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Well hello there, Q2!
I would say that the first three months of 2023 went by quickly, but in my world, January felt like 32 years like it always does, February felt fast and March has felt like a repeat of January. š
In Q4 of last year I decided that I was going to use Q1 as a foundational quarter for my business which meant taking on ZERO new 1:1 clients and very few one-off projects.
When I started my business last year, I honestly wasnāt prepared for how quickly it would grow, so I knew I needed to intentionally slow down, get a few actual systems and processes in order and focus on serving the people that I already had very well.
As I enter Q2, Iām excited for the foundational and intentional work Iāve done to open more doors and opportunities while also allowing me to continue showing up for my people the best way I know how!
Before I enter any new season (whether it be a new year, new quarter or really new anything) I loveeee to reflect. I believe that reflection is a form of gratitude because youāre taking time to truly recognize what youāve accomplished while also setting your sights on whatās to come.
Itās easy to fall into the rat race of life and business without fully recognizing the impact that youāre making, so taking the intentional time to reflect is super important!
So before I embrace Q2 with open arms, I want to look back on Q1 for my business (and life in general) and recognize what has happened in the last 90 days before I dive into what the next 90 hold.
Q1 By The Numbers
44 blogs posts written for clients
37 emails written for clients
13 blog posts written and published for myself
13 Notes From Natty sent
7 1:1 clients served
4 pilates classes attended (RIP to that membership - read why!)
3 a-la-carte blog projects completed
2 new 1:1 clients signed for Q2
1 networking event
1 week of full vacation at an all-inclusive Cabo resort
1 brand photoshoot (more on that here!)
Exceeded last years total business income in Q1 alone
Favorite Q1 Moments
One thing about me is that I loveeee a celebration of any kind and Iām pretty obsessed with making moments in life.
I love an excuse to create a balloon arch, plan a party with a theme and just make ordinary things feel extraordinary.
Fun fact: I love this kind of stuff so much that I once had a side business dedicated to this very thing. My sister and I bought a vintage camper (her name was Stella!) and turned it into an event photo op (because weāre both the type of people who will go out of our way to take a pic for the āgram).
Through this biz, I created what I called the Moment Maker newsletter and it was designed as a way to provide inspiration for people to make intentional moments in their everyday life. And of course there was a blog for it!
Through that, I learned that some things are truly just better off as a hobby, so while we no longer run that biz, the passion behind making moments is still alive and well.
Which brings me to a few of my favorite moments of Q1:
My husbandās birthday celebration
Birthdays in our house are a big dealā¦ along with basically every major holiday and a few random national days.
My husbandās birthday falls the same week as Valentineās day, so I typically claim that holiday as mine to plan. We usually go on some sort of weekend trip, but this year we had a trip to Cabo planned a few weeks after (more on that in a minute), so we decided two trips in the same month probably werenāt necessary.
I still wanted to make his birthday special, so I decorated our house for the entire week and had one present for him to open each day of his birthday week.
His birthday fell on a Saturday, so his Friday gift revealed our plans for his actual birthday. Heās not a huge going out type of guy, so instead of planning any elaborate outing, I decided we were going to turn our living room into the ultimate movie night setup and it was SO. FUN.
I documented it on TikTok in case you want to steal the idea!
Our trip to Cabo for my bestieās wedding
This was a trip we had been anticipating for over a year, so when the time finally came we were so excited.
I had never been out of the country before aside from a cruise and it was falling at the perfect time. January in Georgia is honestly sort of depressing (rainy and cold for days on end) and I NEEDEDDDD the sunshine.
Even though I was excited, this was the first vacation I would be taking as a business owner, so I was also nervous about what taking the time off would look like.
I wanted to be able to unplug and really be in vacation and celebration mode. So, in an effort to make that happen, I essentially did 3 weeks worth of client work in a short amount of time ā and honestly I didnāt feel any sort of overwhelm or burn out while doing this.
I was doing the work that must be done so that I could fully enjoy the things that mean the most to me and it was really cool to prove to myself that I could do it.
When we arrived in Cabo, I was able to be fully present, consume as many frozen drinks that I wanted (havenāt drank a marg since we returned š) and celebrate my bestie just like she deserved!
My morning routine
I know, I knowā¦ my morning routine is a favorite moment? Really? Yes really!
Iāve basically had the same morning routine since 2019 - wake up between 4:30-5 AM, read my Bible, write in my prayer journal and read a chapter of a personal/professional development book. (Hereās a typical day in my life in case youāre obsessed with that kind of thing like I am!)
Near the end of last year, I somehow got out of the routine of reading and I lost the habit altogether. And once Iām out of a habit, itās REALLY hard for me to get back into it again.
Since January Iāve been saying, āI need to start reading againā and I just never would pick up a freaking book. Until earlier this month!
My friend Nicole gifted me Kendra Scottās memoir, Born to Shine, and it had been sitting on my bookshelf since December. One morning I just decided to pick it up and read a chapter. Before I knew it, I had to force myself to put the book down each morning.
And Iām happy to report that Iām now on my second personal development book of the month! The habit is back and honestly thatās one of my biggest wins of Q1. šš»
It might seem small and simple, but usually the small and simple things are what add up in a huge way.
Favorite Q1 Investments
Iāve always been a pretty slow buyer in life. Iāve heard it said that thereās tortoises and hares when it comes to buying and until recently I would say that I fell into the tortoise category without a doubt.
What this means is that I tend to need a lot of details, facts and information before making a buying decision, whereas people who are hares donāt typically need all of that.
Well, when I started my own business, I noticed that this slowly started to shift. I slowly became willing to invest in more things that felt aligned with what I was needing in life or in business.
In Q1 alone, I invested about $3,000 in the form of courses, resources and tools (not including platforms that I use daily like FloDesk and HoneyBook) and the really cool part is that Iāve used all but one of those investments.
Which means Iāve proved to myself that I am investing in the right things which has built my confidence to keep investing as I see fit.
I guess you could say Iāve improved my money mindset? I didnāt exactly see it like that until now, but here we are.
A few of my favorite investments in Q1 include:
My co-working space
Until recently, Iāve always loved working from home. I like my cozy office with my perfectly lighted lamp (I refuse to use the ābig lightā) and my blankie.
But at the end of last year, I noticed that I wasnāt being as productive as I once was working from home. Itās like all of a sudden I was feeling distracted by things that had always been around, so I knew something needed to change.
I decided to join a co-working space thatās a town over from where I live and I challenged myself to work out of the house 2-3x per week.
The space is located in a super cute area with coffee shops in walking distance (which is perfect for the days that āI just need a little treatā - ahem, which is everyday) and itās honestly just a vibe.
10/10 recommend finding a co-working space near you if the WFH life is no longer giving.
Jenn Bougheyās 2.0 Foundations Course
In 2022, I experienced a lot of change and while I do consider myself to be someone that is in tune with her mindset and has a fairly positive outlook even in challenging situations, I was in search of some real tools to help me overcome some things that I just couldnāt seem to work through on my own.
Iāve known and followed Jenn Boughey for years and sheās always been my go-to for mindset and thought work, but I wanted to work with her on a deeper level.
As luck would have it, she was opening enrollment for her 2.0 Foundations course at the beginning of the year, which really focuses on defining who you want your 2.0 self to be and then actually doing the work to become that.
The course came with weekly coaching and thatās really where the magic happened. I learned so much about myself, the limiting beliefs I was holding onto and ultimately defined who I wanted to be and started doing the actual work it takes to get there.
Before signing up for this, I had chosen āFoundationā to be my word of the year and when this course popped up, it just felt like everything was aligning!
After the 6 weeks were over, I knew I wanted to stay in this work and it just so happens that Jenn was in the midst of launching her ongoing membership: The TRIBE.
I didnāt even think twice about joining and now Iām involved in a community of like-minded women working on common things for their own life.
Honestly, Iāve always been an email loverā¦ probably because Iāve spent a lot of my career writing emails, so naturally I love to receive them (when theyāre good, that is).
Last year I somehow found myself subscribed to a few newsletters that I reallyyyyy love and BTLās tops that list!
Iāve talked about Sara at BTL Copy before and Iāll continue to talk about her because I have learned SO much from her when it comes to marketing, copywriting and emails specifically.
Last year I launched my own newsletter, Notes From Natty, with the hope of bringing some extra joy to your inbox each week and when BTL announced she was doing a course all about email marketing, I wanted in so that I could make sure I was serving you through email the best I can!
If you want to up your email game in any way (i.e. create your first lead magnet, improve your current lead magnet, learn what the heck a welcome sequence is, craft your own newsletter, etc.) I canāt recommend this course enough!
(P.S. if youāre reading this post on the day it was published - 3/29/23 - BTL is running a special on this course until April 3rd which means you can get it for only $197!)
Lessons Learned in Q1 Specifically
Alignment > Achievement
In my lifetime, I have a track record of overcommitting. Itās not something that Iām necessarily proud of and it honestly probably stems from my people pleasing and high achieving tendencies.
Iāve always known that managing your time and saying ānoā to things that donāt align with your goals are important, but I didnāt realize the real importance of each of these things until I had my own business.
My perspective on a lot of things have shifted now that Iām a business owner and because Iāve worked to really define my goals and have a clear picture of what I want in life (thanks to 2.0 Foundations that I mentioned above), Iāve learned that living in alignment is actually greater than achievement.
Where I once was obsessed with setting goals with the hope of achieving a certain result, the goal for my life now is to always be in alignment with whatās most important to me.
And for that to really happen, Iāve had to recognize and be honest with myself about what I love doing (and what I donāt), who I like working with (and who I donāt) and ultimately where I should be spending my (and where I shouldnāt).
Iāve said more ānoāsā in Q1 than I honestly probably have in my whole life (okay, thatās maybe an exaggeration, but it really is way more than I used to be comfortable with) and for the first time the ānoāsā havenāt scared me and thatās because Iām crystal clear on whatās most important and feel confident making decisions and taking action on those things alone!
You canāt do everything at once.
Last year when my business really started taking off, I found myself wanting to do a lottttt of things all at once. Itās like my list of to-doās and ideas was just never ending and even though that list was full of good things that truly should be done, I had to recognize that not everything can be done at once.
When youāre passionate about something, thatās often hard to accept, but I knew that if I didn't step back and intentionally prioritize, then things wouldnāt be done well and thatās the opposite of what I wanted.
In December I went through my idea / āwant to doā list and put Q1, Q2, Q3 or Q4 beside each item. So essentially I was planning my entire 2023 without fully realizing it. š
Now, I have priorities for each quarter and Iāve been able to compartmentalize what needs my attention first.
The key is that I didnāt let myself only focus on the fun stuff. There are some things on that list that are way more fun than others, but some of the not-so-fun things were actually more important.
Which is why Q1 was full of behind the scene business things, like streamlining my contracts and invoicing through HoneyBook, refining my services and nailing down my client onboarding process.
Without those things in place first, I probably wouldnāt be able to manage or enjoy the fun of marketing on Pinterest or having a pretty new website (which are both fun things that are coming soon š).
Seven days at an all-inclusive resort isnāt for me.
Remember that Cabo trip I mentioned? It truly was one of my favorite moments of Q1, but it also taught me that 7 days at an all-inclusive resort isnāt my vacation of choice.
Iām glad we went and experienced it, but Iām 100% more of a 5 day, long weekend style vacationer. And I like to be on the go, seeing, experiencing and doing the MOST in one trip.
This is probably why I loved our honeymoon road trip so much in 2021! (lemme know if you want that Arizona/Utah/Colorado itinerary)
Overall, I would say that Q1 set me up to embrace Q2 and the rest of the year really well. I have a clear vision of what I want (and what I donāt), so Iām able to focus on the right things at the right time for the right people.
Iām looking forward to continuing to serve my existing clients, grow relationships with my new clients that recently signed on AND meeting people that I donāt even know exist yet ā are you one of them?! If so, come introduce yourself here!
What You Can Expect From Natty Writes in Q2
New blog posts every Wednesday (these arenāt going anywhere!)
A new edition of Notes From Natty in your inbox every Friday morning
A refresh of The Beginnerās Guide to Blogging For Your Business
More availability for a-la-carte blog projects (inquire here if youāre in need)
More spots for the Blog Writing Starter Pack (now booking for April & May)
Hereās to the next 90 š
- Natty