Hey, I’m Kirb. A creative director and web designer.

Hello! My name is Kirb Ratilla. I would tell you basic, simple facts about me; but I’ll change the typical introduction just a bit.

If you’re reading this, it’s because I want you to get to know me better, deeper. Every name carries a story which goes through experiences and challenges to tell; and I think I should tell you mine. I long to be open and honest, so take a read through everything that makes me be myself.

My Beginnings.

I was born in Magsaysay, a little town located in the Philippines. I’ve been in love with the sea since I was a kid, that’s why I saw Nautical Sciences as my dream career; but studying exactly what I wanted was really expensive on those days. Shortly after, I made a decision: I’d move to Iloilo City, where my uncle lived, to try and chase my dream.

That meant a huge leap as I lived through new things: To speak another language, to make friends again and to be a rookie on a job, helping my aunt and uncle at their repair shop. I managed to enroll on Nautical Sciences, but once again, too expensive of a course, especially in Iloilo. So my aunt (or Tita as I always call her) helped me without me knowing it, and enrolled me on the AMA College of Computer.

What many people don’t know is that I was scared of this. I didn’t know how to use a PC, as those resources weren’t available to me before. However, a year later, I was learning in detail its mechanism and how to use the Internet, taking more advantage of it than a regular user. I fell in love, and this time it was a completely different subject: the IT area.

Back in my hometown, on 2014, I got into the Southern Philippines College; and thanks to my cousin who financially contributed on it, I graduated in 2018 as a Bachelor of Science and Technology (BSIT). I took projects as a freelance agent right away and helped my family, since my mom was working 16 hours a day. More than a degree, it was an opportunity to ease hardships, but I wanted to go further with what I loved to do.

And that push was all I needed, to start my career.

My Present, or “Coding the way to a business”.

You guessed right: During college, I knew how to code, but I also learned to see the key to monetize websites: Advertising revenues and driving web traffic. Based on this, I created a large proxy network, supported by Google AdSense, which I shared on social media sites, to support and give traffic to the websites I created. This was SEO, but “the old school way”.

It sounded rudimental at the time, but chances soon came in: I started to have requests from start-ups and personal brands, and I wanted to provide a professional service for them. With that on mind, I started a small web development business along with my friends, and I also learned the basics and not-so-simple-tricks about graphic design.

I wanted to expand the business, but college was also important, so I couldn’t keep up. But then WordPress came in and people were looking to develop their projects under that platform, so I did the switch.

In 2017, I created WPGainer, a free-resources site for WordPress, but I still wanted to go beyond. So in 2018, I created MrStarfish, an in-house studio which specializes on web design.

What about the sea?

It may sound like I “gave up on the sea”, but nothing close to it. I still find a passion on the waves but I find it as well on the webs; so the boat hasn’t sunk, it just shifted its course into new places.