Mike Wilbur
Web & Brand Development. Raleigh, NC 👉 Houston, TX. Mike-Dad to twins. World's worst dog trainer.
In Short
The Guy Who:
Background
Originally from North Carolina, I earned my Communication Arts degree from East Carolina University. (Arrrrgh, GO PIRATES!) I made the move to the Houston, TX area in 2021.
Currently, I’m a Web Specialist at Kelsey-Seybold in Houston, TX, where I customize and build new features across their platforms. I help create and maintain the UI components that power the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, KelseyCare Advantage, and KelseyCare frontends — ensuring each experience is clean, consistent, and easy to navigate for the people who rely on it.
Different Angles
You could say I’ve taken the scenic route through this industry — strategically, of course. Across 25 years I’ve held roles on all three sides: freelance, agency, and in-house. Early on I chased experience I knew I was missing, and the angle from each seat has taught me something the others couldn’t. The work I do now is shaped by all three.
Freelance
I’ve never stopped freelancing to some degree, and for about seven years it was my sole venture. I still maintain a client of almost 20 years, and a couple that are more than a decade.
Freelance has taught me that the work is only half the job — the other half is scoping, pricing, and knowing when to say no. The client you want is the one who values the thinking, not just the deliverable.
Agency
I’ve put in time at both a web agency and a general agency, and the variety is what I love — wrapping my head around each client and the research it takes to do them justice.
Agency work taught me to move inside a team — to defend an idea without owning it, and to let one go when someone has a better one. It’s where I learned to design within real constraints.
In-House
The “least exciting” of the three has appealed to me most surprisingly. I spent seven years as the sole front-end at the world’s largest hammock manufacturer — designing and maintaining up to eight brands — and now do similar work at a large medical group in Houston.
In-house taught me what happens after launch — which decisions age well, which ones quietly cost you, and why consistency and restraint beat the flashy choice.
Through both agency and freelance work I have had the opportunity to work alongside some genuinely great clients, big and small. Here’s a small sample of them:
The Home Team
In 2021 I relocated to Spring, TX to chase after my high school sweetheart after 20+ years apart. We had both become huge dog-lovers & rescuers — so we combined her three, my four, and threw in two of the most awesome, raucous, amazing, teenage-acting 9-year-old twins that I’m honored to call me Mike-Dad. We love beach days, baseball games, gymnastic meets, and are trying our best to find the time to travel more.
We are down to 3 dogs now, but the adventure has only been growing.
What Matters
I’m at my best when I’m working with people, both clients and teammates, who care about the details and aren’t afraid to push back. The best projects I’ve been part of all had one thing in common — honest feedback in both directions, a real shared standard, and a finished product no one has to apologize for.
I’m at my best when I’m working with people, both clients and teammates, who care about the details and aren’t afraid to push back. The best projects I’ve been part of all had one thing in common — honest feedback in both directions, a real shared standard, and a finished product no one has to apologize for.
If you’d like to start a conversation, let’s get started.
Method / Madness
My principles stay fixed, and my process flexes to fit the work. View more about my approach here. If you’d like to know specifics about how I handle your kind of project, head to Web Services, Brand & Strategy, or Digital & Print Marketing for more info.