, practices her baking skills, and dreams of life by any ocean.

Mel has the brain of a programmer, the heart of an artist, an eye for detail, and a totally normal and not suspicious lock on her freezer. Armed with a Computer Science degree and over ten years of experience in the tech consulting industry, Mel is the wearer of many hats and the go-to for both making it work and making it pretty. Everything from server management, to architecture, to full-stack web and mobile development, to design and wireframes - Mel is ready to step in and get it done.

When she’s not glued to the computer all hours of the night, Mel can be found working on home improvement projects, baking, and attending metal concerts and nerd conventions.

Some say she speaks binary, and that she /can/ divide by zero.
All we know is, she turns caffeine into code.

Technology and “build a thing to solve a problem” has been a lifelong fascination for Rhynn going back to preschool…if it bleeped, blooped, or she could make something with it, her parents couldn’t keep her hands off it. In high school, she turned her attention to robots for a time, serving as a systems programmer on a team that competed...and succeeded...at the national level. In her time on the team, she crafted a rudimentary artificial intelligence out of Lego Mindstorms, “invented” a couple of long-standing technologies she was simply unaware of at the time she needed them, learned CSS by reverse-engineering websites, and generally figured out how to make computers do tricks. During her nearly two decades as a professional and another decade plus as a hobbyist, Rhynn has worked on websites of all stripes, from the smallest personal sites all the way up through major tech review sites and one-off "software as a service" suites. Her many and varied experiences have left Rhynn with a broad skillset both inside and outside the realm of web development which allows her to have an unparalleled number of approaches to solving problems. At Mind, Rhynn has served since the company’s founding as its server-side developer, working behind the scenes to make sure everything works as it should.

​As the operational backbone of MIND D​+D for over a decade, Sarah manages everything that isn't code—from client contracts, billing, and benefits to ​helping e​nsure the development team stays organized and on track. While most of the team digs into PHP and custom integrations, Sarah ensures the business side runs seamlessly with absolute clarity and practical precision. When she isn't wrangling admin work or m​a​king moves, you ​are most likely to find her cracking inside jokes with her husband, surrounded by yarn midway through a crochet project, or watching the latest true crime doc or series.

Born in 1992, the son of a dance teacher and a marketing specialist, Spenser knew he was destined for greatness from the time he saw his first computer. He aimed his sights high and then proceeded to trip over himself and tumble way down into the pit we call mediocrity.

Having graduated with a B.S. in Web Design and Interactive Media from The Art Institute of York in 2014, he mostly did contracts and favors for people within his community to start out his career. As his skills grew, so too did his desire for something more - mostly insurance, but also work with meaning and challenge. Then, came MIND. It was then Spenser knew he had made it. He had ascended out of the Pit of Mediocrity and graduated to the Pantheon of “Good By Rural Pennsylvania Standards”. Now, his skills and wit are growing at an exponential rate. He becomes more powerful every day.

He also likes dogs and hiking. You could say he’s a “fun boi”.