Public Experience
Professional websites that make it clear what the business does and give customers the right next step.
About Hands in the Smoke
I build around how the work actually happens.
Hands in the Smoke started from learning, building, fixing, and figuring things out firsthand. That same approach now drives the websites and business systems I build for real organizations — understand the problem, simplify the workflow, and give the owner practical control.
Why I build this way
Systems thinking came before the websites.
I spent nearly a decade working inside complex operational systems. Hands in the Smoke is how I bring that same systems thinking to businesses that need better tools, cleaner workflows, and technology built around how they actually operate.
I’m not interested in forcing every business into the same template. I look at how the business actually works, where time is being lost, what’s being tracked manually, and what should connect. Sometimes the answer is a better website. Sometimes it’s an internal system. Sometimes it’s a full connected platform.
What HITS builds
Two sides of the business, built to work together.
The customer experience matters. So do the tools the owner uses after the customer clicks, calls, orders, registers, or asks for help.
Owner Control
CMS and Admin tools that let owners handle routine updates without depending on a developer.
Business Systems
Ordering, payments, customers, inventory, registrations, workflows, reporting, or other tools built around the real operation.
Continuous Improvement
Launch is not the end of learning. Real use exposes friction, and good systems improve when there is evidence that something should work better.
How I work
Start with the real problem. Build what helps.
I’m less interested in selling somebody the biggest possible build than in figuring out what will actually make the business work better. Sometimes that is a focused website. Sometimes it becomes an operating system. The scope should come from the problem, not the other way around.
- 01Understand the workflow before recommending the solution.
- 02Build the smallest practical solution that solves the real problem.
- 03Give owners routine control by default.
- 04Avoid unnecessary complexity.
- 05Preserve client ownership.
- 06Use real-world feedback instead of forcing people to work around bad software.
Real work
The systems are already running real businesses.
Each project starts with a different operation, a different customer path, and a different set of owner responsibilities.
Modesto Strykerz FC
Public club website and a connected operating platform for club leadership.
Creative Lex Custom Co.
A customer ordering and request workflow connected to practical owner controls.
Dark Bloom Farmstead
A farmstead website and operational tools currently in private preview.
Hands in the Smoke
HITS uses its own systems for website inquiries, content, and food workflows.
The origin
The name came before the business systems.
Hands in the Smoke started as a place to keep track of things I was learning and building. That part never disappeared. The Journey still holds the repairs, food, projects, mistakes, and lessons. What changed is that the same problem-solving mindset grew into work I now do for businesses and organizations.
Follow the Journey →Skills and tools
What the work calls for now.
The work crosses public websites, owner tools, and the operational details that connect them.
Systems ThinkingWorkflow DesignOperationsProblem SolvingProcess ImprovementTroubleshootingWeb DevelopmentBusiness SystemsOwner CMS / AdminPayments / IntegrationsDocumentationTesting / ValidationSearch & Discovery ReadinessContinuous Improvement
Start with the friction
What should work better?
Tell me how the business works now, where it gets frustrating, and what you wish was easier. We can figure out the right next step from there.