About
Hi, I'm Bill Couch, a photographer, runner, and cyclist based in New York City. I publish writing and photography to The Studio of Bill Couch on a bi-weekly to monthly basis. You can subscribe via email! You can also drop me an email, or find me elsewhere online.
New York City has been my home since October 2021, but I've previously lived in California, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, and Colorado.
For a living, I focus on technical leadership for software engineering teams. I most recently spent over a decade with Twitter. You can read more about my career, speaking engagements, and awards on my resume or LinkedIn.
Career Origins
In 2006, while in university as a design editor for The Michigan Daily and The Every Three Weekly, at the recommendation of my Daily managing design editor, I applied to a competition for a news design internship at the annual Society for News Design conference hosted by The Orlando Sentinel in Orlando, Florida. I was selected as one of 10 participants, and created a marketing campaign, savewilliamcouch.com with a 60-second video introduction for the competition. While I won an internship at The Arizona Republic for summer 2007, I was offered a full-time job as a multimedia designer at The Orlando Sentinel instead. This is how my professional career started in journalism in Florida, despite pursuing communications and film majors in Michigan.
After 4 years in journalism, I reached the limits of what I could learn around software development, and utilized 1.5y of pursuing a Computer Science degree in undergrad, to instead join Twitter in California in 2011. The rest follows on my resume or LinkedIn.
Priorities
In 2018, I was hit by a car on my bike, fractured 7 vertebrae and 2 ribs, just shy of full paralysis, spent 2 months in recovery, and the perpetrator was never found. I have fully recovered but the experience informed my time, actions, and priorities since. My personal health is my top priority, including strength training, running, and cycling. I advocate for walkable, urban living and to reduce reliance on private road transport. To get around, I have relied on bike and public transport since 2011.
