Every dev says they'll build their personal site "soon."
I was that dev for longer than I'd like to admit.
I'm Xander — 18, first-year CS student at Manchester Met, and I run a solo web agency called Tizzle. I build sites and handle digital stuff for clients, so the irony of not having my own site wasn't lost on me. Eventually I just got on with it.
Here's how it went.
🛠️ The Stack
| Tool | Why |
|---|---|
| Next.js | App Router, clean file-based routing, easy to deploy |
| Supabase | Backend/database without spinning up anything custom |
| Vercel | Obvious choice for Next.js — zero friction deployment |
Nothing revolutionary. I wasn't trying to be clever with the stack — I wanted something I could move fast with and actually finish.
⏳ Why It Took Longer Than It Should Have
Honestly? I kept overthinking the design.
When it's your own site, everything feels higher stakes than a client project. With a client you have a brief, a deadline, someone holding you accountable. With your own stuff, the scope creeps constantly and nobody's chasing you.
I also fell into the trap of wanting it to be perfect before it was live.
It doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to exist.
🌐 What the Site Actually Does
xandertaylor.org is my personal hub — portfolio, a bit about me, and a way for potential clients to find Tizzle and see what I do. Nothing overly complicated. Clean, fast, does the job.
Supabase handles some dynamic content on the backend which gives me flexibility to update things without touching code every time.
🏢 Running an Agency While Learning
This is the part people don't talk about enough.
Building for clients and building for yourself are completely different experiences. Client work has pressure, deadlines, and real consequences. Personal projects have none of that — which sounds easier but actually makes it harder to ship.
What helped: treating my own site like a client project.
- Gave it a fake deadline
- Scoped it down to an MVP
- Deployed it before it was "ready"
🔁 What I'd Do Differently
- Ship an MVP on day one, iterate after
- Spend less time on design decisions that users won't notice
- Set up proper analytics from the start so I actually know if anyone's visiting
💬 The Honest Take
If you're a dev without a personal site — just build it.
Don't wait until your skills are better or until you have more projects to show. The site itself is a project. Ship it, put your name on it, and update it as you grow.
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