Hosting by Real People & for Real People with Brian Pikkaart

Brian Pikkaart in Florence, Italy

When Agathon Group’s first WordPress hosting clients arrived on the scene, they came looking for better hosting. Beyond just a bullet list of features, they needed friendly experts who would listen. Fortunately, they found Brian Pikkaart. As more clients arrived, Brian helped to create what is now AGhosted, Agathon Group’s managed WordPress hosting platform. Brian focuses on the structure and documentation of the system to help ensure that everyone’s site is running well.

“I like the satisfaction that comes from solving problems with an amazing team and fun technology,” Brian said. “One of my specialties is ensuring structure and order within the AGhosted server environment.”

That means standardizing tools, documenting environments or procedures, identifying more efficient ways to accomplish tasks, and so forth. While that may not seem like the most exciting work, Brian joked, “Those kinds of things keep me motivated.”

Brian enjoys equipping clients with useful tools and a great hosting environment to reach their goals. When things get sideways for a client, he takes the time to understand their situation, and looks for creative solutions to their challenges.

“[I like] the opportunity to use my gifts to help others achieve their passions,” Brian said. “Whether it’s ministries or moms, web development shops or homeschool teachers, churches or authors, retailers or DIY-ers. They all have their own passion for the work they do, and it’s rewarding to see their excitement with each new challenge we help them tackle.”

Joining the team

Brian started working at Agathon Group in 2013, and plays a big role in managing the overall health of Agathon Group servers. That includes ensuring security measures are in place, stopping threats or attacks, assessing server load, implementing systems-related changes, and more. He’s a team player and contributes across the board.

The Michigander was no stranger to staff at Agathon Group, having worked with several staff members at a ministry called Gospelcom. From there, he spent a number of years as a government contractor in the Washington, D.C., area until he decided to return to his roots.

“I craved the challenge of working alongside incredibly talented and gifted people, being assured of integrity in the work and business, serving clients that are doing Good in the world, and spending more time at home with my family, rather than hours each day commuting,” Brian said.

A couple of years after his move to Agathon Group, Brian said he feels like Agathon Group’s work environment and ethic fit his desires to a tee.

Brian’s first blog

Brian's analog blog: newspaper clippings and text on a whiteboard. Brian recalled a story about his first blog. He resisted blogging for a while, but when pressure from coworkers mounted, he responded with what he calls an “analog blog.” He posted newspaper clippings, and scribbled musings on a whiteboard.

“It’s possible that’s not what they had in mind, but I enjoyed the ease of posting, the lack of maintenance, and relative security of an offline environment,” he joked. “Eventually, I did migrate to a WordPress blog, with posts about my love of family, photography, sports, and politics.”

We’re glad he came around, and while he no longer maintains his blog, Brian expressed how he enjoys the rare times he is able to write, especially about the intersection of faith and culture.

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