We are excited to announce that Kenvak is representing Kennedy.

Kennedy is a naively-optimistic entrepreneur, professional hacker, UX strategist, & mobile UI designer with a passion for startups. He is currently working at Google as an Interaction Designer. Lately his main focus has been design for tablet & mobile applications, however he’s designed and launched several successful websites over the past eight years.

He currently lives in NYC with his wife and two fat cats. When he is not in front of the computer he enjoys surfing, restoring cars, running, swimming, and being active in the NYC tech community.

Recent Projects

• Status Chart, the simplest way track and share your professional milestones.
• Grade Spotter, a full-feature NYC restaurant inspection guide for the iPhone.

Honors & Awards

• Won 3rd place at NYC BigApps for Hired in NY (2013)
• Co-Organizer of the world’s first fashion hackathon in NYC (2013)
• #techdrinkup Featured Startup for Status Chart (2013)
• Appeared on BetaBeat’s The Pitch for Status Chart (2013)
• Hack of the Month at NY Tech Meetup for Status Chart (2012)
• Won 2nd place at TechCrunch Disrupt for PoachBase (2012)
• Betabeat’s Spring 2012 Most Poachable Players in Tech (2012)
• Hack of the Month at NY Tech Meetup for Lemonade Stand (2011)
• Buspreneur on the NYC StartupBus (2011)

Interview

Kenvak: So you go by Kennedy?
Kennedy: Yeah, I just hate my first name. Kennedy is my last name and I have been going by it since middle school. It’s also a great test for when I get emails. If it’s addressed to my first name then I just assume that it was some kind of mass mailing or they just don’t care.

Kenvak: I am sure you get this a lot, but how tall are you?
Kennedy: I get it all the time. I am 5’ 18”.

Kenvak: Why did you want to be represented by Kenvak?
Kennedy: Dealing with the business side of freelancing has never been my favorite. If I can pay a small fee for someone to make my life a bit easier, why not? To me, hiring Kenvak is the same as hiring an accountant or copywriter. It’s not that I can’t do those things, it’s that I would rather not. I learned a while back that I’m more successful in life when I focus on what I am great at and leave everything else to other people.

Kenvak: Where does the name Kennedy’s Garage come from?
Kennedy: My grandfather owned and operated a garage in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri called Kennedy’s Garage. My father worked in the shop as a kid and into his twenties. I was lucky enough to grow up in a garage myself and have my father teach me what he knew. The original Kennedy’s Garage was shut down after the passing of my grandfather. I really love the name, the history, and what it represents. It’s an honor to carry on the name.

Kenvak: It seems that you do bit of everything.
Kennedy: I am a bit of a jack of all trades. I can fix pretty much anything mechanical. I have turned a wrench on everything but a helicopter and a submarine. I have been trained as an EMT, worked in an E.R, and did ocean rescue for a few years. I loved the adrenaline. I have always built websites on the side, but did not take it seriously until about 10 years ago.

Kenvak: I am sure you have some good stories.
Kennedy: I have lots of great stories, and I love to tell them. Most of them are pretty wild. I won’t go into great detail, but here are a few quick one liners: I have been stuck out in the middle of the ocean on a broken down Jet Ski, stranded on an island in Florida during alligator breeding season, and attempted to ride a wild moose (at the time I didn’t know they were dangerous). I went to London on $40 US for 7 days and survived. Moved to NYC on less than a couple hundred dollars to follow my wife’s and my dreams. Gave CPR to a dog on 22nd & 3rd and brought it back to life a few months back.

Kenvak: Do you have any advice?
Kennedy: I have lots, but I learned not to give unsolicited advice. I am generally pretty good at solving problems so feel free to reach out and ask. I guess the main thing I tell everyone is to work hard and the only thing that will hold you back is yourself. You can literally do anything you want in this world if you want it bad enough.

Kenvak: What are you listening to?
Kennedy: I love music and I listen to it all day long. I have a playlist on Spotify called Mixtape that I add random music to. I listen to pretty much anything. Everything from Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi to Die Antwoord to -M-, to … Yeah, pretty much everything.

Follow him

• Twitter
• Website
• Status Chart
• Working Not Working
• Dribbble