Web designer Mark Celsor grew up in Cincinnati but moved to San Francisco to work as a web developer working for high-profile clients like Adobe, Autodesk, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, and SanDisk.
Though Celsor enjoyed his life and work, after he and his wife had a baby, he felt the pull to come back to his hometown. Celsor returned to Cincinnati about two years ago, and was able to continue working for his company. Ultimately though, he faced a fate similar to what other’s have experienced in this tough economy.
"I was laid off by video conference; that was an experience," he said.
That’s when Celsor decided to try to make a go of it as a freelance web developer. Through his contacts at ad agencies on the west coast, he was able to find work and pay the bills. For a while it wasn’t easy, and Celsor had decided to seek a full-time job. On the first day of that new job, outside projects came pouring in and Celsor has been able to fund his dream since.
"All these new projects started coming in, that allowed me to work for myself. The work has been pretty steady since then," Celsor said.
Now he’s the owner of Vine St. Interactive, one of the latest businesses to open in Over-The-Rhine's Gateway Quarter. He's hired one full-time employee, and one part-timer. The company is named for the street that runs through the historic neighborhood.
Among the services offered are internet marketing and technology strategy, information architecture and planning, Adobe Flash development, and front-end and back-end web development.
Currently, most of the company's clients come through ad agencies in the California area, but Vine St. Interactive is starting to form relationships with local companies as well.
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Mark Celsor, Vine St. Interactive owner