I build it
Purposeful apps, websites, platforms and AI-powered systems, each one grown from something I've lived. Have something you'd like built? I take custom builds case by case.
PROOF → CloseOnes · Kongvene · Good Call Game · GroveHub
Salt Lake City · Founder-led · Many products · Zero ads
Making software got easy. Making software worth having didn't.
CircleRootTech is a small, founder-led technology studio, with Paulina Rodriguez as Founding Creative Partner and Lead Artist. I build apps, websites, platforms and AI-powered systems from problems I've lived through, with Claude as my co-pilot. And through JargonToJourney, I'll guide you to build your own: where to start, what you need, what to skip. No ads. No data sold. Ever.
2024FOUNDED
07FLAGSHIP PRODUCTS
04APPS LIVE
02APP STORES
01FOUNDER
01CREATIVE PARTNER
00ADS, EVER
01 · Two ways in
I build it. Or I show you how.
I'm not a computer scientist. What I needed most at the start wasn't code. It was someone to explain where to begin: what a tech stack even is, which tools to use, how to work with an AI model. So CircleRootTech does two things. I build apps from problems I've lived through, and I guide you to build your own.
I guide you to build it
Through JargonToJourney, I offer plain-language guidance for people with an idea and no map: where to start, what you need, which tools fit, and how to use AI to build it yourself. Available in English and Spanish.
HONEST STATUS → In development · jargontojourney.com
Why both
An app solves one problem. Knowing how to build solves the next one, too.
Here's how to start →02 · How to get started
Start here. No jargon required.
JargonToJourney is where the guidance lives: plain-language help, in English or Spanish, for people who have an idea and no map. You don't need to know any technical terms to begin. Translating them is my job.
- 01
Tell me the idea
Say what you want to make, even if you can't name the parts yet. "An app for my book club" is a real starting point.
- 02
Talk it through
I offer a free 20-minute intro call, the Trailhead Talk, to hear where you are and what's stopping you.
- 03
Get your map
Where to start, what you need, which tools fit, and how to work with an AI model, with every term translated.
- 04
Build it
Build it yourself with that guidance. If you'd rather hand it off, "I Build It For You" is available case by case.
Honest status: JargonToJourney is in development. The site is the front door.
03 · Capabilities
One root. Many branches.
Apps are where this started... not where it stops. Same standard, same root, whatever the shape of the problem: an app in your pocket, a site that explains itself, a system that quietly runs the back office.
Mobile apps
iOS and Android apps: designed, built, and shepherded through review to the store shelf. Accounts, subscriptions and all.
PROOF → CloseOnes · Kongvene · Good Call Game · GroveHub
Websites & landing pages
Fast, clear, honest sites: product pages, support and privacy pages, company sites... version-controlled and live on the web.
PROOF → A companion site for every app · jargontojourney.com · this one, too
Platforms & systems
The plumbing under the pretty part: cloud backends, sign-in and roles, real-time data, and the tools that let an organization actually run.
PROOF → GroveHub: app + platform for HOA boards and residents
AI features & workflows with Claude
AI built into apps where it actually helps, plus Claude Projects and workflows that turn repeat work into one-ask work.
PROOF → Alongside's "I Noticed Something" (Claude API) · CircleRootTech's own ops system
Guidance: build your own
For people with a great idea and no map: plain-language guidance on where to start, what you need, and what to skip, so you can build it yourself. In English or Spanish.
PROOF → JargonToJourney · Brimful
The trunk
Not sure which branch you need? Most people aren't. It's my favorite question.
Ask me anything →04 · The stack
Today's menu. Served à la carte.
The tools I reach for, grouped by course. I pick the smallest set that does the job well... no side of unnecessary complexity.
Taught by Claude. Built and steered by me. Claude was my teacher: explaining the code, the tools and the "why" behind every step. I do the building and the steering: the judgment, the users and the standard. Nothing ships until it works on my own device.
CHEF'S NOTE: NO ADS WERE HARMED
IN THE MAKING OF THIS MENU.
05 · How I work
Forward-deployed. I get to the root of it.
Forward-deployed engineering means the builder sits with the people who have the problem... not three meetings away from them. Sixteen years of community work taught me the real requirements live in the room. So that's where I start.
- 01
Embed
Show up where the work happens. Listen first, spec second.
- 02
Find the root cause
Dig under the feature request to the real problem. (It's literally in the name.)
- 03
Build alongside
Prototype fast with Claude, test on real devices, keep real people in the loop.
- 04
Ship... and stay
Launch, watch, fix, repeat. Adoption is the finish line, not the release date.
06 · The work
Honestly labeled. Every one.
Each one grew from something I've lived. None of them sell ads, none of them sell you... and the status on every card is the real one, including the app I stopped.
Connection app
CloseOnes
For the people closest to you: private circles, not a public feed. Google Play next.
Game-day organizer
Kongvene
Mahjong table and game-day organizing: RSVPs, seating, substitutes.
SKILLS ON DISPLAYScheduling logic · real-time data · iOS + Androidkongvene.com →View on the App Store →
A life game
Good Call Game
Everyday life calls, played as a game. Now on the App Store; Google Play in review.
HOA app + platform
GroveHub
For HOA boards and the residents they answer to: one community, one honest source of truth.
SKILLS ON DISPLAYMulti-community backend · board + resident roles
Family safety · App 01
The Shielded Path
Approved, then removed from the store by me... it couldn't keep its promise.
RETURNS WHEN IT WORKSRead why I pulled it →
Consulting app + site
Brimful
Consulting, packaged as a product.
Service + platform
JargonToJourney
Guidance so you can build your own app, site or platform: where to start, what you need, how to use AI. Bilingual, in plain language.
SKILLS ON DISPLAYPlain-language guidance · booking + intakejargontojourney.com →How to get started →
Product 08?
Yours? This spot is still taking root.
Plant an idea →In the greenhouse
Sprouts, seedlings and side projects... the next ring of the tree. Statuses are honest here, too.
Caregiver companion
Alongside
For the sandwich generation caring for aging parents, with a Claude-powered "I Noticed Something" helper.
Adulting guide
LaunchMaxx
A gamified guide to adulting for young adults: the stuff nobody explains after graduation.
Marketplace platform
YouByProxy
Connects people relocating abroad with vetted movers, agents and specialists... free for clients.
Family app
Foldwell
Parents and kids trade notes, then print the keepers. The fridge door, upgraded.
Job-seeker tool · B2B
ApplyWorthy
Spots applicant-tracking-system friction before you hit apply: built for workforce-development partners.
07 · Case study · The one I pulled
The Shielded Path: approved, live... and removed by me.
It was my first app, and Apple approved it. But the protection it promised couldn't be delivered the way it was built, and I wasn't willing to over-promise to the families who trusted it. So I took it off the store myself.
It's being rebuilt on an architecture that can actually keep the promise. Root causes, never shortcuts.
No relaunch date is promised. It returns when it does what it says.
The standard, in practice
- SHIPPED
- Approved by Apple. Live on the App Store.
- PULLED
- By me, not by Apple. Removed from sale.
- REASON
- It couldn't deliver what it promised.
- REBUILD
- No date promised. It ships when it works.
08 · Growth rings
A conviction isn't real until it costs you something.
Trees keep an honest record. So does this log: every rejection, every rebuild, every time the slower thing got chosen on purpose.
- 2024 · RING 0Baseline
LLC formed. First line of React Native. A Master of Education, an English degree and sixteen years of programs... no engineering background.
- APP 01The Shielded PathSHIPPED
The first app: approved and live on the App Store.
- APP 01The Shielded PathPULLED... BY ME
Couldn't deliver what it promised. Removed from sale. Being rebuilt to keep the promise.
- APP 02CloseOnesSHIPPED
Connection app, live on the App Store. Google Play next.
- APP 03KongveneSHIPPED ×2
Mahjong game-day organizer. App Store and Google Play.
- APPS 04–05Good Call · GroveHubSHIPPED
A life game and an HOA platform. Both on the App Store; GroveHub also on Google Play.
Every fix in this log was diagnosed and verified by me, on my own device, before it went back to review.
09 · What I care about
Organic growth. No ad-ditives.
CircleRootTech runs on one conviction: software should be deliberate, durable and made for the people who use it... not at their expense. Not scale, not an exit. A standard for what ships.
- 01
No ads, no data selling, ever. Not a growth-stage decision to revisit later... it's why the company exists.
- 02
Priced for access, not extraction. Given a bigger number or more people using the thing, more people wins.
- 03
Every product grows from something lived. Community, safety, connection, caregiving, getting organized, getting hired.
- 04
Status is honest. Including the app I pulled from sale myself.
- 05
Tested on my own device first. The only tracking here is the bugs I've fixed.
- 06
I teach what I know. Building shouldn't depend on a computer science degree or on hiring someone. Where I can, I show you how.
10 · About me
I didn't learn to code. I built a company.
I'm Maribel Saenthavisouk: founder of CircleRootTech and a forward-deployed builder. I spent sixteen years with people before I spent a single day with software: running programs, building partnerships, translating between the folks with the problem and the folks with the budget.
That turns out to be the job. Today I bring the same instincts to code: listen for the real need, build the smallest honest thing that meets it, and stay until it works for the people it's for.
And because what I needed most at the start was someone to explain where to begin, I now do that for others. That's JargonToJourney: guidance so you can build your own.
THE ROOT SYSTEM: CAREER
- Community impact at CHG Healthcare
- Customer advocacy at Pluralsight
- Technology workplace development at Zions Bancorporation
- Sr. Director, Community School Partnerships at United Way of Salt Lake (5 yrs)
- Where it started in Utah: AmeriCorps VISTA with Latinos In Action (2011–2012)
WHAT I BRING TO A BUILD
Forward-deployed engineeringMobile + web shippingAI features & workflowsProgram designPartnership buildingPlain-language techBilingual · EN / ES
EDUCATION
M.Ed., University of Utah
B.A. English, UT Austin
OFF THE CLOCK: MY ROOTS
- Proud partner to Seth
- Proud Chief Executive Mom to Izzy and Emma
- Nose nuzzler and cuddler to Austin, our Aussie guy (blue heeler)
11 · Who's here
I build it. Paulina makes it look like it belongs.
Paulina Rodriguez is CircleRootTech's Founding Creative Partner and Lead Artist, responsible for how everything here looks, sounds and shows up.
Paulina was born in El Paso, Texas, where she still lives and studies at The University of Texas at El Paso. An artist at heart who loves music, design and pop culture, she's taking on CircleRootTech's creative work, social media and visuals, starting with the visual world of Kongvene.