It’s that time again–New Year’s Eve.
Eleven years ago today, I began my tradition of taking time to reflect on the past year and celebrate all the events and blessings that I experienced over those previous 12 months. It’s a chance to give thanks to all the people who helped make it all possible. Different from my “Year End Review” ritual, this Year in Review is a great way to stop, if only for a day, to rest and remember all that this year offered.
Over these 11 years of this tradition, there have been so many spectacular moments, each year seeming like it couldn’t possibly be outdone by the following one. But they always seem to somehow do just that.
But what I love about 2018, is that it sort of lives in a league of its own.
This was the year, I stepped into a new version of me. My word for 2018 was Thrive. And Thrive I did.
This year, I set only 1 goal, and absolutely crushed it. This year, family finally took priority over my career. This year, I changed more lives with my work than in any year before. This year, my successes were bigger and more impactful than any other year of my life, but they were also different–somehow quieter, but more deeply moving for me personally in every possible way.
This year–2018, was the year that I feel like I connected with my purpose at a level that I never have before. It was like every other year of my life happened to prepare me perfectly for right now.
So unlike my previous Year in Review posts, when I chronologically listed each blessing and achievement by month, this time I am going to mix it up and talk about what I am most proud of first….
DesignYou, my new online coaching program, launched June 1, 2018 after a year of development and a spectacular Beta test period with 100 of my previous consulting and mastermind members, that absolutely blew my expectations of this program and our members out of the water. Growing like crazy month over month, DesignYou is helping creative female (and a few male) entrepreneurs transform their mindset, their schedule and their business model to have less “busy” in their lives and a whole lot more health, wealth and joy. This program is the most affordable, yet most in-depth program I have ever created. And I have many new features and plans for DesignYou launching in 2019. DesignYou is just getting started and I can’t wait to see what I say about this program 12 months from now. I am most grateful for our 150 members of this program so far, for taking big leaps, getting out of their comfort zones, and doing things they didn’t even believe were possible. Each of you inspire me more than you know.
The DesignYou Podcast was also born in 2018, in April. It’s where I talk (for free) about so many of the things we tackle in my DesignYou Coaching program. Each Thursday, a whole lot of mindset and life coaching concepts meet business ideas on the show. I am now on episode 40 and I have truly loved every minute of being a podcaster. And the feedback, ratings and reviews from all of my listeners has been so positive and rewarding. Most weeks it’s just me teaching a concept I am passionate about, but I’ve had a handful of guests this year that I want to thank for being on the show including Sarah Wittenbraker, Amanda Gates, Suzy Rosenstein, and LuAnn Nigara. Those episodes were some of the most popular to date. So thanks ladies for helping me change people’s lives and businesses in 2018 and beyond!
Another bright spot of 2018, we recently started the Design You Podcast Facebook Community where all our listeners who want to connect with other like-minded creatives, can join our group (all are welcome, you just have to request to join) and discuss podcast topics, share ideas and find accountability partners for goal setting and a whole lot more in this growing community. And I hang out in there some too, bringing ideas and motivation to the group to say no to busy and yes to a life and business they truly love! Thanks to all of you who have joined so far. We have fun things planned for you in the new year.
Being a Mom and Wife in 2018 was definitely THE highlight for me. After years of saying my family was my priority, this year, I walked the talk in a whole new way. Attending every Volleyball game, Pom Squad Performance, hosting parties and gatherings, going to ballgames and on vacations (Hello Disney World, Aruba, Dallas, and New York!), and making holiday events special for my people, filled me up like no other year before. And having the blessing of running my coaching program online now, instead of traveling to live events all year, made being with my peeps more doable than ever. Thanks Family! You are the reason I do all that I do.
Interior Design and Entertaining were still a big part of my life in 2018 and I am so grateful for all the great press, especially from At Home in Arkansas Magazine. They were so kind to feature one of my favorite projects, the home of my own builder and realtor (who are an amazing husband and wife duo), in the October Issue. Thanks At Home in Arkansas and a big thanks to the Harp family, too!
And in May, At Home in Arkansas and I launched a 5-part entertaining series that will wrap up early next year. So I enjoyed celebrating Mother’s Day, Summer Vacation, Halloween, Christmas and in 2019, Valentine’s Day, with the At Home readers. Thank you, again, to the team at At Home in Arkansas for making all these beautiful features come to life.
I continued my partnerships with so many great licensing partners this year including Woodbridge Furniture, who I launched new product with, both in Spring and Fall of 2018. My Collette cain-back chair (above) was one of those stunning and successful pieces. A HUGE hanks to the team at Woodbridge. They value family more than any other company I have ever worked with, and they made it possible for me to create gorgeous furniture while putting my family first all year long. Thank you! Thank you! And my family thanks you, too!
And it was another year of working with my all-time favorite clients, including completing and installing a fabulous Condo in Dallas and wrapping up a dreamy beach house in Florida (see the construction pic above), that I will install just three weeks from now. Plus there were other fantastic projects right here in Little Rock, that are wrapping up early 2019, too. All of these projects will be photographed soon, and I can’t wait to show you how fab they really are. I want to say a gigantic thank you to my clients. I think the group of people that I have worked with this year are the kindest group of clients ever. Thank you for making my job so easy and so much fun!
High Point Furniture market in the Spring was super memorable, when I was a keynote speaker sponsored by ASID to over 200 people. My talk all about why it’s harder than ever to charge what you are worth as a creative, was a huge hit. I spoke to an amazing and energized crowd and I am thankful for the rave reviews. Many on social media said I was the highlight of their trip. Thank You Designers and Creatives. I loved every moment of that event! Let’s do it again, soon.
Something I did for myself this year, was attend The Feel Good Summit, hosted by Dr. Mark Hyman in Southern California. It was a fabulous event that I attended in June with my Mom. Health and Wellness is such an important part of my life now, and the inspirational speakers at this event helped me take my wellness to a new level. What I learned at this inaugural Feel Good Summit is influencing my 2019 in a HUGE way (more on that later this week)! And an added perk was listening to many influencers and speakers at the event that I’ve followed for years, including one of my favorites, Marie Forleo.
Content creation was an enormous part of 2018. The number of hours I spent writing and in development this year is mind-boggling. I completely re-vamped (and I mean COMPLETELY) my most popular course ever Designer MBA now called Designer MBA: How to Master Your Pricing, Profits, Schedule, and Social Media in Today’s Design World. Plus, I created an all-new signature course for competing in the ever-changing online space called Designer MBA 2.0: How to Scale, Automate, and Digitally Market Your Design Business. And as if these 2 courses weren’t already enough, I created 12 months of video content and workbooks for my DesignYou Program that mail out to our members each month to help them change their lives and businesses in big ways. This work is changing so many lives by bringing together my Interior Design background, my business coaching background and experience, my life coaching certification and my wellness coaching certification. How fun it was to put all my expertise together in one place to make a difference in the lives of so many creative entrepreneurs like me! Thanks to my team for helping me pull off the sometimes grueling schedule it took to create all the courses and content this year. I could not have done any of it without you!
And one really exciting bit of content I created this year got rave reviews, when we had over 600 people sign up for my Online webinar in October. The response blew my mind and I have more killer webinars coming for Free in 2019 to help you create a life and business you absolutely love! Thanks to all 600 of you who registered and the hundreds who attended live. It was exhilarating for me and I hope it was life-changing for you and the way you run your business.
To top off all the content creation, earlier this month, I recorded the first 30 episodes of my new “Tobi Show” launching on Youtube, Facebook and IGTV next week. Doing video in a big way has long been on my to-do list and thanks to my team, including Dallin at Content Supply, this dream is coming true for 2019.
And speaking of my team, let me just be super clear…none of this, not even all the time with my family, would be possible without the amazing team that I have grown this year. My right arm gal, Devin, has been instrumental in every part of 2018 and it’s success. And we added 12 virtual team members to our in person team of 3 this year to make all the programs, courses, video content and more happen the way it did.
It’s remarkable and mind-bending when I think about where all these team members live and work from, to make all my online launches, content creation, and social media strategies come together for me this year including Texas, Michigan, Kansas, New York, Oregon, North Carolina, California, Tennessee, Denmark, Canada, and Israel. Team Tobi literally went global in 2018!
So there it is, friends. My 2018 in a nutshell. It far exceeded my dreams this year and maybe for the first time ever, I feel like I accomplished all that I set out to and more. It feels so good to close the year feeling proud, fulfilled and utterly satisfied. My DesignYou members, aren’t the only ones feeling the freedom that comes with less busy and a whole lot more health, wealth and whole-hearted joy!
Again, thank you to each and every one of you who helped me make all these things possible. I am so grateful for each of you, from the bottom of my heart.
Wishing you a 2019 full of health, prosperity, love and joy!
xo,
