What’s worth knowing in the Squarespace world.
For designers, developers, and people building businesses around Squarespace.
How a DUI, a Baby, and Squarespace Changed My Life
I was sitting in a holding cell, wondering how I'd gotten here.
Married. About to be a dad. And I'd just gotten a DUI that meant I couldn't drive to my engineering job anymore.
Most people would see this as rock bottom. I saw it as the pressure I needed to finally become who I was meant to be.
Finding out I was becoming a dad in the midst of chaos became my chance to be reborn. If there was a new life coming into the world, I had to create something new too. I had to become the person I wanted my son to see.
That pressure led me to ask myself one question:
What's the one thing I can do right now that I love, that I'm good at, and that people would pay for?
The answer was Squarespace.
But the path from that answer to building SQSP Themes wasn't straightforward. I quit twice. I struggled with pricing. I took on projects I couldn't complete. I tutored on Saturday mornings just to keep the lights on.
I recently sat down with the Squarespace Circle team to share the full story—the chaos, the pivots, the framework that eventually saved me, and what keeps me going today.
This conversation covers everything from that low point to the Digital Alchemy framework I use today: turning problems into content and solutions into products.
If you've ever felt like you're at your own rock bottom, or you're struggling to figure out what your "one thing" is—this one's for you.
The story I was living then became the story I'm telling now in my memoir, "The Corporate Dropout."
The Story Behind the Digital Alchemy Lab
If you’ve ever felt that gap—between what you know is in you and what you’re actually putting out into the world—I want to invite you into this experience.
Seven years ago, I launched my first online course: Behind the Scenes of a 6-Figure Squarespace Business.
It was my first year crossing the $100K milestone, and I wanted to share everything I was learning. On the surface, customers were satisfied. But something about what I was offering didn’t sit right with me.
You often hear about the “skill gap” in creative fields like design, music, or art—that stretch between your taste and your technique. But in coaching and mentoring, that same stretch often goes unspoken.
I started asking myself harder questions:
Could I repeat this “success” reliably?
Could I share the dream I was living—without selling the dream?
And most importantly: How can I hold space for someone else’s transformation while I’m still in the middle of my own?
A few months later, I took the course off the market—and went back to the lab.
The Seven-Year Experiment
Over the next seven years, I stress-tested everything: my philosophy, my purpose, my commitment.
I started new Squarespace businesses.
Built SaaS tools.
Bought and sold digital assets.
Ran workshops.
Gave talks.
Sat on panels.
Launched products.
Shut others down.
Refined the way I worked, taught, and moved through the world.
I needed to see the path clearly—and be honest about what gets in the way, both inside and out.
So I could finally answer the real question:
How do you do this sustainably?
Not just once.
Not just for a launch or a season.
But in a way that continues to create freedom, impact, and income—without burning out, selling out, or losing yourself in the process.
From Theory to Practice
Last summer, I invited a small group of designers and developers into a 1:1 coaching experience.
I wanted to see what would happen if I brought everything—my frameworks, my philosophy, my full attention—into direct relationship with a handful of people doing the work.
No curriculum.
No fluff.
Just presence, perspective, and practice.
Over nine months, we unpacked pricing blocks. We refined offers. We rewired how they thought about time, energy, and ownership.
Most importantly, we turned the raw material of their past projects into systems that could scale.
That’s what the Digital Alchemy Lab is all about.
Learn more about the Digital Alchemy Lab, a monthly mentorship and community for freelancers who want to build systems that compound.
How This Freelancer Turned His Technical Skills Into a System That Scales
A Digital Alchemy Lab Case Study
When Ngan joined the Digital Alchemy Lab, he wasn’t starting from zero.
He already had the skills, but like many technical freelancers, his work wasn’t compounding.
He was creating — but not converting.
Helping others — but not scaling himself.
And that’s the trap a lot of talented freelancers fall into: they’re doing the right things in the wrong order.
The Challenge: High Output, Low Leverage
Before joining the Lab, Ngan was spending hours offering free help in the Squarespace forums to drive traffic to his blog.
The problem? None of that effort connected back to a clear, repeatable system for growth.
In his own words:
“As a technical person, my main challenge was diversifying my traffic to build a sustainable business around my work. I found myself overwhelmed, offering free help in community forums just to drive traffic to my blog.”
He didn’t need more content — he needed a system that linked his work, audience, and outcomes together.
The Shift: Turning Effort Into Assets
Inside the Digital Alchemy Lab, we focused on one thing: leverage.
We identified what was already working and built systems around it.
Visibility: Cross-posting his articles on our blog gave him instant exposure inside the Squarespace ecosystem.
Distribution: Featuring his insights in our newsletter generated record-breaking traffic days — the kind that reset what “normal” looked like.
Conversion: Together, we refined his website copy so his expertise translated into clarity, trust, and sales.
Consistency: He launched his own newsletter — building a direct channel to hundreds of new subscribers.
I stayed close throughout the process — Messenger, email, the Lab app — so progress never stalled.
The Results: Real Growth, Real Momentum
Within three months:
📈 Sales doubled
🌍 Traffic doubled
📬 His newsletter grew from 0 to hundreds of subscribers
But the biggest shift wasn’t the numbers — it was energy.
For the first time, his effort was compounding.
“Your newsletters not only helped promote my content and brand but also generated significant surges in traffic on the day they were published. This boost broke previous records and set a new benchmark for me to strive toward.”
That’s what systems do — they turn work into momentum.
What You Can Learn from Ngan
Borrow credibility. Don’t build visibility from scratch — align with platforms that already have trust.
Systemize what works. If something gets results once, find a way to make it repeatable.
Stay supported. You move faster when you’re not figuring it out alone.
About the Digital Alchemy Lab
The Digital Alchemy Lab is a group mentorship and coaching program for freelancers who are ready to turn what’s working into something that scales.
It’s not about starting over — it’s about refining, realigning, and amplifying the systems that already serve you.