About
I’m Mason James. I build apps, websites, and automations for small businesses and nonprofits, and help the people using them feel at home with the technology.
Most people I work with have plenty to do without becoming experts in websites, databases, or AI. I like helping them make sense of the choices, build what they need, and feel comfortable using it.
I’ve spent more than 15 years in web software, from answering support questions to running companies and building apps. I still like starting with a conversation about the work itself: what you’re trying to do, what’s getting in the way, and what would make the day a little easier.
I joined WPMU DEV in 2009 and built and led a 15-person international support team covering more than 350 WordPress plugins and themes. Support is a good education. You find out quickly which decisions made sense to the developer and which ones make sense to the person using the software.
In 2011 I founded Valet.io , originally WP Valet. We looked after hundreds of WordPress sites: maintenance, migrations, performance, and the questions that come with running a business online. We grew to $1M in annual recurring revenue without outside funding, and I sold the company in 2018.
Next I co-founded Valet Health and served as COO, working on marketing and patient intake for medical practices. During COVID, we helped hundreds of physicians move to telehealth so they could keep seeing patients. More recently, I was contract COO at Whisper Software, working across client success, marketing operations, and infrastructure.
Today I run Mason James LLC. I build custom apps, websites, and automations for small businesses and nonprofits, and help keep them running. Recent work includes attendance and volunteer management for Avenue941, Centerpiece for The Chefette SRQ, and websites for Loving Hands Ministries and Priority Sound Engineering.
I also build ProposalMint , a grant-research workspace for nonprofits. And I write here about the software and AI tools I’m using, including the things that don’t work as well as I hoped. Trying things and explaining what I find are both part of the work. A good explanation should leave you more comfortable making a decision, whether we’re talking about a website, a CRM, or an AI tool.
I work remotely with teams across the U.S., on Eastern Time. We work through video calls, shared documents, and written updates. I’ve worked remotely since 2009.
My partner and I run a 10-acre orchid farm in Myakka City, Florida, with our two dogs, Penny and Mali, plus chickens and ducks. There’s always something growing, something to fix, and usually something that needs watering. It’s a different sort of work, and a useful reason to close the laptop.
You don’t need a technical brief. Tell me what you’re working on, and we’ll figure out a useful next step together.
Book a 20-min call , or email [email protected] .
