Hi Reader,

It's been a minute since I stopped by last, and I've got a LOT to catch you up on. 🤓 But before I dig into that, I wanted to share a short snippet of this week's Monday Mindset shared in the Club that I found really validating this year!

Reese Witherspoon posted something on Instagram recently that I came across in another YouTube video by Jessica Stansberry, and I knew I needed to share it, ––because DAYUMMM. 💥

Reese was giving career advice to a young woman who wanted to switch jobs, and Reese asked her: "What are your talents?" The woman struggled to answer (as we all might!). And Reese's response was this:

For example,

• I'd love to be an equestrian hobbyist; I grew up riding & caring for our horses as a teenager & I genuinely miss it! 🐎
• I also think about having a rescue center for animals probably more than a normal person should, because why can’t I love them all?! 🥹
• And don't even get me started on my secret hobby as a kid, of filling notebooks with my own fiction & creative writing. 😂

But are any of those my talents?

HA! Not really. Not even close. (The horses thing, maybe, but not the creative writing; and if “rescue” also means “keep” & love them all forever, I would be GREAT at running an animal sanctuary. lol)

My talents are design and teaching. And I actually love those too. They're not consolation prizes or compromises I’ve made & settled with.

Talents just feel like… things you're particularly great at. Things that come naturally to you. Things people keep asking you about. They don't always feel like a calling; sometimes they just feel like a Tuesday. And that's exactly why we overlook them.

Reese's advice may sound straightforward until you're the person sitting across from her trying to answer the question. 😂 Because for a lot of us, our talents are so baked into how we operate that we've stopped seeing them as anything special. Right?

A few questions that may help ya uncover those talents:

• What do people ask you about?
• What feels easy to you that seems hard to everyone else?
• What have you done consistently for years, even when it wasn't paying off yet?
• What lights your brain up when you're doing it, not just when you're imagining doing it?

Dreams light you up in the imagining.

Talents light you up in the doing.

You're allowed to have dreams that live in the soul-feeding box —hobbies you never monetize, fiction you write just for yourself, or even horses you visit at someone else's farm. 😂

But when it comes to building something sustainable —something that makes money and doesn't grind you into dust in the process— chase what you're talented at, instead. 💛

📆 LIVE Coaching Event with Kadie Smith, of Drop Cap Design

This is a live, casual session that’s part fireside chat, part group coaching as a direct follow up to the original session with Kadie from last fall (watch it here if you missed it) and myself.

• A clearer way to talk about branding value
• Language that builds trust with clients who are skeptical, price-sensitive, or confused
• Confidence in your pricing that doesn’t rely on 'convincing' anyone of anything
• Feedback on your specific challenge or live client situation

Save your (free) spot now! →

---

ENDING SOON!

📊 Web Design Financial Trends Survey

​Diane Whiddon and I are running our annual Web Design Financial Trends Survey again, and we'd love your input!

We're really curious to see how things have shifted since last year — the industry's been moving at lightning speed lately, and we're curious what that's doing to people's money & decisions around their financials.

It's completely anonymous and only takes about 5-7 minutes, so if you want to help us (and the design community) get a clearer picture of where things stand, we'd love to have your experience in the mix!

FAVOR: please share your thoughts! →

---

🔔 Updates:
​Ultimate Client Portal System course

Kitchen's added a few new features & quality of life updates recently, so I've just added 12 new updates across Modules 1, 2, 4, and 6 this month! All new lessons are marked with a 🆕 (NEW) emoji if updated this year, and of course most of the rest were updated last fall of 2025. Including:

• Pinning projects to Favorites
• Importing content from cloud storage services, to the portal
• Customizing the portal's font style to match your brand
• Using 'My Tasks' vs 'All Tasks' feature areas
• Emailing tasks to the Kitchen Board
• Tagging/Mentioning clients in task descriptions
• Using recurring tasks effectively
• How to archive (but not delete) tasks from a Board for a quick visual cleanup
• Adding links (not just embeds) to the portal
• And a minor-but-useful content guide template update!

​Check the Course Updates lesson in the Welcome Module for more details!

---

🔔 Update:
​Custom Web Design Starter Kit (Squarespace Template)

Some context: There have been a few instances were students accidentally built a site on the original template (created by me), rather than the copy they made of it, and Squarespace's system can't transfer of points/commission even if both parties agree they should ethically be moved. SO, to keep that from happening to other people, I'm doing what I can to help:

• Added a new tutorial lesson teaching you 2 simple tips to differentiate the new duplicate copy you'll build on, from the original copy I created - in a new video lesson
• Added a new 'home' page with a default reminder on it, so you won't forget what to do or where to look if you need a refresher

Hoping this wil help template users to hold onto their hard-earned & well-deserved Squarespace Circle points (&/or commission) more effectively when using this template as a starting point!

​Check out the updated lesson here for more details, or to request a fresh copy of the template.

🆕 Tools rated: 26 categories This isn't a 'top tools of 2026 list'. ––These are the tools I've loved, or left, to help you find something worth trying if you're struggling with picking one, or if you just want to see a list of Katelyn-approved options in every category. See the ratings →

I took a break; here's why This one is vulnerable & cringey-for-me in places, but the break only makes sense if you understand what happened, and I'm happy to share if it will help other people recognize their own burnout approaching. Find out what happened →

2026 Web Designer Financial Trends Survey We NEED your insights! Please help us understand the current industry landscape by taking ~5min to fill out the survey. 🙏🏻 Please take the survey! →

🔔 Updated: Phishing Scam is ongoing It's still happening, folks! Be on your guard, and stay alert. I'll keep this post updated as more reports come in, as things evolve, and as I learn more. Find out what happened →

⏯️ You might've missed: A deep dive in optimizing images for web on Squarespace.

🗂️ The ultimate guide to file organization for creators Loved Katie's tips!

💻 Mac vs PC in 2026 The final showdown. 😂 Including a DROP TEST. 😱

📣 Cheap voice-to-text app If you type a lot, wish you could just talk instead, & have your mess cleaned up & translated into well-formatted thoughts, VoiceDash will be a handy affordable addition to your tech stack! Use this referral link for 10% off your first purchase, then search for VoiceDash. It's a WisprFlow or Willow replacement for desktop, and starts at $59 for a lifetime access license on AppSumo right now. I've been using it for about a month now & it works just as well as WisprFlow's free plan did, but I never have to pay for it again!

🏷️ 15% OFF Standout Squarespace® Rache just opened the doors to her insanely comprehensive web design program, and it's 15% off through April 17th! ​Join Standout Squarespace®* before her upcoming Vibe-Code Bootcamp happening May 16 - June 16, 2026, and you'll get to follow along! (Only available for her students.)

💻 Which MacBook to pick? With so many options now, this might help! Designers always ask which Mac to choose, and now we have more versions than ever to pick between. Sara's video was really helpful to see how each handles in real world situations, including battery life, computing power, price & more.

That's it! (She says after a blog-post-length email.) I think we're all caught up now!

See ya next time! 😁

Katelyn Web Designer & Educator ​Thrivin' on coffee, community, cursing & carefully laid plans!