This time of year brings out my most introspective, reflective side and I love to take time to look back on what has happened in my life during the past year. As I began to look back at the good moments and the hard moments, the goals set and the goals achieved, and the opportunities presented I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for each one of you who take the time to read, comment, message, encourage, share and engage with my content. I feel so lucky to have people surrounding me who are so supportive and truly cheer me on in the moments when things start to feel discouraging or overwhelming. I want to foster a community where that is the norm.
Content creation is my hobby, not my job. In full transparency, I’ve actually made no money doing this because I did not feel I had the time or energy to pursue that type of opportunity. That has allowed for this space to stay a fairly “low pressure” aspect of my life because I’ve been able to share with full openness and only promote things I truly love.
I’ve thought a lot about what I want this space to be in the upcoming year and I want those underlying values of transparency and genuine connection to be the two pillars everything else is built on. While I do have more concrete goals of starting to incorporate a (very select) few paid partnerships, I do not want to lose sight of those two foundational pillars. While this is not my job, it is work (albeit, enjoyable work). And something that I’m leaning into more this year is to recognize when I deserve to be compensated for my work and when I can achieve more than I may have believed in the past.
This year I will be saying “no” to more and also asking for more (specifically from brands and partners). My commitment to you is that I will never do anything or promote anything that is out of alignment with the trust we have created here.
For the sake of tracking and accountability, I’m going to write out a few of the goals I have:
- Work on 6 paid partnerships in 2021 with brands that are in line with my content.
- Regularly update the “shop” sections of Ebb & Bide so they are current (full disclosure: these are often affiliate links – which means I get a very small commission when purchases are made though them).
- Post at least 4x a month on Ebb & Bide.
- Build up my email list and begin a monthly newsletter.
Sending so much love your way and thank you again for being here.
Xx
