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There are a number of things that I look forward to whenever a new person joins the Foster Made team, but the Introducing post is always toward the top of my list. I don’t know when or how this tradition started, but I enjoy the exchange between people and the little glimpse into the lives and personalities of my coworkers. I consider it a true honor to be able to ask the questions and it is with much enthusiasm (!!!) that I now introduce the freshest member of the Foster Made team, Brian Larson.

Q: Brian, welcome! I'll start with an easy question. Where are you from?

A: I'm from Minnesota just outside of Saint Paul in Mendota Heights and I didn't make it far because I currently live in Minnesota just outside of Saint Paul in Mendota Heights where I have a local reputation of repeating myself.

Q: What do you love most about where you live? 

The “Minnesota Nice” thing is real and yah you betcha we take great pride in this. Unfortunately I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that the whole “Minnesota goodbye” is also still alive and well ‘round these parts.

Q: One of my biggest associations with Minnesota is actually books. That and Swedish language camps. But really, I’ve heard that the Twin Cities are quite a literary hub. Are you reading anything at the moment? 

A literary hub indeed! While most of my actual reading is either on a screen or nose deep in a Berenstain Bears book with a weird three-year-old named Walter I’m actually an avid audiobook listener and currently in the middle of Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. 

Q: Tell me a little bit about your web background. In your last role, you were responsible for both design and development. Which discipline did you learn first? Do you remember when and why it first appealed to you?

I guess I first learned design literally cutting, copying and pasting to make gig posters for my band back in the days of AOL, CD-ROMs and 56K dial-up. I got into web design and development after going to school for “multimedia” and really fell in love with Flash and Dreamweaver. Funny fact: I remember buying and watching a Lynda.com training video on Macromedia Dreamweaver 2 and it was on VHS!

Q: What are you most looking forward to in your role at Foster Made?

Well first off, hands down the talented people and jaw dropping client work! I also look forward to discovering how my design and marketing background can differentiate my role as a web developer.

Q: What is something that you actively want to learn in the next 12 months? This can be related to work or life, your choice. 

How to practice mindfulness more frequently and for longer periods of time in any waking moment. Pretty lofty eh?

Q: I get the sense that you’re a creative person. Do you have any artistic outlets? You can interpret “artistic” however you like. 

My main creative outlet is music. I’m a former lead singer of a rock band, do the singer/songwriter thing on acoustic guitar and I play drums as well. If you had to peg me for one of these though my strongest is singing.

Q: How else do you like to spend your free time?

Goofin’ with my awesome wife and three kids (Vivian, Franklin and Walter), hot yoga (certainly missed these days) and running. I’m also a big fan of stand-up comedy.

Q: Okay, I’m pulling this straight from the Desert Island Discs playbook. Eight tracks, a book, and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island?

Everybody Knows this is Nowhere by Neil Young and Crazy Horse (even though it’s only seven tracks), The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, and beer with beer on the side.

Q: Now that we’ve covered the ideals, what is the last song you actually listened to? Be honest.

OK I just looked at Spotify not knowing what I would find and it’s Hate by Design by Killswitch Engage. Whew, it could very well have been Lisa Loeb’s Stay from the last time I played drums. Oops.

Q: What is something that consistently inspires you?

Listening to music while running outside with Biffy Clyro and Jimmy Eat World being two band favorites that come to mind. Often I’ll sing along and aloud to some songs which I fully realize makes me look ridiculous and troubled.

Q: Finally, what animal would be cutest if scaled down to the size of a cat?

As long as the cat size can be newborn kitten size then the cutest would be our dog Tuffy. He’s a mix of Papillon and long-haired Chihuahua.