The Ursula question
On Mary Jane, Ursula, and the cost of saying yes to the right thing.
James
Gurtner.
Co-founder of Aprenda Mesmo — an EdTech company helping Brazilian immigrants prepare for the U.S. citizenship interview and learn English.
Husband to Rebecca. Builder. Living in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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01 — About
I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee with my wife Rebecca and our dogs Kevin and Bella. I run Aprenda Mesmo with Rebecca and my mom Cláudia — we help Brazilian immigrants prepare for the U.S. citizenship interview and learn English.
Before any of this I ran a flooring and remodeling business in metro Atlanta. These days I spend more time in terminals than on job sites, but the instinct is the same: figure out how something works, then build it right.
I speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
02 — Working on
- 01
Aprenda Mesmo
Co-founderCurriculum, student systems, instructor workflows, the whole operation. About 19 people now. My mom Cláudia is our lead instructor.
- 02
Home
Slowly, on purposeRammed earth, hydroponics, Home Assistant. Kevin and Bella supervise.
03 — Latest writingAll →
What if it's not the gluten?
On industrial flour, the gluten-fear bestsellers, and why most "gluten sensitivity" isn't gluten.
Rammed earth, after a year of reading
What I've learned, what I'm still wrong about, and the wall I'm going to build first.
04 — Into
- Rammed earthBuilding one.
- HydroponicsTwo systems running.
- BitcoinSelf-custody, slow stack.
- Home automationHome Assistant, embarrassingly deep.
- Plant-based cookingTested on Rebecca.
- TheologyFollowing Jesus, reading widely.
05 — How I build
Most of my work lives in Notion, n8n, and Python. I self-host on Hetzner with Docker and Caddy. I've built automation systems with Make.com and GoHighLevel, AI integrations with Claude and the MCP, custom LMS pipelines with Playwright, analytics in Metabase, and more Home Assistant automations than I should probably admit.
I like systems that are simple enough to explain and sturdy enough to leave alone.