A small milestone, but one I'm genuinely proud of.
A few years ago, I was working in product management and exploring design on the side. Today, most of that revenue has come from helping founders, startups, and businesses build better websites and digital experiences.
A few things I've learned along the way:
- Great work compounds.
- Relationships matter more than portfolios.
- The fastest way to get more clients is to help your current clients succeed.
- Consistency beats motivation every time.
- Most opportunities come from conversations, not cold pitches.
This milestone wasn't built from one big project.
It came from dozens of calls, revisions, late nights, mistakes, follow-ups, learning Framer deeply, and continuously improving the process at Walian Studio.
Still very early in the journey.
The next goal is much bigger:
Building a studio known for creating high-performing websites that not only look great, but actually help businesses grow.
Grateful to every client, collaborator, and friend who trusted me along the way.
It's been 3 years since I started UI Flip and its website was the first one I built in Framer.
It was far from great and an overhaul was way overdue.
I started a new version from scratch earlier this year and it has been on-hold for months, as I wanted to polish it just a little bit more, but this morning I said "f*ck it, just ship it" and hit that "publish" button 🚀
I grew up around money without having it.
I learned early what looking like you belong does to how people treat you.
I drew paintings in every class I ever sat in instead of listening, a face is a few marks that settle what people believe about a person. I was drawing the problem I work on now.
I got fired more than once, I was a bad employee and a good builder.
I left the one job I liked because I wanted my own thing and the studio came out of that. A founder who has built something real and is still treated as small is standing in the room I grew up in.
So I read a company the way that room read me, at least from what it can see.