Stella Achenbach

Just last week, I told fellow creator Vesna Stawa, aka Orchidea3D, that it had been a slow start this year. She looked at me like I'd said something ridiculous. I had shipped three web apps for creators, published three websites, held a webinar, and I was still calling it 'slow.' This piece is about how that happened and what building specifically the three creator-focused web apps taught me about myself and others.What is vibe coding, and why don't I feel bad about itVibe coding is a term us......

This is the beginning of the story of how a ginormous metal flower in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a stickered lamppost in Condesa, Mexico City, became my favorite travel souvenirs. I take a lot of photos when I travel, just like anyone else, but almost none of them end up where people expect them to be. They rarely make it to my social channels, and they definitely don't live in neatly organized folders on my phone. Instead, they reappear later, cropped, mirrored, and disguised as ornaments ......

There's a moment every January when the timeline for creators like us splits in two. Half of us are manifesting "six figures, dream clients, soft life." The other half is quietly opening their banking apps and subscription lists like a horror game. This piece is for the second group: the ones who want the magic but are troubled by the math and by how to bring order to the chaos of their own making. The ones who are tired of treating their creative career like a vibes‑only experiment and are r......