Michael Rory McCracken:
Designer, Developer
WordPress Nerd

Before I even started high school, I had already fallen in love with creating things on a computer. This started as building custom video games, which quickly got me into Photoshop (version 6.0) so I could create my own graphics. As the early internet began to form, I learned basic HTML and started creating websites for myself and my friends. My first site went live in 2002.

In 2006 I took a job at a bookstore as a Graphic Designer, and got started creating flyers and a new logo design. Within a few months I had taken over responsibility for the design of the store's seasonal newsletter using Adobe InDesign.

My first freelance clients came out of the advertisements and business cards I designed for the newsletter - and custom websites quickly followed. This freelance work continued throughout my college years, during which I studied Web & Graphic Design, Video Editing, and Photography, with independent studies in Thailand.

My web design work stepped up a notch as I began building sites with CMS (content management systems) instead of pure HTML. After a brief dance with Moveable Type, I discovered WordPress and the Thesis theme, which provided the critical combination of a highly customized design (using PHP and CSS) with a client-friendly editing interface.

WordPress became jet fuel for my freelance career. I started offering web hosting services for clients as well - a service I still offer today!

After graduating in 2010, I formalized the freelance work I'd already been doing for years and launched Terra Nova Creative in 2011 - my first proper studio. For the next decade I took on everything: brand identities, print design, and custom WordPress builds for small businesses across a range of industries. I wore all the hats, from design and development, to hosting, maintenance and expansion.

Through this work, I developed deep WordPress knowledge. Each new project and challenge added a new layer to the toolkit: from custom design and development to optimization, troubleshooting, security, SEO and server management, to a wide range of plugins for online courses, e-commerce, membership platforms, event booking and more.

In 2020 I joined the learning and documentation team of an exciting robotics startup that became Walmart Advanced Systems & Robotics, working as a Senior Technical Illustrator. For five years I produced technical documentation, 3D renders and animation, interactive training videos, and AR/VR experiences at scale.

My team's work was instrumental in the national rollout of an innovative grocery automation technology. This experience sharpened my design instincts even as it expanded my skillset. The result? Greater clarity, efficiency, and a knack for making complex things feel approachable.

That chapter also ignited a real interest in education and training content: something now woven into everything I'm building at Wild Glow, including a long-term goal to develop an educational platform teaching the same skills I use every day.

In 2025, I founded Wild Glow to bring everything together: the web experience, the design depth, the performance obsession, and the education angle. My focus is on helping coaches, wellness practitioners, and small businesses build web presences that actually match the quality of their work.

My wide range of experience makes me a powerful asset for any team - connecting the dots from design to development to optimization, marketing, training, and expansion.

I'm an avid traveler and photographer. I've climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, hiked up remote villages in Greece and down into cave cities in Turkey, backpacked through Thailand and Cambodia, and exlored Andalusian Spain all the way to the Alhambra. My early obsessions - art, ancient history, philosophy, technology - are what steered me into design in the first place, and they've continued to guide me to incredible places in life.