06/16/2026
It’s time to call it a night.
Way back in 1997 in the computer lab at Buffalo State College, I was an aspiring techy college kid that commuted to campus with an awful schedule and tinkered around for hours to fill gaps of time. While I didn’t go to college for very long, nor was I particularly good at it, I did learn one skill that carried me much farther than I expected and I’m positive much further than many others did. In that lab, I built my first website.
Completely self-taught, I learned by ripping code from other sites and doing the only reading I was capable of comprehending - lines of code.
Not long after, I built my first site with actual intent and it worked. And then another. And then another. Before I knew it, I had built Dirt Track Digest, a massive media platform covering dirt racing news from all over the Northeast US and Canada. What’s weird was that I wasn’t so much interested in the media side of what we did (and they still do today), but more of that I could build it. We did a lot of cool stuff. I mean, we did podcasts before there were iPods.
Building and running DTD led to other opportunities, and jobs, and networking, and partnerships, and more opportunities. I reached a point where agency life was the obvious next step.
I could give all the credit to Buff State and the timing of Italian and Economics, and then Astronomy - but it all really started with my Dad. We had an Apple II C computer at our house and it may have been the most expensive thing we owned as a family. Dad knew computers were the future and it was important to be savvy. He was right, and his gamble paid off.
Sitting here today in 2026, thinking about the literal hundreds of businesses I’ve worked with, I feel so incredibly honored to have been a small part of their success. It wasn’t always good and sometimes I sucked. I did a tally a few years ago before I did some purging… I have launched over 500 websites. I don’t think 18 year old me would ever have envisioned that.
I loved it back in 1997, and I still love it today. Hell, I launched a website for a great client a few weeks ago and it’s seriously one of my absolute favorites I’ve ever done. I pulled it up last night just to look at it.
The game has changed. I don’t view it as I’m competing with AI - I use it all the time - but doing this as a client-facing profession and a side hustle just isn’t it anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still will be building, but the client will be me.
The business is not for sale. The brand means too much to me. First Page Media has been a constant in my life when other things were uncertain.
I am not unplugging the server as I will need it for my own projects. Things are going to wind down to cut overhead and client comms will go out shortly.
Thank you to every single member of the First Page Media family. You have no idea how blessed I feel to have been your partner for all these years. I am forever grateful.
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