2018 - In Review
Guided by the intention to ‘Release’
Hi! 🙋🏻
Happy Holidays? …well, technically, there are holidays every month so it’s ok, right? My thoughts...this is the time of year when the decorations have come down, the excitement has started to dissipate, and we’re back to the regular day to day when BAM! You get slapped with a piece of actual mail 📬in your mailbox and all is happy and bright! I hope my card makes you chuckle a bit, brings some joy, gives you the chance to get swept back to memories of holiday cheer and think about the incredible times ahead for you in the new year. As life moves quickly and it’s not always easy to stay in touch or even up to date, I decided to put together a little “2018 In Review” recap on what I’ve been up to and plans for what I’m getting into! AND would love to hear from you!
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The past year, well a couple of years, have been quite the adventure! I am grateful for the blessings, lessons, and growth that came from it all — and even more grateful for all of you! Since the highlight reel on social media just begins to scratch the surface of my wild ride, I figured, heck, a new year is a great time to write some things down, reconnect with friends, and say cheers 🥂. My intentions for 2018 (something I started last year — setting intentions rather than making resolutions) were to #release & #build - woooo babay! Coming out on the flip side, they were the perfect guiding principles to lead me through. For 2019, I choose #JOY (even before the Marie Kondo KonMari method show debuted 😜) joy in life, in work, in love, in learning, and any other adventures I can infuse joy into — And I truly wish for the utmost joy for all of you!
LOOKING BACK & MOVING FORWARD
The Good - My plan of action for the year was to release from what didn’t serve me, to decide what I really want out of life, and to build a structure to turn my goals into reality.
The Bad - Interestingly enough, when you decide to go all-in on building ‘the life you’re meant for’ ‘a purpose-driven existence’ ‘your best life’ or however you choose to phrase the next level of intentional living — the crazy starts bubbling up to challenge you and coming out of the woodwork to test your chops… So, I’m going to lump all the “bad” into one run-on paragraph to keep it quick… Lux got attacked by two dogs walking down our street (thankfully he was ok, and is now all healed up), we experienced death in the family, my car got stolen (silver lining…I found it a week later with only a few things broken/missing), I broke a tooth on a home-made turkey taco 🌮= root canal (yes that actually happened), found out with mere days to spare that the IRS was getting ready to seize my assets due to a clerical error (after a few hours/days of sorting things out, they didn’t), my car died…for good, I moved…to a 4th-floor walk-up, and a few more ‘fun’ things that we don’t need to get into…I was strugglin’.
Then, the Incredible -
FWD (For Women & Diversity) Collective expanded to our 3rd city! We now host events in Chicago, San Francisco, and Indianapolis. FWD is a community I started back in 2016 dedicated to professional inclusion, celebrating diversity, and connecting our professional experiences - to who we are as people, bringing together the heart, mind, and bottom line. Check out what we’re up to for 2019 on the website here! 🙌🏾🙌🏼🙌🏿
Clark Patrick Donnelly —Clark the Shark 💙👶🏻🦈— was born 9/17/18 to my brother Quinn and his amazing wife Maria. Everyone is healthy and happy. I am obsessed with his devious little grin and one sided dimple, and am in awe of how smart he is at only a few months old! We’re all already wrapped around his tiny fingers.
I had the honor and privilege to speak at a few events including Notre Dame Idea Week, Glappitnova, Creative Women’s Co, iCan Collective, Creative Tech Expo, SoGal Ventures, and Chicago Ideas Week (pictured) during the Biggest Mistake session, key takeaway, “When you learn how to value and manage your time, you go from surviving to thriving.”
Took on a new adventure! I joined the team at Elevate leading Business Development. If you’re looking for a killer digital web dev agency that believes good design has the power to transform the world of e-commerce, holler at your girl! Curious 💻? Check out some of the incredible work we’ve done for L’Oréal, Hanes, Lancôme, or SOLO on the website.
My cousins and I took 1st place in a boat parade competition on Big Crooked Lake in Sister Lakes for our annual 🇺🇸America themed pontooning adventure, there were definitely acrobatic acts included in our performance…some might say we were ‘extra’ — it was worth it. 🏆⛵️
While at Collision Conference in New Orleans I had the opportunity to meet and interview Susan N. Herman the President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Stay tuned for details on our incredible convo— I have some ‘media projects’ 🎥🎤⚙ re-launching this year (after I get out my head about it that is).
+ I spent some time oiling up and meditating and learning how to clear the past (have a great person I can send you to if you’re curious!) 💆🏻♀️
+ I determined my purpose and guiding principle for this phase of my life “I build connections and am a catalyst for positive change”
+ I committed to using a guided journal 📖to help shape my goals and set intentions (I went with Best Self Journal - if you end up checking it out use code BestSelfFWD for a discount on me! ) - AND I’m always looking to learn about what others find useful for productivity, so please send your tips and tricks my way!
+ I read 6 books 📚(tracking on Goodreads, let’s connect so we can share lists!)
+ I built this website (with some help from my friend Courtney 👯) —click around! Check ‘er out!
+ I’m continuing to learn, as much as I can from all of this, and from all of you. And because of that, I am setting a new goal to write it down and share… 👩🏻💻
On that note, there’s always more I could say, but this feels like a good place to…
SO, WHAT’S NEXT
A year filled with joy, and hopefully the opportunity to see all of your smiling faces more often!
Big love,
