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About

Ellie Boynton on a hikeAbout Me

I’m Ellie Boynton, a stickler for reliability, good communication, and ensuring clients are satisfied with the results of my work. I’ve been building and maintaining websites for over 15 years and love working with WordPress and Shopify. I’ve also worked with Squarespace.

After I earned a BA in Economics from Princeton University, my early career was spent working in financial services and commercial real estate at The Boston Company, Inc., MacFarlane Partners, and GE Capital. Later on, I studied Website Development at Northeastern University.

When not in front of a computer, I enjoy hiking, skiing, jigsaw and logic puzzles, architecture, and spending time with family. I always look forward to opportunities to cheer for the Boston University hockey teams and the Allegheny College cross country and track teams.

My Devon Rex cat, Rory, often keeps me company while I’m working!

Why Garnet Solutions?

“Why Garnet Solutions?” I’m asked. Choosing a business name is not easy these days, especially when so many great ones are already taken. So how did I find this one?

Let’s start with the Solutions part. I like to be able to solve people’s problems, especially if they involve computers and technology. I love building websites, but I also enjoy desktop publishing, financial analysis, and figuring out how to customize software offerings like Membershipworks.

Now for Garnet. The idea of a gem appealed to me because rocks describe who I am: steady, reliable, sometimes sparkly and colorful, and simply there. Garnet is my birthstone and when I looked it up I discovered it is associated with trust. It felt right all the way around. I also learned that garnets come in a rainbow of colors; not just the dark red I usually envisioned.

So there you have it: Garnet Solutions can provide an array of services with integrity!

The History behind Garnet Solutions

Garnet Solutions was 17 years in the making. Just before my oldest was born, I left my full-time job in real estate asset management and started freelancing. Early projects included marketing support for a start-up that was selling product through Staples, proofreading the resumes of Yale MBA students, and creating a complex Excel model that would output the increased efficiency of using a variety of different motors in manufacturing.

While searching for a specialty, I decided to take a course in website design and development at Northeastern University. I loved the puzzle-solving aspects of the craft, both spatial and logical. Initially calling my business LEB Web Design (Ellie B, get it?), first projects included new websites for First Parish in Brookline and the Jean Paige School of Dance. Other early clients included Peking and the Mystics, Fortunato Consulting Group, and Mosaic Eye Publishing.

One of my next clients was TeenLife Media, LLC, and I ended up working there full time and was the project manager for the full redevelopment of TeenLife’s complex website fed by a database of thousands of teen programs. My time at TeenLife was a fabulous learning experience, and I carry that experience into my work today.

Today, I continue to offer our clients what they most need: personalized attention to work that needs to be done when the resources are not available in-house. I create standards-compliant websites that are designed to fulfill the specific goals for the website so that it’s not just pretty—it also produces the leads or sales that you need for your organization to thrive.