We often see other people’s highlight reels—even when we’re not looking for them. They pop up in our social media feeds and flood our inboxes. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I actually love seeing case studies and projects that went well. There’s a lot to learn from what other people are doing, and there’s nothing wrong with celebrating success.
But what really helps us grow isn’t just seeing the wins—it’s understanding the full story.
Which experiments worked? Which ones failed? And most importantly: why? We might be able to tell that a launch hit its financial goals, but how did it get there? What marketing efforts actually moved the needle? Shoot, where did that income even come from? Did they pull it out of thin air? Was the goal rooted in strategy?
All these unknowns are exactly why I’m pulling back the curtain on what my year was like in 2024. Not because I have it all figured out (spoiler alert: I definitely don’t), but because I believe there’s immense value in learning from real experiences—both the successes and the stumbles.
The Foundation: How 2024 Started
It’s the end of January 2025 when I’m writing this. And if you want me to be honest with you, it feels like a year has passed just in this past hectic week here in the U.S. I say that because I can barely remember a couple of weeks ago, nevermind the beginning of last year.
Here are the basics: When I stepped into 2024, I was coming off a challenging year healthwise. In 2023, I had battled everything from common colds to severe mono, which left me questioning the precariousness of my health even as the new year began. Though it had been a little while since I had been sick, my confidence was shaky, and I was cautious about pushing myself too hard.
I was nervous, but I was also excited to really refocus and hone in to the services I provide for my clients.
The Reality of “Free Time”
So now that I established I was healthy starting 2024, let’s talk about one thing that was difficult at the beginning of the year: a shift in my work schedule.
I’ve literally been working at home without childcare the entire time I’ve run my business. And, before I complain about it, I do want to point out that I actually designed my life to be like this. I wanted to be home with my kids. I also wanted to work for myself. So, I did both. It absolutely wasn’t easy, but it was rewarding.
And, I was also very glad to be “graduating” into becoming a self-employed parent with all children in the public school system. And pretty much every single other person in my life was excited for my children to be going to school—because I get that it’s hard to conceptualize working at home with children unless you’ve done it or are doing it.
I heard so many comments about how lucky I was to have “free time” or how great it would be to “get back my time” once all three children were in school during the day, but honestly I felt more cautious than excited.
Plus, while having all three kids in school seemed just dandy, here’s what people didn’t see:
- The 45 minutes it took me to drive back and forth for preschool drop off
- And let’s not forget the 45 minutes driving for preschool school pickup
- The time I spent waiting in the parking lot at pick up before school let out
- The complete restructuring of my work schedule (see ya, productive midnight hours!)
- The mental challenge of shifting from sporadic work times to structured day hours where I HAD to produce
So yes, having three children in a school building during the day was great. It was also hard, and not as simple as it seemed from the outside lookin in.
These struggles were mainly a problem in the first half of the year. One the next school year started, I had a child in college and two other on the bus, which meant that instead of a couple measly hours of work, I’d now have a solid six hours to work without interruption. And this has proven to be a game-changer for my productivity and work-life balance. Folks, I can get so much done now 👀.
The Wins (Both Big and Small)
Okay, I feel like this year end review is going to get very long if I talk through everything, so I’m going to try to knock out all the bright spots of my 2024 in bullet point format for you. This year, I’m celebrating…
Professional growth and recognition
- I returned to Yale University for my third year to teach SEO to fellows from TSAI Center
- I spoke about off-site SEO strategies at Andrea Jones’ Social Media Day Summit 2024
- I was asked to be an expert for Contently’s Q2 webinar about the future of SEO
- I led trainings for a few different small business communities, one of my favorite being Bev Feldman’s Kit Accelerator Program
- I was also accepted into Cornell University’s women’s entrepreneurship certificate program
Business Achievements
- In 2024, I worked with dream clients like Tony Howell and Co., Texas Cider Keeper, and Austin Dogtown
- I also flexed my own creative muscles by writing for and developing SEO strategies for Descript and Contently
- Completed season three of the Talk Copy to Me podcast
- Published 18 pieces of high-quality SEO content in just a few week’s time during the final quarter of 2024
Personal Milestones
- My oldest graduating high school and watching him play his final seasons of football and baseball
- My oldest getting accepted to a long list of colleges, and seeing him off to school
- My middle child being invited to audition for her dance company’s competition team (and getting on!)
- Volunteered weekly in my youngest’s preschool classroom
- My youngest graduating pre-k and starting kindergarten
- Expanded my garden and actually kept my indoor plants thriving
- Maintained a living sourdough starter (harder than it sounds!)
- Read 120 books (that’s 10 books per month!)
- Turned 40 and was genuinely surprised by a family-planned party (I still can’t believe I didn’t know)
The Reality Check: What Didn’t Go As Planned
Let’s also run quickly through some of the challenges from 2024. This year certainly had some ups and downs, especially as I had a lot of transitions happening that I needed to prepare for and adjust to as they happened. Here are some of the issues I faced and opportunities I wish I had done a better job with.
Business Challenges
- Some client transitions affected my own revenue streams
- One client’s company buyout eliminated my role (with no notice)
- Staffing changes at another key client impacted ongoing work
- During my downtime, I realized that some of my systems and processes needed updates
- I love project management, but I realized that my processes living in multiple places, being such as Asana, Airtable, and Dubsado, needed to be streamlined.
While it was great to identify things I could change within my business, I do want to point out how my business was significantly affected by other businesses’ issues. This is something I think all service providers face, but it’s definitely prevalent in the marketing industry as marketing budgets almost always get cut first. The key here is that I need to buckle down on my own marketing so that I can more quickly fill those client spaces if this happens again.
Missed Opportunities
In 2024, I set a goal of pitching a set amount of podcasts monthly. Curious how that went? Well, I pitched exactly one podcast in 2024. One! (Happy to announce my pitch was accepted!)
The good news is that I was fortunate to be invited on several shows, so I was somewhat visible, but overall, my lack of proactive pitching was a significant missed opportunity for visibility and growth. Y’all, I’m adding this goal to my 2025 business goals as well. Hold me to it!
Listen in to some of the shows I was on in 2024 here:
The Financial Picture of 2024
I know everyone loves to hear the behind-the-scenes on other people’s business finances. In truth, I’ve always been mostly private regarding my income, as there are so many factors that influence earnings, and I’ve never wanted anyone else to feel less than or, alternatively, showcase figures that I was personally unhappy with.
But that doesn’t mean I avoid it completely. I’d say that 2024 was interesting financially. My overall income remained stable, but the composition changed. For the first time in nine years, I made more money from copywriting than content creation—a complete flip from the historical norm. There isn’t anything wrong with this; I was just surprised by it and wanted to point it. While I would have rather seen higher jumps in my income, to see it being about balanced to the year before was just fine, too—especially seeing as I had some retainer client turbulence this year.
The real financial win of 2024? I reduced my business expenses by a few thousand dollars without actively trying to cut costs. The reduces spending came from making small adjustments here and there and choosing to be a bit more strategic on the things I may have wanted, but didn’t necessarily need.
Key Lessons Learned
You know what I love about year-end reflections? They have this way of showing you things you might have missed in the day-to-day hustle. Sometimes it’s the wins you forgot to celebrate, and other times it’s those “aha” moments that only make sense when you step back and look at the bigger picture.
As I’ve been piecing together what I learned in 2024, a few key lessons keep popping up—some from carefully planned decisions, others from those plot twists that business life threw my way. Here’s what I’m taking with me into 2025:
1. Systems need regular refinement: What worked perfectly two years ago might have gaps today. Regular audits and updates are crucial when you’re running a business.
2. SEO is still queen: After recommitting to my own SEO strategy in Q4, I saw immediate benefits in lead quality and website traffic. Sometimes we need to take our own advice, and you better believe I’m recommitting my focus in 2025 on SEO-driven content.
3. Capacity planning is everything: Phew! Understanding your true working capacity—not just your ideal schedule—is crucial for sustainable business growth. I’ll say for sure that I understood this was a lesson to learn in 2024, but I’m really just putting the lesson into practice now.
4. Investment in learning pays off: Well, we all know I love learning as it was a main feature in one of my previous year-end reviews. From Maggie Patterson’s Staying Solo Squad to various courses on email marketing and Airtable systems, continued education proved invaluable for my business in 2024.
The Year of “Revive”
I love choosing a word of the year, and for 2024, I chose “revive”. I had hoped to recapture the joy and excitement in my work and life after a challenging 2023. While I had initially thought about revival in terms of my health and energy levels, it manifested in so many other areas of my life and business.
The first half of the year was about reviving my work routines and finding a new rhythm with all three children in school. By the time August rolled around, with my oldest off to college and a more streamlined school schedule for the younger two, I found myself experiencing a true revival of both my work life and creative energy.
This renewal extended into my professional development as well. I returned to familiar territories, like teaching at Yale’s TSAI Center, while pushing into new growth opportunities with Cornell’s entrepreneurship program. My business itself underwent its own kind of revival, with an unexpected shift in revenue streams that proved both challenging and enlightening.
Looking back, “revive” wasn’t just about bouncing back from a difficult year—it was about rediscovering and reinventing different aspects of both my personal and professional life.
Looking Forward
2024 wasn’t perfect, but it was perfectly imperfect—full of growth, learning, and necessary adjustments that will shape the future of my business.
If you haven’t done your own year-end reflection yet, it’s not too late. Whether you prefer a quick journaling session or a deep dive into spreadsheets, taking time to understand your year is crucial for making informed decisions about your future. Because at the end of the day, the best business decisions come from having good information—both the highlights and the challenges that got you there.
Need help developing your own content strategy for 2025? Let’s chat about how we can work together to make it happen.
Featured image by Crystal Y
