Man in Motion

MICHAEL BYRD, 55, makes a living with written words, and according to him, could probably make a hobby of “talking your ear off” with the spoken sort.  

 

He started his career as a journalist working for newspapers up and down the East Coast until he eventually settled in Wilmington in the ‘90s. Over the years, he has been an editor at Encore, started The Beat Magazine, dabbled in publishing, and now owns a successful company that creates websites for local businesses.  

 

Byrd, an ardent swimmer and runner, allowed WILMA to get a glimpse of a recent pool workout at the YMCA and wax philosophic about a few of his favorite things. 

 

“It looks repetitive, but it has a lot of components, much like golf or martial arts – strokes, body awareness, breathing, etc.,” he says about swimming. “It sounds cliché, but it’s a fluid endeavor. You’re trying to exert effort but at the same time be smooth. I think it’s a beautiful sport.”

 

W: How did you get started with the Masters Class at the Y?

MB: I’ve probably been here for seventeen or eighteen years now. I was swimming on my own, would come in here during lunch, and a big, tall outgoing fellow – Jonathan Washburn – he would see me and say, ‘Hey, come swim with us!’ 

He’s sort of the pied piper of Masters Swimming. He had a workout up on the board, and he would enlist anybody that came out on the pool. Next thing you know, there’s twenty  people in the group, and we’re going to swim meets. 

 

W: How often do you swim?

MB: Usually four times a week. Sometimes we swim an open water swim in the Intracoastal or a pier to pier – Johnnie Mercer’s to Crystal – in the ocean.  

 

… I am not, at the moment, any kind of world(-record) beater when it comes to running or swimming, although I love them both. I’ve had my moments and my triathlon phase also. 

I’m currently president of the Wilmington Road Runners probably because I’m reliable and hard working and well organized, not because I’m a great runner. I did, however, win my age group in the Grand Prix series two or three times, but that was three or four years ago before I got injured.

 

W: Tell us about your company, WordwrightWeb.

MB: It’s seven people. We have two areas of expertise, primarily. One is websites for professionals. We really like doing websites for law firms, doctors, and dentists. The other big area is online marketing. You get a website, that’s kind of the starting point, then after that what you want is business, so we use Google Ad Words, search engine optimization, etc. to make the phone ring. 

 

W: You consider yourself a bit of a theoretician and philosopher … any favorite concepts you want to share?

MB: I’m much better at serious questions. You want philosophy or theology, then I’m your man. A very foundational theory for me would be Stephen Covey who talks about the “emotional bank account.” You have an account with everyone you come in contact with, and what you want to be doing is making deposits. 

 

Now, some people learn to do the negative thing, which is overdraw – make someone feel guilty, obligated, fearful. But you don’t want to do that because eventually it will fall apart. Even if you’re just passing someone on the street, you can smile or say hello to one another, and you’ve put in even a little deposit.