TBB and Beyond // 2017 Recap

Photo by S. Wolfe Photography

Happy (almost) New Year! For a hot second over the summer, I was doing monthly life lately recaps where I posted about things going on beyond the blog. Then life took over and the recaps fell by the wayside. But to celebrate the New Year, let’s bring the recaps back and talk about how things went.

2017 was a doozy – a year of professional highs and personal lows. I won’t lie, 2017 was really challenging. I grew up a LOT this year, but with growth always comes a few growing pains, and boy did I feel those this year. My life looks drastically different than it did at the beginning of 2017, and coincidentally, so does this blog. A little bit of art imitating life. Let’s talk about what happened this year.

TBB Stuff

Before things get personal, let’s do a quick recap of what’s been going on in the land of TBB.

You guys love challenges. From a blog standpoint, 2017 was a year of running challenges for my readers/followers. It. Was. Awesome. From the Confidence Over Comparison Challenge (my favorite), to the Hydration Challenge, to the Summer Slay, to the Holiday Slay – I’m so grateful for how engaged this community became around these challenges. I won’t lie, challenges are a, for lack of a better word, challenge for me because they are a TON of work, and I’m usually a major stress case while they’re happening. But when I receive messages and emails from you all telling me how much you love the challenges, it makes it all worth it. Thank you for participating!

You prefer fitness content over food content. 2017 was the year The Balanced Berry became less of a food blog, and more of a fitness resource. This transition came about mainly from your feedback, so in 2017 the recipe development came to a standstill, and fitness content on Instagram was where all the action was. I’m thinking in 2018 I’m going to need to find a better balance with where I share my content and what I share, because I’m super overwhelmed by the amount of people sliding into my DM’s asking me for recipes 😉

Being in front of the camera is where it’s at. Due to the transition from creating food content to fitness/lifestyle content, that meant I couldn’t hide behind my camera and food photos like I was accustomed to. 2017 was all about getting in front of the camera, and with that a major evolution of my brand. From regular local news segments (a dream come true!), to workout videos, to working with a handful of incredibly talented Seattle photographers (shoutout to Missy, Sarah, Kate, and Chris), this year was all about being seen which was equal parts exciting and terrifying.

Overall, 2017 was a really exciting year for The Balanced Berry. My mindset around this blog, my business, where I want to take it, and how I want to get there has completely shifted, and I’m excited for what’s ahead. The feedback and ideas from the reader survey a few weeks ago were PHENOMENAL – and I am so excited to bring those ideas to life for you guys. Stay tuned – 2018 is going to be an amazing year for TBB with some incredibly helpful resources for YOU.

Personal Stuff

Looking at 2017 like…
S. Wolfe Photography

Oh, personal stuff. How tricky you are. In a lot of ways, 2017 was hard, messy, and emotional. Heck, even on its last day it still is, and I know that isn’t going to magically go away when 2018 gets here. But like I said above, with growth comes growing pains, and at times, 2017 left me saying ouch. But it wasn’t all bad. In fact, 2017 had some really sweet moments.

I moved out of my parent’s house and got my own place again. This one is HUGE and by far the biggest highlight of 2017. Don’t get me wrong, I love mom and dad, but it was time to start living like a grown woman again. A series of career changes and a major quarter-life crisis led me to move back in with my parents at age 25. I am incredibly grateful for it because I became super-close with my family, and was able to pay off a couple of student loans (hey party!), but when the opportunity came for me to adult again, I jumped at it.

I landed my dream job. I haven’t gone into a ton of detail my job, and I won’t here because #privacy but I will give you a little backstory into the significance of the new job I got this year. After working for a large company (and hating it) for five years after college, I quit my job and worked at lululemon for a little over a year. Financially it was tough, but I wouldn’t change that decision for a second.

While working at lululemon I made amazing friends, learned a ton about myself, and now have an extensive athleisure wardrobe that is on point 👌🏾. I reached the point working at lululemon where it was either time to move up, or time to move on, and the opportunity to move on came first. One day over the summer, I saw a posting for my dream job at my dream company. I figured I was way underqualified and wouldn’t get it, but I applied anyway because, why not? I had nothing to lose.

A month (and several rounds of interviews) later I landed the job, and here we are.

Getting older kicked my butt. Honesty moment – the springtime of my youth is long gone and this year, I had a hard time accepting it. Mind you, I’m not that old but I’ve officially crossed into Almost 30 territory, and the coulda, woulda, shoulda of my early 20’s haunted me big time this year. That, along with feelings of comparison, and like I’m not doing “well enough” in life really got to me.

The “shoulds” have been killing me all year. I “should” be a homeowner by now. I “should” be married by now. My business “should” be more successful by now. Blah blah blah. Unfortunately, 2017 was the year my anxiety around “shoulds” overshadowed my accomplishments and man, it was hard.

I shared that because those feelings were a big part of my year, and I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels that way. If you’re struggling with this too, let’s retire the “should” for 2018, shall we?

2018 and Beyond

In addition to letting go of the “shoulds” my only other main goal of 2018 is to be legit. I really want to focus on being legit in my business and relationships. I want to be more thoughtful – a better friend, daughter, sister, granddaughter, etc. Too legit to quit. Of course, I’ll keep you posted every step of the way.

Your Turn:

• How was your 2017? What were the highlights of your year?
• What are you looking forward to in 2018?