Give us a picture of Alyson at work.

I work in my home office which is actually an old Foley sound studio for the motion picture industry. (Foley artists are those handy souls who create movie sound effects like banging coconut shells together to evoke horses galloping by.) The space is fully sound-proofed with 20-foot high ceilings and double doors in every room. It’s a cool space and the rent is (relatively) inexpensive compared to other parts of Los Angeles. Plus it’s very quiet. I can scream at the top of my lungs and no one can hear me… or I can have a dance party without disturbing the neighbors.

In the rare event I look up from my laptop computer that goes with me wherever I go, I see my drooly dog looking at me bemused with his droopy eyelids, wondering if I’ve got any food. I see huge towering eucalyptus and Italian cypress trees waving at me from outside.

If I’m listening to music, I play either New Age yoga music that relaxes me when my brain is on “overdrive,” or if I’m a tad sluggish I’ll blare rock or techno music in lieu of strong coffee.

What are the up and down sides of working as a telecommuter?

Working from home is a blessing and suits me perfectly, although it took me a while to achieve balance in my work day. When I first started telecommuting I worked 16 hours a day, seven days a week—practically working the entire time I was conscious. I became a total workaholic with all the tell-tale signs: dark circles under my eyes, transparent pale skin, jitters, blurry vision and my pajamas were permanently attached to my body.

One of the downsides working from home is that your pajama wardrobe far exceeds your street clothes wardrobe. It was difficult to walk away from my computer ever because there was always so much work to be done, but eventually I started framing my workday into more traditional hours, even setting a clock when I should take breaks. I wake up, do yoga, work, walk the dog, work, go to the gym, work, eat, etc.

Another huge downside of telecommuting is that I miss my Schreiner family interaction. I made such dear friends at Schreiner—I honestly consider Schreiner my extended family—they’ve always been there for me when I needed them! And since I work 1,500 miles away, I miss the hugs and smiling faces sooooo much that I often get very sentimental.

The up-side of telecommuting is that I don’t have to drive to work and I am so productive! My work efficiency skyrockets when I get to focus 100 percent on the Schreiner Web site and I’m not spending time stuck in traffic or in meetings. I’m a very hands-on, productivity-oriented person, so it’s very gratifying to have control over the Schreiner Web site.

You have said that you are totally self–taught as a webmaster–how did that come about?

I got involved in Web design in the early 90s when the Web was a newborn hatchling for the masses. When I first started college I befriended some very interesting and colorful characters, two genius computer guys who had an illustrious if somewhat checkered past complete with FBI files for computer hacking—think skater boys with soldering irons and mother boards. These “rebel” friends of mine were in the process of starting their own internet service provider/digital service bureau. I answered the phones for their ISP and then inadvertently learned graphic design for print when I had to create flyers, magazine ads, etc. (lots of rave club flyers, too!) for the business.

At first we had an office in the back of the coolest record store in Austin, and then we opened a branch in Silicon Valley, California, then we got our own office complete with Sassy Furniture and Vita museum chairs made from rope and bungee cords...not very functional, but they looked good. I think I have permanent vertebrae damage from those chairs...ahhhh, good times, good times. It was a time of lots of creative energy and excitement—we were building a business from the ground up in our early 20’s, totally taking over the world!

When our business grew and more and more people needed to be connected to the Internet in their homes and businesses, the demand for Web sites increased. I had to learn how to build Web sites writing .html code in Notepad (called hand-coding) and for an artistic person, it was an uphill battle deciphering the hieroglyphics of 100-plus tags of the programming language but I persevered and had to learn it, or we wouldn’t get paid for the projects. Now, when I look back and think of some of the sites we built for ecstatic, then-cutting-edge clients, I cringe. The web pages were all sooo basic and elementary, as if my dog had created them...ughhh....The technology has come such a long way! Now we have sophisticated editing programs like Macromedia Dreamweaver that makes building Web sites a lot easier with more multimedia capabilities. Whew, I sound like the elder statesman who waxes sentimental to the younger generations about having to walk to school 10 miles in the snow, barefooted, or the perils of black-and-white TV...but relatively, I am a veteran in this business.

As a revolutionary young adult, I was soooo fortunate to associate with and learn from so many ingenious entrepreneurial spirits! Gosh, to think I wouldn’t have met my two co-conspirators if I hadn’t gone swimming at Sewell Park in San Marcos that fateful day, maybe I would be a veterinarian or an architect or a starving artist. Regardless, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to work in my pajamas like I am blessed to do now.

Who do you work for besides Schreiner - movie stars, rock stars, charities, artists?

I’ve worked for Warner Brothers Records, Interscope Records, ARTISTdirect online music network, FOX–TV, Elle magazine, Disney, and many others.My list of music clients has included Cher, k.d. lang, Marilyn Manson, Ted Nugent, Boney James and Everlast.I’ve worked for art galleries, small-to medium-sized retail stores, magazines, hotel chains, dot-coms and everything in between.Right now, I don’t have much time to spare beyond working on Schreiner’s extensive Web network, so I’m careful not to over-extend myself with extra projects.

What kind of techie equipment do you own and what do you dream of owning?

I love my T-mobile Sidekick...I named it “Nigel.” Nigel is my cell phone, e-mail interface, Web browser, Instant Messenger device, camera, calculator, and gaming device all wrapped into one...it’s so cool! Even if I’m away from home I can still check my e-mail.

If I had expendable income, I’d love to have a loaded Mac G5 with an enormous cinema display monitor...I’m more of a PC person because of the web-design, but I still love the way Macs look...they’re like sculpture.

Describe yourself as a little girl?

The “little” Alyson had long blonde braids and usually some sort of cast or bruise or scrape from playing night and day. I was constantly following my big sister around and we led the neighborhood kids on all sorts of adventures. I wore my coveted rainbow “Mork From Ork” suspenders with a red turtleneck and cuffed dark denim jeans with converse tennis shoes.

According to my mom, I was always able to entertain myself and could sit for hours organizing and personifying my crayons. I would also sit for hours quietly as my big sister would create elaborate worksheets and school “lessons” for me and 50 of my stuffed-animal friends.I laughed a lot, ate my weight in dill pickles (I used to drink pickle juice, ugh...) drew and wrote “novels” on my antique Underwood typewriter.

Where did you grow up?

My father was in the military so we had the privilege of living in all sorts of places... My family lived everywhere from Japan to Alaska to Kansas to New York. I call Austin, Texas, home however, because that’s where I went to high school and that’s where my family lives now. It was great growing up living on base because we lived in a safe, secure “bubble” where kids played from sunup to sundown outside, without fear that pervades current society. Growing up on military bases was cool because there were so many kids and we were all very adaptable because we had to move all the time—so the kids were all open-minded, well-mannered (for the most part) and warm-welcoming. We had to be because every three years we had to move and assimilate into new social situations, so we all empathized with each other.

What kinds of imaginary play did you like?

My sister and I had a rock band with some neighborhood kids and we used to lip-synch to KISS, Air Supply, Journey, Styxx and Michael Jackson. We would dress up in our mom’s corduroy blazers, knickers, scarves and big sunglasses. We caked Noxema on our faces and painted our faces with lipstick to pretend we were Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS.We loved the Narnia Chronicles and played “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” We lived in West Point, New York (at the U.S. Military Academy), and our house was sandwiched between the Hudson River and the Catskills. In the summers we hiked up the hills to an old army fort where we played ‘Star Wars’ until dusk. I loved being Chewbacca.

What did you imagine you would be when you grew up?

I never wanted to grow up and still don’t! I went through so many phases growing up and dreamt of being everything from an actress to a zoologist. I never had one thing I wanted to be. For a long while I wanted to be a doctor or a veterinarian, but knew it was more natural for me to be in a creative field.

What do you think you will be doing in 20 years?

Gosh. That’s a scary but important question. I need to visualize the answer to this question so I can make it happen. My ideal situation would be in 20 years I’d have a ranch in the Texas Hill Country (Hunt) where I’d grow herbs and have 20 dogs and a pair of donkeys. I’d also have a house in Malibu and the south coast of France (Bayeaux). Wishful thinking, right?I’d love someday to teach art or design at a university...and I’d also love to learn how to do back flips and make homemade ravioli.

Why do you live in California? Do you fantasize about living anywhere else?

I live in California because it’s a very positive, innovative and inspiring place. I feel like I’m on vacation everyday. I love being in a place where I can discover new things and new places every day. My neighborhood alone is extremely diverse—every day for dinner I can choose between Mexican, Russian, Greek, Japanese, Armenian, Ethiopian, Chinese, Mongolian, Middle Eastern food. Every day is an adventure...the only thing missing is my family! (My nuclear family and my Schreiner family!)

What is your pet peeve as a webmaster for Schreiner?

...there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want to achieve with the Web site! Schreiner’s Web presence has grown exponentially in the past couple years and sometimes it’s like herding cats to get all the thousands of pages up-to-date.