This Has Nothing to Do With Business (Except It Does)

It's that time of year!

Time to wrap up any loose ends, sip on something cozy, and get into the full holiday swing of things.

For me this means mulling some wine, popping on Die Hard or Batman Returns (both are Christmas movies- no arguing), and spending more time with my husband, my dogs, and my guitar collection.

But if you're like me this is also the season to reflect on the year and plan out some major business moves for 2026.

And while my year-end routine will inevitably involve Notion docs, spreadsheets, and SMART goals, I also like to take a bit more of a qualitative look at how the last year treated me.

And I do that by taking a look at what I consumed.

Namely, music.

And what do my stats tell me?

Well, I listened to much more music than I did the year before, which is a good thing. Music is my happy place.

And while 2024 was dominated by Lana Del Rey, this year Khruangbin reigned supreme.

Which tells me I was overall in a much better mood. I put Lana on when I'm in a FAFO kinda mood. 2024 was a year of struggle and combat. Khruangbin is the chill zone.

And my top bands are the primarily the bands I jam along to.

Which means I played more guitar this year- also a good thing.

And all that Metallica? Dang, I was hitting the gym big time!

And I started a big project in November that I've been dreaming of working on for years, and the mood required even more Metallica.

But what's Peter Gabriel doing on my January?

Of yeah. My dad had just passed, I was shutting down educational operations at The Futur and standing up Maker Division with Ben. All while having the shingles.

So I wasn't listening to any music in January. And my husband must have been on a “Sledgehammer” kick.

January is definitely a month I don't ever want to relive. But it set me up for a great year to come. Sometimes you gotta go through some Peter Gabriel to get to other side I guess.

Hopefully you see where I'm going with this.

No, this has nothing to do with business.

And it has everything to do with business.

Because this is a much bigger picture of how I lived my life when I look at 2025 rather than what some analytics and financials tell me.

My business isn't doing it's job if I'm not living a great life.

And the music tells me it wasn't that bad of a year.

Want to do the same?

Then head on down to this month's Creative Challenge and start reflecting on not just the numbers but your quality of life.

Because that's what this is all about!

Creative Flow Academy

Affiliate Recommendation

We love Notion inside The Division, but also get that it can be… a lot. Luckily our Notion guide, Jenny Famularcano, has you covered! Her Creative Flow Academy is now open for registration. Whether you want the 8-week live cohort or prefer to DIY, Jenny's got a pricing plan to meet your needs.

get your studio organized in 2026

Christmas Time

Now Playing

IS HERE Speaking of my band of the year, check out their ode to the Charlie Brown classic. The only bad thing about this song is that Khruangbin doesn't have a full Christmas album to back it up. Putting that on my wishlist for next year.

give it a listen

A Year of Junk Journaling

On the Bookshelf

I'm predicting that 2026 is the year the creative world goes analog. For several reasons - digital burnout, AI overload, nervous system regulation. I picked up a copy of A Year of Junk Journaling to give me some ideas for stepping away from the screen next year. It's got a lot of fun experiments that could spark some new creative ideas for your own work.

check it out

This member spotlight is a special one.

I want to shoutout not just one but two of our members.

Let's start with Branden Lower.

Branden is a day-one member and brand strategist out of Alabama.

And shortly after joining he realized his clients needed website design services.

For a sec Branden thought what so many of us would also think- he needed to learn website design to fully serve his clients.

But Branden is a Maker Division member, so instead of enrolling in an online course on website design and pausing his business (and income), he started thinking like a business owner.

Enter Maker Division member, Saral Kumar.

Saral is a website developer and designer out of India.

Saral was on Branden's radar.

Because Saral was already showing his value as a web designer in the community by offering web advice to our non-web-designer members.

Not because he was looking for work.

Because he genuinely cared about helping out the community.

Well, you can guess where this is going.

Branden now brings Saral on when his clients need website work.

Voila! The power of community.

We love a great Maker Division collab!