About Glenn Leader
My name is Glenn Leader. I’m a retired PHP developer, niche site builder, and vibe coder based in Rochester, Kent. I’ve been working for myself since 2004, after a long career that took me from various jobs into science and technology, and eventually out the other side into running my own operation. It turned out to be the best move I ever made.
These days I’m properly retired, which means the online work gets done around a full and busy life rather than the other way round.
How I Got Here
Before finding my niche in science and technology, I had a few different jobs, as most people do. Eventually I landed where I was supposed to be: 14 years as a Senior Laboratory Technician in the local education department, specialising in Physics, Technology, and computer control, followed by another decade as a Senior ICT Support Engineer for the same authority.
In 2004, my position was made redundant. At the time that felt like a problem. Looking back, it was a shove in the right direction. I decided I was done working for other people and set about building things of my own.
What I Do Online
I run a niche affiliate site portfolio. Teresa has been involved in the past and will likely be again, but right now she has a full life of her own teaching textile art on YouTube. I also build SEO and keyword research tools, the most recent being PhraseFoundry.com, which is still growing but already useful.
I do a lot of what people are now calling vibe coding: working with AI to design and build PHP and WordPress projects by describing what I want rather than writing every line from scratch. It suits me well, partly because I enjoy it, and partly because after twenty-odd years of PHP development I know enough to tell when the output is nonsense.
Family
Teresa and I married recently and between us we have a properly blended family. My son arc lives with us. My daughter Judi and her partner live about 200 miles up north with my three grandchildren, the eldest of whom is nearly 18, with roughly two years between each of them. Teresa brings three grandchildren of her own to the mix, the youngest of whom has just turned one. Six grandchildren in total, which keeps life interesting.
We look after two of the grandchildren two days a week, which keeps you sharp in ways that staring at a screen simply doesn’t.
Life Outside the Screen
I play walking football twice a week, though we often end up running to reach the ball first. Partly for the fitness, partly for the mental health benefits, and partly because it’s turned out to be one of the better decisions I’ve made in recent years. I’ve made several good mates through it, which at this stage of life is genuinely not something you take for granted.
Teresa and I try to get to the cinema at least once a week, and we love live music. We follow several tribute bands, which might not sound glamorous but is consistently brilliant. A good tribute act on a good night is hard to beat.
We also try to get to a European Christmas market or two each year. A Rhine river cruise in December is about as good as it gets.
Making Things
Away from screens and football pitches, I make things. I’ve been developing a range of abstract steampunk-inspired art tiles: 3D-printed masters, silicone moulds, and Jesmonite castings. It’s a slow, satisfying process, and the results are genuinely original. The plan is to take them to craft markets with Teresa and her daughter Becky once we’re ready, which should be sometime next year.
I also bake my own bread, mostly for health reasons, though the fact that everyone who’s tried it comes back for more is a reasonable indicator that it’s working. There’s something satisfying about a process that’s entirely offline and produces something you can actually eat.
More recently, I’ve taken up vertical crop gardening. The tomatoes are doing well, the strawberries are coming along nicely, and the pepper and herb seedlings are looking promising. It’s genuinely good fun, and growing your own food from scratch turns out to be considerably more satisfying than buying it from a supermarket.
Rochester
We live in Rochester, Kent, which is one of those places that rewards you for paying attention. It’s got proper history, a castle, a cathedral, and a high street with independent shops. Charles Dickens grew up nearby in Chatham and later returned to live just outside Rochester as a famous man. The city hosts the Dickensian Christmas Festival every December in his honour, and whether or not he invented Christmas is a matter of debate, but he certainly had a hand in making it what it is.
Why This Site Exists
This is where I write about the online work: niche sites, keyword research, vibe coding, and whatever else seems worth documenting. It’s not a course, it’s not a funnel, and I’m not trying to sell you anything. It’s just one person who’s been at this for a long time, writing about what he’s learned. If any of it’s useful to you, so much the better.