I began using FileMaker for my employer back in '92, beginning with a dispatch ticketing system. FileMaker was hypnotic to me. It far surpassed using word, excel or anything else on the market and it even beat top to bottom coding in C+ and Access. It was easy to use and see the results of my own work very quickly. I wanted to use FileMaker non-stop, all day, finding out what else there was to accomplish. The greatest aspect about FileMaker was that it left you to your imagination, leading to an endless playground of ideas, and this is where my personal obsession began ~ and I wasn't alone.
The FileMaker community is a strong support group. Ideas were being shared and other careers were taking off. I moved onto other positions, while putting myself through college, and came upon a challenging position as a network analyst for the corporation I was working at. I thought my career would move in the direction of Cisco technology. I took Cisco courses and passed the CCNA exam on first effort. However, we were in such need of organization in this high-demand career, that I decided to promote FileMaker so that I could make a database for our networking staff. This networking database was my greatest accomplishment. It was hugely rewarding and showcased how FileMaker met the challenge. I even used FileMaker to produce my managers report for our monthly status report ~ a hugely complex endeavor. Still FileMaker did the job.
Soon the concept of out-sourcing our jobs and other internal company decisions, led to the end of our group, and finished my short networking analyst career to three years. Getting a job in this field after this point wasn't happening as the dot-com bubble hit. Later, I received a call from my old employer in the department I started at originally in Facilities and Office Management. I accepted the position.
After about two years of standard Facilities and Office Management support I overheard in a staff meeting with our IT department, that they were looking to create a database using Access as part of our assets and personnel moves. Unfortunately, I wasn't approached on this. I was flabbergasted, as if someone had punched me in the stomach. But as the development in Access proceeded by the IT department Manager, it came to a halt because the IT Manager could not figure out how to make the relationships in Access. I stepped in and made my voice heard. I can do this in FileMaker I said, but I will not do this in Access. No one was impressed. I had only one supporter in the Telecom group. I had to sell FileMaker to the IT group, as well as back to my direct Manager, who was there when I began in the 90's with FileMaker. FileMaker was going to cost money whereas Access was already in place and free.
I mustered up a demo file and showed them I could do this, and I won them over. Whew! That was a difficult sell, but without prior experience using FileMaker, I would not have stood a chance. While convincing the three involved departments to go with FileMaker, the more difficult part was about to begin. The challenge was for the database to move assets and details on space and personnel and update all the information as part of our move process. I did meet that challenge and produced a great database complete with full written documentation, ERD diagrams, and full details on work flow. This was a great learning experience and a valuable lesson but the thrill of the accomplishment overshadowed all other obstacles. I was later complimented by another FileMaker developer who came in behind me after my contract came to an end ~ otherwise known as the 2008 economic downturn.
About six months later around mid-2008 I decided to create my own company and go on to a full time career creating FileMaker database solutions doing what I love to do most, and soon after I did acquire some clients and later created my website. I also applied to Beezwax Datatools Inc. who is a local FileMaker firm home based just 7 miles from where I lived. I was accepted into Beezwax and soon found my nirvana. I later passed my FileMaker exams taking two exams for v10 and v11 on the same day, back-to-back, passing both.