10 Years of SQSP Themes
Ten years ago, I wasn’t trying to build a company. I was trying to make a living—living.
I wanted proof that it was possible to create something once and have it pay me back over time.
Something that didn’t tie me to a client’s schedule or an employer’s expectations. Something that let me be home. Be present. Be free.
That was the seed behind SQSPThemes.
But the real pressure came from something else: my daughter has special needs, and my wife and I knew we wanted to homeschool our kids. We needed flexibility. We needed presence. We needed a business model that didn't require me to be "on" 60 hours a week.
The freelance hustle wasn't just unsustainable—it was incompatible with the life we wanted to build.
So I had this crazy idea: what if I could create something that worked while I slept? What if I could build once and sell forever? What if there was a way to serve people without being chained to my laptop?
The emotional urgency behind SQSP Themes wasn't about getting rich. It was about getting free.
How It Actually Grew
I started simple. Squarespace was exploding, but their plugin ecosystem was practically non-existent. Customers were Googling things specific problems and finding nothing.
So we built the things they were already looking for.
The growth was beautifully boring:
SEO: I wrote about problems people actually had
Affiliates: I built relationships with other brands
Product-led growth: Happy customers told other designers
No paid ads. No fancy launches. No growth hacking. Just solving real problems for people who were actively searching for solutions.
What made it work was a very simple model:
One-time purchase, lifetime value
Digital delivery, no shipping or inventory
Lean operations, no team to manage
Repeat customers who trusted the brand
By year three, I was making more from plugins than freelancing. By year five, I could ignore my phone for a week and the business kept running. By year seven, I was working a few hours a month.
It wasn't sexy (well, ok maybe it is). But it was exactly what I needed.
What I'd Do Differently
If I could go back and rebuild SQSP Themes from scratch, knowing what I know now, I'd make three changes:
I'd implement a subscription model from day one. Customers are already paying $200-300 for our business bundles. They're telling us they want comprehensive access to everything. A $19-39/month subscription would have been a no-brainer for most of our customer base. Instead of $1.2M in lifetime revenue, we probably could have hit $1.2M annually.
I'd have turned back on the service lever. The agency inquiries never stopped coming. "Can you build this custom?" "Can you handle our client implementation?" "Can you white-label this for our team?" I said no to almost everything because I was obsessed with the product-only model. But there was easily another $500K+ annually in high-margin service revenue I left on the table. Custom implementations, done-for-you setups, agency partnerships—the demand was there, I just wasn't paying attention.
I'd believe in the upside sooner. For years, I treated this like a lifestyle business that happened to be profitable. I was so focused on keeping it simple that I missed opportunities to scale. There's nothing wrong with lifestyle businesses—but I left a lot of growth on the table by thinking too small.
What It Gave Me
I started this business in search of proof.
Material proof that what we do spiritually and emotionally ripples out into the digital and physical world.
It gave me proof that alignment between who you're becoming and what you're building creates something sustainable. That you don't have to choose between inner growth and outer success.
It gave me the time to be present when my daughter needed extra support. The flexibility to homeschool my kids without financial stress. The mental space to think about what I actually wanted instead of just what paid the bills.
Most importantly, it gave me the confidence to step away. When you build something that can run without you, you prove to yourself that you're not just trading time for money—you're creating real value.
That's freedom.
The Next Chapter
Now I'm in a new season.
My kids are getting older and need different things from me. My wife and I are launching new projects that require more focus. After a decade of building in public and growing organically, I'm being called to step back and be more intentional about where I spend my energy.
SQSP Themes has been an incredible foundation for this next chapter. It's taught me that you can build something meaningful without sacrificing what matters most. The business runs itself, the customers are happy, and there's still so much room to grow in ways I never pursued.
I'm excited to see what this next decade brings—both for me personally and for the businesses that are just getting started in this space.
To everyone who bought a plugin, shared a resource, joined the Facebook group, or just followed along on this journey—thank you. You didn't just support a business, you supported a dream of what work could look like.
To the designers and agencies who trusted our tools with their client projects—thank you for letting us be part of something bigger.
To the affiliate partners who believed in what we were building—thank you for growing this thing beyond what one person could do alone.
And to anyone reading this who's trying to prove something of their own: it's possible. Start simple. Stay consistent. Build something that matters.
Ten years from now, you might be writing your own reflection post.
Want to connect or share your own journey? Hit reply or reach out. I love hearing from fellow builders who are designing businesses around the lives they actually want to live.
