The Reflection
Every year, I like to create a little snapshot of how the year went. (Honestly, this is mostly for myself, but I always share it with you as well in hopes that it gives you insight into your own business. I did the same when I travel blogged ~10 years ago—it was a scrapbook and journal and memoir all in one that I happened to share on the internet for people who were curious enough to read it.)
Last year I recapped 4 areas of my business I focused on after 4 years in business. This year, I’m feeling a bit more existential and reflective.
Maybe it’s because we’ve all heard the stat that 45% of businesses fail during the first five years. Well, come next week, I made it. I officially didn’t fail in my first 5 years.
Failure can look like spending more than you make and being forced to close your doors. But for lots of us, especially in the online space and/or who have a secondary source of revenue (from a 9-5 job, real estate, a partner, or wherever else), failure is often the result of simply giving up on what we thought was possible.
(And caveat: just because something “failed” or you “gave up” doesn’t mean it wasn’t worthwhile. Maybe your business idea or partnership or the skills you learned along the way are exactly what you needed to work through for the next amazing, better-fit endeavor you take on. I’m a firm believer that no experience is wasted experience. It all adds up into who you are and how you can continue to connect with other people.)
But that begs the question: What is success? Because I’ve often felt the opposite of successful—this past year more than any other.
In business, sales matter. Revenue matters. Momentum matters. (More of my thoughts on momentum here.)
And if I ever felt stagnant or like I was trying all the things and none of them were working (we’ve ALL been there, right?), then I felt like I was failing.
But when I defined success for myself and my business a couple years ago, I came up with the idea of success looking like taking and encouraging confident, meaningful action. If I can do that for and with myself and others, then I’ll feel pretty darn good. My values of conscientiousness, contribution, exploration, integrity, and intentionality are all fulfilled. And it’s a lot easier to be happy with my progress and less caught up in perfectionism.
*Psst: Keep an eye out for the first podcast episode of 2024—it’s a solo episode all about celebrating milestones and defining them on our own terms.
The Data
This year, I noticed some big time/energy/money drains in my day-to-day. And I know myself well enough by now to know that even if I can identify these things and plan around them, I likely won’t fix them on my own. 🤨
So I recruited Ashley Kang, Queen of CEO Days and business optimization in general to show me some gaps I can’t see myself and hold me accountable to fill them.
(Psst: Ashley’s interview on the podcast is my most popular episode to date. Have you listened yet? Would love to know your biggest takeaway!)
And Ashley’s pre-work alone was pretty insightful. For example:
1️⃣ I actually collected way more data this year than I realized. I’m NOT an analytics person and I probably need to make data-based decisions much more often, but it felt good to be able to pull some numbers at a glance because I’d taken the time to gather info month after month.
2️⃣ I realized I’m pretty prolific with my content creation. Yes, I’ve been leaning into more purposeful and targeted content repurposing WAY more this year, but even with “repeating myself,” all the day-to-day captions and emails and podcast episodes (almost 1 year’s worth!) really do add up.
3️⃣ I really enjoy CREATING things. (*I’m a Generator in human design. Maybe that has something to do with it?* And see above with the mountains of content creation.)
So it was fun to launch my first-ever group container—I did Momentum Meet-Ups in September and December with 3 entrepreneurs each time. I loved the energy of it both time and changed the topic of the 3rd session to make it more digestible.
But I need to re-work the accessibility of it. Namely that they’re live work-along sessions. Pro: dedicated time and space to work ON your business, live feedback, energy exchange with other conscious and caring leaders. Con: really hard to make schedules match up, especially across time zones, with other standing meetings, and when life happens last-minute. I’m noodling on how to continue to reach more and more people with the depth I want, but the flexibility we all need. (Open to suggestions of what you’d love from me, or what’s worked for you!)
I also created and re-imagined a few new tools. It’s a fun challenge to package up all my thoughts and frameworks and passion into a nice, neat workbook that’s robust while not overwhelming.
For example, my current lead magnet—A Visionary’s Guide To Elevator Pitches—didn’t exist before this year and nearly 400 people have signed up for it. Pretty cool if you ask me.
My Consistency Checklist, which used to only be shared as follow-up with my VIP Day clients, got streamlined, re-focused, and migrated to Notion.
I also migrated all my OTHER conscious marketing workbooks from Canva-made PDFs to Notion so that it’s easier for you to interact with and faster for me to update as needed.
And lastly on the creation front, it feels really good to be doing done-for-you work again, not JUST living in the strategy realm. Yes, I love strategy and it suits my brain and I feel it’s necessary to make the implementation phase actually impactful. But I also like being a bit more in the weeds of the words on the page, being able to cross a deliverable off my list, and stick around with clients longer term than just 1 hour or 1 day.
4️⃣ While intentionality is one of my core values, it’s the one I struggle with applying most. So it feels good to take a step back and realize that I’ve woven a whole web of offers that actually work with each other. It’s an ecosystem now, rather than a random smattering of things I could do or things people have asked for.
Having a whole chain of services that people can move through organically—up and down and all around—allows me to cater to my clients’ needs while still operating within a structure that’s flexible enough to match the wild ride of raising a toddler.
For example, people can start with high-level, brand messaging strategy, then we can collaborate on writing their About page or bio or content plan.
People can start with Messaging Momentum where we co-create asynchronously in a Google Doc and on Voxer all month, then we jump into a 1-hour Quick Win Consulting Call to really dive in deep on a question or tie up all the loose ends.
The options are endless and intertwined and all feed into each other. Which I love and feels useful and supportive—both to the amazing and inspiring leaders I work with AND to me and my ability to plan, create, and manage all the moving pieces of my life and business.
The Gist
2023 was really hard for lots of us. I have multiple entrepreneur friends and clients who faced burnout, dried up leads and downsizing, health issues, and so much more.
Between the economy and the re-calibration of “the market” after years of people getting their footing online and all the other responsibilities and passions we have on our plates, it’s not easy.
But I’m closing out 2023 grateful.
I’m grateful for the huge and deeply caring network of women I’ve met.
I’m grateful to witness—and especially to be part of—so many innovative yet simple ways leaders impact lives and grow movements.
I’m grateful to be able to experiment and learn and earn a living through work that inspires me, and especially alongside people who trust me with their vision.
I’ve been at this freelance-turned-entrepreneurship, marketing/communications/everything-in-between consulting thing for 5 years now. After half a decade (😲), it feels both much clearer and as unpredictable as ever.
What I do know is that I want to reconnect with my “why,” my people, and my most useful skills. (All things I always advocate for my clients to do in their important work.)
Because I want to make sure as many conscious and caring visionaries step into their power and their potential, lead with their values, and make that vision that’s SO clear in their head and heart truly visible and viable in the world around them.
So, that’s what I’m thinking about and going after this coming year. What about YOU?
Toward purpose & progress,
Ashlee
PS: Whether you’re a few years into business and finally want to hone your message, launching something new, or re-imagining something that’s run its course, you’re better off with values-aligned brand messaging to lean on.
If you want to determine how you want to be known and how you want to connect on a human level, consider doing a Messages That Matter VIP Day with me.
We can hop on a free Collaboration Call to figure out if this is our best first step together, or if starting with some other part of the ecosystem I’ve created makes more sense.
Regardless, I’m rooting for you to take confident, meaningful action in alignment with your values, toward that vision you care so much about. ✨
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.
