Most websites
stop at
the surface.
I build the other kind. Sites with a whole world underneath, for people with something to say. And every file of it is yours, forever, with no monthly fee to anybody.
Come underSomewhere along the way every website started looking like every other website.
Visit four businesses in the same town and you meet the same website four times in different colors. Same big photo, same three icons, same rounded rectangles. That’s not laziness, it’s what a template has to be. A layout built for a dentist and a gym and a bakery can’t look like any of them.
I don’t want to build that one. I want to build the ones with a personality, where somebody lands and feels something before they’ve read a word.
I want the internet to feel like MySpace at its peak again. With everything we’ve learned since, and none of the clip art.
I build worlds, not pages.
My people have something behind the brand. A story, a personality, a thing you do that nobody else does. Give me that and I’ll build you somewhere to put it, instead of a page with your hours at the bottom.
It started with an artist who makes octopus sculptures. I got so far into her work I had to build her a site, and after that this is the only kind I want to make.
Every site is built for the brand it belongs to. Never a brand pushed into something that already existed.
And then it’s yours. All of it.
Ownership isn’t a feature I picked off a list. It’s the thing I’ve fought for my whole life, and it’s why Rootline exists. Before this I worked inside an agency and watched people pay thousands for websites they couldn’t open, couldn’t edit and couldn’t leave. That was on purpose. I knew exactly what I was never going to build.
- 01
The files are yours
Code, images, copy, all of it. Yours the day it goes live, not sitting in an account of mine.
- 02
The accounts are in your name
Hosting, domain, contact form, the editor. Every one set up as you, so nothing of yours lives behind my password.
- 03
You can leave whenever you like
Pick the whole site up and move it anywhere, any time. Nothing about how I build ties you to a company. Including me.
- 04
One price, once
No retainer, no subscription, nothing owed to me after launch. What you pay for the build is what you pay.
- 05
And you can change it yourself
Every build comes with easy editing and a video walkthrough of your exact site. Changing your own hours should never mean asking me.
Client work, written up honestly.
I write a project up while I am still building it and come back to it as it hits real milestones. Bugs included, because documented honestly has to mean that. Here is the one that is live. The rest are over on the work page.
Finished sites, still waiting for their business
Complete custom builds that have not found their owner yet. Each one sells exactly once and is then retired forever. They were built to be one of a kind. They should stay that way.
Walk through themThree ways down.
Whichever fits, the site gets built for your brand and handed over the same way. The only thing that changes is where you’re starting from.
- 01
Custom builds
Built around exactly how your business works and how you want it to feel. Booking, shops, memberships, events, one-off tools nobody else has. Quoted per project.
- 02
One of One
Whole sites, already built. A supper club, an apothecary. Each one is finished, sells exactly once, and costs what it does because the design is already done. See it, love it, claim it.
- 03
The Rootline scholarship
Every three months I build one site completely free for a small business that needs it. If a website matters to yours but the money isn’t there yet, that’s exactly who it’s for.
How this actually goes.
- 01 / 08
You tell me how it should feel
Not how many pages. What somebody should feel standing in it. That one answer builds more website than a sitemap ever does, and almost nobody's been asked it before.
- 02 / 08
I send you a written brand vision
What I'd turn your site into. How it should feel, how I'd structure it, what I'd do with your brand. Free, and yours to keep whatever you decide. Plenty of people stop here, and that's a fine place to stop.
- 03 / 08
If it lands, we make it official
A contract, half the build, and you're on my books. You're not paying to find out if you want to work with me. You're paying because you've decided. The other half isn't due until you're live.
- 04 / 08
You fill out an intake
Your colors, your words, what you love, what you can't stand, and the stuff everybody in your industry does that makes you cringe. Quick to answer? We do it over text. Life is loud? I send a doc and you fill it in when you get a minute. Either way it happens while you wait for your slot, so the day it opens I have something to build from.
- 05 / 08
Your slot opens and I send you three ways in
I run four builds at a time, because there's one of me. A slot opens when a site launches, not on a date, so I come to you with a start date once yours is close. Then I build three home pages, real ones, living at one link with a bar across the top to flip between them.
- 06 / 08
You pick one and pull it apart
They're rough on purpose. Most of my design choices show up after somebody reacts to something real, not before. Tell me which one, then everything's on the table. What you don't like, what's missing, what should go, the words, the photos.
- 07 / 08
I build the real site, and we go round
The one you picked becomes the whole site, every page. Then you look again, I change what you want changed, and nothing moves on until you've approved what's in front of you. How many rounds you get depends on the size of the build, and you'll know that number before you pay me anything.
- 08 / 08
I hand you the keys
Tested on real devices, second half due at launch, and you get every file plus a walkthrough of how to run it without me.
Slots are full while I build the current batch out. The form still works, I still write back, and you’ll be first in line when one opens.
Things people ask before they reach out
01What kind of businesses do you build for?
Creative ones. Not an industry, a personality. If there's a story behind your brand, or anything I can build a whole world out of, that's my favorite kind of project. If you want your site to feel like a place somebody walked into instead of a brochure they got handed, we're going to get along.
02What does a website like this cost?
Right now a simple landing page starts at $450 and gets paid in one go. A full custom build starts at $1,000, most land in the low thousands, and once there's booking, a shop, memberships or tooling nobody else has running under it, it can pass $6,000. The design gets the same care at either end. What moves the price is what has to run underneath, which is why I quote per project instead of putting up a menu. There's also One of One, where a finished site is priced on its own because the design is already done, and a free build every three months through the scholarship.
03Do I have to pay to see what you would build me?
No, and that's on purpose. You get a written brand vision for free, whether or not you ever hire me. Once you've decided, we sign a contract and half is due, and that's when you go on my books. The first thing I build is three home pages at one link, so your first real decision is which direction your site goes. I'd rather you pick me because you liked the thinking than because you paid to peek.
04When do I actually pay?
Half when you sign, half at launch, before the files and domain go into your name. That's the whole schedule. No third payment hiding in it. Simple landing pages are small enough that splitting it is more hassle than it's worth, so those are paid in one go. None of it is a retainer and nothing is owed after launch.
05Do I actually own it?
Yes, the whole thing. Files, domain, hosting, the editor, all in your name. If we never speak again your site keeps running and you keep everything. That's the only honest test of owning something, and it's the one I hold myself to.
06Do you charge monthly fees?
No. No retainers, no subscriptions, nothing owed to me after launch. Your domain renews yearly in your own account, around fifteen dollars, and if you sell online your card processor takes its cut of real sales. Everything else I set up runs on free plans, in your name.
07How soon can you start mine?
I run four builds at a time. There's one of me, and I'd rather do four properly than eight badly. A slot opens when a site launches, not on a date, and that depends partly on how fast its owner gets back to me. So I won't sell you a start date I can't control. I tell you your place the day you sign, and I come to you with a real date once your slot is close.
08What if I do not like what you build?
Then you tell me and I change it. That's what the first round is for. Before I build anything properly you get three home pages at one link, each a different direction, rough on purpose. You pick one, tell me everything you'd change, and that becomes the site. Then you look again. Nothing moves on until you've signed off, and how many rounds you get depends on the size of the build. You'll know that number before you pay me anything.
09How long does it take?
A One of One is fastest, because the site already exists. Once I have your content you're usually live inside a week or two. Custom builds get scoped one at a time and you get a clear timeline before we start. Everything's remote, so nothing waits on a meeting.
10Can I change things myself afterwards?
Yes. Easy editing comes standard, and you get a screen recording of your exact site so you can come back to it on a random Tuesday without needing me to be reachable.
11What is it like to work with you?
Like having a friend who happens to build websites. I get invested, probably more than is strictly professional. I fall a little in love with every brand I take on and I want your business to work as badly as I want mine to. You get honest opinions and somebody in your corner, not a vendor.
12Do you only work with businesses in Colorado Springs?
No. I'm in Colorado Springs and I work with people all over. The whole thing is remote and most clients prefer it. Clear messages and focused work instead of meetings.
The deepest part is where you start.
Tell me what you want it to feel like. It’s the first real question I ask anybody, it builds more website than a list of pages ever does, and most people have never been asked.