What. A. Year.
I’m sitting here, thinking about what to write after tallying up some of the “numbers” for this itty bitty business and all the things I have accomplished…and I don’t even know where to start. I guess I should start with the fact that I was pretty pregnant at the start of the year :) where all my goals I set really depended on how things would go after welcoming baby #2 into our lives. Literally, on my spreadsheet where I list my weekly/monthly to-do items stopped around April when Nathan was born.
With two little ones, the days feel like a blur, so my brain definitely *head explodes* when I try to recount all that has happened. It’s definitely been amazing.
In 2023, I came out with 23 new products (4 prints, 6 enamel pins, 11 greeting cards, 2 red envelopes), worked on 5 custom-type projects, fully updated my wholesale catalog and slowly put in more efforts in the wholesale side of things, vended at one of the biggest holiday fairs - SJ Made Holiday Fair, which is huuuge for me because I really wasn’t sure if I could do it with the 2 littles. I also continued to stay engaged on social media as best I could - Stephen and I made some fun reels together; I started to branch off to post little illustrator tips, etc. My goal at the start of the year was to double my sales from the previous year and to add 5-10 wholesale accounts to my list - both goals achieved!
On the less tangible side of things are the meaningful connections I continue to make with customers and small business owners. I say this over and over again, but it always remains true. That is, your words and support really do keep me going. On days where I question whether printing greeting cards is worth anything, you definitely pull me out of my rut.
On a personal level - I now have an 8-month-old baby and a just-turned-3 yo toddler. Is that crazy or what? Nathan can now sit up and is starting to crawl while Emmett, now potty trained, transitioned to a new school and is thriving in his speaking, singing, make-believe abilities. There are moments in the day where everything feels really hard, but the calm and happy moments far outweighs those crappy times. On top of it all, as I am still working as a dietitian, I can say that I am doing well at my job and hopefully making meaningful and positive impacts for my patients. It is silly to say this out loud, but I go through many moments where I feel like I am not doing enough. This post here is a reminder to myself that I definitely am. Thank you, 2023.