As this year comes to a close, I wanted to have a very honest conversation—one rooted in experience, not perfection. In this episode, I'm reflecting alongside another seasoned firm owner, Katie Decker Erickson, on the mistakes we've made, the lessons we learned the hard way, and what actually matters when you're trying to move your business forward with clarity instead of chaos.

This isn't about beating yourself up for what didn't work. It's about looking back clearly—without ego or shame—so you can recalibrate your direction, trust yourself again, and make smarter decisions as you head into 2026.

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why you can't change direction in your business without honestly looking in the rearview mirror

• How growing just for the sake of growth often leads to stress, misalignment, and regret

• Why busyness, headcount, and "looking successful" can hide deeper operational problems

• The real cost of ignoring your intuition—and why it always shows up eventually

• How intuition becomes powerful when it's supported by data, not separated from it

• Why avoiding your numbers only creates bigger problems down the road

• What I call the "toll of the soul," and why some profitable work still isn't worth it

• How letting go sooner—clients, projects, models, or people—can lead to faster alignment

• Why leadership requires hard conversations, not avoidance

• How reflection is meant to recalibrate your business, not keep you stuck in regret

This episode is for designers who know something needs to change—but don't want to burn everything down to make it happen. My hope is that this conversation helps you look at your business with more honesty, more confidence, and a lot more self-trust as you step into what's next.

You don't need to have all the answers for 2026 right now. But you do need to be willing to look clearly at where you've been—so you can choose where you're going on purpose.

If you're ready to move forward with clarity instead of guesswork, this episode is for you.