High-end Squarespace design for tech founders and creatives.
Your business deserves better than a cookie-cutter template. But when you're just starting out, $10k custom design isn't realistic yet.
Why I started Panache
I've bootstrapped 7+ businesses. Here's what I learned: Every day you spend wrestling with design is a day you're not building your audience, testing your offer, or making sales.
I've watched too many brilliant founders lose momentum to design paralysis. Some spend months perfecting their site before they've validated their offer. Others grab a cookie-cutter template and hope for the best. I created Panache because you deserve a third option: Bold, strategic design you can launch this week — so you can start growing now.
After 300+ successful sales on Etsy and years of helping non-coders with branding and design, Panache Themes was born.
Our templates help solopreneurs in three ways
Forget beige minimalism. Think: colorful, confident, current. The kind of site that makes people ask "who designed this?" (Spoiler: you did, in an afternoon.)
Create a brand with edge
Plug n’ play branding
Drag, drop, customize. No design degree required. Every template includes pre-styled sections, conversion-focused layouts, and my personal color palette recommendations.
Built to convert
My background in UX (user experience) design means I don’t just make things pretty. Each site follows the exact structure of high-converting websites, so you get style AND strategy.
Proof is in the numbers
From first-timers to repeat customers, these stats highlight the impact of design that balances flair with function.
12 yrs
of design experience
✢
400+
templates sold on Etsy
✢
10%
repeat buyers
FOUNDER’S STORY
How did I get started?
My life story
I was born in Malaysia in 1989 with art and music in my bones, but ended up in the science stream — destined to become a doctor like many Asian kids. After a brief stint in mandatory military service, I pivoted hard and moved to Melbourne, Australia to study architecture. I've called this city home for 17 years now and am a proud Australian citizen.
From architecture to tech
Architecture wasn't my calling. I spent most days shrinking apartment layouts to maximize developer profits. I retrained as a User Experience designer and landed in tech, working with agencies and startups. I learned product validation, strategy, and marketing. Eventually, I wanted to stop designing for others and start building my own things.
Learning to scale through trial and error
I've launched multiple businesses: inro.life (secondhand fashion rental), pmutemplates.com, an automation agency, and more. (You can see plenty of experiments, and flops, at shuphoon.com.) Most weren't scalable: too expensive to run, too niche, or the effort-to-income ratio was 1:1.
Then I enrolled in 100 Days of No Code to level up my website-building skills. During the bootcamp, peers kept complimenting my designs and branding. They said it was their biggest struggle.
That feedback sparked an idea. I published UI Design Crash Course for No-Coders, teaching my "minimum viable branding" method and basic principles of design through a simple Notion checklist. I promoted it on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Slack, and sold 28 copies in the first week.
This was different. My first evergreen product that could actually scale. The first stepping stone to Panache.
The journey of Panache.
I started on Etsy in late 2024 — low risk, built-in traffic, but a saturated market. So I focused on designs I genuinely loved: bold, colorful, on-trend, with a touch of restrained maximalism.
When steady growth and repeat customers validated the concept, I launched my own platform (you're here now—welcome!). Now I'm investing in driving traffic and scaling properly.
Today, tomorrow, and beyond.
I'm committed to creating design solutions for fellow solopreneurs. You'll see more brand suites across different niches. Soon, I'll be packing up my Melbourne apartment to live the digital nomad life I've dreamed about, traveling Southeast Asia with my partner.
And when the time is right? I'll build more businesses. It's hard-coded into who I am.
