Hi, I'm Shannon Mattern, and I help women web designers stop undercharging and overdelivering.

I founded the Web Designer Academy in 2016 to provide the mentorship and support I wish I would've had!

We teach simple yet powerful marketing tactics combined with innovative and authentic sales strategies to help you create freedom, flexibility, financial independence and impact as a freelance web designer.

There's a better way to run your web design business.

Hi, I'm Shannon Mattern, and I help women web designers stop undercharging and overdelivering.

I founded the Web Designer Academy in 2016 to provide the mentorship and support I wish I would've had!

There's a better way to run your web design business.

My business journey started back in 2014 with a panic attack in my beige, windowless office.

One day back in 2014, I was sitting in my beige, windowless office under fluorescent lights for the 2555th day in a row, finishing up a financial report that I dreaded doing every month, when I overhear this conversation outside my office door:

“Have you ever had 7-UP salad? It's got lemon Jell-O, lime Jell-O, marshmallows…”

And I literally started to have a panic attack.

“OMG, I cannot DO this for the rest of my life!!! I'm 35 years old! Is this really all there is? Is this why I got good grades and went to college and got a good corporate job??? So I could waste away in this dungeon doing a job that slowly kills my soul?”

I felt trapped. I wanted freedom. I wanted flexibility. I wanted financial independence.

Places you can hear my story:

Business Success Through Personal Discovery – Design Domination Podcast with Colleen Gratzer

Service Providers: Stop Undercharging and Overdelivering – IntrovertPreneur Podcast with Tara Reid

Know Your Worth: Undercharging and Overdelivering in Website Development with Shannon Mattern – Women Wealth WordPress Podcast with Nikki Hamilton

How to Grow a Web Design Business with Shannon Mattern – LifterLMS Podcast

Progress, Not Perfection: Shannon Mattern on Building Her Business – $1M Tipping Point Podcast with Kiri Mohan

Mondays and Mornings are Mine – Horkey HQ Podcast with Gina Horkey

Ohio IT Director Earns $31,000 Setting Up WordPress Sites – Side Hustle School Podcast with Chris Guillebeau

From Side Hustle to Self-Employed: How I Turned My Online Business into a Full Time Income – Entrepreneur's Handbook

Selling an Online Course through an Evergreen 5-Day Challenge with Shannon Mattern – Inspired for Action Podcast with Amanda Genther

How She Built Up Her Biz Enough to Quit Her Job – Rebel Boss Ladies with Eden Fried

How to Start Your Side Hustle – Pricing is Positioning with Paul Klein

Membership Sites That Scale: From Side Hustle to Full-Time Business – AccessAlly Blog

Ditching Client Work and Going All-In on Courses with Shannon Mattern – Content Heroes with Josiah Goff

Shannon Mattern on Lessons on Entrepreneurship – Abundantly Being with Mary Hodges

From Scaling a Design Business to Offering Only Group Programs – without ANY Mass Marketing – Scaling Deep

Web Design Pricing (How Much to Charge, How to Raise Rates and More) with Shannon Mattern – Web Design Business Podcast with Josh Hall

Navigating Tough Times in Business – Web Design Business Podcast with Josh Hall

Shannon Mattern, Digital Entrepreneur – Bizable TV

Solopreneur to CEO with Shannon Mattern – Business Savvy Show with Abbey Ashley

Shannon Mattern Differentiates Spending Vs Investing And Explains Her Criteria For Making Investment Decisions – The Pia Silva Podcast

Inseparable Nature of Business Growth & Personal Growth – Rise Through Strife with Katie Sullivan

Your Ultimate Side Hustler Pep Talk – EntrepreNotYet Podcast with Sasha Korobov

Building Websites and Marketing Yourself on a Tight Budget – Making Your Money Work

How I Started A $10K/Month Business Selling DIY Web Design And Marketing Courses – Starter Story

Transitioning from 1:1 Services to Products – Pattern of Purpose Podcast with Kim Wensel

5 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Blog – Thrive Blogger Podcast with Bree Pair

From the Marketing Dept to Pep Talks for Side Hustlers – Corporate School Dropout with Laura Allen

Pep Talks for Side Hustlers Shannon Mattern Talks Podcasting and Websites – Sound Advice with Phyllis Nichols

Running a Business as a Side Hustle – Process to Profitability with Samantha Mabe

How to Get a Higher Paying Job Without Going Back to College – Skillcrush Blog

But most of all, I wanted to have a bigger impact.

To do something that mattered. Because each day that passed, I felt more and more panicked that I was wasting my life. Going to college, getting a job, making money for someone else and having finite earning potential – all of that’s great if what you are doing excites you. If it’s your passion. If you feel like you’re really making an impact in the world.

But what if it doesn’t? What if you realize that you're made for more?

And I felt so guilty about not being happy. Because I had a good job, made great money and I felt like I should just be satisfied with what I had because so many others aren’t as fortunate. But I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was meant to do something more.

And the one thing I loved about my job was marketing + web design.

So I got the opportunity to start a freelance web design business when one of our vendors at my day job asked me who built our website.

I started building websites for small businesses and entrepreneurs while still working full time.

My goal was to make enough money to replace my day job income so that I could be my own boss. And so I spent every single evening after work and all day on the weekends working on client websites.

And I quickly burnt myself out.

I wasn't charging enough (thanks, imposter syndrome).

I didn't have good processes or boundaries in place.

I said yes to everyone and everything. I calculated that I was making about $4 an hour from my side hustle, 75 cents less than I'd made at my very first job in high school.

“This isn't worth it…” I thought. “I'm going to wrap up these projects and just forget about owning my own business.“

And I truly almost gave up.

But if you know me… you know that when I get my mind on something, I'll make it happen. I won't take no for an answer, even from myself.

So I was listening to Chalene Johnson's Build Your Tribe podcast one day where this random guy was talking about how he earns money by showing people how to set up web hosting… but they didn't pay him to show them how to do it, the web hosting company paid him when people purchased the web hosting he recommended.

That guy is Pat Flynn of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, by the way…

It was one of those record-scratch moments.

“Wait, so instead of building websites for people, I can teach them for free how to do it themselves, and when they buy the things they'll have to buy anyway to build their site, I'll make money from those companies?!?! No wonder there are so many “how to build a website” tutorials out there! I can make a waaaay better tutorial, and give it away for free and still make money!“

So I recorded a free web design tutorial for online entrepreneurs.

And my tutorials weren't gonna be anything like the other WordPress tutorials out there.

They would assume my students had a knowledge level of 0 about computers, the internet and how to build a website – with zero judgment.

Because I didn't want anyone else to ever be treated the way I was when I was learning web design. I'd ask questions in WordPress forums and get harassed, belittled.

Duly noted, bro. I'll figure it out myself.

When I think back on it now, no wonder I had such doubts about my abilities. I probably internalized that stuff more than I realized, and I didn't want to be called dumb for asking questions so I just figured it all out on my own through trial and error.

So when I decided I'd teach people how to DIY with WordPress instead of doing it for them, I put in place some core values that had my past-self in mind:

There will be a safe space for people who are not techie to learn so that they aren't eviscerated online when they ask questions.
No jargon, no trying to explain how it all works behind the scenes. No one cares. They're not trying to be a web developer, they're just trying to get their website up so they can move on to getting clients and making money.
There are NO stupid questions.
There are several key things that online business owners need to have set up on their website to be successful beyond just the design. Teach them how to do it all in one place. Don't make them figure it all out themselves.
When someone asks a question, answer it with the exact steps they need to take to do what they're trying to do. Don't just tell them what to do, tell them how to do it too because chances are they won't know how to do it.

What I didn't realize is that my approach created trust, and a line of customers who just wanted to pay me to do it for them – but I needed to fix my broken web design business first to be able to make it profitable and sustainable for me… and there was I lot I had to unlearn…

But I did the work. It wasn't easy, there was a lot of discomfort, setting boundaries, raising prices, trial and error, ending relationships with clients, but ultimately I got to the place where I was making it work.

In 2016, I started mentoring other web designers, teaching them how to market themselves online, how to get clients, and how to run projects in what ultimately became the Web Designer Academy, which has helped hundreds of web designers work less and make more money.

And by the end of 2017, I was FINALLY earning enough money from affiliate commissions, courses + 1:1 client work to replace my 6-figure day job salary.

I quit my day job on January 2, 2018 and I spent the next 2 years doing 1:1 web design projects for clients, mentoring web designers inside the Web Designer Academy, and teaching entrepreneurs how to DIY their websites and market themselves online.

I offboarded my 1:1 clients at the end of 2019 to go all in on teaching entrepreneurs and web designers how to create freedom, flexibility and financial independence, and in 2020 we re-launched our Web Designer Academy course as a high-touch, high-impact group coaching program for ambitious women web designers.

Now, in 2023, I run a half-million dollar company with 2 employees that works with hundreds of web designers inside the Web Designer Academy to market and sell 5-figure web design services to their dream clients.

If I can go from employee to entrepreneur to CEO, anyone can do it.

I want to empower and show you that you CAN understand it, that you CAN do it, and that if you commit to taking the action, you can make a huge change in your life.

It is totally possible to turn your side hustle into your full time job. I know because I've done it, and it's changed my life. It takes a major commitment, massive action and willingness to try things that don't work, and make mistakes and keep iterating. It's not gonna happen as fast as you want it to.

There are enough obstacles to overcome, and the one thing that I don't ever want to stand in your way is the tech.

Imagine going to bed on Sunday night and not dreading Monday morning. (It's an amazing feeling, by the way…)

Imagine being able to wear whatever you want every day and not have someone telling you where to be every second of the day.

Imagine being so excited to open up your laptop, jump online (from anywhere that has internet) and help people transform their lives that work doesn’t even feel like work anymore.

I hope my journey inspires you to create a life where you can design your own schedule, help others achieve their goals and experience the financial freedom that comes with not being just another employee ID on the payroll sheet.

Since we're about to become BFFs, here's more about me!

IF YOU COULD ONLY EAT ONE FOOD FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

chips and salsa

What has been your favorite vacation ever?

winter beach vacay with my husband, our bffs and doggo!

what keeps you motivated in business?

seeing the transformations our students go through and the results they create... how different they are now vs. when they joined.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?

I'm doing it. I absolutely love seeing our students change their businesses and lives.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TITLE?

aunt, dog mom to Scarlett, wife to Floyd, daughter, middle sister, bff, mentor, ceo (in no particular order)...

besides working on your business, what do you love to do?

cooking, camping, atvs, boating, kayaking, bonfires, chill at my bff's pool, go to the mountains or the ocean, naps, puppy snuggles, netflix binges...

if you could only watch one tv show the rest of your life, what would it be?

friends, obviously.

what's the best business advice you've ever received?

there's profit in your pain. every challenge, failure or obstacle teaches something valuable that you'll reap the benefit of later.