Meet Peter Adams of Ping! Development in Tempe

Peter, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was lucky to meet another entrepreneur when I first moved away to college. He and I have been friends since, but he also gave me that first chance and the opportunity to work with a small company. I worked for him for nearly a decade before needing to move on and make new goals. I worked in a variety of roles for different companies, from supply chain to e-commerce to e-Learning to banking.

Ultimately, when I moved to Arizona to be closer to my family (at the time, living in Colorado), I knew I wanted to start my own company and planned everything in Arizona around that idea. When I first got started, I had a lot to learn. I’m a software developer.

We’re not known for our social skills, so the idea of networking and talking to other people about what I could do to help them and their business required some … tweaking. On the recommendation of my parents, I joined the Tempe Chamber of Commerce and was welcomed by the community. I found mentors who helped me shape my message over the past six years and opened doors to opportunities to help others in my community, not just through business, but through charity, too.

I’ve been thrilled to support United Food Bank, speak to Gilbert high school students about a career in software development, and be part of the Tempe Chamber Board of Directors to help transform that Chamber. I’m using my passions away from the keyboard and my network to amplify what I can do for my community.

This year, it was simply gathering friends and asking they not buy things to give me for my birthday, but to instead contribute to United Food Bank – and I matched their donations. I’m planning similar things for next year. I’m really just enjoying the ride and, looking back, seeing that the network I’ve built through my involvement in my local community has gotten me where I am today.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Is starting your own business ever really smooth? The biggest bumps for me were personal and personality. I’m a software developer and naturally introverted. Networking takes a lot out of me. Now that I’m entrenched in the Tempe business community, it’s still daunting to consider expanding my reach to other Chambers because I need to go through the same challenges.

I’m better equipped now, thanks to everyone I’ve met along the road so far, but there’s still a lot of projects in my future. Outside of business, it was challenging to build a life and my business at the same time. Many people don’t understand the unique stresses business owners and entrepreneurs face. I found myself diving more and more into the business, and my personal life suffered.

Thankfully, I met an amazing woman who, while she didn’t always understand the challenges, wholeheartedly supported my efforts. Nicole, who has been part of most of my journey as a business owner now, continues to endure my occasional grumpy moods, but usually just brings me out of them.

Ping! Development – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is Ping! Development and focuses on building custom solutions for business owners who don’t want to sacrifice the security of their business or their customers for productivity. In short, we’re a software development company that is known for paying close attention to security and privacy best practices (and occasionally for looking at too many news stories about data breaches).

I’m most proud of the fact that I won’t sacrifice quality just to get a project. I’m unique among companies my size (I’m currently a business of 1, but I’ve had as many as three employees) because I carry a cyber-liability policy which acts as a check-and-balance that I’m doing the best thing for a customer’s data protection when I provide them with a solution.

I also tend to work with more regulated industries, such as healthcare, legal, and mortgage, but we have clients in many different industries, including healthcare and manufacturing.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Last June, I was floored by the recognition and awards I received from the Tempe Chamber. I had just finished up my 3-year term on the Board of Directors, and I was honored to receive the Volunteer of the Year and their inaugural Ambassador of the Year awards.

I love being involved with the organization, but hearing from so many people who appreciated that involvement was nothing short of amazing.