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The stack I’d build on, before we build anything.

The tools and communities I recommend most.

Before I map how a business runs or design the systems underneath it, most of the work is already riding on tools the founder half-owns. These are the ones I reach for first: the platforms I run my own practice on, and the rooms where the thinking gets sharper. I’d recommend them whether or not we ever work together.

When the stack stops adding up to a system, that’s where I come in.

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Communities worth joining

Where the work gets easier to keep doing.

Before tooling even comes up, these are the rooms worth being in. The first is mine, a free space where I’m actively teaching. The other two are run by teachers I genuinely trust.

Grow With Evelyn is led by a genuinely strong teacher: knowledgeable, grounded, and good at making business-building feel manageable. She focuses on selling online and building a Skool community, and the room reflects that steady energy. I send people here when they want supportive guidance without the usual hustle pressure.

This is a beginner-friendly room for freelancers and creatives working toward their first consistent income online. It's realistic and low-pressure, with no promises of going from zero to six figures overnight. I recommend it to anyone just getting started who wants guidance that meets them where they are.

Tools I’d recommend

A working stack, not the whole answer.

These are the tools I actually use and recommend when a full engagement is more than the moment calls for. Pick the one that unblocks you now. When you’ve outgrown two or three of them at once, that’s usually the signal it’s time to design the system underneath them.

Courses + Checkouts

Skool

Skool is my favorite platform for a membership or community offer. It's clean, simple to navigate, and it doesn't pull you into social-feed noise the way other platforms do. When a client wants a space where the community is the point and not the algorithm, this is where I send them.

Email Marketing

FG Funnels

FG Funnels is an all-in-one for email, funnels, social, and simple sites, with templates that actually look good. It's one of the few marketing tools I find genuinely pleasant to build in. The owners are engaged and responsive, and you can get a lot done without stitching five platforms together.

Courses + Checkouts

Teachery

Teachery is one of the cleanest, most pleasant course platforms I've used, and I picked it up on a lifetime deal. When someone wants to launch a course without losing a week inside settings menus, this is where I point them. The founders are good people, and it shows in how the product is built.

Courses + Checkouts

ThriveCart

When a client needs one place for checkouts, funnels, and course delivery without another monthly bill, I reach for ThriveCart. It's quick to set up, and the lifetime license keeps it off the subscription pile. A solid fit if you're selling digital products and want the whole thing contained in one tool.

Analytics

Metricool

Metricool is my go-to for social scheduling and, more to the point, for actually seeing what's working. The analytics view is the clearest I've found for reading performance across platforms without digging through each one separately. I use it to stay consistent without guessing.

Email Marketing

MailerLite

MailerLite is what I recommend for email when a founder wants something clean and dependable. I've used the prettier options, and while Flodesk looks lovely, I've run into enough deliverability trouble there to make MailerLite my default. It does the job well without piling on complexity you won't use.

CRM + Operations

Moxie CRM

Moxie is my preferred CRM for service providers. I've used Dubsado, and Moxie wins on both features and ease of use. Proposals, invoices, time tracking, and client messaging live in one place, so the client side of the business stays contained instead of scattered across tabs.

CRM + Operations

Airtable

Airtable sits between a spreadsheet and a database: you can link records, build different views of the same data, and add light automation without writing code. I reach for it when a spreadsheet feels too flat but a full build is more than the moment needs. A lot of systems start here before they get designed properly.

Team Documentation

Trainual

Trainual is where I send teams that need one reliable place to document how the work gets done. Onboarding guides, playbooks, who owns what: it keeps process usable instead of buried in a folder no one opens. If you're building a team or tired of re-explaining the same things, it's worth a look.

AI + Build

Lovable

Lovable is where I go to build something and get it live fast. I use AI build tools across several platforms, but this is the one I reach for when speed matters: you describe what you want, it builds, and the deploy step stays out of your way. Good for getting an idea in front of real people quickly.

When the stack stops adding up

When good tools stop adding up to a system.

Good tools each solve one problem. A system is what makes them work together, so the business runs without you holding it in your head. When you reach that point, the Diagnostic is where we start: I map how everything actually runs, then design what’s missing.