Meet AJ: designer, coder, Tassimo-addict.

AJ lives in Toronto, Canada, where she grew up dreaming of a climate that involved palm trees, sunny days, and the total lack of requirement for a winter coat. She stays cozy during the cold Canadian winters by sharing an apartment with her large Greek boyfriend, small blond son, over-fed black cat, and big goofy dog.

AJ designed her first website in 1999 using Notepad and an old, second-hand IBM desktop. (It was terrible, and featured animated GIFs in the form of dancing letters.) By 2001, she had started working at a Toronto-based web design firm by day and began freelancing by night. Shortly afterward, she launched Syrenity Media (originally under the name "Syrenity Design"), and has never looked back.

When she's not designing or developing websites in her jammies while drinking various hot beverages made in her new Tassimo, AJ can be found blogging about all things web-related on AJtheWebGirl.com.

In her brief periods of time away from her MacBook, AJ also enjoys illustration, reading the Harry Potter series of novels with her 7-year old son, and sleeping. She really, really loves sleeping.

What is a "Syrenity"?
(About Syrenity Media)

Syrenity Media is a small design studio, located in Toronto, Canada and run by AJ McDowell. While most projects are completed by AJ alone, there are occasionally large-scale clients with tight deadlines that require some additional help; we have a roster of talented individuals who are brought on board as needed.

What does "Syrenity" mean?

Syrenity Media founder, AJ McDowell, loves mermaids. In Greek mythology, a siren was an enchanting mermaid-like creature with a beautiful (albeit, deadly!) song. In 1999, AJ found her way on to IRC under the handle "syren". When she decided to build her first website, she attempted to purchase syren.com, only to find that in was in use by a latex-clothing company.

AJ played around with words and names until she settled on syrenity.com, liking the juxtaposition between the calm-sounding "serenity" and the enchanting, exciting sirens. She built her first website right here at www.syrenity.com; when it came time to launch her design studio, she decided to pay homage to her web design roots and stick with the name she had used at the start - and Syrenity Media was born!