After the Hack: Reigniting My Creative Confidence

#devchallenge #wlhchallenge #career #entrepreneurship

WLH Challenge: After the Hack Submission

When I joined the Bolt hackathon, I was a few months into my creative sabbatical — taking time to reconnect with my maker side while navigating the realities of job hunting in a tough market.

I knew landing the right role might take time, so I gave myself permission to use that time intentionally: to rest, reflect, and explore creativity on my own terms. I've taken a lot of courses and classes over the past 6 months, like learning to make stained glass, metal and glass-smithing as well as sewing.

Somewhere in the middle of the arts & crafts I was also finding time to learn AI as well, so when a friend sent me a link to the world’s largest hackathon, I knew this would be a great way to propel that effort forward and dive in deep!

I decided the best way to do this was to join a vibe-coding challenge cohort, then I fired up Bolt, and decided to build something that felt personal and necessary.

That “something” became Layoff Relief — a post-layoff companion tool for people in tech to help them navigate severance, unemployment, insurance, and the identity-shaking fog that follows.

🔥 What I Gained (That Has Nothing to Do with Code)

This wasn’t just a “build an app” moment. It was a creative reawakening.

Through the act of designing and shipping something end-to-end, I rediscovered:

Momentum through curiosity. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone — I just wanted to make something helpful. That took the pressure off and let me find my creative flow.
Solid prompt-writing skills. Despite being dyslexic, I learned that good prompt writing isn’t about perfect grammar — it’s about clarity, intention, and detail. If you can describe it, you can build it.
Confidence in my ability to ship. While I’d still want a professional developer to help ensure deployment and security best practices, I now know I can architect a working product from concept to build.
Joy in polishing. I didn’t just build; I iterated. I edited copy, cleaned up flows, and applied UX principles with intuition — all through prompts.
A new north star. I’m most energized when I’m building products that support people’s well-being — whether that’s physical, mental, work-related, or just bringing more ease into their lives. That’s where I’m headed next.

🚀 What’s Next: From Hackathon to Studio

Layoff Relief was more than a hackathon project — it was the launchpad for my next chapter.

Since the hackathon ended, I’ve been:

Gathering feedback on how I could improve the app
Exploring how it might support employee offboarding for companies
Considering whether to expand its features depending on organic interest — things like secure doc storage, guided journaling, or an AI-powered layoff coach
Realizing I can now build much more confidently, with better prompts and a sharper product POV

...and while I was building Layoff Relief, I also ended up vibe-coding a pre-launch site for my UX design studio: Curionaut Studios.

I couldn’t help myself — I had a vision, a spark, and Bolt helped me move on both ideas at once. Curionaut will be my container for bringing curiosity, design thinking, and intentional systems to people and projects that are trying to make life better.

💬 Final Reflection

This hackathon reminded me that I'm still a builder. That creativity is a tool for healing. And that my ideas are worth making real.

If you're in a moment of transition — whether you've been laid off, burned out, or are just in-between — I hope this gives you permission to build for you. You don’t need to wait for funding, a team, or a “real” plan.