Hi Reader,

My husband & I both grew up on farms with livestock, pets and lots of open space, so we're both familiar with the hard work–DIY–mentality. The 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps,' 'hard work' is for everyone, and 'figure it out' along the way, types.

Increasingly, as I get older, I'm more & more thankful for that experience growing up though, because it does make some things easier for me as an adult. If I want the yard mowed, I can go to the barn, take out the mower, start it, & mow the damn yard myself. I don't have to wait on anyone else to do it, or to call around & get pricing, or to schedule it into someone else's calendar. I actually don't even mind doing it myself!

Every spring we end up doing a bit of initial yardwork & cleanup from the winter season, where heavy snow broke branches, wind knocked down brittle Birch tree twigs & limbs, and other trees need pruning so they (don't grow like giant bushes &) stay looking like trees. 🤭 But this year my husband also got out the chainsaw & cut down some scrub trees that are basically giant unattractive weeds or vines, then piled everything up to burn it (safely, with water nearby & checking the fire risk, first, of course) to get rid of the mess.

We also recycled some old fencing from an unused area of our property, moving it over to expand the fenced portion of our backyard which doubled Luna's fenced play area. 🐾 🐶

It felt good to build something as a team, however rudimentary & country-fied it may be. It's functional & mostly blends in with the landscape, but isn't necessarily "attractive" closeup. –Though, our newly added portion looks a hell of a lot better than the old part the previous owner built. 😂 🤦🏼‍♀️ It's still not a "fancy" fence & because we recycled materials, we barely spent any money on the project.

Which brings me to my point...

I'm so thankful that out in the country we don't really have the whole 'keeping up with the Joneses' mentality & everyone pretty much minds their own business. It means it's easier not to care about having a "pretty" fence like you might see in the suburbs, because our neighbors don't have that either. They have cows and goats in their fenced areas, not (necessarily) kids with a trampoline with a swing set. The NEED is different & fits the function.

It's a great example of my favorite personal motto, "DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT" because if we had waited to build this new fenced area when it could be perfect, then Luna's fenced yard would've remained smaller than we wanted, potentially for many more years as long as "perfect" felt unattainable or out of reach.

And our websites can be the same way! Sometimes good enough really is good enough for now, and you can change/update it later ––both in business & in life.

I've been doing a LOT of resting. With all the hard work (& yardwork) we've been doing, my brain has felt pretty empty & tired lately. 😂 But after a busy Q1, the rest is much appreciated & I'm glad I'm able to get it!

I'm working on a few smaller things, chipping away at the list I sent ya in the last newsletter (TBD on some of that!), but mostly focusing on content creation & the Club this past week.

In other news, though:

⚠️ Important Notice ❗️

Recently, it has come to my attention that Ruttl doesn't let people cancel their subscription until you have a call with someone on their team and they apparently keep charging you after you request to cancel (possibly until you actually have that call? I'm not sure, because it didn't get that far). The person who told me this was able to stop the recurring payments from their bank.

If you haven't tried them yet, I'd recommend you take them off your list after hearing her story! I've deleted my own free account, and updated the blog post + YouTube video description that talk about Ruttl, sharing a simple warning in those places in the hopes that doesn't happen to anyone else! 😳

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🔥 Ultimate Client Portal System – Course Updates! 🎉

I've added a couple new lessons/updates on setting up the custom portal domain & email in Kitchen and how to create & use additional email aliases for free in Google Workspace.

I'm also working on adding some other new features, so check the Template Updates module for news, and make sure you mark any lessons complete so you can skim through & see which ones you haven't taken yet when new stuff is added!

Here are some ideas I'm considering adding as new lessons, so let me know if you're interested! 👇🏼

Potential new topics or bonus lessons (pick 1) SEO spreadsheet template to track updates on live/migrated site redesigns Design Day vs Custom Website portal setup tips live redesign &/or site migration tips how to use AI with the Content Guide's submissions process of inviting client & setting their notifications Set up a project with me in Kitchen

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📣 Our Financial Trends Survey ENDS SOON!

We are just 2 responses shy of 150 total submissions, so if you haven't already, PLEASE take just 7-minutes to fill it out! It can be completely anonymous, and it will help so many people make more informed money-decisions in their/your businesses this year!

The report will be shared by the end of May, hopefully sooner. We'll start working on it next week after the survey closes (this week!)! 🙌

Take the survey NOW! →

Last week, we were set to interview Neal from Noan, –but had a last minute change of plans! So we did what we do best and winged it. 😂 We ended up talking about several way we're using AI in our businesses, including Claude, and Diane did a live demo of asking it to write a sales page –which literally took just 5 minutes!

​Write Sales Page Copy in 5 Minutes with Claude​ And how we're using AI in our businesses in 2025, with a couple live screenshare demos. Find Out Now →

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Here are my gems of the week:

🎖️👀 95,000 Views! More of a win than a gem, but I got this EXCITING notice last weekend! Thank you to everyone who's watched my videos; you make the effort worth it!

📆 🆕 ​Breely* The guy who created Acuity (& sold it to Squarespace) has created a competitor, to rival Cal & Calendly. (Cal is great! But you can no longer edit the automated emails on the free plan. 🙃) It feels easy & AI scans your site to set it up for you (then you can make changes). It's *actually* affordable with a limited free plan or paid plans at just $7/mo + including HIPAA compliance & automations, and it offers basic forms with signatures, invoicing, custom automations, calendar syncing, event & class/workshop scheduling, + more! –Kinda like a super lite CRM!

⏯️ ⏳ You NEED to hear this In 2- ish minutes, Chris Do breaks down why charging HOURLY doesn't work:

💰🏦 ​Kick.co* I'm currently testing out this "self-driving bookkeeping" app, which is a new "accounting software that does the work for you" (for US-based businesses). Their FREE plan works for businesses with less than $25k in annual business expenses, which means it could be a great option for a lot of people! Anything that saves me from manually categorizing my transactions in Quickbooks saves time I'd love to use for... well, anything else! ​Watch the walkthrough replay here (free)

📢⚡️ ThriveCart Pricing Updates They are finally changing their plan pricing! Standard will still be 1x $495 for lifetime access, but Pro has moved to Pro+ (an annual subscription of $295/yr for new customers). For 60 days from April 22nd, existing Pro customers can upgrade for FREE* to the new Pro+ features & get lifetime access to it (no subscription) before the switch is final! Existing Standard customers have 30 days from April 22nd to upgrade for a one-time fee* of $195 to access Pro+ for life.

📊 ⏰ Financial Trends Survey ENDS We're nowhere near our goal, BUT WE ARE just TWO people shy of our "good" goal (good, better, best). If you haven't filled it out yet, PLEASE take 7 minutes & do the anonymous survey! We'll be working on the summarized report starting next week & will share it everywhere we can, emailing it to whoever asked for it directly. ​ Take the survey →

That's all for this week!
See ya next time!

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