Staying small on purpose

Angie Herrera has been running Block 81, her design and development studio in Portland, on her own since 2003.She started it because there were no agency jobs that year, told her partner she would try it for a few months, and never went back. We talk about going from a graphic design degree to writing Twig templates, why ExpressionEngine made her a better developer, and what finally made Craft stick in version two. She also explains why she keeps third party plugins to a minimum, and why she decided she never wanted to manage people.Angie HerreraBlock 81 (block81.com)BlueskyLinkedIn

Michael Thomas has been building with Craft CMS for over ten years. In February 2026 he left a 130-person agency to start Bleu Chaud with a team of five, and he's spent the months since building Craft CMS skills for Claude Code that are now installed about a thousand times a month. We talk about compliance-heavy platform work, where the skills came from, what he really means by "AI slop", and why twenty-five years of tooling changes have convinced him that developers aren't losing their jobs to AI.

In this podcast episode, Thomas interviews Moritz L'Hoest, an experienced web developer, about his career journey and his experiences with various content management systems, particularly Craft CMS. Moritz discusses the challenges he encountered with ProcessWire and highlights the advantages of Craft CMS, including features like version control and Project Config, which encourage better teamwork. 

In this episode of the, host Thomas engages with Travis Gertz, a Developer Relations Engineer at Pixel & Tonic, to discuss the latest release of Craft CMS 5.7. Travis highlights key improvements, such as enhanced user experience with nested content, new duplication features, and UI updates. 

In Episode 21 of the CraftEntries podcast, host Thomas interviews Ben Croker from PutYourLightsOn about Datastar. This hypermedia framework aims to simplify web development by allowing the backend to drive the frontend, contrasting with frameworks like React or Vue.js. 

In episode 20 of the Craft Entries podcast, host Thomas speaks with Matt Ellis and Michael Westwood from Honcho, an agency specializing in Craft CMS. They discuss Honcho's unique branding as "not an award-winning agency," their journey in web development, and their preference for Craft CMS over WordPress. 

In this episode of Craftentries, host Thomas converses with guest Will Browar about his journey from graphic design to web development, focusing on his experiences with Craft CMS. Will recounts his early career at an agency, his transition to a SaaS company, and his passion for continuous learning. 

In this episode, Thomas interviews Brandon and Brad from Pixel and Tonic. They discuss the release of Craft CMS 5 and the positive reception and adoption it has received. The conversation also touches on Craft Commerce and Craft Cloud. Craft Cloud is a new hosting service offered by Pixel & Tonic, the creators of Craft CMS. It is designed to provide a seamless hosting experience for Craft CMS websites, with features such as on-demand image transforms, automatic static caching, and a streamlined build pipeline.

In this episode, Thomas interviews Sean Smith, a web developer and podcast host from Canada. Sean shares his journey into web development, starting with his interest in computers and websites in the late 90s. He discusses how he transitioned from teaching English in South Korea to pursuing web development as a career.

Tune in to this  episode as Thomas sits down with Bastian Allgeier, the  creator of Kirby CMS. They delve into the narrative of Kirby's inception, the strategic choice of a file-based system, and the extensive customization capabilities that make Kirby a developer's dream. Bastian opens up about his choice to forgo a traditional PHP framework in favor of a more tailored approach with PHP and Vue.js, highlighting the platform's adaptability and ease of use.Listen as they discuss the core team's dynamic, the foundational story of Kirby as a company, and the pivotal role of community and enduring partnerships. Bastian also gives an inside look at how new developers are brought into the Kirby fold and breaks down the various licensing options at their disposal.