About Me

Bellingham Boardwalk - Photo by 35MM North / Unsplash

Hi, I'm Mal!

I do a wide variety of things that interest me, but at the end of the day I'm a graphics guy and technical solutions expert that enjoys working with independents and small businesses.

I specialize in helping others achieve their small business goals by streamlining operations, enhancing their brand, and crafting practical solutions. I often work with creators, influencers, restaurants, food trucks, mom and pop shops, you name it! If something doesn't exist and you need it, we'll make it exist.

At my core I enjoy being support, in whichever way it is needed!

Where I Am Now

I am residing in Bellingham, Washington! I've been all over the place, but Whatcom county is kind of where I roam these days. Occasionally I can be found as far north as Vancouver, B.C. or as far south as the Mexican border. I enjoy the Pacific Northwest and this is where I've made my home for now. 🌧️

Why I Do What I Do

Stupid example, but: Imagine your computer stops working properly. You ask around for recommendations of places to take it and everyone says the same thing: "Just take it to Geek Squad." So you do. And you pay. And it breaks again. And you pay again. The problem never really gets solved and you've become just another ticket number to a corporate giant. If it does get fixed the first time, you feel like you got lucky that day...

Now imagine instead: Someone around the corner fixes it right the first time. They show you exactly what was wrong, explain it clearly, and teach you how to prevent it from happening again. They've been there for years, doing great work, but they've been invisible next to Best Buy's presence and marketing budget.

The customer loses. The local expert loses. Best Buy wins...

I find that ultra annoying.

This example can be applied to any industry or scope. I help small business owners and independents battle with the corporate juggernauts not by outspending them but by outworking and providing similar -or- greater quality than them. Whether it's advertising, product development, media, full branding, CCTV systems, point-of-sale setups, conferencing, or adapting to new technology, I provide real solutions with complete transparency in ways that make sense for your business.

I connect local businesses with their communities and help them not just survive, but thrive. If we need more help, then I reach out and I collaborate with those who can lend their hand and it gets done correctly.

Quality does not have to be / is not locked behind a premium like most would believe. If you know where to look and how to communicate, you have access to outlets that reach far beyond, to lengths you would not expect.

When small business wins, the community around them wins.⭐

How I Work (and Think)

"Apes Strong Together." -Caesar, King of Apes 🙉

A Few More Things About Me

When I'm Not Working, I'm Still Working!

I stream both work and gaming occasionally on various platforms, mostly on MAL+ here. I currently only stream now on my private streaming node, which is located at live.mal.plus - I'm not a huge fan of streaming on Twitch.tv, Kick, Facebook, and the others, though I have before.

Currently Learning/Exploring/Playing

I've been slowly getting back into World of Warcraft with my wife. I'm a long time veteran player and raider in the game, all the way back to 2004. I took a year long break and came back to be a filthy casual player. I also play League of Legends where I am the most anti-toxic player on Earth. I'm tilt-proof and the words "Stay Positive!" are often typed from my fingertips. I've fortunately gotten very decent at the game over the last few years and enjoy a pool of champs, mostly supports.

Some birds are just born to become problems. 🧊

I run around in VRChat as well, mostly when my wife is on. She does commissions for various other players and develops worlds for her friends. During the pandemic she was eager to learn Unity and dove pretty hard into that. I myself, develop avatar assets & world accessories for it as well, but mostly at her request.

Other than those things: All the rest of my time is spent helping people launch their dreams, playing with my ESA (Border Collie) Tater, hanging out with my wife, and working a 7-to-5 weekday job all at the same time. I enjoy working on personal projects that require a lot of mental focus, and I crave challenges, so most things with high difficulty curves intrigue me. I do game development, run servers, and am currently writing a warehouse inventorying system with Python!

Want to know more? Contact me! I also do 3D Printing, metal fabrication, and product prototyping / development. 👍

Wanna Connect or Hang Out?

🗒️ Name: Mal Smith
🗺️ Location: Bellingham, WA (USA)
📧 Contact Me: [email protected]
🖥️ Discord: Ikadar
🔗 LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/that-guy

MAL+ QR - SCAN WITH PHONE!

This QR is essentially an easy link-card for me. This helps me networking purposes!

Unrelated, but did somebody say Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker?