How I Became a Squarespace Web Designer
Ever wanted to know how one gets into web design?
My story is perhaps less traditional than you might assume, but I’d love to share it with you!
So grab your favorite drink, get cozy and let’s dive in!
Rather watch instead of read?
Here’s that video for ya!
Hey guys - welcome or welcome back!
If you don’t know me, my name is Ranita - I’m a website designer who loves teaching people about Squarespace!
And I’m the creator behind Gold Standard Design.
If you're a creator, blogger, podcaster, or solopreneur looking to dive into the world of Squarespace - I’ve got you covered. 😉
Ok, so this is going to be a little bit of a different post.
More like a storytime kinda chat about how exactly I ended up here.
Regular Job
Contrary to what you might think, I did NOT start out in the web design or even graphic design space.
When I graduated high school, I took 6 months to go do an internship with some missionaries in the Philippines. It was a great experience and taught me a lot about cultural differences, but also the importance of being thankful for what you have.
After I came back to the US I got the first job I could find at a pizza place because, well, I just needed some money!
Within a few months I moved on to doing in-home health care work as a PCA (personal care assistant) and eventually landed a position at an assisted living facility.
I’m grateful for my time there, but it taught me that healthcare is NOT for the faint of heart, and really isn’t for me.
The facility I was working at eventually consolidated some of their locations and shut down the one I was working for.
So I decided to try my hand at office work! I got several temp positions and bounced around for about 3 months before landing a steady job.
I stayed at that job for nearly 13 years, working my way from receptionist to Executive Assistant. I truly enjoyed the work and felt comfortable there.
Career Switch?
So what changed?
Well, to my great surprise, the company I worked for shut down most of their operations at my location. In order to continue working there I would have needed to move to a completely new state.
This was less than ideal!
I had assumed I would stay at this company for my entire career, so this news was quite the shock.
After the initial shock wore off, I began looking for other jobs and eventually found something suitable, although it was a slight pay cut.
Up until this time I had never considered adding a side hustle to my main source of income, but the instability of my primary position forced me to rethink that decision.
I decided to look into training for another career path with higher earning potential.
I had seen some ads for app development and various coding programs, so that was my first thought.
However, after taking some basic courses I could tell this was not for me. The learning curve was steep and competition for these kinds of jobs seemed high.
Then, one day, I happened to stumble across an ad for a Squarespace web design course from Paige Brunton.
I quickly fell down the rabbit hole of Squarespace and website design.
I had already dabbled a tiny bit with Squarespace, since I helped out a little bit with updating my church’s website content. So I thought - “I think I can do this!”
It definitely helped that Paige offered courses in both how to design Squarespace websites AND how to turn that skill into a business.
I was sold and bought both courses!
Ready to build your website?
I’ve got a FREE
Squarespace Website Prep Guide
just for you!
It’s got everything you need to
gather research on your industry and competitors
draft SUPER compelling CTAs
learn how to write effective copy
AND MORE!
It’s like having a professional web designer in looking over your shoulder!
Squarespace For the Win!
That excitement lasted for months, as I dove into the material and started building my own website. Now, I’ll admit, that first website I published wasn’t the prettiest or most high-converting.
But I didn’t stop there!
I kept learning, searching for tutorials on how to improve my marketing and SEO. And it paid off!
I was able to snag my first client from a Google search, of all things!
Now, I’ll admit, I didn’t go full-time with my website business - for a couple reasons.
I live in a high cost of living area and was nervous to go full time working for myself. I’d never done that before!
I was enjoying the extra money to fund things like paying down debt and taking vacations.
Honestly, I liked having a primary job as a fall-back plan.
A lot of the success stories I’d read touted the success of people who “just went for it” with their business. But I can’t say I’ve ever been someone to just go for it without a plan.
And I think that’s ok!
Conclusion
I still love running my business (although I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the marketing part of it!). I love getting to help people turn their ideas into reality and grow their business.
So if you’re on the fence about building your website or starting your side hustle, I DO encourage you to do it!
It’s been very rewarding for me because I got to learn a ton of new skills and challenge myself AND I found something I love to do!
Ready to market your business on social media?
Check out this FREE
Content Planner for Consistent Creators!
This content calendar will help you
plan and arrange your content
create a posting schedule
give you somewhere to brain dump all your ideas
