Happy New Year & January Goal Setting!

Happy New Year!

I know we’re almost at the end of January but wow, January is a hard month you guys! It’s dark, it’s (mostly) cold, we’ve had some snow days here in Baltimore, which make my work days very short with my kindergartener being home and snow-obsessed. I feel like we’re all still just getting back into our routines after winter break but I’m definitely thankful to be back in some semblance of a routine.

With all this being said, January is definitely a tough time to be setting goals for the new year since a lot of us seem to be treading the waters of life right now. However, I do enjoy the reset of the new year and love the fun of setting aspirational goals and resolutions while keeping in mind that these can be flexible, and using quarterly check-ins to reevaluate how things are going, what’s actually attainable, most valuable to my business, etc.

So far, I think things are off to a great start but I do have some big goals so would love to share them with you all here in order to have some accountability and also show some transparency in how I run my business. I’m always fascinated by reading about how other designers’ and entrepreneurs run their businesses so I’m excited to start sharing with you through these blog posts how I’m running mine.

Also, this year is the first year that I’ve chosen a word for the year, and it is most definitely work related:

I chose ‘Madonna’ as my word since after seeing her live at the end of 2023, I was SO INSPIRED by her creativity, authenticity, work ethic, and just general badassery. Before launching into a punk version of ‘Burning Up’ she told the audience an anecdote about travelling to NYC for the first time in 1978 at 19 years old with only $35, knowing no one, and asking a cab to drop her off “in the center of everything” which ended up being Times Square. To go from a literal unknown kid, who wrote Burning Up on a new boyfriend’s guitar, which she had just learned to play, to being a literal global icon within a few short years is amazing to me. And to keep it all up over 40+ years, constantly reinventing herself, challenging herself, not being afraid to challenge her audience, all while being 100% true to herself, her beliefs, and her family even when it seems like the world is sometimes turning against you is just astounding to me. So in this year, which will be my first full year of entrepreneurship my word, my beacon for this year, is Madonna.

Top 5 Business Goals for 2024

With all that in mind, here are my top 5 business goals I’ve laid out for myself this year:

1. Draw everyday
2. Sign at least 5 new branding/design clients by June
3. Flesh out my illustration portfolio and start pitching to companies/art directors
4. Start selling products online and IRL
5. Build my Instagram network to at least 1k followers by the end of the year

Achieving the Goals

Ok, so I’ve got my goals and a few of these are big and kind of vague. With most of these goals I’m breaking it down into more specific action items and drilling those down into bit-size chunks that I can accomplish over time. For instance, let’s take goal #3, “Flesh out my illustration portfolio and start pitching to companies/art directors”. Here are my smaller goals and timelines that feed into that:

• Complete at least 4 illustration classes that will result in portfolio pieces (one class each quarter)
• Create a pattern collection
  • Create 8-10 patterns over the course of 2 months
• Create a stationary collection
  • Create a greeting card a week over the course of 2 months
• Complete a milestone card set for babies
  • Digitize the milestones I’ve hand-drawn and fill any holes over the course of 1 month
• Create wall art
  • Create one piece of wall art each month

These are totally attainable goals! These also feed into the other four big goals since the work that I create for my portfolio can also be used to sell on products for an online store/craft fair booth to achieve goal #4 “start selling products online and IRL”. The work will also be posted to Instagram regularly and will contribute to help building a bigger social media presence, along with being an active member of my illustration class community.

Another strategy I’m using for my goals (specifically goal #1, draw everyday) is something that I’ve been doing with my 5 year-old daughter—a sticker chart! Or in my case, tracking drawing activity in my planner. We use a reward system for my daughter for good behavior and after getting seven consecutive stickers she earns a different small prize each week. So to keep myself on track for this daily goal, I’m also setting up prizes for myself each week such as treating myself to breakfast at the local fancy coffee shop, a nice bottle of wine, etc.

Fun stuff! I can’t wait to see where this year takes all of us. If you have any goals or words for the year that you’re using I’d love to hear about them! Please feel free to email or DM me on Instagram. Happy 2024, y’all!