Joey Kudish

Who or what helped you find your footing in WordPress, and how do you try to pay that forward today?

I started working with WordPress at 17, in the late 2000s, and was fortunate to have people take a chance on me early. My first opportunity came from an agency working with major publications, including TechCrunch. A few years later, after meeting some of Automattic’s early employees at WordCamps, I had the opportunity to join Automattic.

Those experiences showed me how much a single introduction or opportunity can change someone’s path. I try to pay that forward by attending and speaking at WordCamps, introducing people across the community, and making myself available to anyone who wants to talk about finding opportunities or building a career in our industry.

If you could engineer one connection at WCEH 2026 — a conversation, an intro, a collaboration — what would it be?

I’d love to connect with business owners and hear how they’re using WordPress and technology to grow. Some of my favourite conversations begin with learning how a business works, what the owner wants to accomplish, and where technology is helping or getting in the way.

If one of those conversations leads to a useful introduction, a new idea, or a future collaboration, even better.

WordPress powers 43% of the web, but it’s the people who keep it alive. What’s a moment in this community that reminded you why you stay?

A few years ago, I closed a business venture and returned to tech after spending some time in a different industry. At my first WordCamp back, people welcomed me as though I had never left. Several offered introductions, work opportunities, and encouragement. That support helped me restart my consulting work.

It reminded me that WordPress has always been more than a piece of software for me. It’s a community I can return to, and one that has repeatedly helped me find my footing. That experience encouraged me to double down on building my career in tech and on the web, with WordPress remaining an important part of it.

What does the WordPress community get right that other tech communities don’t. What could we still do better?

Hey Troy,

I responded in detail a few days ago – sounds like you didn’t receive my response?

I’ll paste the full email below once more:

——

Hi Troy and team,

Apologies about the delayed response.

I’m very excited to come speak at WordCamp Canada this year.

Please find below the answers to your interview.

Who or what helped you find your footing in WordPress, and how do you try to pay that forward today?

I started working with WordPress at 17, in the late 2000s, and was fortunate to have people take a chance on me early. My first opportunity came from an agency working with major publications, including TechCrunch. A few years later, after meeting some of Automattic’s early employees at WordCamps, I had the opportunity to join Automattic.

Those experiences showed me how much a single introduction or opportunity can change someone’s path. I try to pay that forward by attending and speaking at WordCamps, introducing people across the community, and making myself available to anyone who wants to talk about finding opportunities or building a career in our industry.

If you could engineer one connection at WCEH 2026, a conversation, an intro, a collaboration, what would it be?

I’d love to connect with business owners and hear how they’re using WordPress and technology to grow. Some of my favourite conversations begin with learning how a business works, what the owner wants to accomplish, and where technology is helping or getting in the way.

If one of those conversations leads to a useful introduction, a new idea, or a future collaboration, even better.

WordPress powers 43% of the web, but it’s the people who keep it alive. What’s a moment in this community that reminded you why you stay?

A few years ago, I closed a business venture and returned to tech after spending some time in a different industry. At my first WordCamp back, people welcomed me as though I had never left. Several offered introductions, work opportunities, and encouragement. That support helped me restart my consulting work.

It reminded me that WordPress has always been more than a piece of software for me. It’s a community I can return to, and one that has repeatedly helped me find my footing. That experience encouraged me to double down on building my career in tech and on the web, with WordPress remaining an important part of it.

What does the WordPress community get right that other tech communities don’t? What could we still do better?

Other tech communities, especially Laravel, can be every bit as friendly and welcoming. What stands out about WordPress is the range of people it brings together. At the same event, you’ll meet engineers, designers, business owners, marketers, writers, and hobbyists. That mix creates conversations and connections that are harder to find in communities organized around a narrower technical discipline.

I’d love to see WordPress events place more emphasis on where technology is headed. Events like Laracon and many newer AI conferences often feel more ambitious in their programming and more intentional about the overall attendee experience. Some WordCamps can feel rooted in where WordPress has been, when the community also needs space to explore where the web, AI, and WordPress are going next.

Events like PressConf and LoopConf are already helping fill that gap. I’d love to see more of that energy brought into the broader WordPress event community.

What’s a form of contribution you think is undervalued, and why does it matter?

Community organizing and making personal connections are both easy to undervalue because much of that work happens behind the scenes. I helped organize WordCamp Vancouver in 2012 and 2013, which gave me an appreciation for how much time and care goes into creating a place where people can meet, learn, and feel welcome.

The introductions made in those spaces matter too. Connecting someone with a potential collaborator, client, employer, or mentor can change the direction of their career. I’ve benefited from those connections throughout my time in WordPress, so I try to make them for others whenever I can.

Contribution isn’t limited to code or something that appears in public contributor credits. Creating the space for a community and helping people find their place within it can have an equally lasting impact.

A lot of people want to contribute but feel they’re not technical enough. What would you say to them?

There has never been a better time to contribute. AI tools have dramatically lowered the technical barrier. If you want to contribute code, you can use them to learn as you go, understand unfamiliar parts of the code, and turn an idea into a working contribution.

WordPress also needs people to improve documentation, translate it into other languages, answer support questions, test releases, report bugs, and organize community events. Those contributions are every bit as important to the project.

Start with the skills you already have, then use the tools available to fill in the gaps. What matters is finding a way to make WordPress or its community a little better.