“I don’t know where to start”
Complete beginner, slightly embarrassed about it, wants a calm first hour with no jargon. Extremely common. Nothing to apologise for.
Sometimes it’s faster to just be shown.
An hour with a patient person can be worth a month of reading. I keep a small number of slots for exactly this.
What actually happens
We start with the thing that’s annoying you. Not a curriculum — your actual situation. The pile of admin, the recurring email, the sense that everyone else has figured something out that you haven’t.
Then we get one thing working properly, end to end, with you driving. Not me demonstrating while you watch. You doing it, badly at first, until it stops feeling foreign.
Afterwards you get a short written summary in plain language, so you aren’t relying on remembering what happened. Follow-up questions by email are included and I don’t bill for them.
Who books these
Mostly people who are entirely capable in their own field and have simply not had a reason to become technical: makers, therapists, contractors, writers, retired people, small business owners, people whose adult children keep telling them to try it.
There is no assumed knowledge and nothing to be embarrassed about. I have explained the same thing four times in one hour and considered it a good hour.
What I won’t do
I won’t sell you a subscription you don’t need, set up something you can’t maintain alone, or pretend a tool solves a problem that is actually about process. If an hour with me isn’t what you need, I’ll say so — that has happened and it will happen again.
Common shapes
What people usually come with.
“I tried and it was rubbish”
Used it once, got a generic answer, wrote it off. Usually fixable in about twenty minutes once we look at what you actually asked for.
“This one task eats my week”
A specific recurring job you resent. The best possible reason to book, and the one most likely to pay for itself.
“I need it to stay private”
Confidential material, professional duty of confidence, or simple preference. There are real options here, including running it entirely on your own machine.
“I make things and I’m worried”
Creative people wanting help without giving away the part that matters. I have the same concerns and we can talk about them properly.
“Help my parent, patiently”
Booked by someone for a family member. Slow pace, plain words, written notes afterwards, no sighing. Happily.
Common questions
Do I need to prepare anything for a session?
No. Bring the thing that is actually annoying you — a task, a pile of admin, a vague sense that you should be using this better. We work on your real situation rather than a general curriculum.
Is this suitable if I am not technical at all?
That is who it is for. There is no assumed knowledge, no jargon, and no expectation that you remember anything between sessions. Most people who book have never used an assistant beyond typing one question into it.
What happens after the session?
You get a short written summary of what we set up and what to do next, in plain language, so you are not relying on memory. Follow-up questions by email are included and I do not charge for them.
Genuinely
Try the free guides first.
If Start Here gets you where you need to be, that’s a better outcome than paying me. Book a session when reading isn’t doing it.