416 - Building a Family while Building a Business with Mark Szymanski

The landscape of website builders has evolved so much since I got started in 2010 and you know what else has evolved? Web designers.

Building high-converting, well-designed professional websites is still at the core of most web designer studios and agencies but the landscape is evolving now to where, in my experience, clients are relying on web designers to help make sense of the scattered online world and to help them drive traffic, leads and customers to their website.

This means an identity shift for many web designers, who are now viewed as more of webmasters or web consultants/strategists.

That’s exactly what we dive into in this chat I had with Mark Szymanksi. This convo was recorded for his show Fueled by Progress but we covered so much important ground, I wanted you to hear it as well.

Apart from the landscape of website builders changing, we get into:

• How web designer identities change as we progress
• Where AI is in web design now in 2026
• The changes in the DIY market
• My identity shifts from designer, to course creator, to community builder and coach
• Running an online business around family (as Mark is expecting his first kiddo soon)
• And more.

Head to the show notes to get all links and resources we mentioned, along with a full transcription of this episode at joshhall.co/416