Know Your Neighbor - Chris Allred

As you may recall, there is a new section on chrisallreddesign.com called “Know Your Neighbor” where we ask the same 10 questions to different people from around the world. I thought that it would be fitting that I share first.

1. Name and short biography that you want people to know about you? My name is Chris Allred and I am the founder and owner of Chris Allred Design. One of the reasons that I started my company was because I want to reach out and touch the lives of people, to make a positive difference in their lives, and give people an advantage in life by teaching them to help themselves. I grew up in a poor area, and understand that nothing in life is free. Chris Allred Design is not about hand-outs, but giving a helping hand to help make your life whatever you want it to be. Years ago I was fortunate enough to work with high school students; the first time that I actually truly reached a student, I saw that student’s life change in a moment and their family’s future was brighter than ever before. I have also been fortunate enough to reach adults who had given up on their education and dreams years ago. It is never too late to make your life your own. If I wanted to share anything it was that, and that is what Chris Allred Design is all about.
2. Where did you grow up? Wapato, WA
3. What is one of your fears? Failing as a parent.
4. What is one of your goals in life? To be able to give my wife whatever she wants.
5. What do you like best about being you? Why? It is a toss-up between being positive and being creative. I honestly and sadly believe that being negative is human nature, and that naturally being positive is rare. I am not saying that I am always in a good mood, but I try and look at the brighter side of a situation and try to put myself in someone else’s shoes. I believe that my gift in life is creativity. I am not talking about creating art, but being able to see things differently and being able to think outside of the box.
6. What is one thing that you would change about you? Why? Time management! One of the drawbacks to being creative is that I constantly have ideas going through my mind; too many for me to accomplish in a lifetime. I always say that I am great at starting projects…
7. What is your favorite snack or dessert? That’s a tough one for me because I love food so much, but the answer is, and will always be, French fries.  
8. What is your favorite movie? Why? I actually have two, but for different reasons. The first being “Hoodwinked”. I love to watch movies from the point of view of the writers, and if the idea was good regardless if the movie was good or not; I still claim it as a win because it’s not the writer’s fault the movie bombed (in most cases). Movies that tell the same story from different perspectives has been numerous times, but I really like how it came together in “Hoodwinked”. My other favorite movie is “Eurotrip”, but don’t ask me why because there is absolutely no reasonable explanation for anybody to like this movie (at one point we owned three copies of it).  
9. If you could have dinner with 3 people (dead or alive), who would they be? Of course I would say my wife, but that is against the rules. I would also love to say Jamie Oliver, Chuck Hughes, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall because they are huge inspirations to me, but I won’t. My actual answer is (see how I did that to get more than one answer) Charles Luciano, Ronald Reagan, and Mark Twain. All these men are great for different reasons, lived during different times (Twain and Luciano cross over a bit), and helped make our world what it is today.  
10. What is the last gift or present you gave to somebody? I believe the last actual “gift” gift were lunchboxes filled with travel snacks for our nieces. We spent hours looking for the right lunchboxes, and after resorting to Plan B we found a suitable alternate and filled them with snacks. All that mattered was that they were happy.