I’m Mike McAlister, a designer and principal software engineer from the Midwest, USA. I build killer products and brands that people love.
For two decades, I’ve been hard at work founding, growing, and selling delightful digital products that are used and loved by hundreds of thousands of creators across the web.
As a seasoned designer, I’m passionate about solving complex problems with pixels by combining research, clever technology, and thoughtful design. As a product engineer, I’m passionate about leading teams, leveling-up coworkers, and curating a culture of quality that breathes life into products and consistently drives results.
With this formula, I’ve launched and grown multiple projects from ground zero to over a million dollars in revenue before, ultimately, being acquired.
Most recently, I completed an impactful four-year run as a Principal Software Engineer at WP Engine, leading the effort to revolutionize WordPress with industry-leading design and dev tools.
And now, I'm back at building products and designing experiences full-time. I recently wrote my first book and course, I launched a new product brand, and started taking on select, high-impact design partnerships.
Off the clock, you can find me taking photos, exploring the cosmos, playing guitar and bass, making beats, woodworking, tinkering with electronics, and taking epic road trips with my wife, Mandi.
Over the years, I've learned a spaceship full of knowledge about what it takes to create lucrative digital products that solve problems (and look good while they do it). I've put everything I know into the Liftoff course to help you grow an audience and start making money as a digital creator!
I created the Liftoff course to teach you step-by-step how to pinpoint your expertise and turn it into digital products like courses, ebooks, memberships, digital goods, podcasts, and templates that earn recurring revenue.
Get Liftoff Now →
Ollie is the next big thing in WordPress. It's a powerful new WordPress block theme that enables easy-peasy site building within the native WordPress interface, no page builder plugin required. Super lightweight, performant, and its pixel-perfect, responsive design system ensures your websites look great on all devices.
Foureyes Studio is the catchall for my creative endeavours, both on and off the internet. Outside of digital products, I also dabble in astrophotography, photography, videography, music, consulting, and other creative work.
I started my first design company nearly twenty years ago in 2004. Since then, design has shaped everything I've done. Brandwich is a side project I'm tinkering with to explore new ways of designing brands, style guides, and other design ingredients.
Atomic Blocks experienced super quick growth as a first-to-market plugin and educational resource for the new WordPress block editor. My early work on this product not only helped spark developer interest in the new editor, but it also shaped a few of the early block features in WordPress core.
Over the course of several years, I created a collection of 20+ beautifully-crafted and human-centered WordPress themes. Array became the antithesis of overly-complicated solutions that long-dominated the WordPress landscape and still powers many thousands of websites to this day.
Interview on They Got Acquired
A look back on the sale of my pair of popular WordPress products, Array and Atomic Blocks.
Interview on WP Tavern
I interviewed with WP Tavern about the future of WordPress, block themes, building Ollie.
Interview on Creative MKE
I chatted with Elisabeth Gasparka about the Liftoff Creator Course, creative leadership, and more.
Bluehost Creator Award
My work on the Liftoff Creator Course won 1st place in the Bluehost Creator Awards.
Interview on Torque
A conversation about full-site editing in WordPress and big questions about where we’re going.
Interview on Press This
I joined David Vogelpohl to chat about creating bleeding edge tools for WordPress.
Interview on Make Lemonade
I joined JR Farr to chat about creating and selling businesses and the state of WordPress.
Speaker at DeCode 2022
All the tools you need to get started with the WordPress block editor.
Writer at Liftoff
I'm focusing my creative and writing efforts on my recently launched Liftoff Product Course.
Speaker at WP Block Talk
A case study on creating a first-to-market products and using design systems in WordPress.
Speaker at WP Engine Summit
Explore the WordPress block editor and how it introduces an entirely new world of products.
Interview on PressThis
Using the WordPress block editor to create groundbreaking experiences with Atomic Blocks.
Interview on WPTavern
A write-up on the Array Themes and Atomic Blocks acquisition and my thoughts on WordPress.
Automattic Design Award
I was a finalist in the Automattic Design Awards, honoring outstanding design work in open-source.
Interview on WP Watercooler
Thinking of starting a WordPress business? I discuss the different strategies you might consider.
Interview on PostStatus
Creating a WordPress theme is easy enough, but creating one you can sell takes a lot of work.
Got an interesting partnership or opportunity you want to chat about? Looking to build a new brand or refresh your current one? Let’s do it! Drop me a good ol' fashioned email or hit me up on your social media platform of choice.
© 2023 Mike McAlister · Be kind and build outstanding stuff. Later, skater! ✌️
