Pro-tips From the Build Process:

Study before you build.

• Templates are starting points.
• I began with ThemeForest and knew enough to be dangerous.
• Dissecting wireframes and site kits helped me turn the vision into a fully custom Elementor site.
• Multiple iterations, overhauls, and a hosting wipeout were part of the process.

Build a parts bin.

• Save the heroes, sections, and components you like as you go.
• Reuse what works instead of rebuilding it every time.
• Past Angel hooked up Future Angel.

Know when the tool is full of shit.

• ChatGPT, Claude, and Grammarly—all Pro—can save hours or waste days with complete confidence.
• They can overcomplicate, hallucinate, and send you chasing Alice, her baked goods, and the Cheshire Cat.
• Trust your bullshit odometer and fact-check the fact-checkers.
• If a “helpful” tool turns you into a human spin cycle, call it and watch a YouTube video instead.

Keep your receipts—always.

• Your career vault should be built from résumés, highlights, projects, awards, stats, and hard data—not memory.
• Gold’s Gym taught me to document everything.
• At Honeywell Aerospace, a colleague dubbed me “the court reporter” because I stack receipts like it’s my job. (It is.)

Update your résumé when the win happens.

• Track wins while they’re fresh—even if you love your job.
• Bonus: your review info is already ready to go.
• From 2014–2026, I have at least one résumé from every year except ’15 and ’22 (they’re somewhere).
• That habit made this entire rebuild possible

If your wins drive your performance, why wouldn’t you track them? That’s your money.

Want the bigger story behind how Your Digital Angel came to be—and the philosophy behind the build? Check out How YDA Was Built to Break the Mold.