Hackathon for one?
Rebuilding my company’s website solo with Replit, AI, and a decade of creative conviction.
This weekend I was at a hackathon. For one.
{ "tldr": "I rebuilt our site with AI as my co-pilot. The creative control? Next level. The clarity? Immediate." }I tasked myself with rebuilding the chloédigital website because the old one was driving me mad. Everyone thinks it's cool (and sure, it won some awards when we launched it) but to me? It’s giving me the ick. If you’re a creative, you know the feeling. We can’t rely on ideas from 3 years ago!
I had to present the new site to the SLT team on Monday.
Spoiler: they loved it. 🥹
Replit has entered the chat. And it’s amazinggg now.
I’ve been deep in Replit all weekend. When I first used it a few months ago, it was cool. But now? I’m obsessed. It’s a whole other level.
I read somewhere that the rate of AI improvement is something like every 3-6 months, so if you go back to a tool, it’s basically leveled up infinitely.
Or maybe I’ve gotten better at prompting. Let’s just say both. 😌
Building this site reminded me of the early days of CD. I coded the first websites myself, then graduated to working with a designer and dev team to bring my vision to life. Now? With AI-powered tools like Replit, I’m back in the game but I don’t have to write every line of code. I can type what I want, sharpen the prompt, and point at what needs fixing.
What I Learned from Building in Replit
This was a real-time masterclass in what it means to co-build with AI.
Here are a few lessons from the weekend sprint:
Being able to code is still a superpower
Even though Replit does the heavy lifting, when it breaks (and it will break), knowing how to debug means you don’t lose momentum. You're the human in the loop keeping the vision intact.
Prompting is its own design language
Writing clear, high-context prompts is everything. Vague = chaos. Precise = progress. It’s like learning to “design” through instructions.
Creative flow > traditional workflow
Instead of Figma > Dev > QA cycles, I was building and editing live. Replit let me get into flow and follow the intuitive nudges — tweak padding here, drop a shadow there, pull back on the animations. All in one place.
AI gave me momentum
Even when I hit a wall, I wasn’t stuck for long. I asked ChatGPT things like:
“Why is the layout breaking under the hero section?”
“Make this section feel more editorial and less Web 3.0.”
“Help me clean up this code and remove redundancy.”
And just like that — unstuck.
This wasn’t about speed for speed’s sake. It was about freedom. I could feel my ideas landing faster. Sharper. With more precision.
AI as my creative co-pilot (including this post)
Whether it’s coding or content, I’m fully on board with using AI to assist me.
This post? Absolutely supported by ChatGPT.
Not because I can’t write, but because it helps me shape what I want to say more clearly.
A few years ago, I might have struggled to get my thoughts across. I’d sit with a half-finished idea and think maybe it wasn’t even worth sharing. Now, I know better.
AI didn’t erase my voice, it amplifies it.
It’s not just Replit. Canva Code launched last week, and I’m already obsessed.
For people who’ve never written a line of code, this is the gateway to bringing ideas to life. No dev required. (Check out my post on it here)
Coming Next Week
I’ll be sharing the new chloédigital site with you, plus the thought process behind the visuals, structure, and how we’re thinking about our next evolution.
🧡 Keeping You Updated
This Substack is part of my founder’s diary, part tech experiment log, part love letter to building in public.
I write in the in-between moments, when I’m deep in a build, refining a vision, or just trying to articulate the “aha” that’s unfolding in real time.
If you’re into that? Subscribe. Reply. Share.
Chloé x
Just a girl building cool things with AI