In 2024 my word of the year was simplicity. I set it in January, like planting a seed within that grew and sprouted slowly throughout the year. Looking back that is exactly what the year brought me in my business and my personal life. Along with the knowing that simple isn’t the same as easy.

Read on to find out:

• What went well

• What didn’t go so well

• What intentions I am taking into 2025

WHAT WENT WELL?

100 Gift Sessions

I first had the idea to offer 100 Gift Sessions to fellow business owners using their work to shape positive change in the world back in the Spring of last year. Initially I put it off due to practical reasons and if I’m honest, because I had some fear about how it might be received.

Fast forward a few months to the end of the Summer and the idea was still lingering so I knew it was something I had to pursue. It had been brought about by my worldview having turned upside down earlier in the year. My business has opened my eyes to so many different perspectives and contexts that are way beyond those that I experienced in my corporate life and I now realise how much opportunity and privilege has been available to me.

When I sat with the question of “What is mine to do?" in order to use my skills and experiences to support others, my business comes close to the top of the list. I see the traditional view of buisness that encourages growth at all costs being at the heart of so much of the inequality and injustice we see around us. I truly believe that a more conscious approach to how we do business can turn this around and I want to play a part in that and support others in doing the same.

On top of this, my business is now at a point where my income meets my needs and although I want to continue to grow beyond that, I also believe that ‘income’ in business is about more than just monetary exchange. Gifting my time in this way was such a validation of this and although it’s not a sustainable strategy long term, it continues to be an incredibly valuable and enriching experience for me and my business.

Maybe because this campaign tapped into something much deeper for me, I found it a surprisingly emotional experience to launch it into the world. It has been incredibly well received, with well over half of the hundred spots being taken with still three months to go.

If you are interested and would like to find out more or book a session you can do so here.

The Regenerative Business Starter Kit

I first came across the concept of Regenerative Business over a year ago now via a YouTube video by Laura Storm. Hearing Laura speak, put into words so many concepts and ideas that I’d been feeling inside of me but didn’t quite know how to link together. On top of this combined many of the principles from my Earth Sciences background with the relational work I do as a coach. The idea is that instead of operating as an extractive system, business can take a cyclical approach that then gives back more than it takes to people and the planet - it regenerates new life.

It ties in with one of the key guiding concepts of my work, that business can deeply serve both you and the people who you support and can be a powerful modality of self expression and connection with yourself, with others and the world around.

Even though the word isn’t super familiar to many people and I worried wouldn’t hold an obvious meaning to people when they first came across my work, I couldn’t shake the word off and so I adopted it as the descriptor of my approach and built a Starter Kit around it.

The ‘kit’ started out life as a one page pdf and has gone through several evolutions since so that it is now a complete podcast series with accompanying workbook. I feel strongly that people should have a way to get a taser of my work before investing with me and I’m happy that this is now on offer via the Starter Kit.

If you’d like to check out the Starter Kit you can do so here.

Keeping momentum in my business through school summer holidays

My oldest son is now in P3 and so we have been through a few cycles of school summer holidays. I like to be able to use my ability to flex my schedule during these times to spend some quality time with him and my younger son too. But I was finding that each time I got back to work it felt like I was starting from scratch and so it took my a few weeks on top of the school holidays to really get back into things.

This year I doubled down on planning and got ahead of the game before the school summer holidays kicked off. I also employed the support of an amazing VA that has given me both practical help and the comoradiere of working as a duo.

The result was that I was able to take a step back over the holidays and then get right back into things when term time started off again. It’s hard to say whether this improved the tangible results in my business, but for me personally it was a huge win in terms of being able to keep momentum throughout the year.

Summercamp

This year I got to meet some of my first-business-colleagues-now-friends at Summercamp - an in-person event run by the Happy Start-Up School. It was just my cup of tea, sleeping in tents and spending most of the time outside, while also attending business talks and wellness activities throughout the weekend. I totally underestimated how great it would be to do something like this in-person. I mostly work online and it doesn’t often feel like in-person stuff is ‘missing’ as such. But there is a special energy and connection that is only possible in person that I really thrived off. I’m ready signed up for next year!

If you are local to the area, or even if you’re not, I’d highly recommend giving it a go.

Income, Support and Relationships

Despite gifting so much of my time in the last quarter of the year, I doubled my income for the third year running which feels great.

I also invested in support from Caroline Leon for the second year running that has been such a continued source of support, inspiration and practical tools for both me and my business.

Lastly, I’m finishing the year incredibly grateful for a solid set of like minded business colleagues, clients and friends. These relationships have been so nourishing to me this year and given me such a sense of belonging and building of community that I really value.

WHAT DIDN’T GO SO WELL?

Finding it hard to switch off

This year there was a lot of weaving together different strands of my work. Within that my head was often buzzing to the point where I found it hard to transition from ‘work mode’ into other areas of life when I then wasn’t as fully present as I wanted to be. This has been a challenge for me for some time, not in the typical narrative of needing to be ‘on call’ for work. It’s more that work is one of my primary creative outlets and so that is where my mind often goes to in a moment of inspiration. I find that when I have more spaciousness in my time I can purposely plan in an “on ramp” and “off ramp” to my working day, but when I feel more pushed for time this is something I let slip and then notice the impact of it.

Getting stuck in the scroll

The world events of this last year have been incredibly emotive for me, and I know for many of us. Seeing such suffering take place in real time really shook my nervous system to an extent that I haven’t experienced before. I found myself at times constantly wanting to check the latest news for updates and happenings and then not being able to take myself away. It’s brought up a lot of questioning for me around both the privilege and the responsibility that I have and what I do with that in my role as a business owner and as a human at this time. It’s a complex web and one that I am very much here for being in. Something that has helped massively has been being in community with this via The Portal Collective and specifically Composting by Keri Jarvis.

Feeling limited in my offerings

Through all of 2024 I offered almost exclusively subscription based 1:1 coaching as the only way to work with me. While having this focus initially felt very supportive, it has started to feel restrictive as my body of work has grown and I have worked with more clients at different points along their business journey. Through 2025 I want to switch this up - offering a few different 1:1 options as well as introducing at least one group offering as well. While I love long term 1:1 work that really let’s us go deep into your business and make impactful change, I also believe in the power of short, sharp ‘get unstuck’ style offers that give you the springboard you need. If you want to stay up to date on the different ways we can work together in 2025, take a look here.

WHAT INTENTIONS AM I TAKING INTO 2025?

Spaciousness

I am still selling on my word of the year, but SPACIOUS is the current frontrunner. I really crave fewer physical distractions (read toys, laundry and dishes) around the house and also more spaciousness in my time and headspace. Last year I started the habit of sitting outside for breakfast every morning, or going for a walk first thing when I could. It was a game charger in terms of how I approached my day and this year I want more of that.

New ways to work with me

Another of the benefits of offering 100 Gift Sessions in such a short space of time is that it has allowed me to very readily identify some of the challenges that so many of us struggle with.

I have some ideas brewing about how to create offers that support with the discomfort of showing up and selling that goes deeper than strategy and mindset and taps into more of the inner wisdom we hold inside. Watch this space for more to come.

Deepening

These last two years of starting out in business have involved a lot of trial and error for me. I trained as a coach prompted by seeing other Mothers experience the same overwhelm and juggling that I then came to know as a new mum with young kids and ambitions for a successful and meaningful career.

I was compelled to make a contribution to closing The Gender Pay Gap, by giving women an alternative to the high intensity, fast paced culture of the corporate world. Only to find that the corner of the online business that I found myself in, was dominated by a very similar high intensity, fast paced “bigger, better, stronger” narrative that I thought I was moving away from.

It has taken me a couple of years to find my bearings within the noisy, fast-paced world of online business but I now feel like I have found my feet and have strong foundations upon which to grow.

Something I’d like to do more of this year is deepen in the embodiment side of my work and integrate this more fully with the practical structure and strategy that I offer in my coaching spaces. You can find out more here.

So there we have it. Here’s to 2025!