Welcome to my blog! This blog is a space where I document my professional growth, explore various side projects, delve into my diverse interests and hobbies, and share the lessons I learn along the way.
Join me as I navigate the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, artificial intelligence, search engine optimization, e-commerce, and beyond, all while striving for continuous self and professional improvement.
Being a solopreneur requires a bizarre balance of raw creativity and rigid systems. If I don’t use tech to automate the tedious stuff, I have zero energy left for the creative stuff. Over the years, I’ve built a tech stack that keeps my businesses (and my brain) functioning. Here is a look at the exact tools I am currently obsessed with.
People often tell me I talk a lot. I choose to take that as a compliment because they usually follow it up with, “…but you’re always interesting.”
I remember hearing once that a good politician from the Ozarks can tell a story about using the bathroom at a sketchy gas station, and somehow make it universally relatable—whether he’s talking to a millionaire or a farmer. That right there? That is the entire secret to marketing.
2025 was a year of massive, earth-shifting changes, and my body essentially demanded a pause. An AI tool recently tried to generate a draft for me about “the magic of self-celebration,” telling me I should pop confetti for folding my laundry and start a vision board. (I nearly rolled my eyes out of my head.)
For me, celebration isn’t about bubble baths or forced positivity. It’s about recalibration. It’s about taking a hard look at the baggage you carry, realizing you don’t need it to survive anymore, and letting it go.
Case in point: I spent December and January selling off my entire collection of 32 vintage fur coats.
If you asked an AI to describe a side project, it would probably tell you it’s a “thrilling journey” that feels like a “big, cozy hug.” (I know this, because an AI literally drafted a version of this post, and I nearly choked on my coffee reading it).
Let’s be real. A side project is not a hug. A side project is often late nights, Googling things you don’t understand at 2 AM, and questioning your own sanity. But it is also a lifeline. It’s the door you build yourself when the room you’re in gets too small.
If you run a small business, you can’t exactly just opt out of the digital world entirely. You just have to become ruthlessly efficient. If we have to play this game, we might as well play it smart. Here is how you can maximize your social media impact without completely burning yourself out.
I built my first SaaS: Reseller Command Center—an AI-powered toolkit for vintage resellers that helps identify pieces, generate platform-ready listings, and remember your goals so you can run your shop with less friction. It’s the “no-setup” version of the workflows I’ve been building for Vintage Reveries, powered by Gemini (and yes, it’s paid because it uses my API key). I’m in beta and genuinely want feedback—especially from sellers drowning in backlog.
I built a lightweight Google Apps Script that turns folders of scanned images into clean, editable text—right inside Google Docs. It detects columns and tables, preserves order, and outputs pipe-formatted rows you can paste into Sheets or CSV. Perfect for archivists, researchers, and bloggers working through vintage scans at scale.
BFCM cleared $1K+ after fees, a no-comps tee sold for $300 in 90 minutes, and I shipped 50+ coats in two weeks. December has been heads-down systems work — theme refresh, database cleanup, precise shipping — plus an AI project that turned a public domain dictionary into a usable dataset. Here’s what worked (and what I fixed).
For years, VintageReveries quietly carried me through job changes, pandemic chaos, and burnout. This fall, I rebuilt the site from the ground up on a new Divi layout, automated my social posts, and started listing again in earnest. With just over 100 active listings, I’m already seeing a 3 percent sell-through rate and a 50-plus dollar average order value—proof that vintage and WordPress are saving me, again, in a very real and measurable way.
I fell back into my family archives during a rare pause in St. Louis and found the man my grandmother meant: Joseph J. Johnson, killed by Confederate soldiers after voting for Lincoln. It’s a story about privilege as visibility, the courage of ordinary choices, and why we must leave receipts for whoever looks next.
After years of chronic stress, I finally finished something early — my St. Louis duplex passed inspection two weeks ahead of schedule. What I expected to feel like an ending turned into something gentler: real rest. This essay reflects on what it means to pause, to rebuild, and to find peace between chapters — from renovating a home to reshaping a life.
Uncover the secrets to distinguishing your brand’s voice in a saturated market, and discover what truly resonates with your audience. What will you find?
Savor the simple pleasures of life and discover how embracing small joys can transform your perspective in ways you never imagined. What’s the secret?
Learn how content pillars can elevate your blog’s authority and SEO, but discover the secret to keeping your content relevant and engaging.
You can unlock the secrets to enhancing visibility with effective content strategies, but what are the key elements that truly make a difference?
Learn how repurposing content can transform your blog traffic and engage your audience like never before—discover the secrets now!
The future of AI in content marketing holds transformative trends that could redefine engagement, but what implications will they have for marketers?