Calm isn’t luck, it’s a signal that something finally fits. What I’m doing differently is choosing focus over collecting ideas. Fewer tools, fewer voices, fewer “maybe this too” detours that quietly turn me back into the highest-paid employee in my own business. This year is about designing businesses that respect my time and my actual life, not just my ambition. Clear outcomes first, systems that support them, and a hard look at what never should’ve required me in the first place. Busy isn’t growth. Clarity is. And that question, “what shouldn’t require me at all?”, is the most CEO thing we can ask.

@Christy Cox my husband and I used to have great jobs in the DC area with 2-4 hour commutes. In 2013, the company I worked for, had to shut down due to cuts in government funding, so I stayed home and started selling some things online. A year later, my husband got tired of the rat race and wanted more time with our 4 boys too. So he started helping me flip things too. That winter, we did a pop up shop in our town, and never turned back. In 2023, we had a surprise blessing and found out I was pregnant with our 5th son. I was home a lot and needed a creative outlet so I started a shop on Etsy, then another, and another. 😉

@Christy Cox Looking forward to chatting with you!

@Christy Cox What I need to make this happen Not a massive project management system, but a repeatable weekly rhythm I can stick to even on the weeks when my life looks like a tornado wearing a toddler backpack. My work moves in pockets, so my system has to do the same. On sales and content strategy My plan is simple. I’ll keep building my ecosystem through the community itself. Every time I teach a tiny, practical win or share an experiment, engagement goes up and people ask for the tools behind it. My sales strategy is baked into the content. The content comes from the work. That loop is my pipeline. How people will find it By leaning into the platforms where my audience already talks about the chaos of running a creative business: Pinterest, Threads, IG, and Etsy. My growth isn’t going to come from big launches. It’s going to come from visibility through useful moments, shared tools, and the kind of posts that make people say, “Finally, someone is building something for people like me.” How I’ll keep them engaged By designing the community around micro-wins, not long lessons. When people can get a result in five minutes, they show up more. When the space feels human instead of performative, they stay. My engagement strategy is to make the community feel like the easiest corner of their business, not another thing they need to “keep up with.” People, processes, priorities, performance Here’s my version so it actually fits my business: • People Serve the humans who build in pockets and want AI they can actually use. That keeps my messaging tight and my decisions clean. • Processes Pocket-sized workflows only. Nothing that breaks if I lose a day. Nothing that requires a version of me that doesn’t exist. • Priorities One: build the membership spine. Two: create consistent weekly visibility. Everything else gets cut. • Performance Measured by stability, retention, and calm revenue… not complexity, not volume, not loudness. This year isn’t about growing wider. It’s about building a business I can carry long-term without setting myself on fire to keep it running.

@Christy Cox I’ve peeked at HighLevel and can see why people swear by it. It looks incredibly useful. My only thing is that I build everything to run in tiny pockets, so I try not to bring in tools that want to be “the whole kitchen.” But I’m definitely open to a quick walkthrough sometime, just to see if there’s a simple way it could support what I’m doing.

My refined 2026 goal Build a sustainable, pocket-sized Skool ecosystem with steady membership growth, predictable weekly rhythm, and a community that gets real micro-wins without needing hours of focus or complicated systems. A business that runs calmly and consistently, not one that pulls me in twelve directions. My core metrics 1. New members added per month Target: 10–15 2. Monthly retention rate Target: 85–90 percent 3. Weekly content rhythm Target: 3 posts/week in Skool + 3 visibility actions outside it 4. Time sustainability Target: 6–8 hours/week; 70 percent templated/AI-assisted 5. Revenue stability Target: predictable monthly revenue with less than 20 percent variance These metrics prove whether the ecosystem I’m building can actually sustain the life I’m living, not an imaginary version of it.

@Christy Cox Pocket-sized means the business can run inside the real 5–25 minute pockets most creative entrepreneurs actually have. Systems, content, and workflows that can be picked up and put down without losing momentum. If it doesn’t fit a pocket, I don’t build it.

If you weren’t allowed to use referrals at all next year, what ONE marketing activity would feel the most natural for you to sustain?