Why did the Cold War end? Every high schooler in the country would likely answer that with some reference to the steely-eyed resolve of John F. Kennedy, or America's overwhelming economic power. But Professor Fritz Bartel of Texas A&M University has a compelling--and very surprising--new theory he put forth in his recent book The Triumph of Broken …

The two largest ride share providers in the United States, Uber and Lyft, have recently said that they will be exiting Minneapolis in May. Minneapolis' city council has passed into law a requirement that the ride share providers pay a (in the companies' view) high minimum hourly wage to their riders. The companies say the wage is unsustainable. The…

Imagine a war ravaging your home and everything you know. But this isn’t a normal war, it is, in the eyes of the aggressor, a “small war.” The aggressor perhaps calls it a “peacekeeping mission.” From your perspective, this doesn’t matter one bit. Death is death and violence is violence. Throughout modern history, imperial powers have waged so-call…

Imagine a world in which your elected leaders may not be removed from office. You go to the polls, you vote, and for whichever leader wins the election, they are handed a mandate and a golden ticket to pilfer the country in whatever way they see fit. In the United States and many other democracies around the globe, even the holder of the highest el…

Imagine a world in which time is not kept by a single authority. If you drive from your hometown to one a few hours away, noon is slightly different and tied to the local experience of when the sun peaks. Time would be less precise, and more driven by the moon, the stars, the sun, and even the behavior of animals. We all live in a world in which ti…

Join us for a discussion with a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Imagine living in a country riven by political discord and strife. One party works to steal the election from the other. Politicians who are, in the eyes of their opposition, wholly unfit for office are running for and winning some of the highest elected positions in the country. Thi…

Branding expert Ashia Amavé shares how showing up as your full, authentic self serves community. For our last episode of Season 3 — wowza! — we sit down with personal brand expert Ashia Amavé. She shares why it’s important to both your career and your community to show up as your whole self and blows our minds by describing the personal brand as yo…

It’s hard out there for an entrepreneur — but it doesn’t have to be hard and lonely. That’s the perspective of our next guest, Laura Zug, who works tirelessly to help her clients strategically and organically build community. In short, she helps people find, communicate and nurture their biggest fans. In this episode, we dig into the many aspects o…

Valerie Gangas, author and founder of Juniper Holiday + Home on creating experiences through hospitality and community. Simply put: Valerie Gangas is a powerhouse. She owns and runs 50 — soon to be 100! — short-term rental properties through Juniper Holiday + Home, and she’s also penned two amazing books on life, empowerment and spirituality. (In D…

The duo behind the vibrant network talks about why community matters. In this episode of No Surprises, we add to the nesting dolls of the season — the community of people who have recorded our podcast about community — with Sarah Greisdorf and Sam Zelitch. This dynamic duo helms Squarespace Circle, a network of Squarespace creatives, designers and …

Imagine a world in which your life is turned upside down by war…. Not just war, but total war. The very land on which you live is destroyed and you are forced to flee, leaving everything behind. Beyond that, the very place you live in is destroyed. Food is scarce, shelter is difficult to find, and fear pervades your life. Though total war is most a…

As two of our favorite Squarespace community members, we love to sit down with Will Myers and Christy Price, whether in person at Circle Day or logging on from far-off locales like Texas (Christy) and Italy (Will). Cue the wanderlust! In this edition of No Surprises, Kelsey and Mal talk to these Squarespace leaders about their individual skill sets…

The community engagement expert talks global giving — and taking care of yourself along the way. Kristin Lewis’s career journey starts over pancakes — as many great journeys do — and follows a twist-y path to United Airlines, where as Senior Manager of Global Community Engagement and Partnership, Kristin manages the brand’s non-profit portfolio, in…

As both Community Lead for the education platform and in his everyday life Max Pete is all about bringing people together. You know how there’s that person who you keep intersecting with on your career path? For Kelsey, that’s Max Pete. As two people in the Squarespace design and tech space, their work has woven along their respective journeys, con…

Imagine living in a country without a written constitution. A country in which laws are subject to whimsy or a powerful person’s interpretation and there is no recourse for an individual who does not like or agree with the outcome of various legal decisions. In the United States, we live in a system subject to a written constitution. The document i…

Marketing guru Lindsey Pinchuk on how a community-centered approach leads to success. Community is so hot right now — but it’s always been a part of Lindsey Pinchuk’s ethos. From her very first business to her current work as creator of Dear FoundHer, building and cultivating community is central to everything she does. Meaning that she’s a communi…

The head of community and partnerships talks growth, change and connection She’s the person who brings people together for an app that’s designed to bring people together — meaning that Meagan Allers is basically always thinking about community. The way it grows, contracts, changes and evolves, but how at its root it always comes back to one thing:…

The founder of the Squarespace hub and SEO agency talks building and nourishing community. “True growth comes in community, when there are people pushing you forward.” It’s this quote that makes David Alex not only one of our very favorite collaborators, but the perfect guest for our first episode of No Surprises Season 3, which focuses on communit…

Imagine traveling across the world. But not on an airplane, not by car, but on your own two feet and on the backs of animals. Now, imagine doing that for two decades. Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant whose travels gained notoriety in his time and whose name survives across the millennia. There is far, far more to the man than just his name. He tr…

In this minisode — the last episode of Season 2 — Mallory settles into the interviewer’s chair, as she asks Kelsey about her book, “Squarespace from Signup to Launch,” and her new collaboration course with education platform SuperHi. Kelsey shares the book’s origin story and discusses how she wrote the book she wanted to write, making deadlines, an…

Sometimes, a collaboration goes beyond creative magic and into the friendship world. Take Emily Positano, for example. The Founder/CEO of Made Better Brands has become not only one of our favorite collaborators (we’ve created sites for her clients CoLeague and The Channeled Source) but also one of our favorite people. Seriously, folks: she’s a gem.…

In this episode of “No Surprises,” our team gathers from all corners: Kelsey taps in from a Wisconsin cabin, Mal joins from Mexico City, Reyna produces from Tel Aviv, and our esteemed guest — the incredible artist Grace Miceli — comes to us from the cozy confines of their gorgeous NYC apartment (recently featured in Architectural Digest, NBD). We c…

Marketing expert Sonia Elyss talks trends, pro tips and the joys (and occasional challenges) of online communities. In this edition of No Surprises, class is in session, as Mal and Kelsey sit down with beauty marketing consultant Sonia Elyss for a bona fide education. Sure, this beauty expert — who may have invented influencer marketing, NBD — coul…

Imagine, or perhaps think back, to a Europe in which each country had a different currency. In Germany you bought things with the Deutschmark, but cross the border into France and you’d have to use the French franc, and further still in Spain you’d be buying things with Spanish peseta. Currencies are omnipresent in the modern day and permeate comme…

The communications expert talks building a team, finding balance, and the beauty of editing. You know that feeling of listening in on a conversation between friends? (We know you do.) Sit back and savor your fly-on-the-wall status in this edition of No Surprises, as Mallory and Kelsey sit down with one of their BFFs, Rachel Dickens. But this bestie…

Kelsey and Mal chat about the joys, challenges, and overwhelming guilt of creative rest. Depending on your work style, the idea of taking breaks either sounds like a perfect recharge or a panicky, stress-filled nightmare. Either way, it’s essential to the creative process — but the guilt doesn’t have to be. In our first minisode, Kelsey and Mal sit…

Oh, Wisconsin — how do we love thee? In this episode of No Surprises, we touch down in the Badger State, as Plate Magazine Editor-in-Chief Liz Grossman bonds with Kelsey and Mallory over their University of Wisconsin ties; a deep love of classic Wisconsin supper clubs; and how the Ooni Pizza oven is central to the Wisconsin cabin experience. We als…

In this episode, we sit down with the whip-smart, visionary and delightful brains behind award-winning, DC-based creative agency Seaberry Design: founder Monica Seaberry and VP of Digital Media Adya Beasley! We cover a wide range of topics related to the creative process, including how past careers and artistic endeavors inform design work, the imp…

Live from New York — it’s Alex Kumin and Julia Shiplett! The brilliant comediennes join us to talk about an essential part of the creative process: experimentation. Alex and Julia share their comedy journey (including The Second City and Lincoln Lodge), discuss the inception of their monthly-ish Brooklyn show, Highwaisted (the name Hags was already…

We kick off season 2 with our first guest — the amazing Taja Dockendorf! Taja is the perfect person to kick off this season’s journey into the creative process. She’s the founder/creative designer of Pulp + Wire, the host of The Brand Alchemist podcast, and a WOTW client. Aside from her creative talents, it was this Forbes article — “In Creative Li…

Imagine a world in which your country is purchased by a foreigner. Not taken over by a foreign country, mind you, but rather bought and paid for via a purchase contract. While there are many instances of one country invading or occupying another throughout history, the late 1800s saw European powers come to own—at least in their eyes—nearly the ent…

Imagine a world in which there are no machines. If you need to move something heavy, get from place to place, or pump water, you have limited options including: human power, animal power, and (if you are close to a suitable river) river power. Thanks in large part to Scottish inventor James Watt, the Industrial Revolution was a time of unprecedente…

A patent grants its owner “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” an invention for a specified period of time in return for disclosing the invention to the public. Patents are a foundational piece of intellectual property rights both in the United States and worldwide, and they are both celebrated and critici…

A look back at the first season of No Surprises, and a look ahead at where we go next In our last episode of the season, we take part in one of Reyna’s treasured rituals from Jewish summer camp: roses and thorns. Kelsey, Mal and Reyna each share their favorite moments from season 1 — working together! Learning! Growing! Trying things out! — as well…

Imagine living with the fear of catching a disease that could paralyze you for the rest of your life. Generations of people in the United States lived with the fear of polio, and worldwide people still contend with that fear today. The development of the polio vaccine is one of the most renowned achievements in modern medicine, and thanks to its de…

You’ve heard her name, you’ve seen her site, and now she’s here — it’s Rachel Gillman Rischall of Three PR! In this latest edition of No Surprises, Rachel sits down with Kelsey and Mallory to talk about her new site and going through the WOTW process for the second time. Spoiler: enthusiasm abounds. Conversations with great friends often bring grea…

We’ve examined a recent WOTW build from the Project Manager’s point of view, and now we turn the spotlight on the developer. In this episode of No Surprises, we talk to the creative force behind the Three PR website, Hawaii-based designer Susan Lee. (The secondhand Vitamin D soothed our Midwestern souls.) As a new addition to the WOTW team, Susan b…

We’ve spent the last few weeks digging into our company values: caring, collaboration, openness, trustworthiness and joy. But how do these values come into play during a Week of the Website project? In this episode of No Surprises, Kelsey and Mallory — or is it Mallory and Kelsey? — take a different approach, focusing more intently on a recent proj…

Imagine a world in which there were zero protections for you as a worker. If you got sick, you could be fired. If you grow too weak or old to work in the mines, you’re fired and there are other workers to take your place. While workers today frequently still find themselves in precarious positions, but many of the protections we can be thankful for…

This week Liam couldn't make it but Olsen Aviles on Boston Bike Polo stepped up to join the team. Olsen brings some awesome energy and insightful conversation to the pod. The team goes over the latest news and tournament results before settling into a in depth conversation around defensive philosophy and Olsen's NAHBPC team "Moon Druid." Give this …

OK, maybe it’s not as fun as “joy” or as intriguing as “transparency.” But clear roles and responsibilities can be the difference between the success of your team — and subsequently your company — and a “Lord of the Flies” situation that pulls everyone and everything into a chaotic mess. In this episode of “No Surprises,” we look at the importance …

How our entire process starts and ends with this key value. Joy isn’t commonly found on a list of corporate values. But at Week of the Website, it’s truly the foundation of everything we do. Joy motivates us. It creates meaning. It fosters creativity with our team and our clients. And super importantly, it’s the key to weathering the storms of runn…

Trustworthiness is hard to gain, easy to lose, and provides the wireframe of the WOTW process. Clients, contractors, the community, our company, ourselves — the entire WOTW ecosystem is built on trust. That’s why it was an easy inclusion when coming up with our company values. When it comes to the Week of the Website process — and all aspects of ru…

Openness is an umbrella value for transparency, vulnerability and so much more. ‘Openness’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. But it’s a value that encompasses so much of what we believe in: transparency, vulnerability, personal connection, communication, authenticity — all things that are essential to Week of the Website. In this episode of “No …

Building a business rooted in working with others starts with our founders. In the spirit of collaboration, we bring our producer, Reyna Abigale Levine (and co-producer Daisy), out from behind the curtain to join us in the next episode of No Surprises. With Reyna’s guidance, we dig into our next company value — collaboration. Collaboration has been…

Imagine traveling before the wheel. Anywhere you wanted to go, you had to either walk, or be wealthy enough to afford an animal such as a horse that could take you there. Travel was slow, fraught with delay, and in the case of a horse, needed constant feeding. Living in a developed, wealthy country, it’s easy to forget that the car isn’t the only w…

The Business of Caring Why this simple act leads our list of WOTW values. To kick off our new podcast and video series — dubbed No Surprises — Kelsey and Mallory dig into the idea of caring. In this conversation, the WOTW co-founders talk caring for team members, the emotional lifting of site design, why moms make the best project managers, and how…

Surprise! We blew the dust off our mics and talked about 2022! and we are testing the question function in Spotify so check it out for the beer point!

While we have an abundance of choice as consumers in the United States, in many realms there are increasingly few options in terms of what, and from where, we can buy. Monopolies have existed in North America since the colonial era and, though fought aggressively in the mid-20th century, have reared their head once more in recent decades. In this e…

Part 2 of a conversation with Professor Louis Hyman of Cornell University. How did consumer debt in the United States move from general acceptance (covered in part 1), into something that is omnipresent? Beyond that, how did it go from something that was an enabler of success in the mid-20th century to something that eroded wealth over people's lif…