2024 Year-in-Review
End-of-year reflections that are more about feelings than figures
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For the past 8 years in business, I've maintained a year-end review ritual—a time to look back before moving forward. Over time my retrospective has evolved in its what, why, and how. And this year was extra special as I hosted part of this ritual as a community event for the first time, collaborating on an experiential retrospective workshop with guided prompts, a virtual themed gathering, and a fun template to make a digital souvenir for the year. This transformed the task of reviewing a year’s worth of data, making it not just more manageable but actually enjoyable.
As a gift, I’d like to share our 2024 souvenir Canva template with you, if you'd like to visualize your 2024 journey. (If you post it please tag me or Freelance for Life so I can celebrate your year with you!).
These reflections aren't meant for comparison but rather for connection. They offer intimate glimpses into our worlds, capturing our experiences and inspirations at this moment in time.
For me, 2024 felt different than years past and at first glance didn't seem very remarkable. In fact, design opportunities were noticeably slower for my studio, my course saw low student enrollment, and I took a longer-than-planned summer sabbatical. But upon deeper review, I'm really happy to see that the landscape of my past 12 months was actually quite rich with special relationships forged, experiments launched, lessons learned, and moments of growth.
Below I’m sharing my highlights month by month, the practices that supported me most, the areas I’m looking to find more harmony in, 2024 by the numbers, and my favorite finds of the year.
2024 month by month
January
Life: Participated in Creative Quests (theme of the month was “magic” which was my word for the year! 🔮)
Work: Kicked off an MIT school website redesign project, taught Cohort 4 of Designing Your Freelance Business
February
Life: Volunteered at SF’s CreativeMornings, traveled to 🇲🇽 Mexico City for the first time (reach out if you’d like my CDMX travel guide)
Work: Continued retainer work with Get Mom Strong on the SLAM app and website
March
Life: Took a ritual design class with Tiu de Haan, my husband planned a surprise 🚗 roadtrip to the Mendocino coast in a Mini convertible for my 38th birthday
Work: Kicked off a research project with new client Feta, did a big tax planning session with my CPA for S-Corp projections
April
Life: Participated as a researcher in the OOO Network Uniform Research Study and met some great people who are passionate about working in different ways, finished my new home office renovation (so happy with my 🌱Jardín Japonés wallpaper)!
Work: Wrapped MIT work (this project was toughest of the year), began MVP app design for Feta, kicked off Huzzah Studio’s website redesign project (launching in the new year—can’t wait!!)
May
Life: Went to an “In a Landscape” outdoor 🎹 piano concert, hosted my dad and toured the Charles Schulz Museum, took a great trip to Los Angeles where I did experiential R&D
Work: Continued work with GMS and Feta, took Tara McMullin’s Business World Building Workshop, enrolled in the Out of Office Network’s creative residency program
June
Life: Visited the SF MOMA for the Art of Noise exhibit 📻, generally rested at home more due to dealing with many migraine episodes
Work: Attended part of the Config conference (and more enjoyably An Evening with Eames Institute at Notion HQ), taught my free, live lesson “Designing your freelance pricing”
July
Life: Dined al fresco with friends in an 🍏 apple orchard, sea kayaked for the first time, hosted my sister and visited the Sonoma Hot Air Balloon Festival
Work: Began a summer sabbatical from client work, taught cohort 5 of Designing Your Freelance Business, began working with copywriter/collaborator Nicole Cloutier on course marketing, and hired my first virtual assistant
August
Life: 🐶 Adopted Benny, hosted my sister-in-law and toured our favorite North Bay spots like Point Reyes and McEvoy Winery
Work: Contributed to the OOO Designing the Post-Office presentation, kicked off Freelance for Life branding in partnership with my brand design partner Marisa
September
Life: Submitted a 📕 book proposal to Chronicle Books (I may not ever hear back but it was a personal accomplishment just to submit “Let’s Date San Francisco”, a personal project that started post-pandemic), applied for the Odyssey Works 2025 residency, met my family in Denver to see Brandi Carlile perform at Red Rocks
Work: Attended Off the Grid’s Interweb Refresh virtual retreat, kicked off a menopause fitness product with a former client, worked on brand strategy and dot connecting with the magical Cate of Ecstatic Voice, taught a free, live lesson on “How to find (and keep) clients”
October
Life: Went to a Jesse Welles concert, hosted a themed 🪲 Beetlejuice backyard movie screening, road-tripped to Apple Hill for apples and cider donuts
Work: Taught cohort 6 of Designing Your Freelance Business, bought Huzzah a set of wheels (finding my dream car through Carvana!)
November
Life: Attended the SF Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony, hosted a Friendsgiving potluck, did a lot of leaf-peeping 🍁
Work: Kicked off a brand refresh for friend and collaborator, Copy Poetics, co-hosted the free, live lesson Contract basics for freelancers with my legal team, launched v1 of the Freelance for Life brand and site (more fun coming soon)
December
Life: Serendipitously discovered a festive Christmas tree farm, hosted my annual 🎄🍪 cookie swap party for neighbors, attended the San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker for the first time!
Work: Began a redesign for a dental website, hosted the Freelance for Life 2024 Retrospective Workshop, wrapped a contract with Get Mom Strong, wrapped the fiscal year and closed the studio for a 2-week holiday break!
Feelings over figures
The practices that supported me most this year:
Looking for magic: As my word of the year, "magic" took on richer meaning after my participation in a Creative Quest on the very theme. For me, “magic” most represented moments of awe, wonder, curiosity, and connection. I actively looked for ways to find magic in the mundane and discovered that time in nature, bringing little things that bring me joy into my world, and being open to new things was all pretty magical.
Looking to the seasons: I deepened my connection with seasonal cycles, documenting how nature's rhythms influenced both my life and work.
Taking a sabbatical: I take one annually, and this year I planned for a month off in summer, which unexpectedly extended to two when client work slowed. Having savings and fall projects lined up was a privilege that kept anxiety at bay, though I still wrestled with the productivity mindset—that pressure to stay constantly booked. Yet as a creative, this open space let me focus on internal goals and interests, which I consider one of freelancing's greatest gifts!
Community building: This deeply impacted me both personally and professionally. While I've always struggled with a sense of belonging—as many of us do—I discovered that being more vulnerable with sharing and creating spaces for (and hosting) gatherings brought me the community and meaningful friendships I was seeking. I’m really looking forward to continuing connecting in 2025.
Things where I still need to find more harmony:
Efforts for Freelance for Life: I've invested significant energy into building Freelance for Life and questioned whether passion alone was reason enough. For me, ROI extends beyond finances—the creative outlet, collaborations, community building, and support of others on their path to solopreneurship brings me deep fulfillment. Still, I need to consider how much of myself I can devote to these initiatives and that will be part of my 2025 planning.
Creating steady workout routines: By experimenting with how I design my days, I've learned that I prefer slower mornings and therefore midday workouts feel bes for me. However, with a flexible schedule and increased meetings, I’ve been struggling to consistently protect midday for this purpose. Luckily I have still been getting movement in with neighborhood walks with Benny, but I’m looking for more and will continue to experiment in the new year.
End of year pacing: The year-end rush always catches me off guard. Combined with holiday activities and social obligations, December has consistently been a feeling of frazzle more than dazzle. This contrasts our natural seasonal shift to winter when we need stillness and quiet. For 2025’s year end I have already populated my calendar with reminders to start wrap up tasks earlier and set boundaries—especially for bookkeeping, money management, and project wrap-ups—before my two-week studio closure.
Huzzah Studio
2024 brought us wonderful client relationships (multiple woman-owned businesses!), some dreamy projects, and more creative collaborators than ever before.
🤝 : 6 clients
3 new (1 former student, 1 former colleague, 1 former collaborator)
3 former (2 startups, 1 agency)
📊 : 9 projects
6 flat-fee, 3 retainer
👯 : 5 subcontractor collaborators (design, research, brand, photography, copy)
👩🏻💻 : 4 proposals not accepted (3 cold pitched, 1 from referral)
🗂️ : Client type/industries: health & wellness, startups, agency/creative services
💸 : Biggest expenses: business services (legal, accounting, CPA, web development), a car
Freelance for Life
I invested more of my time (and money) to grow Freelance for Life with a hope of developing more offers for education and freelance support.
👩🏻🏫 : 3 cohorts (18 students) taught in Designing Your Freelance Business in January, July, and October (canceled April from no enrollments). Next course enrolling for January 2025!
⚡️ : 3 free lightning lessons taught (& 1,000+ students) on quick tips for pricing, contracts, and business development
⛷️ : 1 experiential workshop hosted: the 2024 Retrospective
🤝 : 4 business coaching clients supported
📝 : 13 Substack posts published + grew my Substack audience to 1,000+
🎙️ : 4 podcast interviews
💸 : Biggest expenses: collaborator service fees for branding, copywriting, and producing a course video trailer
Networking
☎️ : ~ 25 general “biz dev” connection calls
🤗 : 6 communities joined: Changing the Shape of Business, Groove for virtual co-working sessions, The Old Girls Club, Off the Grid Clubhouse, WXO…and Freelance for Life of course!
Professional & personal development
💭 : 3 conferences: Config, Make with Notion, Museum Next
📒 : 5 workshops: Tiu de Haan’s Ritual Design, Ecstatic Voice’s Do it All, Tara McMullin’s World Building for Business Owners, Amelia Hruby’s Interweb Refresh Retreat, Creative Quests
👕 : 1 research study as participant in Out of Office Uniform project
🎨 : 1 creative residency program with Out of Office
Work & life rituals
🌞 : 1 summer sabbatical
🍵 : 26 virtual tea times as my ritual shared with other creatives
🖼️ : Several creative solo dates (museums, coffee shops, bakery stops)
🦮 : Lots of walks, even more once I adopted Benny
📓 : Alison Zamora’s Journal, Together sessions
🌅 : A handful of in-person CreativeMornings & virtual FieldTrips
💬 : Monthly Shoptalk sessions with the Freelance for Life community
The things that made me shout HUZZAH
Favorite finds from the year
Listens:
Reads:
More of my favorites in my bookshops: Huzzah and Freelance for Life
Plus my favorite Substack follows
Watched:
Museum exhibits:
Experiential design:
Tools:
Things:
See some of my favorite things discovered and collected from the year in my post:
Goodbye 2024, hello 2025
I'm bidding a grateful farewell to this year and to all of you readers—thank you so much for supporting this publication and helping build the Freelance for Life community. When I started freelancing 8 years ago I didn’t know where to look for education, guidance, and other independents. This platform has given us the miraculous gift of connecting from all across the globe. Don’t ever hesitate to reach out, comment here, or drop a note to exchange hellos.
As we look ahead to 2025 many of us are curious about what the new year will hold. I look forward to hosting the community for a 2025 Horizons Workshop in early February where we'll set meaningful intentions for both life and business and support one another in the unknowns.
Until then, may you have a restful, reflective, and restorative wintering season.
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So excited to have connected this year, Sarah! Really looking forward to more chats in 2025! xx