She didn't want to go back to a job.

I knew the feeling. I've been on my own for more than a decade.

So I decided to see what I could do.

An hour later, I sent her a list of projects. She said, "Wow, you should turn this into a thing."

I thought, nah, I can't do that. Folyo already exists. I'd even interviewed the founder on my podcast. I'd be biting.

But I figured I could focus on my Squarespace community. If just 10 people joined, it would justify the time I'd spend sourcing projects.

A dozen signed up right away.

That turned into a monthly blog, then a weekly one.

About a year in, I started questioning why I was still doing this. It was just a side project, and it seemed to be taking more effort than it was paying back.

Then I got an email from Vic.

He'd won two projects from the list. $35K worth of work.

Well alright then.

By then, I'd also realized that most of the projects I was finding were better suited for small studios and agencies than the solo Squarespace designers I'd been serving through SQSPThemes.

But members were still getting a Google Sheet and a weekly digest.

One day I was making a reel to promote it and thought, nah, this ain't it. I can't be marketing a Google Sheet.

Except that's exactly what I'd been doing.

Around that time, my friend Karen from Guiding Brands had built an internal dashboard for her business. When I saw it, I immediately thought, this is what my members need.

I wanted them to be able to save the projects that were a good fit, keep track of where they were in the process, and get matched automatically based on their profile.

So I started cooking in Softr.

A couple of weeks later, the dashboard was live.

That's what Bigger Budget Projects members get today, right out of the box.

As for her, she did end up going back to a job. A few months in, she realized it wasn't what she really wanted. She'd taken it because it felt like what you're supposed to do.

So yea, that's how this came to be.