August 25, 2017 in

About

My experiences as a freelancer and design firm employee, along with my training in design, have provided me with a solid education and fueled my desire to create smart online solutions for small businesses.

Meet Leslie Bourke

Since my high school years, I’ve been fascinated by the Internet and how it enables us to reach many so easily. I discovered this with my own websites and was thrilled to talk to people around the world. In college, I learned the fundamentals of design, the intricacies of interactive media, and business essentials. In 2005, I moved from my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, to Portland, Oregon, to pursue my career in web design.

My experiences as a freelancer and design firm employee have provided me with opportunities to fill multiple project roles. I’ve worked as a designer, developer, and project manager. I enjoy the challenges that each role affords. I’ve also worked with a variety of businesses, from design and creative agencies, to small local businesses, to international companies. These invaluable experiences have shown me that I most love working with small businesses.

My Core Business Values

1. My clients and associates find me easy to work with, trustworthy, and reliable.
2. I make the process during projects easy.
3. I demonstrate excellence in my work.

Some Random Facts

My favorite singer is Kim Richey. After watching the movie Two Brothers, a heart-wrenching story about two tiger cubs, I decided to become a vegetarian. I’m now striving to be vegan, which is pretty easy in Portland. My mother and father are both accomplished writers; my mom writes short stories and books, and my dad composes country music songs. I am addicted to the energy and music of Les Mills exercise classes. My drink of choice depends on the weather – a Ruby Red Cocktail ranks pretty high right now. I’m a huge fan of cats, especially fluffy black ones. My good-hearted, sweet, and precious kitty, Byron, lived to be 18. My other cat of 14 years, Keats, was a therapy cat with Pet Partners, and we regularly visited a memory care facility. My favorite books are A Miracle of Catfish by Larry Brown, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, and Women & Money by Suze Orman. I’d love to visit Santa Fe in the next year.

“Leslie was able to seamlessly update our logo and design a clean, simple website, which was exactly what we were looking for. She has been responsive to all of our needs and is very easy to work with.”

Diane Thornton, Director of Business Operations & Marketing at CleanFuture, Inc.
“Leslie is extraordinarily skilled, creative, intuitive, and patient. She spent a lot of time and energy making my website express what my practice is and does. Her whole attitude was comfortable, reassuring, and cooperative.”

H. Theresa Wright, Founder and Director of Renaissance Nutrition Center, Inc.
“Our members are very happy with the website, and it has immensely reduced the amount of work organizers have to do on the backend. I would highly recommend Bourke Design.”

Marita Keppel, Organizer for Northwest Rheumatism Society
“Leslie made my website upgrade a very painless process. I did a show last week and have had a number of inquiries; now I have a website I can feel good about sending them.”

Stuart Sandler, Photographer
“Leslie Bourke not only redesigned my portfolio, she reconceptualized it. She also implemented site-wide improvements so every page loaded faster than before. My website is stronger because of her exceptional work.”

Mahesh Mohan, Copywriter at Enlighten Writing
“Leslie Bourke is the world’s best web designer. She creates sophisticated corporate sites, yet managed to reach into the whimsy bag and make one for me that is — me.”

Corabel Shofner, Author
“Leslie has a unique ability to listen to what you imagine your future site to look like, to draw from features you find desirable on other sites, and to inject her own creativity into the process.”

Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders, UNC at Chapel Hill
“My decision to use a professional designer was the best choice I could have made to market my business. I highly recommend Leslie Bourke to anyone looking to create a current and eye-catching site!”

Christina Loescher, Professional Organizer at I.D. Organizing
“Leslie is personable, creative, detail-oriented, timely, and produces excellent work. I’ve hired her for logo designs, custom business cards, and multiple websites. She’s great to work with.”

Chris Dawkins, Principal Real Estate Broker at The Dawkins Group
“Working with Leslie makes my life so much easier. I know that if I need a change or addition to my website she is only an email or phone call away. Leslie is very quick to respond to my requests.”

Becky Neuman, Executive Assistant at Zuelke & Associates
“Leslie runs a top-notch business. One of the things I appreciate the most is how clear her proposals are in terms of what we are getting, what she needs from us to accomplish it, and the exact timeline it will unfold by.”

Richard Sayers, Director of Marketing at Peak Solutions
“Leslie was hired to design our website and did an excellent job. We most appreciate her ability to take our broad concepts and apply them to a functional and attractive design.”

Mark Wilson, Insurance Broker at Insurance Partners
“Through a series of thoughtful, pertinent questions, Leslie zoned in on exactly the mission, mood, atmosphere, and aesthetic of our organization. Because of Leslie, our website conveys perfectly what we are about.”

Jeanette Grimaldi, Director at SEEL Portland
“Leslie’s team did a masterful job of totally reconstructing our website into a storefront and communication engine that we are extremely proud of. I would highly recommend Bourke Design.”

Jeremy Curtis, VP/Partner at Corporate Health Partners
“Thanks for making our vision a reality! The site looks wonderful, and we’ve had lots of excellent feedback from the ease of navigation, to it being user-friendly, to the beauty of the design. We couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Leslie Young and Mike Browne, Owners of Rustling Palms Studio