Who are you, and what do you do? What do you like to do outside of work?

My name is Wendel Topper, and I am a husband, father, and audio/video editor. I spent 20 years working in pest control, and then changed careers completely in 2016. Since then I have been doing audio and video editing for podcasts and managing YouTube channels. And I am completely self-taught, so I have to say a big thank you to YouTube University. 🙂

I’ve had the honor of working with a lot of amazing people over the years, from small niche podcasters to some of the largest companies in the world. My main focus for the last few years has been taking care of all of the audio and video content for The White Coat Investor, which promotes financial literacy to its listeners/readers/viewers. I’m grateful to The White Coat Investor for giving me the creative freedom and autonomy that make my job so much fun!

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my loved ones and travelling. One big perk of digital/remote work is the ability to work from anywhere. My wife and I have definitely taken advantage of this in the form of eight cross-country trips, all while bringing work with us. And we’re planning some more “work-cations” in the coming year!

What hardware do you use?

My current setup is a Mac Studio M2 Max with 32GB unified memory and 3x1TB SSDs. I use a 42” 4K Samsung monitor for lots of screen real estate, with a 23” LG monitor on the side. I also have a Shure MV7+ microphone and a pair of PreSonus Eris 3.5” studio reference monitors. Rounding out my hardware are a Logitech Brio 500 camera, MX Keys S keyboard, and MX Master 3S for Mac mouse. And, of course, my ZSA Halfmoon (which is half of a Moonlander). And all of this sits on an Uplift standing desk.

And what software?

I’m an Adobe CC guy, so I use Adobe Audition for audio editing and Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Photoshop for video creation. I also use iZotope RX and Levelator for audio postproduction. Other apps that I find useful include the following:

• OBS for recording video,
• WorkingHours—great for time tracking,
• Mp3tag for editing ID3 tags,
• Freeze for access to Amazon S3 storage,
• LastPass for managing passwords,
• Pandora for music,
• Zoom for video meetings,
• Slack for communications, and
• CopyLess 2, a great clipboard manager for Mac.

What’s your keyboard setup like? Do you use a custom layout or custom keycaps?

My Logitech MX Keys S keyboard is great for the little bit of typing that I do, but my workflow for editing audio & video has always been to use a good mouse in my right hand and a one-handed programmable keyboard in my left hand. I started out with a one-handed keyboard that I already had for gaming, the Logitech G13. This was a great option for me… until I wore out some of the actuators. So I bought another one, this time used since Logitech had stopped making them. And then I wore that one out… So I started looking for a replacement and finally stumbled across the Halfmoon. What a great keyboard! I love this thing! I’ve got it set up the same way as my old Logitech G13, so my fingers didn’t have to relearn the key positions, and I can easily change or add commands any time I feel like it. I’ve also travelled with it, which works perfectly.

I did have one issue with programming the Halfmoon when I first got it, so I emailed support. You know what it’s like to email support at most places… I was expecting an unhelpful response in 48 hours, then a forever back-and-forth. Instead, I received a very quick reply from an actual human who fixed my problem. AMAZING! A BIG Thank You to the ZSA team for being awesome!

What would be your dream setup?

My current setup is my dream setup. I’ve been crafting my ideal workspace slowly over the years and I’m really happy with it as is, but I’m sure some cool thing will eventually come to my attention that I’ll just have to add to my setup.