Conversations with Destin Lewis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Destin Lewis.

Hi Destin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m a proud college dropout — proud enough that I actually had a custom shirt made to commemorate it.

My path to entrepreneurship definitely wasn’t a straight line. Growing up, I worked job after job in just about every industry you can imagine. I worked at McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Zaxby’s. I detailed cars, ran the game clock for basketball games, stocked and operated concession stands, worked at a summer camp and eventually became the lead counselor running it. I sold laptops from a kiosk in the mall. I’ve worked in operations, clerical positions, customer service, sales and plenty of other jobs along the way.

Looking back, every one of those experiences taught me something about how businesses operate — but collectively, they also taught me one very important lesson:

I did not want to spend my life working for someone else.

So I became an entrepreneur.

Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I experimented before I figured out exactly where I belonged. I started a clothing line, sold artwork, ran comic book raffles and tried a number of different business ideas. Over time, though, I realized that one of my strongest skills wasn’t tied to any single business. It was my ability to create businesses themselves.

I had gotten to the point where I could take an idea and, in less than 24 hours, develop the name, branding, core business concept, logo, social media presence and a fully functioning website.

One day, a good friend was listening to me ramble about this and simply asked, “Why don’t you do that?”

I remember asking, “Do what?”

He said, “Build websites and social media pages for other people’s businesses.”

That conversation changed the direction of my career.

I ran with the idea, and what started with building websites grew into nearly two decades of working with businesses on their technology, branding, infrastructure and operations.

Today, much of that work exists under **Murcked**, the parent company I created to build and operate businesses across technology. Murcked has grown beyond traditional website development into an ecosystem spanning web development, full-stack software development, artificial intelligence, automation, cybersecurity, network administration, managed IT, privacy and SaaS products.

One of those companies is **Ranked Brands**, where we handle the complete website experience for businesses — including strategy, design, development, hosting, SSL, ongoing management and search optimization. It is essentially the mature version of the service that started this entire journey.

But over the years, I became increasingly interested in building the technology itself rather than simply implementing technology created by someone else.

That led me into full-stack software development and ultimately into building my own SaaS products.

Today, my portfolio includes **Inboxer**, a platform designed to bring Gmail, Microsoft, IMAP, custom-domain email and shared business inboxes together into one unified system; **SnapATax**, which turns photographs of receipts into organized expense records and exportable spreadsheets; **Life Notes**, which converts natural spoken conversations into durable, structured and searchable personal knowledge; and **EasyDNSConnector**, a platform that automates DNS configuration, verification, propagation monitoring and domain onboarding for SaaS companies.

Murcked also operates businesses focused on infrastructure and security, including **Allatoona Managed IT**, providing managed technology, cybersecurity and backup services to small businesses, and **Atlanta Cyber Security**, focused on network defense, monitoring, threat detection, vulnerability management and cybersecurity services.
And I’m still building.

My work now extends heavily into artificial intelligence, AI integrations, automation and the development of new technology. I currently have **two patent-pending technologies**, representing another major evolution for me: moving from building businesses with existing technology to creating technology and intellectual property of my own.

That is probably the best way to describe my career.

I never followed a traditional path. I learned by doing.

I went from flipping burgers, detailing cars, running summer camps and selling laptops in a mall to designing websites, managing networks, securing infrastructure, writing software, building SaaS companies and developing patent-pending technology.

Today, Murcked is the umbrella that brings all of those experiences together.

I’m still an entrepreneur at heart. I still love taking an idea that doesn’t exist, figuring out how it should work, giving it a name, designing it, building the technology behind it and turning it into a real business.

The difference is that these days, I’m not trying to figure out what I want to build.

**Building is what I do.**

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road.

One of the biggest challenges of being an entrepreneur is that there usually isn’t a roadmap. When you work for someone else, there is often a defined role, a paycheck, a process and someone above you making the larger decisions. When you work for yourself, every problem eventually becomes your problem.

In the early years, I was learning almost everything as I went. I had to teach myself how to build websites, manage servers, work with domains and DNS, secure networks, troubleshoot technical issues, manage clients, price services, market a business, handle customer service and actually keep the business profitable.

Technology also never stops changing. The tools, platforms and best practices I was using 15 or 20 years ago are completely different from what I work with today. Staying relevant has meant constantly learning, rebuilding and adapting.

There were also plenty of business ideas that did not work.

I have started things that never gained traction, invested time into ideas that ultimately went nowhere and made decisions that I would handle completely differently today. But I have always viewed those experiences as tuition. Every failed idea taught me something that made the next business stronger.

Another challenge has been wearing so many hats. Especially when you are building companies from the ground up, you can be the developer, salesperson, designer, network administrator, customer support department, accountant and business strategist all in the same day.

As my businesses grew, the challenge shifted from simply learning how to do everything to learning how to build systems that could support multiple businesses at the same time.

That is actually a large part of why I created Murcked.

Instead of treating every project and company as something completely separate, I began building an ecosystem where the infrastructure, development experience, cybersecurity knowledge, automation, hosting and business strategy from one company could strengthen the others.

Today I operate businesses and SaaS products across website development, managed IT, cybersecurity, software development, AI, automation and other areas of technology. I am also developing my own intellectual property, with two technologies currently patent pending.

There are still challenges. Now they are just different challenges.

Instead of asking, “Can I build this?” I am more often asking, “How do I build this correctly, securely and at scale?”

The road has involved failed ideas, long hours, constant learning, changing technologies and plenty of mistakes. But those struggles are also responsible for most of the skills I rely on today.

I never really had a traditional career path, so I had to build my own.

And I think that has ultimately been one of my biggest advantages.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
If there is one part of my story that I never want to leave out, it is my wife.

People often see the businesses, the websites, the SaaS products, the technology and the accomplishments, but they do not always see the person who made it possible for me to take the risks necessary to build all of it.

My wife believed in me when very few people did.

There were years when entrepreneurship was more potential than paycheck. Ideas did not always work, businesses took time to grow and there were plenty of moments when taking a safer, more traditional path probably would have made more sense on paper.

Through all of that, she supported me.

She carried much of the financial responsibility for our family while I was building, experimenting, learning and trying to turn ideas into sustainable businesses. That gave me something incredibly valuable that a lot of entrepreneurs never get: the opportunity to keep going long enough to figure it out.

But it was more than financial support.

She believed that I could actually do what I kept saying I was going to do, even during the periods when there was very little evidence to prove it.

That matters.

Entrepreneurship can be incredibly isolating. You are constantly taking risks, questioning decisions and pursuing things that other people may not understand until after they work. Having someone beside you who genuinely believes in you can be the difference between giving up and continuing.

Today, I can point to Murcked, multiple businesses, SaaS companies, nearly two decades in technology, and patent-pending technologies and say that I built those things.

But I would never say that I did it alone.

None of what I have accomplished would have been possible without my wife giving me the freedom, stability and confidence to keep building.

A lot of people talk about being “self-made.”

I don’t consider myself self-made.

I had someone in my corner.

And she deserves just as much credit for where I am today as I do.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The qualities that have been most important to my success are my faith in God, loyalty, honesty and integrity.

I have always believed that your word should mean something. If I tell someone I am going to do something, I do everything in my power to follow through. In business, that has helped me build relationships based on trust rather than simply transactions.

I try to treat people the way I would want to be treated. It is the Golden Rule, and it is something I take seriously both personally and professionally.

That means being truthful even when the truth may not be the easiest answer, being transparent with clients, standing behind my work and trying to do the right thing when no one is watching.

Loyalty is also extremely important to me. Whether it is family, friends, clients or the people I work alongside, I believe relationships should matter. Some of the most valuable relationships in my life and career have lasted because they were built on mutual trust and respect rather than what either person could immediately gain from the other.

My faith has helped shape all of those values. It influences how I try to conduct myself, how I treat other people and how I respond when things do not go according to plan.

Technical skills can be learned. Business strategies can change. Industries and technology will continue to evolve.

But your character is something you carry into every room, every relationship and every business you build.

I believe a large part of my success has simply come from trying to be someone people can trust — someone who is honest, loyal and a man of his word, putting my businesses and relationships in God’s hands.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://murcked.com
• Other: https://howtogetafreewebsite.com