At 63, I Built the Website I Could Only Imagine Before

Take a look around this website for a moment.

The pages, the way the information is organized, the explanations, the images and the connections between different subjects all started as thoughts in my head.

I would think, “It would be great if someone could come here and understand this.” Or, “I wish I could show that in a way that actually makes sense.”

For a long time, there was a gap between what I could imagine and what I could build.

At 63, I’m finding that gap has become much smaller.

Using AI tools like ChatGPT and Lovable, I’m rebuilding AllenBauer.com into something I couldn’t have created on my own before. Things that might have taken me weeks or months to learn and build can now happen in a couple of hours. Some changes take only minutes.

And you’re looking at the result right now.

I had the ideas. Building them was the problem.

I’ve never had much trouble finding things I want to learn about.

My interests range from investing and technology to wellness, personal growth and the ways people build meaningful lives. I enjoy figuring things out, making connections and sharing something when I think it could help someone else.

A website seemed like a good place to bring that together.

But having a vision for a website and knowing how to create it are two very different things.

I could picture how I wanted it to feel. I wanted someone to arrive and find a useful starting point. I wanted to explain what I use, what I’m learning and why any of it might matter to them.

Getting all of that onto a screen was where things became complicated.

Before, I would have had to spend weeks or months learning to code, understanding the software and figuring out why something wasn’t working.

The other option would have been paying someone thousands of dollars to build it for me.

Even then, I’m not sure they could have captured what I wanted as closely as I can now. I would have needed to explain the idea, wait for their interpretation and go back and forth until it felt right.

Then, every time I wanted to change something, I could have been back to more waiting and another bill.

That’s difficult when your ideas keep developing as you work.

Sometimes I don’t know exactly what I want until I see a version of it. Then I realize what’s missing, what doesn’t belong or what could make it much better.

Now I can work through that process myself.

Here’s what building with AI actually looks like for me

I use ChatGPT to think through ideas and put them into clear instructions. Then I bring those instructions into Lovable to build and change the website.

The process starts with something I want a visitor to understand or do.

Maybe I want my investing approach explained more clearly. Maybe a page feels too crowded. Maybe the homepage looks fine, but it doesn’t give someone a compelling reason to keep reading.

I describe what I’m seeing and what I want to improve.

Then I look at the result.

Does it make sense? Does the writing sound like me? Can someone find what they came for? Does it work on my phone?

Often, seeing the first version gives me the next idea.

I might realize a long paragraph would work better as a comparison. Or that a page needs a simple explanation before showing the details. Or that the most interesting part is buried halfway down.

I can work through those changes while I’m still thinking about them.

That’s what makes this exciting. An idea doesn’t have to sit in a notebook until I have the money, the technical knowledge or someone else’s availability to build it.

I can start.

A dividend page becomes more than a list of stocks

One example is the investing section.

I could simply put a list of stocks on a page. But that wouldn’t explain much to someone who was trying to understand my approach.

I wanted to show why I’m interested in companies that have a history of increasing their dividends. I wanted to explain Champions, Contenders and Challengers, and why those categories matter to me.

Then come the questions a reader might reasonably ask.

What’s the difference between current and forward dividend yield? What are earnings per share and dividends per share? What does the payout ratio help you understand?

A table is more useful when you understand what you’re looking at.

That became the idea: bring the information and the explanations together so someone can explore the method rather than just stare at a collection of numbers.

As I work on that page, I can keep asking how to make it clearer. What needs an explanation? What deserves more context? Where might someone get confused?

AI gives me a way to act on those questions.

The figures still need reliable sources, dates and verification. Technology doesn’t remove that responsibility. But it helps me organize the information into something people can actually use.

The same idea applies across the site

The crypto section gives me a place to explain why I hold XRP, STX and Bitcoin, and how I think about their different roles.

Someone might agree with my reasoning. Someone else might see it differently. Either way, I want them to understand the thinking behind what I do.

The wellness pages raise another set of questions.

What is this product? What does using it look like in ordinary life? Why am I interested in it? What should someone understand before deciding whether to try it?

Those are the questions I want the website to help answer.

I’ve been working on explaining NuCalm, the learning available through xosialX University and the nutritional products in a way that gives people a clearer starting point.

My personal experience belongs in those explanations, alongside clear information about the products and their limits.

And then there are the articles.

They give me room to share something that doesn’t fit into a product description or an investment table: an experience, an observation or a lesson I’m still working through.

The challenge is making these different interests feel connected enough that someone understands why they’re all here.

The connection is my curiosity about how to build a life with more options, more purpose and more room to enjoy it.

Minutes instead of weeks changes how you think

The time difference is hard to appreciate until you experience it.

Something that once might have required me to learn a new tool, study tutorials and struggle through technical problems can now begin with a description in everyday language.

A wording change might take minutes. A new section might come together in an afternoon. A bigger change might take several rounds of work, but I can see it developing as I go.

I’m describing what this has changed for me. Every project is different, and complicated work still takes time.

But when I can test an idea quickly, I’m more willing to explore it.

I don’t have to wonder for months whether a different layout would help. I can try it and look.

I don’t have to leave a confusing explanation alone because changing it feels like a project. I can work on it while I’m reading the page.

That makes the website feel alive to me. It can keep improving as I learn what people need and what I want to share.

It still takes judgment

There are moments when AI produces something that looks impressive but doesn’t work the way I expected.

Sometimes the wording is too generic. Sometimes a design looks good on a large screen and feels awkward on a phone. Sometimes I have to explain the same idea another way before the result gets close.

And facts need checking.

That matters especially when I’m discussing money or wellness. A confident answer can still be wrong. Information can be outdated. An explanation can leave out something important.

I have to review what goes onto the site, check sources and make sure the words reflect what I actually mean.

The useful part of AI is how much it helps me get done. The responsibility for what I share is still mine.

That’s also why my own experience matters.

AI doesn’t have my memories of the Marine Corps or living and working overseas. It doesn’t know what brought me back to Bay City, or why certain ideas have become important to me.

I bring those things to the work. They give the website its direction.

At 63, this feels like a new door opening

My interest in technology goes back to studying electronics while I was in high school.

Later, in the Marine Corps, I worked on cryptographic equipment and HAWK missile computers and radar. Learning how systems worked and troubleshooting problems were part of the job.

I’ve watched technology change for decades.

What feels different now is being able to use ordinary language to help create something that used to require a much bigger technical barrier.

I can sit down with an idea and begin building it.

There’s something energizing about discovering that at this stage of life. I have years of experience to draw from, and now I have tools that make it easier to turn that experience into something I can share.

I’m learning things I didn’t expect to learn. I’m creating things I didn’t think I could create myself.

And the more I do, the more ideas I get.

What have you been putting off?

Maybe you’ve wanted to build a website too.

Or write down your family’s stories. Create something for your business. Organize years of knowledge into a guide. Explain a subject you understand to people who are just getting started.

You might already have the idea. You might even know exactly who it would help.

The part holding you back could be the same part that held me back: not knowing how to turn it into something real.

Start with one small piece.

Describe what you want, who it’s for and what would make it useful. Ask questions. Look at the result. Make changes.

You’ll still have things to learn, but now you can learn while working toward something you care about.

That’s a powerful reason to keep going.

Take a look at what those ideas became

If you’ve only read this article, you’ve seen one part of what I’m building.

Explore the dividend section and the thinking behind my approach. Look at the crypto page and why I hold what I hold. Visit the wellness pages and see the tools I’m exploring. Read another article or learn a little about the different chapters of my life.

As you move through the site, you’re seeing decisions I was able to turn into something real, one conversation and one revision at a time.

There’s more I want to build here, and I expect the site to keep changing.

But I no longer have to wait until I learn every technical skill or can pay someone to carry out every idea.

At 63, I can imagine something, put it into words and begin.

This website is what that looks like.

— Allen