Last year was the hardest year I’ve EVER had since starting my business 14 years ago…
In this blog, I’m going to get REAL with you about what happened, how it impacted me (and my business) and what I’m doing differently moving forward.
Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex. Coming at ya this week with the REAL, TOUGH TRUTH about life as an entrepreneur.
There are highs, and there are lows, and… sometimes there are ROCK BOTTOMS.
Last year, I felt dangerously close to major burnout.
Since starting my business back in 2011, I’ve had plenty of low moments…
But 2024 felt like one massive low moment after another.
It all started in late 2023 when my dog, Tater, chased a deer off a 14-foot cliff on a remote island off the coast of Vancouver.
I was the only one with her…
Luckily, my Dad heard her scream and mine, and ran over from their house to help me carry my little baby back up the cliff. I’m still not sure how we did it with one arm.
The fall left her badly injured and completely paralyzed from the mid-back down.
We were hundreds of miles and an ocean away from the nearest vet hospital…
The accident happened at 8:30 in the morning on a Saturday of a holiday long weekend and the ONLY float plane arriving on the island that day would be landing at 9am…
And it was a 20-minute drive to get to the dock.
Jaxon and I got into the car and drove like mad to meet the plane. I was still in my PJs, covered in mud. Tater was in shock. And so was I…
We managed to get on the plane and land in Vancouver 25 minutes later, where my best friend was waiting to drive us to the vet hospital 40 minutes away…
When we finally got to the hospital, we found out she had a serious spinal cord injury and they weren’t sure if she’d be able to walk again.
It was absolutely devasting.
We were able to take Tater home 3 days later and we spent the next 6 MONTHS waiting on her around the clock…
Between cleaning her catheter, carrying her around 24/7, doing rehab exercises every few hours and waking up every 1-2 hours to help her move, lick and scratch, I was REALLY struggling…
And ALL of this happened right in the middle of a big launch, that I decided NOT to cancel.
Looking back on it now, I realize that I was in survival mode and completely suppressing my emotions.
I tried to just be “thankful” that Tater was alive, and kept minimizing the trauma of the accident. Guess how that turned out? Ya…
And I spent nearly ALL of 2024 dealing with major PTSD and finally doing the work I needed to do. And to be honest, I’m still doing it.
But during that time, everything and I mean EVERYTHING in my business, felt incredibly hard.
Even though I was creating new memberships and mini-courses and even hosted my first ever LIVE event…
And I’m sure from the outside looking in, it seemed like everything was fine.
The truth was, I was dealing with EXTREME self-doubt, criticism and depression.
Every time a launch didn’t hit its goals…
Every time my engagement dipped…
Every month where revenue was lower than my business expenses…
I was really starting to question EVERYTHING.
It felt like I had never worked so hard or put so much effort into growing my business.
I was spending more money on ads than ever before…
I was segmenting my list for the first time ever…
I was building out more complex funnels…
I was continuing to post videos every week on YouTube…
I was filming short-form video content like crazy…
I was invited to speak at masterminds and inside private communities…
I was doing ALL the things.
But it was like swimming upstream through a river of clay.
The funny thing was, despite having some MAJOR wins last year… I felt like I was FAILING.
Failing as a wife. Failing as a friend. Failing as a boss. Failing as a mentor and a coach. I felt like I was letting EVERYONE down.
I started to question everything…
It wasn’t until I started opening up about my struggles to my closest friends and mentors that I started to feel less alone.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one feeling the struggle of a hard year…
EVERYONE ELSE WAS FEELING IT TOO.
And while it DID make me feel better that I wasn’t the only one struggling, I KNEW that I couldn’t survive another year in my business like this.
I started to question EVERYTHING I’m doing in my business….
About HOW I can show up differently in 2025…
About how I can STOP “just going through the motions”…
About how I can be more INTENTIONAL with my marketing efforts…
About how I can SIMPLIFY things and make my business FUN and ENJOYABLE again…
About how I can create more play, connection and impact…
And here’s what I came up with… let me know what you think…
IT’S TIME TO GET BACK TO WHAT MATTERS.
Where, more Content shifts to → more Connection.
Where a focus on Transactions shifts to a focus Trust building.
Where Automation shifts to Authenticity.
Where Information — which is cheap — shifts to Insights, which is invaluable.
And where marketing becomes more MEANINGFUL.
So in 2025, I’m dedicated to doing less, to accomplish more.
It’s time to stop the scramble!
So for starters, in 2025, I’ll be focusing on…
#1 – Go Deep, Not Broad
Now, I’m no economist, although I do have a Business Degree with a major in Economics.
So I DO know the basic economic principle that the more available something becomes, the less valuable it is.
And on the flip side, the more exclusive (or less available) something becomes, the more valuable it is.
And thanks to AI, content is cheap – basically FREE.
A 5-year-old could literally create it at the touch of a finger…
So now that “content” is cheap, I’m totally re-evaluating the type of content and conversations I want to have.
The Internet is a cesspool of boring content that is utterly exhausting to sort through.
So, purely based on economics, AI-generated content is essentially VALUE-LESS.
But, connection, which is in increasingly short supply, just became a LOT more valuable.
Which is why, from now on, my content – including YouTube videos, blogs, social media captions, my offers, emails – EVERYTHING….
It will be all about CONTEXT & CONNECTION. Which AI totally lacks, by the way.
So, while I might not be pumping out as much content as I did last year…
It will be DEEPER and more meaningful than ever before.
I’m talking about sharing more real stories, more funny memes, more random things that make me laugh, more FUN!
And of course…
I’ll still be sharing values-based opinions, expertise & authority, but in a more uncensored, unfiltered, and REAL way.
The next thing I’ll be focusing on is…
#2 – Real, Direct, Personalized Advice
Last year, it seemed like everywhere I turned and everyone I spoke to all had the same thing to say when I asked them how things were going…
- “I’m slammed…”
- “With everything going on in my personal life, I have less time for my business.”
- “I feel like I’m working harder/more and making less.”
YUP. I felt exactly the same.
And because of this, I noticed a BIG DIP in the attendance rates of my live calls — across the board.
And I’m not just talking about my free masterclass show-up rates…
I’m talking about my HIGH LEVEL mastermind calls. That people are paying THOUSANDS of dollars a year to be a part of.
If attendance rates on THOSE calls are going down, there’s something wrong.
To me, this is a big clue that – despite not changing a damn thing. And, in some cases, even adding in MORE support and accountability…
Something is shifting.
And while I don’t necessarily know what the answer is yet…
I did make some changes to my Launch Pad program this year to deliver training lessons in smaller bite-sized steps.
And I’m looking for other ways to make learning faster and easier in ALL my Posse programs and memberships.
Because at the end of the day, customer experience is EVERYTHING.
So what this looks like for me is…
- Helping my people achieve the specific & real results they’re looking for.
- Delivering helpful, timely and personalized support.
- Showing up for my community – going LIVE, answering their questions, and showing them that I am HERE for them.
- And making my content as easy to consume as possible.
In 2025, I’ll focus LESS on constantly running that hamster wheel of “new content.”…
And MORE on making sure the customers I already have feel fully supported and have everything they need to succeed.
Because THAT is what feels good to me.
And THAT is why I started my business in the first place.
Alright, the last thing I’m focusing on in 2025…
#3 – Fixing The “Connection Crisis”
I’ve been saying for months that we – as a collective – are experiencing what I call a massive connection crisis.
With the Internet increasingly becoming devoid of any heart, humor or humanity, this is what I believe is the BIGGEST crisis that has ever existed in the marketing world…
We are exhausted, overstimulated, and bombarded with messaging that means nothing.
We are feeling less seen, less heard and less understood, and as a result…
We don’t trust others, we feel unsafe, and we are in constant fight or flight mode.
Because of our — very rational — fears that someone or SOMETHING might be trying to dupe, mislead or take advantage of us.
And our nervous systems are literally going into shutdown mode.
So what do we do? We NUMB OUT… by doom scrolling our phones or binge watching netflix…
We AVOID taking action or asking for help and we FORGET what actually matters most to us.
I’M OVER IT.
And I know I’m not the only one…
As content continues to cheapen, there is an ever-rising premium on CONNECTION (and content that fosters connection)…
And THAT’S what I’ll be focusing on in 2025…
From my emails to my DMs to my social posts and everything in between…
I’ll be focusing on:
- More personalization.
- More connection.
- Starting more conversations.
- More transparency.
- And yes, consent-based automation.
So my “marketing strategy” for 2025 looks a lot more like an ANTI-MARKETING strategy… how rebellious of me, right? I guess that is pretty on brand for the Posse.
Anyway, I’m freaking excited.
Because in 2025, my goal is…. powerful, impactful, simplicity.
I want to go back to my mission, do more of what works, create a deeper connection with the Posse, have more fun, help more people, and make more money doing it (and show you how to too).
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments below!
Until then, I’m Alex. Ciao for now!