When working as an independent consultant, I am the face to the world for my business. However, there are people who inspire me, push me to do better, and help me get things done that I want to thank. Running a small business, writing articles, speaking and doing work for clients during the day is a lot of work. I couldn’t do it alone. My wife and I both do work for our small business, but there are others who inspire, encourage and help me learn and work on ideas.

Thanks to my wife Elizabeth who copy edits much of what I write, and handles scheduling, bookkeeping and day to day business tasks. She patiently listens and acts as a sounding board for ideas, and willingly edits for me at all sorts of hours when I’m inspired to write. I could not do what I do without her help and support.

Thanks to Shannon Hale who does technical editing for me and helps me express ideas more coherently. Shannon is a great editor; when she makes changes I don’t really notice. She’s also great with User Experience ideas, encourages good ideas, gives a thumbs down on the not so good ones, and is a go to person when I have programming questions.

Thanks to James Bach for inspiration, for being willing to share and for his influence on my testing career. James’ work helped reawaken what I had learned in Philosophy classes in university and realize I was using this training when testing. James also encouraged me to go independent, and provides up front feedback on testing ideas, and pushes me to do better. James has helped me a tremendous amount, and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without his example, willingness to share ideas and encouragement.

Thanks to Mark McSweeny, who is the best programmer I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, not to mention one of the deepest thinkers I know. Mark is a go to person for almost any question I might have, and is a great encouragement. He is a great teacher, and an invaluable mentor in software development and life.

Thanks to Javan Gargus for teaching me about testing from early on in my career and for providing valuable feedback on ideas. I know if Javan likes an idea, I’ve expressed it clearly and it’s a keeper. Javan has told me what he thought I should hear whether I wanted to or not, all while being a supportive colleague and friend.

Thanks to Brian Marick for listening and responding to my ideas and teasing out concepts in my work that I hadn’t thought of. Brian is the first editor to ask me to write an article, and has taught me a lot about writing, testing and learning. Brian is an early promoter of some of my ideas, and has taught me a lot about the work I do.

I’m probably missing others, but I wanted to publicly thank these particular people for the impact they have had on my life. Without their help and support, I would not be able to accomplish half as much as I do.