In this week's interview of The Joomla Speak! series we will be talking to Claudia Apostoaei who works as a Marketing Representative thePHPfactory and started her journey with Joomla since then. Let’s get to know her a bit. She reads a lot about the Gothic literature, loves to hear music Hip-Hop and Rock so to say, is also into creepy horror movies and in free time you might find her cuddling with her pet cat, Garfield.

What does she have to say about Joomla? 

What's your Joomla story? How did you get introduced?

I have been introduced to Joomla! about one year and a half ago, when I started working as a marketing representative for the company thePHPfactory.

You have built a good business around Joomla. What made you choose Joomla?

thePHPfactory has been dedicated for more than 8 years to delivering cutting edge software for Joomla! integration. We are doing it because it's fun, because we are always proud to see our business grow alongside the J! Community.

Tell us 3 things that you love about Joomla

1. It's free and it's open-source (2 of my favorite things in the world HAHA);

2. Versatility - there is no such thing as a crazy website idea that would not work using Joomla!

3. The 3-click install panel! Best innovation ever!

What’s your take on the Joomla Community?

Judging from the dynamics on the joomla.org forum, I can see the Community struggles to always bring something new to the table with every major J! release version, and not everybody gets to have the same opinions on what moving forward implies, however the people are dedicated and work quite well as a team, and I believe that is what matters the most in any collective.

What in your opinion is Joomla’s Niche? Is it one or are there Many? In other words, what’s Joomla‘s Market?

Although there is no denying the competition is not something to be taken lightly (WordPress, Magento, Drupal), the J! Market is expanding with each passing year. For example, I see more and more customers who wish to build online stores using Joomla! CMS, as well as booking websites, event organizers and so on. Reading about the evolution of J! in time, I noticed that a few years ago such a demand was quite scarce, so we are definitely moving in the right direction.

Where do you see Joomla going in the next 10 years? If it was up to you where would you take it?

Heh, tricky question (just like the eternal interview question 'Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?'), but I guess I would like to see 50% of the available websites running on J!. World domination HAHA! (other than that maybe a tendency to not include so many features in the core design, to encourage more developers to come up with professional extensions)

Your one line message to the Joomla Community on account of Joomla’s Birthday

Joomla! spirit never dies and we are here to make sure of that!!!

Like you said Claudia, versatility is one of the key factors which is why Joomla! stands out amongst all the competitors. Even I am hoping to see Joomla dominating the web soon. It was really nice talking to you and thank you for your time.

Guys, we will be back next week….. Oops..!! Next week we will be having a ball at the Joomla World Conference in Bangalore. See you guys there, have some exciting things lined up for you all. We will soon get back to you with a new interview. :)