Cheers to Six Years! Happy Anniversary, Mike!

Michael Scorcia

Arachnophobia, or the intense fear of spiders, is said to be one of the most prevalent fears suffered by people in the United States, with almost a third of the population experiencing it (just in case you were wondering, it is only surpassed by necrophobia, the fear of death, and  glossophobia , the fear of public speaking). Even though it is common to fear arachnids, our favorite Canadian, Lead Web Developer Michael Scorcia would still choose to go up against 1,000 of those creepy crawlies over coming face to face with a single cat. But… since we promised not to mention his fear of felines (which is called ailurophobia and about 9% of American adults suffer from a fear of some type of animal), we will switch gears to focus on all the other things we have learned about Mike in his incredible six years with Paradigm.

Even though he has been with Paradigm for six years, that only reflects half of the time he has worked with our fearless leader Rachel Durkan. He started contracting with her in the early days of the precursor to Paradigm, RJ Development. Lucky for us, he responded to a job posting Rachel advertised, and started working with her on small projects, not only in website development but with design as well. Even though we know him for his web development prowess, his job before becoming a full-time contractor was with a beverage packaging company, doing mostly design work. As their working relationship grew, his projects for Rachel took up most of his workday, and they decided it made the most sense for him to become an official employee. And the rest, as they say, is history. Even though they have worked together for over a decade, it wasn’t until the Paradigm retreat in 2022 that Mike was able to meet Rachel in person for the first time and finally confirm with certainty that she does, in fact, have legs.

One of Mike’s many endearing qualities is his humility. When asked about his professional accomplishments, he defers to what he believes would be the answer his colleagues would give. That answer would be developing the website for an international bathroom fixtures company, because of its size, the new platforms he utilized to build it, and overcoming the challenges of working with a company based in Spain. He enjoyed the project because of how much it helped him learn and grow. Another of his professional accomplishments he notes is watching, and supporting, the professional growth of his colleagues.

Other than his family, Mike’s true love is sports. If he’s not working, he is enjoying sports somehow. The only thing that will take him away from watching sports is cultivating his kids’ love of sports. Both of his sons play hockey and baseball, and he coaches hockey for his oldest and baseball for his youngest. His daughter has been focusing on cheerleading thus far but is trying her hand at both softball and hockey this summer.

Mike’s favorite part of working at Paradigm is the people. He has seen a lot of growth in his tenure with the firm, but he really enjoys working and interacting with his colleagues, even in a remote environment.

As much as he loves it at Paradigm, we may have to worry if a professional sports team (definitely baseball or maybe hockey) comes looking for a new General Manager. Since it’s unlikely he will be offered a job he hasn’t even applied for, Mike insists that the only way he is going to leave Paradigm is if we “kick him out of the door.”

Their loss is our gain, Mike! We are feel-ine purrfectly lucky to have you!