SMBH 69 with Debra Simpson

When Debra was a kid, her Dad programmed the first mainframe computer for The Salvation Army’s Western Territorial Division. In 1985 he gave Debra her first computer, a TRS-80 from Radio Shack with an 8-pin, dot matrix printer. In 1989 Debra was on Prodigy chatting with a friend who moved to Kentucky, on dial-up. She was desktop publishing by 1991 with the first version of Microsoft’s Publisher.

In 1990 she created The Business Resource, a local small business publication with a community of business owners who wrote articles for the paper. The members networked twice a month at business luncheons. Because of her desktop publishing skills, McGraw-Hill persuaded her to help them build their first New Media Division.
Debra worked for McGraw-Hill from 1994 to 2003. It was an exciting time on the Internet. McGraw-Hill was pioneering online learning tools. Eventually Debra was programming the websites that supported McGraw-Hill’s textbook division.

When they closed their Carlsbad office in 2003, Debra started a business helping other business owners use the Internet to market their businesses. In 2006, Debra started podcasting, North San Diego Business @Large (http://northsandiegobusiness.com), where she interviews business owners in North San Diego County. Today she consults with business owners who want to work with WordPress, social media and podcasting.