Building Grace: My Journey Through 18-Hour Days, Struggles, and Breakthroughs in Video Editing Automation

I don’t wake up every morning excited. Let’s get that straight. Some days I roll out of bed, look at the screen, and think, “Here we go again—another 18-hour day staring at code and coffee stains.” But then I remember why I started building Grace, and suddenly, the grind doesn’t feel like punishment—it feels like legacy.

Grace isn’t just software. She’s not just another SaaS tool in the endless flood of “AI this, AI that.” Grace is different. She’s my proof that when you’ve been beaten down enough times, when life has chewed you up and spit you out, you can still build something beautiful. She’s my rebellion against wasted time. She’s my way of saying, “I don’t care how hard this gets, I’m not stopping.”

The Dream That Became an Obsession

I started Grace with one idea: creators shouldn’t spend 12 hours clipping videos just to end up with a handful of short clips. I’ve been there. The manual grind sucks the life out of you. You lose energy before you even get to the fun part—sharing your story.

So I asked myself: What if I could compress all that pain into minutes?

That’s when Grace was born in my head. An AI-powered clipper that doesn’t just cut randomly—it finds those viral, jaw-dropping moments you didn’t even know you had. The moments that make people stop scrolling, lean in, and feel something.

The Struggle Nobody Sees

Sounds glamorous, right? Well, here’s the raw truth: building Grace has been hell.

I’ve pulled 18-hour days so many times I’ve lost track of what day it is. I’ve stared at error logs until my eyes burned. I’ve fought with Supabase policies, Stripe events, Docker builds, and that one bug that wouldn’t die even after I swore at it, bribed it, and threatened to delete its entire family tree.

Some nights I crash at 3 a.m. with my dogs curled up next to me, only to wake up three hours later and start all over again. This isn’t hustle porn—it’s reality. And honestly? It’s brutal.

But you know what keeps me going? That tiny flicker of fire inside that whispers, “You’re building something that matters.”

Why Grace Matters

Grace isn’t just for me. She’s for every creator drowning in files, every entrepreneur who doesn’t have time to waste, every storyteller who just wants their message heard without learning Final Cut Pro at midnight.

She’s speed. She’s leverage. She’s the unfair advantage for people who don’t have teams of editors but still want to play at the highest level.

And she’s personal. Every clip she finds feels like a small miracle. Like, “Damn, I didn’t even notice that moment hit that hard.” But Grace does.

The Fun Part

Don’t get me wrong—there are moments of joy in this madness. That first time I saw Grace clip a video automatically? I grinned like a kid on Christmas morning.

When I hit play and the clip synced perfectly with the beat? Goosebumps.

When I saw Supabase actually save the right metadata for once? I literally shouted, “YES!” loud enough that my dogs thought I’d lost it.

Those moments make every 18-hour day worth it. They remind me that this isn’t just struggle—it’s progress.

Lessons From the Grind

I’ve learned a few things through this process:

1. Discipline beats motivation. Motivation fades after the first week. Discipline is what drags you through the 2 a.m. debugging sessions.

2. Don’t chase perfect, chase progress. Every time I tried to build “perfect,” I slowed down. Every time I shipped something—even messy—it pushed Grace forward.

3. Your energy is your currency. Burnout is real. I’ve had to learn that working 18 hours isn’t the badge of honor—it’s the risk. The badge is waking up the next day and still giving a damn.

4. Celebrate small wins. A bug fixed, a test passed, a feature finally live—that’s champagne-worthy in this game.

Where We’re Headed

Grace is close to launch. Closer than she’s ever been. And that both terrifies me and excites me.

Because this isn’t just a product launch—it’s a life launch. It’s me betting on myself, on my ideas, on the belief that people want real tools built by real people who understand the pain.

Will it be perfect? Hell no. But it will be real. And it will keep getting better.

Why I Keep Showing Up

People ask me, “Why do you keep grinding this hard? Isn’t it exhausting?”

Yes, it’s exhausting. Yes, I’ve questioned myself a hundred times. But here’s the truth: I’d rather burn out chasing something that matters than live comfortably doing something I don’t care about.

Every line of code, every late night, every caffeine overdose—it’s all stacking bricks on a fortress I’m building for my future. For my family. For my legacy.

Grace is more than software. She’s my stake in the ground. She’s me saying, “I was here. I built this. I mattered.”

Final Thoughts

If you’ve ever felt like giving up, if you’ve ever wondered whether the grind is worth it—hear me loud and clear: it is.

Not because it’s easy, not because it’s fun all the time, but because there’s something magical about building something from nothing. Watching an idea go from your head to the screen to someone else’s hands—that’s pure alchemy.

Grace is my alchemy. My blood, sweat, and stubbornness turned into code.

So yeah, I’ll keep grinding my 18-hour days. I’ll keep battling the bugs and fighting for every inch of progress. Because one day soon, when Grace is out there changing lives, I’ll look back and say, “Damn. Every second was worth it.”

Back view of a man working late at his desk, multiple screens glowing with code and video editing automation software labeled “Grace,” symbolizing startup grind, long workdays, and determination.