This narrative recounts a conversation between Carol Merlo and her son, Kevin Masterson. At 73, Merlo is an entrepreneurship coach based in Dallas, while 41-year-old Masterson works as an AI mentor from Lewisville, Texas. The interview has been streamlined for brevity and coherence.
Carol Merlo: I've turned to ChatGPT for various personal queries, like which supplement might be beneficial or how to care for a struggling plant.
Kevin Masterson: It's true! She completely revitalized a plant using AI assistance.
Merlo: I find ChatGPT useful because it doesn’t require full sentences. I also rely on it for visual content. For straightforward communication, I prefer Claude, as it feels more natural. My husband uses Gemini, but I’m unclear about his reasoning.
Masterson: Over the past year, I’ve dived deep into vibe coding. I even trained a friend from my restaurant job, and together we performed well enough in a hackathon to win it. I realized this was something replicable.
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Merlo: My top priority is my mom. She expressed a desire to create a website but didn’t want to rely on Weebly. So, I said, "Do you want to learn to do it yourself? I can guide you verbally, but I'll leave the typing to you."
Merlo: I've been building websites for as long as the internet has existed. I found WordPress quite challenging and eventually transitioned to Wix before trying Weebly. My husband also has his own site, plus we manage another for a different venture.
Recently, I received an email stating they would charge me for two years upfront and increase my rates. I turned to Kevin and asked, "What can I do to minimize my website costs?"
Masterson: We began with brainstorming. We discussed her vision and the overall feel of the site during profound conversations.
At our initial sessions, I would sit in the room's corner while she worked on her computer. Having a physical presence was crucial at first, making our sessions more structured and supportive.
Merlo: The primary difference with coding compared to drag-and-drop platforms is that it's all text-based. You must articulate what you want in words. While I can still use ChatGPT for images, this was purely about coding.
Coming from a traditional, academic background emphasizes reading and language, I often find that many people today lack the patience to engage with detailed content, which poses a challenge. Learning requires time and dedication.
Masterson: She occasionally hesitated, saying things like, "I don’t want to interrupt, but I have another question." But that’s exactly what I’m here for! Sometimes a quick clarification can save her hours of frustration.
Merlo: It was an entirely new world for me. I created a document to guide my steps and to understand terminology.
One of the more challenging aspects was deciphering jargon. Sometimes I’d ask Kevin, "What does that mean?" I often had to consult Claude just to get context.
I felt apprehensive about pressing "enter." I’d think, "I've input this text. What now?" To which he would reply, "Just click 'enter.'"
He reassured me, saying, "You can’t break it, and you can always return to the original draft, so there's no need to fear mistakes." Many learners worry about error, and his support was incredibly motivating.
Masterson: As we progressed, our communication shifted to emails and video calls to facilitate better learning.
Merlo: What Kevin showed me is that the possibilities are endless. Whatever I can imagine, I can request Claude Code to create. My only limitation is now my imagination, which is a significant shift.
I’m now spending significantly less—just $9.99 a month for a platform that uses Claude Code. I own this space without upsell pressures or extra costs.
Currently, my website is quite basic, but I’m refining it further. I’ve undertaken more engaging projects on other sites that are more exciting than the one I have now.
It's a solid foundation, but I'm working on enhancing its appeal.
