What Worked in 2024

I was late starting this newsletter to you because it’s elf season. And instead of staying up late to hide Bubba (our elf), I do it first thing in the wee hours of the day.

Once in a while, I get creative with it, like today. This is the masterpiece I worked on right before writing to you.

On other days, the elf happens to be in the Christmas tree or garlands AGAIN.

(If you have an elf in your house and have creative ideas, hit reply and share them with me so I can be inspired by your genius.)

This crazy elf comes out every year, and every year my creativity gets sucked dry by the end. And yet, it works. It’s a tradition that we remember in our household. It’s a tradition that my boys anticipate. It’s just what you do.

In business, aren’t you glad that you don’t have to indulge in the same old things that make you creep around at night doing weird things like breaking into your kid’s Halloween candy and filling cupcake liners with whoppers labeled “Santa Poop?” Everything is an experiment.

Perhaps that’s why I enjoy my business tradition of writing this specific email to you each year titled “What Worked in 2024.” It reflects all the crazy things I tried in life and business that made a difference in my life as an entrepreneur, mom, and person. And, I like to share it with you because it allows you to do the same exercise in your life/business.

Here’s what worked for me in 2024 in no particular order.

After writing a bestselling nonfiction book and reading a host of other nonfiction books, I found absolute joy in digging into something a little less serious again this year. Specifically, I fell in love with the author Elin Hildebrand and her storylines woven across Nantucket.

Nonfiction books have their place, but fiction sparks a new level of creativity, storytelling, and indulgence. Now that I’ve found the space to read for fun again, you should see my library hold list.

I know, I know. AI! There’s a lot about this emerging technology that makes people cringe. Myself included. I don’t love it for writing sales copy (as a copywriter, I can’t unsee the blandness behind the outputs), but I do love it for other areas of my business.

Idea generation. (I’m sharing a few idea prompts in my 12 Days of Christmas inside the Content Club if you want to snag those by joining for only $7 today!).

Voice recognition.

Setting up apps to organize your business.

This is confirmation that you CAN do everything you want (or that you’re taking on way too much).

AI has many unsexy parts, but don’t we all? It’s about finding the good in this technology and using it to speed up your ability to create content without losing your sanity or your personality. This year, I’ve seen it do just that for many people.

(I’ve also seen it not work for a lot of people, including huge organizations, and I will be sharing more about that next week).

I get cold very easily, and there’s just nothing quite as cozy as throwing on a fleece pull over at the end of the day. I know this isn’t a new thing but this year I leaned into this clothing choice far more than I ever have before.

So when I lost my black North Face fleece in March, while canyoneering in Moab, I was extra sad. That fleece went with everything. In September, my husband gifted me with a new fleece that’s just as soft and warm, but has a snazzy new design on it that I L-O-V-E!

Oddly enough, this is the only picture I have in it so far - and it’s from the Lava Cave in Flagstaff, so it’s pretty dark. ;)

Fleece is working because not only is it warm and cozy but it’s also able to be propped up with personality — kind of like your writing can be if you let it.

As our world becomes increasingly filled with bots, humans are craving a whole lot more of intentionality again. We want to know the people behind the posts. We want to know the people behind the businesses. We want to know the people. Period.

That’s why I’ve leaned into growth through more intentional networking this year. Sometimes, this networking is done in a group like the Prosper Network, a networking group for female entrepreneurs run by my two good friends, Angela Greaser and Melissa Camilleri.

Other times, it’s done by linking arms with other entrepreneurs, such as what I’ve done with Suzy Wraines of Starting a Business Simplified and being part of her business accelerator program.

And other times it’s done by saying yes to the opportunity to travel across the country for a day to meet others in person at events like the one I spoke at for the RV Entrepreneur in September.

No matter where or how this networking happens, intentionality is key behind forging new relationships.

This might be a little premature to add to my “What’s working in 2024” list since we’re very new on our homeschooling journey, but so far all signs point to YES for us.

We made the big (huge) decision to pull our kids from the public school system and homeschool them instead. There were lots of reasons for this, which I won’t dive into now, but every reason has been validated for us as we’ve started this new season of life and parenting.

I’m all in on the homeschool life! And, more importantly, so are my kids!

Part of the homeschool life means I’ve had some of the hours in my workday taken out from under me. That’s okay because I’ve designed my business to be run in a non-traditional way too.

I get to connect with you via email, which is a personal mode of communication that can be consumed at any time of the day for you.

I get to create my own schedule, too. That means that I get to focus my work on the times I feel the most inspired, which for me is first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee between my arms as I hammer away at the keyboard.

I live for these early morning creative sessions.

Reading the part above, you might also assume that I live for in-depth and robust email funnels as a way of automating EVERYTHING, right?

Not quite.

Robust funnels aren’t all they’re cracked up to be in the email world anymore. The complex tagging systems once worked well for many entrepreneurs, but I always found them clunky, confusing for the customer and entrepreneur, and crazy prone to breaking without notice leaving you in a bigger customer service hurdle than before.

I started my Substack newsletter in 2023 and it’s proven to help me grow faster and with more of a human touch than other email marketing software ever did.

I still use Kit to help get new Content Club members situated quickly and Zapier to do the magic behind-the-scenes of connecting all the platforms, but Substack is where my weekly (sometimes more) emails come from.

That’s because Substack is a whole network in and of itself (see point 4). You can easily find inspiring people, connect with them, and share their work while also amplifying your own. It’s a community of voices beautifully woven together, and it’s brought my own business far more growth than a bribe on a website ever did.

(I cringe at the jargon “bribe” for email marketing – no one should need to be bribed into hearing your ideas and voice and with Substack, you can grow just by being beautiful ‘ol you).

We have a wealth of recipes at our fingertips but you know what I love? The feeling of cooking out of a cookbook. Propping the cookbook in front. Reading the instructions. And getting to work.

This year, I’ve become obsessed with trying new breads. For Thanksgiving, I made this focaccia bread and decorated it with veggies.

And in 2025 I plan on finally catching up to the 2020 trend of making my own sourdough.

All of this baking fun because I cracked open the pages of my favorite Magnolia Table and Ranch Table cookbooks.

July was such a gorgeous month. Not only was it my birthday month (ha!), but it was also the month we took another long road trip together as a family.

I live for those long trips together, memories made while pumping gas in the pouring rain, finding a new boondocking site, or lighting a campfire. I can’t tell you how lucky I feel to live this life every time we’re on the road and exploring new places.

My faith has grown this year as I’ve made my way through the Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble.

Having not grown up in the Christian faith, I’ve wanted to read the bible in a year to understand God’s teachings better. I tried in 2022 and 2023, but it wasn’t until this year, 2024 that I’ve kept with it for the most part by reading The Bible Recap.

Every night, I read a few chapters of the Bible and then the recap in this book. There are so many good nuggets of wisdom I would’ve missed out on had I not gone through it in this way. If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of the Bible, I highly recommend this approach!

And, shameless plug alert, if you’re looking for a way to tie your faith to your business, join me on my new Substack newsletter, Steadfast and Steady, where I share weekly reminders of how God’s working in your business for your good.