I design brands, websites and online stores for small businesses, and then I stay on and keep them working. Ten years of it now, mostly around the Monterey Peninsula, mostly by referral.
People tend to find me at one of three moments. They're starting something. They've outgrown what they put together themselves. Or they've got something running that doesn't quite look the part yet.
The logo is the easy part. What you're really after is a way for everything to look like it came from the same place — the sign, the packaging, the invoice, the Instagram grid, and the thing you haven't thought of yet.
So that's usually where we start: the marks, the type and color, enough of a guide that you're not guessing later, and whichever pieces you need first.
This is normally the right time if you're opening, or rebranding, or you've been making do with something a friend put together in 2019.
Design and build, and then the quieter half that's harder to put on an invoice — the copy decisions, the photography direction, the launch itself, and the years of upkeep after.
I work in WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Squarespace and Wix. Which one we use comes down to what you're selling and who's updating it once I'm out of the way. Not what I feel like building in.
What that looks like in practice: we sort out the structure and the words, I design and build it, we get the forms and the analytics working, and then we launch. You get it handed over in a way you can actually use.
This one's newer. Someone builds an app with an AI tool, it runs, and it still looks like a prototype. That's usually where I come in — the design, the screens the tool never built, a checkout that works, and a landing page that can do the selling.
You don't need to be technical for this, and you don't need to start over. The build is usually fine. It's everything around it that's missing.
If it works but you wouldn't send it to a stranger yet, that's the one.
Tell me what you're building. A paragraph is enough. If there's already a site or an app, send me the link.
I'll come back and tell you what I'd change. That part's free, and it's useful to you whether or not we end up working together.
Then a scope and a number, fixed where I can, so you know what you're agreeing to before anything starts.
After that we build it and launch it, and then I'm generally still around. Most of my clients have been with me for years. That isn't a package, it's just how it tends to go.
Every project gets quoted on its own. A one-page site for someone just starting and a store with four hundred products aren't really the same job.
What I can tell you is how it works. You'll have a fixed price before anything begins, with what's in it and what isn't written down. No hourly billing, and nothing new turning up at the end. The conversation that gets us there doesn't cost anything.
If you've got a number in mind, say it early. It's the quickest way for me to tell you honestly whether I'm the right person.
Every project gets its own quote, because a one-page site and a store with hundreds of products aren't the same job. You'll always have a fixed price before anything starts, with what's included written down. The first conversation is free.
It mostly depends on how ready the words and photos are. A smaller site moves pretty quickly, and a larger site or store takes longer. I'll give you a timeline along with the quote so you know what to plan around.
I work in Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and Wix. I'll recommend the one that fits what you're selling and who will be updating it after launch, not the one I'd most like to build in.
Most of my clients are here, from Carmel and Carmel Valley to Monterey and Pebble Beach. I also work with businesses in other states, and most of that happens over email and video calls.
Yes, and that's often the better place to start. If the bones are fine, a refresh of the design, words and mobile layout can make a big difference without starting over.
Every site I build gets the basics done properly: clear page titles and descriptions, your business details written so Google and AI tools can read them, a fast mobile version, and analytics so you can see what's working. Nobody can promise a ranking, but these are the things that give you the best chance.
Yes. I'll walk you through it so you can change hours, photos and text on your own. If you'd rather not, I'm still around after launch, and a lot of my clients have stayed with me for years.
Yes. If it works but still looks like a prototype, I can help with the design, the missing screens, the checkout and a landing page that explains it. You don't need to be technical, and you usually don't need to start over.
Tell me what you're building.
Start a projectA short email now and then — what’s working on small business websites, what isn’t, and what I’ve learned building them. No schedule, no noise.