Spring ’26: A new chapter for Maple Creative, events, and community!
Hello friends!
I’m emerging from a winter of deep learning — it’s time to get outside!
Those who know me well might admire my deep focus. But to be totally honest with you, it comes with its own challenges and regrets. For example, being consistent with communication.
Teamwork makes the dream work. This is especially true when there’s a shared vision motivating what we do. I started Maple because I wanted to build capacity for myself and for others. I recently became aware of the term “capacity builders” at a retreat I participated in, and it’s so similar to the idea of Super Connectors that I’ve been exploring over the last couple years.
In that regard, we have some exciting updates for you.
Shayna Grajo (who you’ve likely seen at our workshops) is taking on a leadership role in supporting our care plan clients. She’s taking charge of communication (along with her care plan role) by co-hosting our events and writing our client newsletter.
10 years ago Shayna was in the room when I taught my first website essentials class for a community skill-share event (she shares that story below). It’s meaningful to know someone over a decade or more and to share all the growth and create memories.
Besides being a skilled professional, Shayna has become a collaborator in the vision of what Maple Creative is becoming. So with that, turning it over to Shayna to share updates and event announcements…
(drum roll please), introducing Shayna Grajo!
Happy Spring and happy building!
Ryan Clover 🍀
↓
Hi, I’m Shayna,
You’ve probably heard from me at the support desk or have seen me around in past webinars. If not, let me introduce myself.
I’m Shayna, and one of my charges is managing care plans at Maple. My scope includes support, answering your questions, and making edits to your website.
Later I’ll get more into my story and the who’s who of the team. But first, here is the latest in Maple client community news.
Welcome back friends!
RSVP and mark your calendars…
- April 17: Open Office Hours and “Ask Me Anything” for clients and prospects.
- April 23: Website Strategy Amidst Rapid Change
- April 24: Office Hours — Bring a challenge, get support
- May 7th: Client Hot Seat: Refine Your Digital Strategy
Recurring events! Events are weekly on Thursdays & Fridays. See our Event Calendar for specific times and details.
You’re welcome to message me ahead of time if you’d like hot seat coaching during the live session on Thursday, May 7. Addresses one of your real problems in real time, and the group will work through it together in a live coaching format.
If you’d like to sit in the “hot seat” for the May 7 webinar, please write to us at support@buildwithmaple.com or reply to this email!
Throwback…
Welcome to WordPress Publishing Essentials!
If you’ll indulge my nostalgia,
I can tell you that the first time I met Ryan Clover in person was in 2016.
We’d met at Gimme! Coffee on W. MLK Street, before walking to the Multicultural Resources Center, a few buildings away, to sit in their office space for my website consultation.
I had just subscribed to Ryan’s email list in February of that year, after seeing his classes in the Ithaca Freeskool. The consultation was in May. That week, Ryan was just getting back from his grandma’s 102nd birthday…
You see, long before joining the team, I was a Maple client, an Ithaca resident, and even a student in Ryan’s first online course.
(And if you want to reminisce with me, you can click that link to a throwback podcast where Ryan is interviewed by Janelle Allen.)
This was back in 2019. “WordPress Publishing Essentials” was the beta version that would later become “Build Your Website Essentials” (BYWE), a Maple signature course with many iterations and cohorts.
A lot has changed since that premiere course. A pandemic would ravage the globe. So too would AI irrevocably overhaul the nature of work and our digital lives.
Friede and Ryan gave birth to their son and have raised him on their orchard. And I’ve since moved off to Spain. The boy approaches seven, and I’ll celebrate year four.
But the essentials remain the same…
What We Do
Ryan still empowers leaders with professional self-hosted WordPress websites that people can manage themselves, see great success with, and benefit from long-term.
Beyond a mere platform, this space for you to connect with fellow clients whose websites are also educating others, providing value, and solving today’s problems: This is the Maple Creative community.
Who We Are
We are teachers, activists, organizers, artists, community builders, healers, facilitators, course creators, authors, and some of the most badass (and down-to-earth) people.
And who better to face our complex challenges with than one another.
So let’s come back to the essentials, together. Starting with our websites and our email lists.
For many of us, our website and email list are core to our marketing, messaging, and impact. Not to mention to our businesses and real, fabulously real (‘n messy) lives.
Essential: of, relating to, or constituting essence.
Merriam Webster1
ESSENTIAL, FUNDAMENTAL, VITAL, CARDINAL mean so important as to be indispensable.
See you soon
Remember to get the Maple events on your calendar! We’ll see you at the opening session on Friday, April 17, at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Sincerely,
Shayna
Shayna Grajo
Care Plan Manager, Maple Creative
Meet the Team
We’ve got your back
In case you haven’t attended office hours or had a chance to connect with us lately, here’s a quick review of who’s on the team. It’s all up to date on the about page as well.
- Ryan Clover has focused lately on knowledge management and digital strategy. He’s here to help create systems to improve your organization’s overall engagement and growth.
- Liz Pickard is Ryan’s thought partner and collaborator working with environmental organizations. They work together on website strategy and communications design.
- Friede Sander runs the financial operations at Maple, but also works with some clients on their website design and content on a per-project basis. Right now she’s busy doing construction and studio renovations.
- Shayna Grajo (that’s me). I manage care plan accounts, support tickets, and editing requests. Now I’m managing this client newsletter. As a BYWE alumna, I am constantly impressed by the talented creatives and service providers that I meet and assist through this community.
- Introducing Mark Pruce (read Mark’s full bio here). Mark is a full stack developer who recently joined the team. He’s our backup for the most complicated challenges and updates, often our go-to for Enterprise care plan troubleshooting. If something needs to be scripted, diagnosed, or customized, we turn to Mark.
Featured: Wispr Flow
Don’t type, just speak
One of the perks of working in the web design agency is behind-the-scenes recommendations of tools in the trusted Maple Toolbox.
While I traditionally enjoy writing by hand to draft newsletters, I’ve lately gotten hooked on a transcription (voice-to-text) app called Wispr Flow, and I’ve downloaded it for my phone and laptop. Some of this writing was transcribed (dictated) or freestyled with this tool, before editing.
This privacy-respecting app with zero data retention is a joy to use, fun to play with, and frees up a lot of creativity! We’re obsessed.
Read Ryan’s review here.
- “Essential.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/essential. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026. ↩︎
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