Humans of Squarespace Circle Day 2023!

Sep 8

A few weeks ago, I attended Squarespace Circle Day 2023 at Squarespace’s headquarters in New York City! As someone who works from home, attending this event in person was one of the highlight moments of my year!! From taking the train up to New York from Pennsylvania— to staying with my good friends from college and exploring Brooklyn a little bit— to attending Thursday’s Squarespace Circle Day event and grabbing dinner & drinks with new industry friends afterward— the entire trip opened me up to a whole world of new possibilities and connections within this industry.

What I love about Squarespace as a platform is that it brings together really thoughtful, creative, and wholesome people. It’s funny, because when we interact with Squarespace, it’s really just an online tool for building websites; but behind the technology and user interface is a team of 2000+ employees and hundreds of thousands of web designers and industry professionals from all over the world.

My main intention for attending Squarespace Circle Day in person (instead of online), was to connect with other people in the industry and have genuine, down-to-earth conversations to learn more about their experience and any life wisdom that they had to share. So to help hold me accountable in getting out of my comfort zone and striking up conversations with new people, I decided to write this blog post afterwards, to feature as many people as possible that I met throughout the day.

So, without further ado, here is “Humans of Squarespace Circle Day 2023!”

I came up with the name of this blog post as a tribute and homage to the famous “Humans of New York” photoblog from back in the day. Did anyone else love following the HONY posts and stories on Instagram as much as I did??

For the rest of this blog post, you’ll see, I just asked people 3 main questions and copy and pasted their response, along with any specific contact information that they wanted to share. The 3 questions were:

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?

P.S. You’ll notice that I also included a few other voices, which I thought were valuable to share: Alyssa Phillips of Amp'd Designs in Asheville, NC (who was a speaker at Squarespace Circle Day online, but unable to make it to the event in person), as well as my host in Brooklyn and friend from college, Casey who’s an electrical engineer.

What I’ve enjoyed the most about writing up this blog post and sending out the questionnaire to everyone has been to really take the time to honor and remember the people that I got to meet at Circle Day. Sometimes, we go to events and experience a lot in a short amount of time— and forget most of it within a week or two. My hope is that this blog post will serve as an online archive of the different stories, wisdom, and personalities of some of the unique individuals who are pioneering and shaping the future of the web design industry together.

Featured Humans of Squarespace Circle Day 2023:

Omari Harebin

Founder at SQSPThemes.com, Bridgeport, CT

We empower creative entrepreneurs with tools and resources needed to grow their business on Squarespace.

Connect with Omari: OmariHarebin.com | SQSPThemes.com

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
I started my professional career as an engineer doing my thing on the side. But eventually I wanted to take my side hustle full time. I needed a platform to share my work and tell my story. Since then I’ve been sharing my experience customizing, optimizing and growing with Squarespace.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
“The same thing that you think you need, give it up and that same thing set you free” - OH
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
Yea for sure. I use Convertkit for email. Sendowl for Digital Product and now Squarespace for courses. You can get my full toolkit here: omariharebin.com/tools

Fred Karkukelly

Founder @ SquareUnity.com, Toronto & Los Angeles

SquareUnity was created with a clear mission: to consolidate all Squarespace resources into a single website, transforming it into a potent resource hub for Squarespace users, designers, developers, and trainers. It's more than just a marketplace; it's a collaborative space built by Squarespace experts, for Squarespace users. "No more scouring the entire web for a quick solution or to locate a Squarespace expert."

Connect with Fred: Instagram | Website | Facebook

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
My passion for web design and web technologies. I have been a Squarespace Circle member since 2016 and I must say Squarespace has played a pivotal role in shaping my career as web designer.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey
Being an entrepreneur in the digital creative world, you have to wear many hats and the one thing I learned is to always use the latest and most efficient third party tools to help you with your daily tasks. It's the only way to remain productive and profitable.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
I'm proud to say Squarespace never disappoints with the steady improvements and introduction of new product integrations. Squarespace has truly become a powerful platform of choice for wider range of businesses. For all other resources there is squareunity.com ;-)

Dylan Winn-Brown

Founder @ Winn-Brown & Co. Based in London, UK.

We design and build custom websites that push Squarespace to its limits. As well as working directly with end clients, we also partner with branding/design agencies to turn their Figma/XD designs into custom Squarespace websites that can be easily managed by the client. We're passionate about helping clients see the light and move from Wordpress to Squarespace.

Connect with Dylan: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
I kind of 'fell into it'...I started freelancing whilst still in school offering services such as logo design and video editing as a means of making some cash on the side. Eventually I had a go at building my first website with Weebly and I fell in love with the way I was able to create a little space on the internet where I could tell a story, incorporate text, images and videos - all in a format that was accessible to anyone around the world.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey
When a business starts to grow, there are natural 'highs' and 'lows' on the path to growth. Don't second guess yourself when you're in a 'low' - it's a natural part of the growth cycle and doing so will hold you back. Instead, stay focused on pushing through and before you know it you'll be playing on the next level up.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
Put a sales pipeline in place - we use Pipedrive for managing this but you can do this on a Google Sheet. If you can get to a point where you have a full pipeline, you can escape the 'feast and famine' cycle that plagues most freelancers and instead start to be more selective with who you are working with.

Adebukola Ajao

Digital Marketing Consultant

BDY CONSULT LLC is a marketing agency for badass businesses that are changing the world! We design, build, launch and optimize your businesses marketing efforts with the best practices in the field. We want small business owners to feel like expert marketers!

Connect with Adebukola: Instagram

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
I chose digital for so many reasons! Community: To ensure there was Black representation in media. Personal: As an entrpreneur with a chronic illness, being a digital worker has allowed me to fulfill my dreams despite obstacles. Professional: Digital is the future and I want to be apart of the future!
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
Consistency is key.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
Yes, Google Workspace is basically my virtual office.

Sam Crawford

Founder of by Crawford and Six-figure Design Club

I serve businesses all across the world with award-winning custom Squarespace websites. I also now coach other Squarespace pros how to scale up to their first $100k with ease.

Connect with Sam: bycrawford.com | sixfiguredesign.club

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
A passion for online brand building and design in general eventually led me down the path of marrying the two together to create websites.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
Throw enough sh*t at the wall and some of it will stick! You have to try everything in order to settle on what's best for you.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
I always recommend the following three softwares as the 'do it all' stack:
- Hello Bonsai (Proposals, invoicing, contracts, payment processing and project management)
- Calendly (best call booking tool in existence)
- Trello (I manage not just my business, but my entire life on here)

Iya Thomas

Founder of Snap Scene located in NYC

Snap Scene is a DIY Selfie Studio that is access forward and serves the NYC/Long Island area.

Connect with Iya: snapsceneny.com

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
Working in Social Services, you realize there aren’t many inclusive spaces. I decide to create one.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
Just because you’ve built it, doesn’t mean they will come. Set aside a chunk of money for marketing.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
Canva! Align yourself with people better than you so you can learn. Be sure to network with people that aren’t in any way related to your field. It sometimes offers a different way of thinking.

Henry Purchase

Founder @ SEOSpace

Creator of the SEO plugin for Squarespace - a jargon-free plugin that tells any Squarespace user how to rank higher in Google, and allows designers to charge more for their services.

Connect with Henry: seospace.co.uk

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
I hate chasing clients - SEO allows you to attract them to you, and once I cracked it, I wanted to allow other people to do the same!
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
Enjoy yourself - it'll be over before you know it!
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
Christy Price, Kristine Neil and Will Myers were great people for me to learn from.

Dreyah Bohlen

Owner of Dreyah Bohlen Designs based out of a small town Nebraska 🫶🏼

Hello, Hello! I’m Dreyah — Squarespace Expert, Community Leader, and Online Marketing Guru. With a passion for all things web-related, my goal is to bring my acquired knowledge and creativity to the world of website design and internet marketing!

Connect with Dreyah: Website | Instagram | TikTok

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
I’ve always needed a creative outlet — and being able to incorporate that into my job, to be my own boss, and have a work/life balance was a huge inspiration.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
I’ve learned a lot from the great, Jen Maher, but one Yoda quote that sticks with me most is “Always pass on what you have learned”
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
SQSP Scheduling has been a lifesaver alongside my Planner Pad Affiliate link to the Planner Pad if anyone’s interested: https://amzn.to/44wtGcj

Alyssa Phillips

Owner & Designer, Amp'd Designs Asheville, NC

I help businesses stand out boldly through Web Design and Branding crafted with intention, strategy, and style. I also help self-employed designers build sustainable and fulfilling design businesses by flipping common advice on its head.

Connect with Alyssa: Website | Amp’d Designs Instagram | Make Your Designs Matter Instagram

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
Originally I got interested in design in high school through music, designing gig posters and album art for local bands. I actually started using the name "Amp'd Designs" way back then! Initially I went to design school with the goal of working in the music industry, and even interned at a record label. But I'd really fallen in love with branding in my college classes, and I enjoyed the challenge of working with businesses and communicating everything they stand for through design, so that's what I've focused on since! I worked at studios in NYC for a few years after graduating, and started my business when my boyfriend and I spontaneously decided to move to Asheville, NC.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
Success is personal. I went to a rigorous design school and was taught to think that "success" meant working for a big ad agency on huge projects for huge brands. That never resonated with me, but it did take me a while to let go of that mindset because I felt like I would be failing if I didn't live up to it. The truth is that I LOVE working with small businesses, and much prefer it. And since starting my business, it's easy to get sucked into "what everyone else is doing," whether it's income goals or ways to offer services or types of clients. It's so important to remember that not everyone has to aim for the same things. Different things make different people feel fulfilled. One person's dream client could be someone else's nightmare client. So my piece of wisdom is, don't get caught up in what you think success is *supposed* to look like, and instead focus on what makes you truly happy.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
The biggest and best "resource" that I would recommend is community. Building relationships is essential for the success of any business. With clients, of course, but also with others in your own industry. I'm super grateful to be connected with so many amazing fellow designers and creatives, both locally and across the globe, and to be able to support and learn from each other as we all grow together.

Justin Mabee

Veteran Squarespace Designer, Justin Mabee Design New Bedford, MA

As a seasoned website, brand, and digital product designer with a decade-long specialization in Squarespace, Justin Mabee creates sophisticated, high-end designs to elevate your business. By leveraging his creativity as a neurodivergent designer and his robust knowledge of Squarespace, he brings clarity on how to tackle design challenges and optimize the way you present your business to the world.

Connect with Justin: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
Originally I was interested in pursuing website design because I wanted to help my friends who were musicians have a beautiful place on the internet to call their home. These days, my main goal is to make it easy for my clients to have a beautiful website they can be proud of, without having to know code or deal with a lot of maintenance.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
There will never be a perfect time for you to go freelance, if you've been wondering when is a good time to start. The first year of any freelance business is hard, no matter how much money or time you have saved up. Take the leap, and go.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
I've been really impressed with Squarespace's recent commitment to Courses and Digital Products. Over the past couple of years, digital sales have become even more important to many clients using Squarespace, and I have a specialization working with clients who have big memberships and numerous courses on the platform. I'd recommend the Courses product to any new designer or client that is trying to build their first course.

P.S. I also wanted to feature my wonderful host in Brooklyn and friend from college, Casey! Even though he is not part of the Squarespace ecosystem, I felt that his perspective on life was valuable to share here too :)

Casey

Sr. Energy Engineer at Willdan (Working Remotely From Brooklyn)

We build distributed renewable energy systems and improvements to reduce carbon emissions in commercial and municipal industries.

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
The idea that I could help build solutions to help mitigate the future of climate change.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
The knowledge that your job is having a positive impact does not directly result in sustained career satisfaction - other factors, such as the relationship with coworkers, working environment, benefits, etc., probably contribute more so to personal satisfaction than the impact the job can have.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
Let's call it the mental fortitude toolkit - meditation, gratitude journaling, a positive morning routine (for me it's preparing tea) - some habitual routine of awareness and cultivating a positive outlook is the basis of a good day in whatever career you're in.

Aaaand last but not least… me, your author/host :)

Alyssa Parr

Squarespace Expert & CEO of Luminescent Dreams LLC

I offer fast, reliable, and 100% custom Squarespace website design and support services for thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers worldwide.

Connect with Alyssa: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Email List

What inspired you to pursue the particular career that you currently have?
People just kept asking me to build their website for them— and things unfolded from there. The challenge, responsibility, and flexibility of starting my own business fit right in with my lifestyle and personality. And I’ve found so much joy and fulfillment in helping my clients build their dreams online.
What is one valuable lesson or piece of wisdom that you've learned throughout your life or career journey?
Everyone has a story to share. I’ve also been reminding myself a lot lately to approach everything in life with a beginner’s mind and an open heart.
The theme of Squarespace Circle Day 2023 was, "Build Your Toolkit." Are there any specific technologies, tools, or resources that have been instrumental in your success or that you'd recommend to others?
A bunch of my favorite online tools are listed on my website here. However, my #1 favorite tool/life hack has been my Passion Planner and having a daily journaling & gratitude practice before bed each night.