I'm Jacob Epps.

My main project is in cybersecurity, you can see that side of the work over at jacobepps.com. That background shapes how I build websites: defensively. Sites I ship don't expose form submissions, leak analytics to ten ad networks, or rely on a thirty-plugin stack that everyone forgets to update. The fewer moving parts, the fewer surprises three years from now when somebody scans the internet for an old WordPress hole.

The work is local. I'm in Aiken, S.C., and most of the businesses I want to build for are the kind I drive past on Whiskey Road on a Saturday morning - the breakfast joint with a screen door, the salon with hand-lettered hours, the cafe near the polo field, the chef running a takeout window from a folding table. Real businesses run by real people, and most of them are stuck on a hand-me-down template or a Facebook page that nobody updates.

Each project starts with a real conversation about what the business actually needs, not a templated questionnaire. I ask what the day looks like, who the customers are, what already works, and what they've been told they "need" but don't. Then I design and build in the open on a preview URL - you can watch it come together - and hand the keys over with a walkthrough so you can update copy, swap photos, and change hours without touching code. I'd rather build five sites a year I'm proud of than thirty I can't remember.

Most projects run two to four weeks from the first call to launch. The work is hand-coded, not assembled in a builder, which means it stays light, loads fast on a worn-out phone, and ages slowly. The whole site fits in a folder you own - if you ever want to walk away, you can hand it to anyone and they'll be able to pick it up.

If that sounds like the kind of working relationship you want, get in touch - I'd love to hear about the project.