Every year at this time, we look back on our past year to see how our lives were impacted and what we are truly thankful for. Joey and I have been so busy that this is my first chance to reflect on this past year. Between work, family, and traveling, I wanted to reflect on my past year, share why I am beyond grateful, and give some advice as we start 2025
Working in the Hobby - Amazing!
This year will be my first full calendar year working in the hobby full-time as the Sales and Marketing Leader for Stand-up Displays. Our team has experienced so much with new product developments, new relationships, and seeing the hobby grow and flourish in ways we wouldn’t have expected. I’ve gotten to travel to places I never thought I would visit, and I continue to be grateful to visit again and again. I’ve also got the best team at our office fulfilling orders, helping my needs, and getting our orders to all our amazing customers.
It's crazy to think that I can even say that I work in the hobby full time. After graduating from college several years ago, I never thought I would be talking about my love of sports, marketing, and sales culminating in this. And this is only just the beginning because we have big goals and big things coming for 2025.
Our Community Is The Best
The one thing that many will say about “The Hobby” is that the community is the greatest. Whether it’s your local community, the online community, or the show community, the communities in this hobby are special.
This past year, we have been able to build our community even larger, greater, and stronger than we have ever had before. They have supported us on our journey, encouraged our creativity, and made us feel like we are always welcomed. Many of them were friends only online. We had the amazing opportunity to meet many of them or reconnect with them at the National this year. It will be one of our greatest memories in the hobby.
You know who you are, and we want you to know we are so thankful, grateful, and blessed to be part of your journeys and for you to be part of ours. Our paths crossed for a reason, and you have all brought us so much joy, love, and excitement for the future of this industry. We can’t wait for all that you will do this next year, and we are so glad to be even a tiny part of your journey.
Living Life with The Best Spouse
My husband would tell you I am the outgoing spouse, but sometimes with little words. This past year was so much to us, even though there weren’t significant changes in our lives. He has walked through everything with me, whether it’s coming with me to a show for work or making me feel appreciated when we are just sitting on the couch watching Netflix. He never fails to be there for me, even though this year has been challenging for him with his full-time job.
We want to do so much more personally and professionally in 2025. But the only way to do it is by working together and having that great community around us to support us. I know it won’t be easy, but we look forward to walking through the rest of this year with hope, joy, and love and knowing that the best is yet to come.
Be Thankful - Now Grow
As I said at the beginning, we have to look back on our year and be thankful for all that this hobby has given us, all our families have been through, and the journey we have taken. But also look back on what you didn’t get to do and what you want to do to grow.
What are your goals, dreams, and aspirations as we close 2024 and move into 2025? At the end of every year, we discuss our biggest goals for the new year and put them on our family goals board. It hangs in our kitchen for us to see every day and reminds us to shoot for the stars. We will share on our social media how much we achieved from our 2024 board and begin to build out our biggest dreams for 2025.
We hope you take the time to be thankful for what has come and start to dream big. I never thought we would be in the hobby like we are, writing about what I do and dreaming as big as we are, but here I am. We are looking forward to what we believe will be our biggest and best year yet.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” - John F. Kennedy
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