Circle: What have been the biggest advantages of joining Squarespace Circle?
Aylin: Circle has different threads inside the forum about how you should run your business, some of the best practices that other people have been doing, and that has helped me understand my worth. It gives me the confidence to actively develop and teach Squarespace services.

C: Who is your clientele and how did you find that niche?
A: My clients are entrepreneurs, small businesses, and bloggers. It started off with a few close friends from college. Once I had about 5 clients under my belt, referrals took off for me. I didn't have to even market my services.

C: What made you decide to build your practice around Squarespace?
A: Squarespace sold me on their user experience. Simple and clean. Squarespace makes it easy to off-board clients and transfer ownership of websites with little maintenance issues, whereas other platforms, would cost me tons of hours to keep up to date.

C: What do your clients think about the final websites you give them?
A: They love it! My clients typically come from other platforms or want an enhancement done on their current Squarespace site. What my clients and I love about Squarespace is the usability of the CMS and ease of having all integrations in one place.

C: Since joining, what about Circle has surprised you?
A: The number of designers and developers out there that work with Squarespace! I love the diversity in skill sets. I grab as much knowledge as I can from the community.

C: What’s the role of Squarespace Customer Care in your business?
A: The 24/7 customer support system helps alleviate customer care operations for me. I usually provide a 2 week post launch maintenance review for my clients for any hiccups. But the Squarespace video tutorials and get started guides are so much help! 

C: What does work-life balance look like for you?
A: In 2015, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that sometimes makes it hard to work comfortably at an office strictly eight to five. The beautiful thing about web design and development is that you can do the work from anywhere at any time. I get to pick my own hours. Instead of my work life dictating my personal life, I get to let my personal life take charge.

C: How is Squarespace Circle helping you achieve your dreams or pursue your passions? 
A: The work that I've created in Squarespace alone helped me pay for my down payment on a home in 7 months! It even helped build a reputation as a developer from a marketing perspective.

C: What does it mean to you that Squarespace is fostering and supporting a creative professional community?
A: Without Squarespace's support, I wouldn't be as successful as I am today in this field. Squarespace helped me launch my new career. This is what makes Squarespace different from other tech and creative companies - they invest time and energy into individuals who are trying to build a career in this industry.

Special thanks to Aylin for sharing her story.
Learn more about Aylin, view her portfolio, or hire her for your project in the Squarespace Marketplace.