My 2015 Future Letter

photo by Brklyn View Photography

Last week I shared a recap from my 2014 future letter. Overall, 2014 was very much a year of personal growth and changes. Between buying & selling homes, moving, leaving my full time job, and adjusting to the all the change - I didn't have the capacity to strategically grow Sincerely, Jackie. Now that all of the big life-changes have happened, I'm excited to spend 2015 refocusing, settling, and growing. 

If today were December 31st, 2015, this is the letter I would hope to be sending back to my past self.

Dear Jackie,

First and foremost, can I just tell you how lovely you look? I know that 2015 has been difficult, in all the best ways, but you really did a great job of taking care of yourself throughout the year. Some days you even ate cake for breakfast, but that's actually pretty awesome. What's life if you can't allow yourself to have a little cake for breakfast every now and then?! You've loved yourself this year, allowed room for grace, and that alone is a huge accomplishment.

Your heart grew as you continued to love on your clients in wonderful ways. Sincerely, Jackie has always been about more than the invitations - it's about the experience, the memory, and the joy that comes from celebrating marriage. While balancing design, quality, and clients isn't always easy - at the end of the day your clients all knew how much love and heart you poured into them. You just want to hug all of your sweet couples, and that's a great feeling to end the year with.

In addition to loving on your clients, you've found ways to bring your professional coaching and mentoring background into your life again. You've always been so passionate about giving, teaching, and growing other people and it was hard to leave that profession when you went full-time as Sincerely, Jackie. This year you took on new employees, worked with other industry professionals, and shared your heart and soul in ways that helped other women follow their dreams and improve their own businesses.

Now that Sincerely, Jackie is your full time job, you've made some really big-girl decisions to improve your own business on the backend. You've found ways to continue giving couples the absolute best invitations, while also increasing your own income. You were much more strategic about how you spent your hard-earned dollars and in the places where you invested in yourself. Yes, there are still folks out there that think "artsy" businesses are just side hobbies, but you've proved that Sincerely, Jackie is more than a hobby, it's a legit business.

Speaking of hobbies, you did get back to your creative roots and began painting again. You took a few classes, just, you know, to brush up on those skills that haven't been used in *ahem* 10 years. Finding ways to bring fine art and creativity into your life again has been like chicken soup to the soul, and has even improved your design process. I'm proud of you for trying new things, that weren't really new, but sure felt like it.

Overall, 2015 has been a year of finding yourself. Or maybe not so much finding yourself, but allowing yourself to really come through in everything you do. From creating beautiful invitations to taking up painting again and mentoring other small business owners; you really allowed room for you to do the things you loved. By doing that, you've grown a business and life that you absolutely adore. Congratulations on another challenging, beautiful year, and here's to a wonderful 2016!

Sincerely,

Future

Come back every Thursday for a coffee (or tea!) date. During our coffee dates, I let my hair down and chat a bit more personally about whatever's on my mind, as if we were old friends catching up over a cup of java at the local coffee house. See you next week!