My Best Financial Year in Business, Adding a Baby, Tough Lessons, and More in My 2024 Year-End Review
About the episode:
Hey friends! It’s that time of year where I look back and list my top 10 wins along with lessons I’ve learned along the way in my annual Year End Review. This is a fun, honest look at the things I’m celebrating - both personally and professionally - challenges, and everything in between. This year stretched me in ways I didn’t expect, from big business breakthroughs to messy and beautiful mom-life moments. I’m sharing what worked, what didn’t, and the lessons that helped me grow (spoiler: trusting myself was a game-changer!). Plus, I’ll give you a sneak peek at my dreams and ideas for 2025. Whether 2024 was your best year yet or one you’re ready to leave behind, this episode will inspire you to reflect, reset, and head into the new year with excitement and purpose. Let’s make 2025 amazing—together!
P.S. I’d love to hear what resonated with you and what you focus on for the year ahead!
Highlights:
RuthAnn’s biggest wins in 2024 and how they shaped her business and life
The challenges she faced as a mompreneur and the lessons she learned from them
How self-trust played a key role in making decisions - and how it can help you too!
The importance of aligning business goals with personal values and priorities
A look ahead at 2025: what’s in store for R Artspace and mom life for RuthAnn
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RuthAnn
Hey there friends, welcome back to Rebrand with Ruthanne and welcome to the last podcast of the year. We made it. We made it. Yeah, we are at the last week of 2024. I think this is gonna air on the 31st, so the last day of the year. And it's one of the things I love to do at year's end is to review the year and really look back and celebrate what really went well and think about what didn't go well, think about how I can make changes. And I think it's so important to do because, and this is something I've done forever, but I think in business it's also really important because you can, it's like almost as as visioning, I think, because you can really look at data, look at numbers, really look back and see all the things that worked and didn't work and you can take all those lessons and implement them for next year. So I think it's a great practice to do. I would love to hear if this is something you do like a year end review or something like that. I think it's so beneficial. So today that's what we're going to do. I'm going to share with you my year end review and I'm going to talk about 10 wins I'm celebrating. I'm going to share three things that didn't work so well.
My word for the year and how that impacted literally everything, some lessons I've learned and what is next and what I'm leaning into for 2025.
Okay, so let's dive into 10 wins I'm celebrating and these are both personal and professional. And so number one is this was my best financial year to date. I broke six figures on the least amount of hours and I felt so good about it. I felt really aligned. I did not feel that like overwhelm most of the year and I've definitely had seasons of that. But this year I think I felt the best. Like I felt the most supported. I did have a team. I hired a website designer in the... I think I'm getting ahead of myself. Okay, that's number six. I just felt really supported. I felt like I had really aligned wonderful clients.
I felt like the work was really creative. I felt like I had a lot of time to do it. So it really felt really good to make the money I did and to do it on the least amount of hours and feeling the support I had. It was really a wonderful year. And if I could replicate this, you know, how I felt while doing the work, I would do it for sure. Number two is I worked the least amount of hours, which I already sort of mentioned that, but that was really nice and something that I honestly didn't think was possible. And so many times we hear this, I know I hear it a lot because I listen to a lot of business podcasts and growth minded podcasts. you talk about or I hear that it said, you don't need to trade time for dollars. I just, it's always been hard for me to, I guess, accept that I'm just a worker bee.
That's just, I don't know, I just do the work and I don't know. It's hard for me to think about it. I can make money on a very few amount of hours and make really good money. Yeah, so that was a paradigm shift for me. I really felt like I did not work as much as I have in the past and I really exponentially grew my income and so was really cool to see that that's possible and to see that that is something that I can lean into.
you know, in other years coming up. And I'm going to share about this later. But you know, especially if you're going into a slower season, a pullback season, you know, knowing that you can still make a lot of money is really exciting because it's a mindset shift and it's something that's absolutely possible. Number three,
This is my second, okay, so this is my third baby and my second unmedicated birth. And it was a really, really great experience. And I'm not gonna go into the whole birth story with Samir, but it was a wonderful birth experience and I was very, very happy and proud of myself and it's not easy. I don't think it's easy. It's so funny. Whenever I'm going into labor or something,
Sometimes you hear like, okay, women do this all the time. Like, you know, some women just, you know, in other countries and stuff, they just, this happens all the time where they don't have any medication. And yes, that is true, but it's also extremely painful and very hard. And so I was very proud of myself that I went through and did it unmedicated and I did get induced, I will say. So I did, it's not like that I didn't have any interventions, but I did get
have to get induced, but I didn't have the epidural and yeah, was a great, difficult, difficult, but it was exactly what I wanted. So I was very, very happy about that. And I'm loving mom life. For all you moms out there, it's hard. It's hard, but it's also wonderful. And it's definitely that over here. It's hard and wonderful for sure. Having three little ones under five. Number four, And this is just something I am so incredibly grateful for. I had a lot of clients this year come to me and I've known them for years and we've built relationship. I built a relationship with them over a long period of time and they came to work with me after many years. And so it's really cool because I have been in business for eight years. And so I have built relationships over time and
A lot of people this year just knew me, knew of me. I had a lot of referrals this year. So it was just so cool to see some of those relationships come and hire me after so many years. So that was really exciting and just really aligned amazing women in their businesses. I worked with coaches. I'm working with a software company right now. I worked with an artist multiple coaches. yeah, it was just such a great, a podcast management team, my podcast management team, mind you, the heart centered podcasting. Shout out to them. And yeah, I just had so many wonderful clients I worked with and I would love for you to go check out my portfolio if you really like seeing pretty designs and working with a variety of clients. a fashion influencer. marketing firm. I mean, I can go on. But yeah, it was a really fun year of some really creative projects that I just loved and I was so thrilled to work with them and just so grateful.
Number five, I went on two family trips and this is a win for me because I didn't think we were going to go on any trips this year. If you know me, I am such a travel person. I love travel and overseas travel, domestic travel, you name it, I'm all about it. I just love adventure and seeing new places, having those experiences.
It's been challenging since COVID not being, you know, not traveling as much. And with having a whole bunch of little kids, it's also very difficult to travel. so we haven't, we've chosen not to travel as much in the recent years. But this year I had two of my closest friends get married, two different friends. And so I went to their weddings and one was in September and one was in October. So was
back to back and one of them I went with my husband and we took the baby. So that was in Moab, Utah and it was absolutely gorgeous and it was such a beautiful venue and wedding and my friend was so happy and it was wonderful to be there and support her. And then the other wedding was in Arkansas and for those of you who don't know, I live in Kansas City so I'm in the heart of the country and so with Arkansas.
Excuse me, with Arkansas, we drove down with all the kids and had a little road trip and it was definitely a fun time. Like the kids did pretty good, I think. We didn't have any major catastrophes. It was pretty normal, I would say, but it was a great little adventure and it was so fun to be with my other friend and her getting married and celebrating with her. And so that was a lot of fun as well. So that was so much fun, I will say. Going on family trips.
But it's not as fun as... Okay, it's fun, but it's just different traveling with kids, I will say. I'll just leave it at that because you parents know out there, it's definitely enjoyable and you love it for your kids, but it's not the most relaxing or... Yeah, you just don't get a lot of sleep and stuff. At least I didn't with our kids' ages.
But I definitely count that as a win because I love travel. And like I said, I didn't think that was on our, you know, that wasn't on our plans. Sorry, let me rephrase that. That was not in our plans at the start of the year, but they both got engaged earlier in the year and then they like told us. And so we made it happen. So it was really exciting to go on two trips.
Number six, I hired a web designer, which this was a huge win for me just because I didn't think I would ever, you know, go the agency route and hire designers to help me with projects. And the fact that I hired this incredible designer, I'm so happy to have her on my team. She's amazing. And it's just showed me that I really can hire out wonderful people who do amazing work and I can continue to grow in that way.
And it's just been wonderful having her on the team and helping me with my web projects. so shout out to Emily. I am very thrilled and grateful to have done that and to just trust myself that I can figure it out when I have a team member. And pardon me always feels like I'm not a good leader, I guess. Like, maybe I'm not cut out to have a team, but I feel like I've had a team of three this year and so it's gone pretty well. So maybe I am cut out for this, who knows. But I think that was a win because I just didn't think I could hire someone, but it's been really great having her on board for sure. Number seven, I began trusting myself at a deeper level than ever before. And this is such a win for me because in the past I have always relied on people and their expertise and their opinions and just to help sway my decisions because I sometimes just don't know what I want, which that is the core of anything in life is just knowing what you want. And sometimes it's hard for me to know that it's hard for me to drown out the noise and not listen to other people's opinions. And so I feel like this was a real
year of growth and change for me in the fact that I started trusting myself. I just really started asking myself, what do I think in this situation? What do I really feel like I should do? What do I want to do in this situation? And I just get so much clarity when I'm silent and I'm just asking myself, what do I want? And I feel like it's really helped me make big decisions this year in my business to make strides forward. to stand my ground when I'm having a difficult conversation with someone, to enforce boundaries. I mean, there's so many things that come with it, but this was a really big one, just trusting myself and knowing that I can figure it out. And that is, it really can help you level up in so many ways. Number eight, the eighth win I'm celebrating is I went on,
Okay, maybe this isn't a big win for other people, but for me, this is big. I went on some semi-regular date nights with my husband and this is just challenging with little kids and making the time and paying the sitter and going on date night. You know, it's just sometimes it feels like this is too much work, but Fawad and I really made an effort this year to focus on our marriage and putting each other first and it was, I just feel like we grew a lot as a couple and it was really nice to just make that time. So that was a big win for me, just a personal win was making time for date nights and that is just something that is very important. And so I'm really glad that we did that with the new baby and everything else we have going on. Number nine.
Number nine, So I mentioned that I started trusting myself, but also I feel like I just, and this is gonna tie into when I talk about my word of the year. And maybe I'll just mention it here because it's so relevant, but my word of the year was re-imagine. And that word honestly helped me make so many mindset shifts because I would, come to a situation and I would look at a situation and be like, okay, reimagine, how can I reimagine this? Like how, what are the options here? And so I would think about, cause sometimes I feel like I'm boxed in, like, okay, I only have option A or B and then I'm think to myself and I'm like, okay, how can I look at this differently? How can I reimagine this? And then like out of the blue, like 20 other options would show up and I'm like, my gosh, like, wow, I have so many options here. I can do anything here and it's-
Really, I encourage anyone, if you feel like you are stuck between two choices or even one choice, you don't have any options. There are so many options out there and something you can do is just write down, okay, here are all of the different case scenarios that can happen.
you know, whether it comes to finances, whether it comes to an investment, whether it comes to hiring somebody or firing somebody or anything that you have going on in your business or your life. It's like, how can I think about this differently? And what are the options that are actually here? So that it was a huge and that really helped my mindset expand into seeing, I feel like it just really helped me in terms of like financial goals, because sometimes I was like,
I only have like these options to make money. Like I have like to get these three types of clients and then I have to sign this person for this and to make like the financials work. And then I would scrap all that and be like, okay, and money can come in anywhere. Like there are a million options for money to come in. It could come in from one client. I could have one huge client come and sign and painful like, and that has happened. Like I could have
You know, there's just so many options for like how things could happen. And so what that did for me was really letting go of expectations and being in a trusting and surrendering type of energy, which I think made the biggest difference in my income and in how I really enjoyed my work this year, which is number 10. I was in a trust and surrender energy and that really changed things for me.
I was a guest on a podcast recently and I talked about how I was in like, last year I felt like I was in desperation mode energy, which is never a good thing, but I just felt like I was like, my gosh, like how am gonna get clients? I need clients. And it was so like needy and I don't think it was attracting anybody, that's for sure, obviously. And so this year I just thought about things differently. I was like, how can I reimagine this? Like, how can I think about this differently?
Where could clients come in from? They can come in from anywhere actually. And I have had clients come in from random places. had a client, I had a lot of clients come in from Google actually this year, but I had one person reach out. She said she found me from ChatGPT. Like she put in ChatGPT rebranding, like premium rebranding and I showed up or something. So I was like, you know, just know that anything is possible.
And when you are in an energy of trust and surrender, especially, it just helps you go further, I think so much further. And it just helps you enjoy the process for me anyway. It's really helped me enjoy the process, especially when I don't know like how it's all going to happen, but trusting that it's all going to work out and it's all working out for my good. So those are my 10 wins that I am celebrating, celebrating personally and professionally. And
Like I said in the beginning of this episode, I would love for you to do this for yourself because when you look back and see all of the things you did and accomplished and were able to do, mindset shifts you had, it really encourages you that like you're doing such an amazing job and just keep on keeping on. So I'm going to talk about three things that didn't work so well. And then I already talked about my word for the year, so I don't really need to go into that, but
Let's go into three things that didn't really work. So number one, working during nap times. So this has been the story of my life since I had my son over four years ago. I have worked during nap times and that has really worked for me. Like for some people they're like, I could never, you know, it makes me resentful when they wake up. And I'm just, I've just been in a different situation, I guess. Like I've had really good sleepers and
I've just always worked during nap times. It's always worked for me. For the last four years, it has worked for me, except this year. I will say it did not work this year, so that's something that didn't really work. For one, my son grew out of naps, so that was a big change, him not doing naps. He's four and a half, so that makes sense that he stopped that. But that was something I'm still trying to work on, because sometimes I need some time.
to be by myself and not have little kids clinging on me. you know, I'm still working through, you know, how to do nap times with my oldest. Right now we're doing quiet time and that works out sometimes, but yeah, I'm still working on that. But also when I had my third, Samir, he's not, obviously he's not on a schedule and right now he's five, six months. And so he's, you know, six months old. So he's about to get on a schedule.
But so far he has not been on one. So it has been difficult, to say the least, to try to figure out how I'm going to find time to work because my son is not napping. I would put Sophia down for her nap, but then the baby would be awake and I would have my oldest. So I'm like, wait, when am I going to be working? This is my work time. So I do have a sitter and that's who I'm using right now to record this podcast.
And so yeah, I have like preschool for my son three days a week. I have a sitter, you know, to help me with the younger two. So it's been, you know, I'm just figuring it out as I go and.
I'm just figuring it out as I go. But yeah, working during nap times definitely stopped working this year. And sadly, because I loved it, it's just nice to have a quiet house and just to work, but you know, things are changing and yeah, so I'm just gonna have to make some changes. And I will talk about that in more in just a few minutes. But yeah, that stopped working this year.
The second thing that did not work out was finding a junior brand designer. I thought this was going to be a lot easier, finding a junior brand designer, and I have not found one. That has been something that is kind of a surprise to me. I thought maybe it's happening for a reason, like maybe I'm not finding someone for a reason, maybe I don't need to hire someone. So I've gone back and forth, honestly, if it's...
if I should continue to look for someone or if I should just continuing doing the work myself. But that was something that was kind of a surprise, like not being able to find someone as quickly as I wanted to. And I did find someone, but it actually didn't work out. So yeah, that was a big surprise to me and something that didn't really work out.
Number three, a third thing that didn't really work out was taking a real maternity leave. And this is something that I really wanted to do, but because I had a lot of projects and I think I mentioned this, but I signed like two or three projects during the week after my maternity leave. So it was definitely strange. Like I don't, I just feel like I...
It was kind of a surprise. I was just planning on being off work and stuff, but I ended up taking discovery calls the week before I went in labor. sorry. I never went in labor. I got induced. But the week before I had my baby, I was doing discovery calls and they ended up signing the week after. And yeah, I wasn't working technically, but I was kind of doing admin stuff. I was onboarding and that is something I currently do which is something I'm looking into if I should out towards this. But anyway, I was doing the onboarding. I was in a few projects when I didn't really want to be in a few projects. So that was kind of something that did not really work. I really wanted to take like two solid months off and I think I took a few weeks off in there like solidly, but for the most part I was kind of like, you know, in and out and working on stuff and then, you know, putting it down and that kind of thing. it wasn't, and I think it's hard having your own business because I feel like you, especially me, I really enjoy my business and I don't mind checking my email or checking Voxer or something. And so when I was, you know, quote unquote on maturing leave, I felt like I was shaming myself. Like I should be off a hundred percent. Like I shouldn't be, you know, talking on Voxer to my team members or I shouldn't be emailing a client about this. But part of me,
was like, I actually don't mind doing this. I actually like doing this. And so that was kind of something that, you know, again, I don't have to like shame myself for, you know, not taking 100 % time off. But I do think it's okay to, you know, actually take solid time off. I think what I'm wanting to do, and I'm recording this in November. So I understand that this is coming out at the end of December. but I am going to be taking December off and January off work right now. That is the plan. And so I do want to take some solid time off and not be in my inbox and stuff and just kind of focus on time at home and stuff. that is something I learned from this summer, not actually taking a real maternity leave. While I don't shame myself and it's fine that I did what I did this time around,for my holiday break for December and January, I really do wanna take some full time off and not be in my inbox and that kind of thing. And just take a real break, cause I feel tired. So yeah, let's go into some lessons I learned this year. So, you our first lesson and I mentioned this in...
the earlier time, but like I can trust myself in my business and while having input is nice, I am the one who's in charge and I can decide what's best for me. So that is something that I really learned this year that really helped me in a lot of ways, like trusting myself and knowing that I can figure this out and it's okay. Like having input is fine, but I'm the one who knows best and I just, you know, pray about my decision and just really trust that I'm doing the right thing.
And so that was a big lesson for me. A second lesson is believing that the sky is the limit. And this is a belief that I actually truly have. And I will say I didn't have this belief before, but I do now. Knowing that the sky is the limit, it's just so exciting to see that like anything is possible. And this year having a really great financial year and just, you the expansion I had, I'm like, wow, I just really truly believe that the sky's the limit. And I feel like your beliefs and actions like so much meld together because when you believe something, you take the actions and then you see it happening and then you believe more and then you see it happen more. So it's kind of one of those things where it's really intertwined. But for me, like having that belief has really been incredible and like
shown me a lot of things that I wouldn't think of like I could do. Like starting the agency model. I would have never thought I could do that. Or, you know, having another unmedicated birth. You know, thinking like these things that are hard and challenging, I can actually do them and, you know, anything is possible. So that was a big lesson for me. And the third lesson is going to take me into my conclusion is that business and life is all about ebbs and flows. You have high income months, you have low income months, you have bursts of creative energy, and you have a feeling of like slowness and hibernation and you know, the desire to rest so you can recharge and be ready for more, you know, explosive growth or whatever you want. And all of these stages are good and they're all necessary. And for me, this year, has been a real exciting year for me. Like I said, like it's been a wonderful year in my business with the growth I've seen growing my team and seeing that a lot is possible. And it's been a growth year in my family as well, like adding a third baby to the mix. And it's been wonderful and challenging and you know, really really great just being with the kids and like seeing them love on their siblings. And yeah, I just feel like it's a really sweet time. And with that energy and excitement and growth comes the inevitable, you know, feeling of like I'm ready to rest and I'm ready to recharge and I'm ready to slow down. And especially because my baby, my six month old, is not sleeping through the night, which none of my kids slept through the night in the first year of their life. So this is not, you know, a surprise, but it is starting to wear on me and like not getting good sleep. And I am breastfeeding still. So that is a lot of energy. Also, anyone who breastfeeds will understand that it is very time consuming and exhausting. And so I'm still in the midst of all that with my third and
I think I've mentioned this in the podcast before, but I really want to homeschool my son when he starts kindergarten next year. And so I'm just looking about ways that I can make that happen. And so with all that to say, I'm feeling the strong desire to pull back. And honestly, I've gone back and forth about this a lot, because I'm like, if I push forward, I can hire a project manager, I can hire a designer. I can have all the work running in the background and then I can be the one at the head of it, at the helm, overseeing everything. And I think what I've really come to the conclusion with, while that is definitely an option for me and I see that as maybe in my future, for now I think what I really feel like feels great and right is pulling back a bit.
And because right now I have like five client projects going at what? OK, like like I said, I'm recording this November and I'm like wrapping things up. So I have like five client projects wrapping up and I'm just ready for it to be a little bit quieter, a little bit slower so I can handle it and for it to be a little bit. A little bit less of like a lot of stuff to manage and oversee if and so my thought was in 2025, especially with my kids, the ages that they are, it's hard for me to plan like a year in advance. And so for now, I'm just gonna be planning six months at a time. In six months, my baby will be one and he'll be sleeping through the night, Lord willing, and I will be getting better sleep. And so things will probably change at that time, I'm assuming. But for now, I think I wanna take on one client at a time and do the work.
most of the work on my own and not outsource as much. And that feels so delicious and really good to me. So I think that's the route I'm going for now. And you know, things do change. And I recorded an episode with my copywriter and friend Meg back in September, I think it was. And we were both talking about the growth in our business. And I was saying I'm so excited for agency model and I
thrilled about this and I was talking about all my grand plans and things and you know that has changed since then and you know you're allowed for things to change and evolve and that's exactly why I started this podcast. Like I love talking about the growth and the change that happens in business and I think it's just such a necessary part you know those ebbs and flows and it's a beautiful thing and it's just
part of life and so in business and in like, you know, family and all that stuff. So for now I will be taking a little step back and like I said, I'm going to be on break, a holiday break for December and January. I am going to pause the podcast and I'm hoping to do a little episode where I'm talking about.
I'm thinking I'll do like an episode in January talking about like pausing and what that looks like and how you can work with me and stuff like that. But for now, I am going to be slowing down, taking a rest and that is the goal and hopefully getting some more clarity on what I wanna do when next school year hits and I start homeschooling and I'm looking for clarity and insight and...
just kind of an idea of what feels best for me. And like I said, it's hard for me to plan a lot in advance, but I'm really looking forward to this time of like resting and recharging and getting some good family time in, just baking some cookies during nap time while the little kids are napping, like, you know, baking with my son and doing some fun stuff. Because right now I still am trying to figure out work stuff, trying to wrap up work stuff.
So I'm ready to just put a pause on everything work related and just really spend some time with the kids and just slow down a bit. So I'm really looking forward to it and it feels so nice. So that is what I have for you today. I hope this was encouraging to you and just knowing that, you know, it's great to look back on your year and reflect and write down all your wins and I'm celebrating you. I would love for you to share some of them with me if you wanted to.
You can email me at RuthAnn at rartspace.com. And I would love to, yeah, celebrate with you, cheer you on. But I hope this was also an episode, you know, one where you feel like anything is possible for you. Because I truly believe that I've seen that this year in my life and in my business. Like anything is possible and you can do anything you set your mind to. So I just hope this was encouraging, insightful, and yeah, just.
Yeah, a great episode to... Sorry, let me rephrase that. on.
I hope this episode was encouraging to you knowing that the sky is the limit, knowing that you can do anything and you can make changes. Whether those are like, you know, really growth minded, big, expansive changes, or those are changes where you're slowing down and you're resting and you're taking a little bit of a breather or a break. All of those things are good. And I just want to reaffirm to you that
Any decision you make is the right one. I just feel like part of me thinks success is just pushing ahead and getting a certain dollar amount, part of me knows that that's not true. Success is spending the majority of your time doing things that you truly, truly love. And so I just want to encourage you to think about your own version of success and get that clarity.
and I'm just cheering you on so much. And I'm so thankful for you being here and listening. And I hope 2025 is absolutely beautiful for you. And I will chat with you in the new year.
