With his eclectic work experience and wide ranging interests, Chris is ideally suited to head up an organization like Kingdom House Productions. The unusual job titles he’s had in the past beg for more explanation. Some examples include:
- Third Mate
- Flight Officer
- Vessel Planner
- Port Captain
- Boarding Agent
- Marine Manager
- Missionary
- Ordained Minister
Translation
Chris graduated college with a degree and a Third Mate’s license from the US Coast Guard to drive ocean going cargo ships. He was awarded a Navy scholarship, which helped pay for school. When he got to the Navy, flying looked like more fun than driving ships. So Chris spent 6 years as a Naval Flight Officer, navigating jets off of aircraft carriers.
After serving the commitment for his scholarship, he resigned his commission. From that point, Chris worked in the maritime industry for nearly 15 years, in many different aspects of cargo operations. There were lots of long hours, in all kinds of weather, at all times of the day and night.
Ships are no respecters of personal schedules.
During all that time around the docks Chris developed an ability refine cargo operation systems making them more efficient and effective. In the process he saved his employers millions of dollars in operational costs.
Shift Online
Looking for a creative outlet, Chris started his first blog in 2005. He loved it! Within a few short months he bought his first domain, opened a basic web hosting account, and shifted his blog to WordPress.
It wasn’t long before Chris discovered he had an inner geek that he didn’t know existed. Some of the new friends he made online liked what he was doing with his sites and asked for help with their own websites. Chris was happy to help out where he could.
Eventually his wife (who is a very wise lady, by the way) suggested that if Chris was going to spend that much time in front of the computer he better find a way to get paid for it, or find another hobby. (“Because this isn’t working for me!”)
That made sense. Chris formed his first company, SuccessCREEations, Inc. in September 2007 and Chris left his full time job in the maritime industry on the last day of that same year.
WordPress Websites and More
Chris’ passion is to help organizations reach larger audiences and gain influence using the internet. We live in exciting times. Today we can reach more people in less time for less money than ever before in human history. The opportunity is there for people who understand the tools and processes.
The tool with the biggest impact for Chris is WordPress. It’s no exaggeration to say WordPress changed the course of Chris and Lisa’s lives. It enabled him to reach clients online, and ultimately gave them the flexibility to move across country to attend a Bible College in the mountains of Colorado. (It turns out, there aren’t any ships that make port calls in Denver!)
During those years in Colorado SuccessCREEations partnered with Web Savvy Marketing to do some amazing things for clients with WordPress.
Ordained Minister & Missionary
Now, Chris and his wife Lisa are ordained ministers. In addition to the work with the business, they also head up their nonprofit ministry called NewCREEations. (It seemed the obvious choice to them for the name!)
Chris & Lisa lived in Scotland for a number of years as self-supported missionaries where they established and directed a campus of an international Bible College.
It was a big surprise to them when, in 2021, God told them to, “pass the baton, it’s time to go home.”
Kingdom House Productions
After returning to America, the Crees moved to Ohio. One of the many changes that came with the return from the mission field included rebranding the business as Kingdom House Productions to better fit the nature of work being done. It was also time for Chris to shift from being a solo-entrepreneur freelancer and begin building Kingdom House Productions into a proper business. There are plans in place to expand the service offering beyond websites to include other forms of digital publishing including books, along with audio and video content.
Training
Being the son of a high school teacher, Chris has a natural ability to explain complex things in simple language that makes them easy to understand. His teaching gift contributed to the success of the Bible college campus overseas. So to him, training was a natural compliment to website development. Clients receive far more value from their websites when they are guided through the process of learning how to use them more effectively.
Other Stuff
Chris has no problem getting up to speak in front of large groups of people or video cameras. In fact he’s got a little bit of an actor bug and at one point dreamed of acting in some feature films.
His two favorite food groups are coffee and chocolate, but not necessarily in that order.