2015 Distinguished Alumni

Paul Mayne

Paul Mayne remembers how his mother used to be concerned about her son not being sure of what he wanted to do after high school. It turns out there was no need to worry about the future founder and CEO of Bloom Built, creator of the journaling application Day One, which last year earned the “Apple Design Award” and in 2012 the Apple App Store’s “App of the Year” award and has been downloaded more than 4 million times.

Mayne originally was drawn to architectural drafting because of its blend of creativity and technical attributes. At Salt Lake Community College he took classes that taught 3D animation, graphic design and how to author a CD ROM. “I had great professors who helped me realize what is possible,” Mayne said about his experience at SLCC. By 1999 he earned an associate of applied science degree while taking courses in SLCC’s architectural program. But he turned his interests toward graphic design and continued his education at the University of Utah, where he recalls being ahead of other students due to completing his general studies first. He graduated from the U of U with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

Mayne found jobs working as a visual designer, art director for an ad agency, an interactive designer and web developer. During that time an idea started brewing to develop a journaling app, which he pitched to people but never got anyone to “latch on” to the project. “I really wanted to start tracking things in my life to see if I could use that data to determine various things,” Mayne said. In December 2010 he took a month off and went to work out of his home, with the result being a journaling app that people can use for everything from fly fishing and cooking to traveling and tracking a child’s growth. In March 2011, Mayne introduced Day One.

“It just kind of took off from there,” he said. It was featured as a “Showcase” app for the Mac and iPhone app stores. “That gets a lot of attention,” he said. The iPhone app started out at $1 and has gone up to $5 – for the Mac computer it costs $10. More than a million customers have paid for Day One, while more than 3 million were able to download it for free during a promotion. Sales these days are steady. “I thought sales would tail off,” Mayne said. “I was hopeful it would maintain. And then I realized I could build a business around it.”

Mayne started Bloom Built with just himself and ran it out of his home. He hired one employee and four years later he hired his 11th, no longer able to work out of his home. This year Mayne is building a two-story building in Lehi split into four areas that will also house his growing business, which is developing updates and companion pieces for Day One. At least two big names came calling to purchase Day One, but Mayne held them off. “There’s a lot more potential that we really haven’t tapped into yet,” he said. “I love what I do.”