November 20 2020
TopSpot Team Member Spotlight: Manny Soto
At TopSpot, we appreciate our Team Members and recognize their unique strengths. Each month, we showcase some of the people we are lucky enough to work with every day. Today, we are shining the Spotlight on Manuel Soto. Manny is known for his positive attitude and willingness to help his fellow Teammates.
Meet Manny Soto, Web Developer
How long have you been working at TopSpot and what do you do here?
I am a Web Developer here at TopSpot, I have worked here for about a year and a half now and I have learned so much. I make websites using the MODX CMS and I am now expanding my knowledge by learning the WordPress CMS and the tools it has.
What is interesting about your job that people may not realize?
Many people don’t realize the amount of work and time that goes into making a site or site feature work properly. Sometimes it can take a few minutes and other times it can take many hours. Each website is different and requires many different tools to get it running well. However, breaking a site can be just a matter of forgetting a semicolon or two in your code or misspelling a variable name.
What is your favorite part about working for TopSpot?
My favorite part about TopSpot and working here are the people I work with, specifically on the Web Team. This is my very first job out of college and as such, I knew very little when it came to a lot of the tools used here. The Team immediately made me feel right at home and were so willing to help when I needed it. Because of them, I have become more comfortable with web development and am never afraid to ask questions.
Who or what inspires you and why?
In my personal life, I take inspiration from my parents. Growing up, they constantly worked to provide me and my sisters a good life but also managed to be there for important life moments.
When it comes to development, I think what inspires me is the impact I have on a business. It’s always neat to see how much the site has evolved from the moment you started to the moment you launch it. I like looking back on everything I did and I enjoy knowing that all the effort I put into a site will benefit a business positively.
I like looking back on everything I did and I enjoy knowing that all the effort I put into a site will benefit a business positively.
What are your hobbies and interests?
I really enjoy sports, specifically, I enjoy watching baseball. I am a big Houston Astros fan, but I also enjoy watching the Dodgers and the Indians play. Watching movies is also a great pastime for me; I grew up watching action movies with my dad, so some of my favorites are the Rocky films (except for Rocky 5), Over the Top, Die Hard, and Total Recall. Camping has recently become a very big interest of mine; I enjoy the views and the overall mystery of what nature has to offer.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Six-year-old me wanted to be an astronaut, because I mean, come on, space! Something else that I wanted to be was a truck driver, like my dad. It was always fun going on trips with him and seeing how that industry operated from the passenger seat of my dad’s Peterbilt. Though these dreams never amounted to anything, I appreciate all of the time I spent with my dad in his rig and I have a great amount of respect for anyone behind the wheel of an eighteen-wheeler.
Here are a few things Manny’s Team Members have to say about him:
Manny is such a positive individual, dedicated to put out the best work he can and to ensure that he is collaborating with his Team Members. He is always asking what he can help with in-between the tasks he has completed, even if it is not his project specifically.
Stephen Rifai, Manny’s Manager
This is long overdue but I need to express my appreciation for all your hard work over the past few weeks. You never miss a deadline – in fact, you are normally early when finishing phase 3 projects and it truly makes a difference in how the rest of the project pans out. THANK YOU! No matter what roadblocks we run into – from needing to add new features, needing to hit major milestone deadlines for multiple projects, hosting problems, or my endless revisions, you are quick to figure out a solution so we can keep moving forward. Thank you for being so positive and having a glass-half-full mentality.
Congrats on the big site launch today! Thank you for being such a great Teammate and for the endless hours spent getting this to the finish line. I’m so thankful for all of your hard work and very impressed with how you knocked all of the custom development out of the park. Cheers, friend!
Awesome job lately with these web projects and moving them to the finish line – thanks for all of your hard work and for always being positive and willing to help!! 🙂
Want to join our Team and work with talented people like Manny every day?