We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paul a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Paul, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

Coming straight out of a design program, my focus was laser-sharp on aesthetics, usability, and technical perfection. My capstone project, my company’s new website, was a triumph of responsive design: fast-loading, flawlessly rendered on every device, and visually stunning, a veritable digital masterpiece. Yet, the most unexpected and frustrating problem arose not from a bug in the code or a design flaw, but from a fundamental gap in my education: search engine optimization (SEO). My curriculum had been so focused on the creation of a beautiful website that it completely overlooked the discoverability of it. I had built a stunning, five-star business, but had forgotten to put a sign outside or register its address. The result was a beautiful, functional website that was, quite literally, invisible. It was a humbling realization that a site’s technical brilliance and visual appeal count for very little if the search engine crawlers can’t find and rank it.

This invisibility became the first major, unexpected challenge in my professional life. It forced a sharp pivot from a purely design-centric mindset to one that embraced technical marketing. The solution wasn’t found in a textbook from my degree, but in countless hours of independent study, digging into meta tags, site maps, keyword research, and the ever-shifting goalposts of Google’s algorithms. Learning SEO wasn’t just about tweaking code; it was about understanding a different kind of user, the search engine itself. This unexpected hurdle ultimately transformed my skill set, adding a critical layer of strategic, performance-driven thinking to my design expertise. I went from being a designer who built user-friendly things to a designer who builds discoverable, high-performing digital assets, a crucial distinction that has defined my business success ever since.

What started as a frustrating problem quickly became the cornerstone of my value proposition for clients. I realized that many businesses hiring a web designer suffer from the same blind spot: they pay for a custom site and assume the visitors will follow. Because of my initial failure to launch, I now see my role as much more than a developer or a curator of aesthetics; I am a strategist for discoverability.

This unexpected journey into SEO allows me to proactively educate my clients, setting realistic expectations and integrating optimization practices from the very first wireframe. It ensures that the websites we design aren’t just attractive digital brochures, but powerful, high-traffic business assets. That early, humbling problem wasn’t a setback, it was the moment Zanardo Dezignz truly began to offer comprehensive, high-impact solutions.

Paul, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My professional journey began on a very different path to the one I’m on now. For years, I pursued a successful career in sales and marketing, climbing the corporate ladder and, by all external measures, making a significant amount of money. However, that success was ultimately hollow. Behind the polished exterior, I was battling a severe internal crisis, struggles with addictions, debilitating anxiety, and deep depression. Despite the financial rewards, I was profoundly miserable. The turning point came during a true rock bottom moment while sitting in Atlanta traffic. Done with trying to mask my life, I made a desperate and complete surrender to God. It was in that moment of profound humility that I was given a new direction, marked by a literal sign in the sky that ignited the vision for my business. This was the calling I had been missing: a life built on purpose, not just profit.

This pivot back to my true calling was rooted in a lifelong passion for design. I spent my childhood on the floor of my father’s architecture firm, where I’d build intricate Lego sets, internalizing the principles of structure, aesthetics, and service. Now, I leverage that design sensibility and my previous experience in high-level sales and marketing to offer a unique suite of services.

My company provides strategic website design and development, SEO, hosting, and video production, focusing on building high-performing digital assets that solve the critical problem of discoverability for growing businesses.

Zanardo Dezignz creates elegant, responsive websites, but our true offering is translating a client’s vision into a powerful, functional online presence that actually drives their business forward. What sets us apart is this unique blend: binging both the creative DNA of a designer and the strategic expertise of a seasoned marketer, all filtered through a business mission rooted in service and faith in God.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

A Must-Read for Modern Service Professionals…

If I could recommend one book that addresses a critical gap in every design and professional services curriculum, it would be The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success By Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices by my good friend and buisness mentor, John Ray. For creative professionals like me, we often learn how to build a beautiful website but completely miss the two key pillars of a profitable business: SEO (which ensures discoverability) and value-based pricing (which ensures we get paid commensurately for our work). John’s book tackles that second, often more challenging, issue head-on. He shows how adopting a Generosity Mindset, focusing on the profound, tangible and intangible value your clients perceive is the key to replacing self-limiting beliefs, communicating worth effectively, and setting prices that properly reflect the transformative work we do. It’s a vital resource for any service provider who is tired of under-earning and ready to build a truly sustainable and successful practice.

This video provides an interview with the author, John Ray, which summarizes the key themes of The Generosity Mindset and discusses its application to business strategy: The Generosity Mindset: Winning Business Strategies with John Ray.
https://youtu.be/2CMXS4bKhtc?si=ygtA1wxwDT4noxcx

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My reputation is built of the ability to use my past struggles and my spiritual transformation to serve others with integrity and genuine empathy. My brand isn’t just about beautiful design; it’s about purposeful building. The main thing I want potential clients and followers to know is this: I understand that a successful website is not a vanity project, it’s a mission-critical investment. My team ensures the businesses we work with are not only aesthetically impressive but are also strategically optimized to be found and to convert visitors into customers. Our commitment is to create digital platforms that reflect the excellence and purpose of the businesses we serve, helping them build their own success with a strong, discoverable foundation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zanardodezignz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zanardodezignz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZanardoDezignzLLC/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulzanardo/
• Twitter: https://x.com/zanardodezignz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@zanardodezignz