my 2025 learnings
plus my ins + outs for the new year
I sat down to start to build my goals for 2026, and realized I hadn’t even reflected on what I was moving on from. Then, Kel Rakowski’s Work Unseen popped into my inbox and I was inspired to share what 2025 taught me exactly—cause it certainly was a year of listening. Read them below and as always…
If you resonate with something, think it’s cool or funny share with others. Take a screenshot of the passage or something, tag me, and share the link below. Thanks in advance for helping this grow 🌱
on work, being laid off, and the job search
Interviews are like audition tapes—memorize your lines! Write your answers like a script and practice. I was killing first-round interviews but bombing later rounds until I wrote myself an FAQ script. *my gf taught me this
Unfortunately, it’s truly only about who you know. Don’t apply to a job unless you have a reference or warm connection.
Don’t accept—hell, don’t apply to—a job that you don’t want to do.
Recognize when it’s not that the jobs on the market suck, but that you actually don’t want to do that job anymore. I spent six months job searching for roles I thought I wanted—looking for dream roles that didn’t exist cause I actually needed (and wanted) something completely different. Time to move on.
I loved being unemployed, or more accurately, I loved creating my own schedule. Slow mornings, late-night work sessions when I’m most productive, walks when I need them. That’s what I’m building toward.
on building my creative dreams
Scrolling through social media and following my faves can be great career inspo, but too much creates comparison overload.
Body doubling is the key to success.
A thriving social life is blocking my creative dreams. I’ve been giving my social life 80% for years (for good reason!), but now I’ve realized it’s draining me and distracting me from the work I actually want to do. My friend Olivia explains this pristinely in her podcast, Self-Centered.
Alone time is essential. The Artist’s Way taught me that I need solitude to create, plan, and recharge.
Writing in my newsletter first gives me a script for TikTok videos. This year was my highest newsletter output ever, and that momentum carried into video content.
My dreams are not out of reach. This year I got published in print, took on my first consulting gigs, and booked more photography work than ever. It’s happening.
on relationships, boundaries, and communication
I am a truth-teller who is bogged down by incongruence—speak up honestly before you harbor resentment.
Friendships that fill my cup: ones where I can just exist without performing, that nourish my delusion (lol) and don’t seed self-doubt, where I show up in the ways they need, and they do the same for me.
In most cases, the problem isn’t the problem. The problem is how you communicate the problem.
on pop culture and social media/internet trends
Diverse casts invite nuance and complexity. When you have diversity on reality TV, you get different narratives that more people can actually relate to, not the same tired stories (I’m talking about this year’s season of Love Island).
Furthermore, Black women deserve to be the princess in the story. Watching a dark-skinned Black woman be desired and celebrated on Love Island wasn’t just representation—it was validation. Everyone, not just Black girls, want to see Olandria win. We are still grasping for the nuggets and crumbs her and Nick give us.
Forever on Netflix reminded me the importance of Black joy sans Black pain.
People don’t actually have gnat-sized attention spans. But, they do love the drama. Just like they’ll sit and watch White Lotus, Yellowjackets, or Heated Rivalry they’ll sit and watch compelling short-form videos online, like TikTok’s famous: The Group Chat™️
2026 ins & outs!
Happy New Year. Thank you for reading affectionately online this year, and if you hit like, commented, or shared with a friend (or to your IG story), I love you forever and ever. I am very proud of how much I wrote this year and I am manifesting lots more next year. See you in 2026 <3