Friday's Five ✋ #436
Something New
Happy Friday! ☀️
Remember those long-brewing ideas I mentioned? One of them is ready. I quietly rebuilt my entire website from scratch. Not on Squarespace this time. Hand-built, self-hosted, and designed around how I actually work. More on that below.
What I’m reading 📖
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of those novels that makes you smile when you read, and smile even more after you’ve finished it and think about it. Stevens is a Butler to Lord Darlington, owner of an estate in the English countryside. When Darlington passes, and a new owner moves in, Stevens takes a few days off to travel the countryside. In his pocket a letter from Mrs. Kenton, a former maid at the estate and someone he’s been in love with ever since. The book is part walk down memory lane and part run to a new future. The common thread: beautiful prose, a protagonist you grow fond of, and a lot of quirk. Read more.
What I’m listening to 🎧
This three-song EP has been on repeat all week, a perfect soundtrack for focused work. That’s all.
What I’m watching 📺
The first season of Paradise was a welcome surprise to me last year. A unique story, an engaging plot, and a great cast. Season 2 started this week and let’s see what happens next in Paradise. Watch the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis
What else I’ve built! 💯
I built a new website. Well, “built” deserves a disclaimer. I directed, Claude built. After years on Squarespace, I spent the past few weeks working with Claude to create something that feels like me. Clean, simple, direct.
The process was so fascinating. I brought the vision, the copy, the structure, feedback upon feedback on every detail. Claude wrote every line of code, I deployed. We went from PDF deck to live website in a single afternoon, then kept iterating over nine sessions. The whole thing runs on two fonts, two colors, and zero frameworks.
But the part I’m most excited about is what you won’t see as a visitor. One idea led to the next and within another afternoon, I’d built a proposal system that generates branded PDFs, calculates pricing automatically, and creates a personal confirmation page for each client by type of coaching support they book. These confirmations don’t ask for a signature. They ask for a commitment, with a framework to help people check in with themselves before they say yes.
I also built dedicated pages for my 6-month and 12-month coaching journeys that I can pull up during intake calls so they can feel into what a journey with me looks and develops like. Used them this week already. They work.
If you’re curious, poke around. And if you’re a fellow coach thinking “I want something like this,” let’s talk.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
Instagram | Website | 2025 Playlist | Company