Year in Review - Biggest Wins, Tough Lessons, Finding MY Success and What's Next

Dec 18

About the episode:

It’s that magical time of the year for reflection, celebrating wins, and planning ahead and I’m so excited to be sharing all those things and more in this candid conversation. I believe doing a year in review is so helpful in setting goals for the upcoming year and something I encourage you to do if you’ve never given it a try! Some of my wins include niching down to rebranding, increasing my income, having a natural birth, launching this podcast and more. I’m also getting real about things that didn’t work out so well such as my love-hate relationship with Instagram and the challenges of finding a workout routine that I can stick to. I’m sharing several lessons I learned including the importance of seeking outside perspectives but ultimately making decisions based on my own personal alignment. And finally I’m sharing plans for expanding my services and more exciting things to come for R Artspace in 2024. I hope you can do your own year in review and celebrate all you’ve accomplished this year!

What you’ll hear:

Doing a year in review is beneficial for reflecting on the past year and setting goals for the year ahead
Celebrating wins, both big and small, is important for recognizing achievements and building your confidence
Why seeking outside perspectives is valuable, but ultimately, decisions should be based on your own personal alignment
The popular social media platform that is draining my energy and forcing me to look at marketing in new ways
A key to happiness in business is defining success on your own terms and avoiding the comparison trap - something I’m always working on!
What’s next for R Artspace, how we’re expanding services, bringing on a team member and more

Episode resources:

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Hey guys, welcome to this week's episode of Rebrand with RuthAnn I'm so excited that you're here and so grateful that you're here. Today's gonna be a fun episode because we are going through the year in review and this is something I have always loved doing. I've honestly been doing year in reviews since college. I remember I had these really long forms with all these questions and I would fill it out all out at the end of the year.
And it's just a great way to be reflective of what worked in the last year and what's not working, how I can make changes and making goals for the upcoming year. This is just something I've always loved to do and I'm excited to share it today on the podcast and just be pretty open with you guys. So if you don't do a year interview, I think it's something that's really beneficial. I think it's almost as beneficial as visioning and planning ahead because you can kind of have the data of what's actually gone on in numbers and results for your actions. So I think it's such a great, it's such a great thing to do at the end of the year. And you can even do this quarterly.
I know my coach Anna Rapp really encourages me to always think about the wins on a weekly basis like what are your three wins for the week. This is something that I think is just a good practice to help you encourage yourself because honestly I think it's so easy for us or maybe I shouldn't talk for everybody but it's really hard for me sometimes to see all the positives. Sometimes I'm only thinking about what's not working or what I can be doing better.
And so this is a great way to really celebrate what has gone on well and what you are excited about and what you can be doing more of that is working. So for my year in review, today I'm gonna be sharing 10 wins I'm celebrating in life and business, three things that didn't work so well, lessons I've learned, changes I'm making at our art space and what's coming next in 2024. So. All fun, good things. So let's dive right in.
So the first thing is 10 wins I'm celebrating and this is for life and business and this is not in any particular order. But these are just some things as I was brainstorming like what things I wanted to reflect on. I was reflecting these are the things that really came to the surface. So let's get started. So number one, I niched down to rebranding this year. I have mentioned this on a previous podcast, but yeah, in 2023, I wanted to narrow into rebranding and this has been a really great move for me. I'm just so happy to have this, to be in this niche and to really own this space and attract my ideal clients.And so I'm really excited about it. It really helps me narrow in my messaging and my content and helps me like really focus on who my ideal client is. So this has been a great move for me and something that I was kind of nervous about, I will say before I did it, but I think anytime anyone niches down, they're a little nervous, but I think it's so good to niche down because it really helps you stand out in your field and it helps people see you.
You know how they how you want to be seen so for me that's helping women with rebranding and really helping someone who has started off DIY and wants to up level and look professional and make more revenue and Increase their growth and scaling potential. So that's something I am really happy. I did this year Number two, I increased my income from last year
This was kind of a surprise actually when I was looking at my numbers. I was like, I didn't think I did so it's That was very nice to see that happened and a little bit of a surprise like I mentioned But I'm you know, so happy that happened Especially because going into number three. I took a three-month maternity leave I took my maternity leave in, starting in February, it was mid February and I took three months and I came back in June, hold on, is that right? February, March, April, May. Yeah, I came back in May. So I started my maternity leave in mid February and I came back mid May. And it was so wonderful to have that time to be unplugged and to be with my daughter and just to enjoy the time as a family. And I think it's just a really special time that I think you don't get back. And so I always advocate for women who are going on a turning leave to take as much time as you need and to really enjoy that time, because I think it's so special and it's tricky because I feel like when they are a newborn, it's easier to get more work done because they're just sleeping all the time. And, you know, you're nursing them, obviously.
But you do have more time in a way, but I do think it's such an important time to take rest for yourself, to take time with your family, and just to take that time away from work. So I was so happy to take a nice maternity leave, and that's definitely something that I look at as a win for this year.
Number four, I launched this podcast. This was a big win for me, honestly, because I wanted to do this for a long time and this is, I think, such an enjoyable way for me to market. I'm really enjoying recording and getting better at recording, I will say. My first few episodes, I was so embarrassed. It's just been a lot of fun having this podcast and coming up with content and sharing it. That has been a real win that I'm so glad that I was able to do that.
I did hire support to help me launch it, which I wouldn't have done it without the support. Thank you, Haley. And it was just kind of, you know, it happened after I got back from maternity leave. I was like, yep, this is what's happening. I'm starting the podcast. This is what I want to do. And so I'm just really glad that, you know, that happened. And I'm so happy to have started it and just move on from here.
Number five, I had a natural birth. And so this obviously goes into Sophia's birth story, which I'm not really gonna go into all the details about that, but I'm trying to think of like how much to share. Okay, so with Zia, I had an epidural, just like normal. I just feel like with your first, you don't really know too much and so I just kind of went along with everything and for Sophia I knew that I wanted to... I'm thinking about how much to share. For Sophia, I just wanted to have a natural birth. I didn't want to have any medication and I'm not going to go into all the things but I will say, you know, I'm pretty adverse to... I'm not like a super strong... I'm kind of a weak person I would say. And so, for me to say I had a natural birth, anyone can have a natural birth. And so I think it's so important to think of yourself, I can handle hard things, I can do this. And so much of doing the natural birth was me working on my mindset, I will say. Months before it happened, I was watching YouTube videos, I was reading books, I was like really like prepping myself for this because it was such a big deal. I mean, to me, because of you know, just thinking about like the pain, the anguish, you know, all the horrible things that were coming, you know, it was just something I really had to like, work my mindset for and really prepare myself that this is what I was going to do. And it was such a great experience, I will say like, I think it really showed me like I can do whatever I set my mind to especially being a weakling, knowing that I could do this. It was just such a really cool experience. And looking back on the two births, I would definitely go natural birth again, even though, I mean, there were so many harder things to deal with, obviously, because you don't have that pain medication. So it was harder in a lot of senses, but also I felt so powerful and capable. It was just really, a really, really cool experience. So that was a huge win for me, something I was looking forward to for months and months before she was born. So I was just so happy that everything was really smooth. For the most part, like I said, I'm not gonna get into all the details, but for the most part, it was a great experience. So yeah, a huge win there.
Okay, number six. I worked with some amazing women in their businesses and on their brands and websites and that is just such a huge blessing to me that people trust me in this process. I just feel like it's such a huge undertaking to go through a rebrand and sometimes I take it for granted almost that, you know, I'm looking to sign clients and stuff. I'm like, I need two clients this month or whatever it is. And it's just sometimes like if I take a step back and I'm like, wow, people are really trusting me with their website redesigns with their branding, you know, they're investing a lot of money with me. It's just such an honor that I get to work with such incredible women and do what I love, what I absolutely love, and just work with them in a really close way. And I just feel like that's such a win, like just to be able to do what I do and have the freedom and flexibility and be at home with my kids, you know, Zia's in preschool, but you know, mainly being a stay at home mom, for the most part and it's just such a gift. And I really don't wanna take that for granted. So that's a win that I'm celebrating this year for sure.
Number seven, Zia started preschool. I'm saying this is a win because I never had any childcare leading up to him being in preschool this year. I have my family, my mom helps me out, which is awesome. My husband helps me when he has his days off.
And so I do have help there and I do, I had like a sitter every now and again, like I think over, I'm trying to think what it was. Maybe, was it this summer? Oh yeah, it was. It was this summer I had a sitter and she was helping me one to two days a week and so that was nice. But yeah, I haven't had any like dedicated childcare and so putting him in preschool was a really big step for us a really big step for me emotionally because Zia has been with me at home the whole time and I've had people come to the house but I've never sent him away and so not sent him away but dropped him off. And so it was just a really, that was really hard for me I think, I mean like emotionally because it just felt like such a big step and you're just thinking about how fast they're growing up and
All of my mom friends, they were like, oh RuthAnn I totally get it. Like you're in good company. Like don't even worry about it. But it was just something that I really, oh my gosh, that was so loud.
It was just something I saw as a really big win because it really helped me kind of release some control and also trust other people that they can teach Zia and that he can learn from other adults, that he can grow with other kids and stuff. So it was kind of like releasing control for me. It was also like helping me so I can like take some time to work. And so.
Yeah, I definitely see that as a win because I just really feel like it was the right move for us. And maybe people don't think about this as much as I'm thinking about this, but it was, yeah, that was just something I was really grateful for. And I'm just so happy with the school that he's in, the little preschool, and he's just making friends. And it's just so, so sweet. So I'm loving that and just celebrating that.
Number eight, Fawad and I took a family vacation, which was so nice. We had never taken, you know, obviously Sophia's only like eight months old. So we had never taken a family vacation with the four of us yet, but we were able to do that in October and it was such a nice little trip. We went to Omaha, Nebraska and it was a really family-friendly city. So there was a lot to do for the kids. It was a little chilly, but...
It was, we had such a nice time. Like it was nice at the zoo, the aquarium, we went to the children's museum, had some really good food. It was just such a nice little time away and Zia loved it. It was just so fun. So Zia is three and a half right now and he always still talks about vacation. He's like, mom, I wanna go on vacation. I'm like, I mean, I do too, but you know, once a year or something. So it was just such a nice time. And yeah, that was.
Definitely win, because sometimes it's hard to plan those things. You just have to bite the bullet and do it, if you know what I mean. Sometimes it's easy to be like, oh, there's a lot going on and all that stuff. But if you just do it, it's so fun and you make so many good memories. So yeah, it was a really good time.
Number nine, I hired support to help me in my business, such as a bookkeeper. I've never had a bookkeeper until this year, and Jen has been amazing. Shout out to Jen of assigned financial solutions. And I had a podcast team to help me launch my podcast. And I had my coach at different points. And so it was so nice having different supports to me in my business and things that I feel like I would have naturally just done on my own, like bookkeeping. I've done that up until this year. And it's just so nice to just have expert help who are really good at what they do and they know what they're doing and they can like guide you and just be an expert in their area of expertise. And it's so nice. I'm still in my numbers all the time and I'm still doing my little spreadsheets and all that stuff, but it's so nice to just have that support and just allowing people to come in and help you in your business. And yeah, it also just puts a different perspective on how I help my clients as well in their businesses. It's just cool because.
You know being a client and having clients It's just nice to kind of see that dynamic and how it really helps people in their business. So Lastly my word of the year Lastly number ten my word for the year was thrive And I really felt like I embodied that word this year like I by the grace of God. I just felt really grateful and happy and 2022 was a really hard year for me. So I think it was just really nice to have a year that really felt like I was thriving in a lot of different areas in my life. And that definitely doesn't happen all the time, but that is kind of what I was embracing this year. And I just really felt like the Lord helped me in so many different areas in motherhood, in my relationships and my marriage. And it's just been so, so nice to feel like in a really happy thriving place. And if you're not there, I just, my heart, I understand going through a difficult time and going through hard things. It's such a hard place to be in, but I just encourage you to keep your chin up because happier days are coming and it's not all gonna be a difficult time. I just, yeah, going through those rough times is really hard, but going through the good times is so, it's just so much to be thankful for, for sure.
Okay, and so those are the 10 wins I'm celebrating. So going into three things that did not work out so well, and these are also business and personal, so these are kind of a mix of both. So three things that didn't work. Number one, Instagram. I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram like you would not believe, and I think a lot of people do, honestly, like a lot of people like me, like moms who are running a business who have kids who
I just feel like I've been on Instagram since 2016, so for a long time, and it hasn't been, it's just changed so much, especially in the last couple years, and I just feel like I put in a lot of energy and effort into the platform, and I think because it is for my business, I am needing results, like I am needing things to actually happen from Instagram, such as getting clients getting movement and stuff. And so I just have never really been super successful with Instagram to be honest. And while I love the platform and the capabilities and connecting with people for sure, I love being in the DMs with people and connecting in that way, doing the voice memos. It's so great to connect in that way. But I just think for me with this season of life that I'm in with I think Instagram is awesome because you can really connect with people in a really personal way through the voice memos, through the DMs, interacting with people's content and watching reels and stuff. I think it's really fun and it's still a great social platform. But for me, I think, and this is just so individual for everybody, but for me, I think I really feel like I'm putting a lot of energy and effort into this and I don't have a ton of energy and effort to put into it. I have a lot of things I'm doing right now in my business and in my life. And so I just don't have the capacity to worry about it. And I think the problem is, like I've had my OBM help me with this, but I think the problem is I always take back control because I am a perfectionist and a designer. And so it just really, I just really go back to like, I want the grid to look a certain way and I end up just spending way too much time like worrying about how it looks. And I know I shouldn't do that. And I just think it's easy to say that, but I think for me, just with my design background, with my, you know, perfectionistic tendencies, it's just too easy to get trapped in a loophole of like spending way too much time on.
Just the aesthetics when it really doesn't matter that much. So I think that's something that hasn't really worked for me in a while and I think I'm ready to kind of maybe not let it go but kind of let it go for now. Like I just don't want to spend as much time on there. I don't really want to worry about posting on stories every day. I really don't want to worry about you know the aesthetics of how my grid is looking.
I do want to stay on there to connect with people for sure in the DMs. I think that's really important and I think that's such a great way to connect. But I think I'm ready to take a step back for sure. I think I'm ready to not be as active posting. I do think it's good to post about the podcast and stuff. I don't know. I guess I haven't really come to a concrete conclusion about Instagram. I don't think I'm gonna give it up entirely, but I don't know what that means yet. So I'm still kind of figuring it out. But that's just something that hasn't worked for me, that hasn't worked for me for a long time. And I'm finding that I don't have a lot of energy and excitement about it and all that stuff. So I'm just really trying to follow where I am feeling excited to show up in marketing, because I think that's so important when you're marketing. It's so important that you are excited about where you're showing up, what you're doing.
And if you're not, I just feel like it really comes through. And so I'm not wanting to, I'm just not wanting to spend as much time over there and I guess to be determined. I'm not really sure what that means, but I think I'm gonna be taking a step back. Okay, second thing that did not work out super well was a workout routine for myself. I have just always, not always, but ever since I've had the kids, so a few years.
I've just had trouble getting into a workout routine. I've tried a lot of different things. This year I tried an app, like a Wall Pilates app that I bought on Instagram. And I don't know, I just feel like I've tried, oh, I have like this membership to Planet Fitness that I've had forever that I never go to. And so it's just kind of like I have things in place, but I just don't want to do them. And I think you really have to enjoy the workout you're doing in order to stick with it. And I just still have not found something that I love. So that has been something that did not work that I keep trying to find something that I really like to do. And I just am not finding something. So as soon as I find something, hopefully I would love to get on a little workout routine. That would be so nice. But for now with the kids being so little and it's just hard to get away and work out and that kind of thing. So with how it is now, working out is not really in my future. I try to do some stretches in the morning and stuff like that, but that's pretty much it for now. So hopefully, a workout routine will be in my future. And the third thing that did not work super well was doing all the design work myself. So this is something I have wrestled with since the very beginning of my business, thinking about how I can grow my business.
So you just get to a certain point where you're tired. You get to a certain point where you can either keep doing everything yourself and you just get really exhausted and burnt out, or you can hire help to help you. And I have just really fought against this for years of like, I don't want to have another designer. I don't know. I just.
I don't really wanna be managing people, I don't really wanna be having a team, even though I've had my OBM with me for several years now. And maybe this is too much information that I'm sharing, but I just don't know how far I wanna go with hiring people. I don't really wanna turn into an agency. And so I'm really trying to learn about the balance for myself and what I'm okay with and what I wanna be doing. And I think...
the time has come for me to hire a designer. So that is something I'm gonna be talking about in just a few minutes. But yeah, I think that's the conclusion I came to is like I'm ready to not do all of the design work myself. I'm ready to outsource a little bit. I'm so happy to, I think I'm getting ahead of myself but I think that's the third thing that didn't really work out super well was doing all the design work myself.
And so let's go, we're going to go into now a couple lessons that I have learned. And then we're going to go into what's next for our art space and for 2024 and beyond. So a couple lessons I've learned this year is ask for outside perspectives. But when you need to make a decision, you need to turn inward and find the answer for yourself. I think this has always been hard for me because I
I love asking advice from other people and I love just taking direction. I just feel like it's so much easier if you just do what someone tells you to do. But I think the problem is that if you are really not feeling aligned with what someone's telling you to do, you're not going to do the thing. So whether it's a coach telling you to market in a certain way, to come out with a new offering, if you're not excited about it, you're never going to do it and you're not going to feel excited about it.
And so while I think it's great to ask for outside perspective, this is just something I've learned this year for sure. It's just been made very apparent to me is like, you can, you know, hear from people all day long about what you should be doing or what's best for you, what's going to help them grow your business. But you really need to turn inward and find out what the answer is for yourself. Like, what do you think deep down inside? Like, get quiet, get in a quiet place like.
Close your eyes if you need to, get outside, take a walk, or just think about what do you need right now in this season of your life? What do you need right now in this season of your business? What's coming up for you? I think this has been something I've, kind of going back to Instagram a little bit, it's easy to, for me, to kind of hear what other people are doing, see what other people are doing, see the success other people have, and think like, oh, I should probably be doing this, or I should be doing this. And...
I just think it's so important to think about what your version of success is and what you really align with the most and then move in that direction because yeah, like I said, if you're doing something that feels like it's pulling teeth, you're never going to do it. And the second lesson I've learned is what I sort of just mentioned just now is you get to choose what success and happiness looks like for you.
And this is a huge one for me. I think sometimes I always, sometimes, sometimes it's easy for me to look online to see what other people are doing and to think like I need to achieve that milestone or something in order to be successful because that's what everyone else is doing. And for me, it's just, I think it just comes back to my values and what's important to me right now. And for me, being a stay at home mom for, my kids is incredibly important to me. And so knowing that is my, this is my season right now. Like I'm at home with my daughter full time and then you know, Zia is in preschool part time and it's just, I'm home with the kids a lot and I don't really have a ton of time for myself and that's okay and I don't have a ton of time for my business either. I work about 12 to 15 hours a week and that's just how it is right now. And I think it's easy for me to compare myself, especially when I'm on Instagram, to see what other people are doing who have full-time nannies, who have, maybe their kids are grown, or they're in school. And it's just, I feel like sometimes it's so easy for me to compare myself to people who are in a completely different season to myself. But whenever I look back and think like, okay, where am I right now in this season? Like, what does success look like for me right now?
And for me, success looks like bringing home a little paycheck. And for me, success looks like being home for my kids, being available to them, and doing something I love creatively, and getting compensated. So that's kind of what success looks like for me right now. And it's not flying to different conferences and speaking. It's not making six figures. It's really something like on the smaller side, and it's something that brings me so much joy. So I think it's really important to. It's really important that you think about what is success to you and what happiness looks like to you and not fall into the comparison trap of seeing what everyone else is doing in and comparing yourself in different seasons of life, because I just think it's. I it's the thief of all joy, that's for sure, because, you know, if you're loving your life and then you get on Instagram and you hate your life, I think you know, comparison might be an issue. So that's another thing for me, Instagram. I just want to not compare myself so much and just really stay in my lane and focus on what my version of success is. And finally, what's next for R Artspace and what does it look like for me going into 2024 and beyond? First thing is we are expanding our services to now offer a WordPress design and development as well as Squarespace.
So this is like a huge announcement for me and just thinking about expanding our services. I have linked up with an incredible WordPress team and I'm so excited to be working with them in this way, to be doing custom design and then they do the development piece and just to offer this to my clients. I mentioned this in last week's episode, but this is just a really big step because I feel like so many women who are up-leveling their brand and website, they do want WordPress, and sometimes they don't want Squarespace. So I think it's great to have this offering as well, and to offer the two, whichever one you may prefer, WordPress or Squarespace. I think this is just gonna be opening up new doors, and will really help me save time in my processes. I was talking a second ago about doing a lot of the work myself, doing a lot of the design work, but also just a lot of the work in general. Having a WordPress team do the development, do the SEO, do everything else. And I will just handle the design. Sounds like a dream come true. So I'm so excited to be offering WordPress and Squarespace now.
And that brings me to number two, I am going to be hiring a Squarespace designer. I think this just goes back to, you know, doing everything myself. It's just getting harder to do that with the limited hours I have. And I'm really excited to bring on someone who can help me with Squarespace, who can help me with designing the sites, and who can help me with SEO and all those things.
If you know of someone who is interested in being a Squarespace designer and they would be on the R Artspace team and they would be working with me on client projects, I would love for you to, you know, send them my way, do an introduction. You can email me at Ruthann at rartspace.com So all the info for this position is at rartspace.com slash hire and that's H-I-R-E.
So if you are interested in this position or if you know of someone, I would love for you to head over there, check out the details and submit an application and that would be awesome. Number three, I mentioned this a minute ago when I was talking about Instagram, but I won't be on Instagram as much. I am excited to be focusing more of my attention on my email community. If you want to join, I would love to have you. You can go to rartspace.com slash.
This brings me to the next thing, what's next for R. Art. Space. The next thing is I won't be on Instagram as much. I mentioned this a minute ago, but Instagram is just taking a lot of energy out of me and I don't have a ton of energy to give to it. So I'm going to be focusing more of my attention on my email community. If you want to join my email community, I would love for you to do that. You can join over at rartspace.com slash subscribe.
And I'm focusing a lot of my attention on this podcast and Pinterest. So I'm just going to be focusing my attention and energy in different places. I won't be on Instagram as much, but I will be in the DMs for sure. So you can definitely still connect with me over there. I still haven't fully decided like how much I'll be posting over there. So I might be quiet or I might just be sharing about the podcast. I'm not exactly sure, but you'll hear and see like what's going on over there. So.
So that's kind of a little, you know, a little bit of a change for what I'm gonna be focusing on for next year. The next thing is I'm gonna keep my hours to 12 to 15 hours a week work schedule. So not really a ton of change there, but I am excited to expand my capacity by hiring, you know, like I mentioned, the Squarespace designer, and then I have the WordPress team. So hopefully I will still be able to handle you know, same capacity and even grow maybe a little bit. So we'll see about that. And finally, I want to continue to work with powerhouse, ambitious women on their brands and websites. So that is not changing at all. That is staying the same. I am so excited to be working with women who really have big goals for their business and really want a partner to come alongside them and help them rebrand and rebrand their business and help them make an overwhelming process really simple and streamlined so they can increase their revenue and scale their business. And so yeah, so some things are changing, but some things are staying the same. So I'm so excited for what's to come. I'm so grateful for what 2023 has brought me for just the joy it has been for me for different ventures in this business, for the different ventures that have come out in my work such as this podcast just for all the things that 23 has brought. I'm just so, so grateful. And so yeah, so that's a wrap on my year in review. I would love to hear if you had any takeaways or if you had any wins you would like to share. I would love to hear from you. You can email me or DM me on Instagram. And I just thank you so, so much for being here. And I hope you have an amazing Christmas and such a wonderful holiday season with your families or friends and or loved ones and I hope you just have such an amazing holiday season with your family or friends or loved ones. And I just thank you so much for listening. I'm just so honored and I just am so grateful for you. So, I did it again. So yeah, so that's it for my year in review. I hope this was entertaining if nothing else. I hope it was fun to hear if you have any, you know, comments or if you want to share some wins with me or anything like that, you can email me at ruthann at rartspace.com or you can message me over on Instagram at r underscore artspace. I would love to connect with you there. I am just so, so grateful that you are listening and taking the time to be here with me and I'm so excited for next week's episode so I really hope you'll stay tuned. It's going to be a fun one and...
Yeah, I'm just so grateful for you and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. I hope you have an amazing Christmas and time with your family and friends and loved ones and I just really hope you enjoy the time. So thank you so much and I will be talking to you next week.