An interview with our Front-End Developer, Brent
- Role: Front-End Developer
- Based: Windsor, Colorado
- Family: Wife Meghan + two daughters (Aubrie + Averie)
- Fun Fact: Met Gordie Howe and Nate MacKinnon (hockey stories included)
The newest Maker on our dev team (and a lifelong hockey guy)
Brent Robbins recently joined Makeway as a Front-End Developer, based in Windsor, Colorado. He’s the kind of teammate who brings equal parts calm, craft, and curiosity—especially when it comes to learning new tools and pushing projects forward.
He’s also a lifelong hockey player, a six-days-a-week gym regular, and (no big deal) has casually met a couple of hockey legends along the way.
Here’s a Meet the Maker Q&A with Brent.
Q: Where are you based, what’s your role, and tell us about your family.
Brent: I’m based out of Windsor, Colorado. My role is Front-End Developer. My family is my wife, Megan, and our two kids—two girls: Aubrey and Avery.
Q: You’re our newest Maker—what were you doing prior to Makeway?
Brent: I was a Senior Front-End Developer at Aten Design Group. They’re based out of Denver, but they’re distributed—similar to Makeway, with developers spread out across the world. They primarily focus on Drupal, so I worked a lot in Drupal, but I also worked on React projects there. I was there for around six or seven years.
“When you’ve been in this industry for a long time, you kind of have to enjoy learning new technologies. So it’s exciting to dig into a new CMS. ”
Q: How has that shift been—Drupal expectations vs. the WordPress reality?
Brent: It’s been fun. I had limited WordPress experience before, but I’ve been learning a ton. When you’ve been in this industry for a long time, you kind of have to enjoy learning new technologies. So it’s exciting to dig into a new CMS. There are a lot of similarities between Drupal and WordPress, and it’s been a good challenge.
And beyond WordPress, I’ve also had the opportunity to work on React projects—which is still what drives me the most.
Q: What do you like about Makeway—culture-wise and career-wise?
Brent: Career-wise, it’s been great to add another major toolset to my dev belt. WordPress is the most dominant CMS, so it’s a huge benefit to deepen that skill set.
I also like the variety of clients. At Aten I worked primarily with nonprofits and large institutions like universities. Makeway works with a different mix, and it’s cool to see different clients, content, designs, and ways teams operate.
And honestly, one of the most exciting things I’ve gotten to work on here was the Columbus Blue Jackets anniversary site—because I’m a hockey player, so that one was especially fun.
Culture-wise, Makeway is a smaller team than where I came from, and it’s been a really nice change. It’s more relaxed—in a good way. Some places are more strict and procedural, and that can be stressful.
Also, Kevin has been a huge help. He’s approachable, easy to connect with, and he’s been a great bridge for helping me get up to speed with how things work here.
Q: Switching gears—what do you like to do outside of work?
Brent: Hockey is a big one. I’ve played throughout my life. I grew up in Colorado Springs, which is a big hockey town. I played when I was younger, took a break, played inline for a while, and then about ten years ago I got back into ice hockey—and I’ve been playing every week ever since.
Outside of that, I’m into strength building / weightlifting. I’m at the gym at least six times a week, mostly bodybuilding-style lifting. Recently, I’ve been mixing in more hockey-style workouts too, which has been fun.When it’s nice in Colorado, I also enjoy cycling—road biking. And honestly, a lot of time is just family life: going to the kids’ sports events. They’re usually playing something—tennis, basketball… we’re always headed to a game or practice.
“I’m at the gym at least six times a week, mostly bodybuilding-style lifting.”
Q: Okay—what’s a fun fact about yourself? (Even though you said you didn’t have one.)
Brent: I met Gordie Howe when I was a kid. I was in a tournament and he was the big draw—so I waited in the hotel lobby forever with my dad. We finally got in an elevator and I looked down and saw these giant hands with big rings… then looked up and realized it was Gordie Howe.
He couldn’t have been nicer. He signed my stuff, and he even skated with us a little bit at the tournament.
And I’ve met Nate MacKinnon (at an In-N-Out) too—he was super nice. What’s funny is no one around seemed to realize they were standing next to one of the best hockey players in the world.
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In his short time at Makeway, Brent has become a valued member of the team, bringing curiosity, experience, and a steady dev hand to our projects.
You can connect with Brent on LinkedIn or, and if you’d like to learn more about joining our team, visit our careers page or email us at info@makeway.is.
