2025 Annual Report
A Review of 2025 and a look forward (and an ask)
Buckle in - this is going to be a long one. I love an annual accounting to get the year started. You can check out last year’s here. Today we’re going to cover:
2025 Goal Review
2026 Goal Settings and Plan
Podcast Review
Annual Calendar Review
Revenue Recap
Still to come (hopefully next week) my favorite books and purchases of 2025.
But before we get started, I have an ask. I want to know what you want to see on the podcast in 2026? Do you have any guest suggestions? Put ‘em here! Do you have any topics or questions you want me to ask guests? Send them here! I want to hear from you what you want more of in 2026.
2025 Goal Review
Each year, I love to sit and set out goals for the year. I am not always the best on following through on those (something I’m trying to change this year by incorporating a regular review of my goals into my Clean Slate session - (thank you Kelly Nolan | Bright Method) but this year, I did pretty well on the goals that were most important.
Personal
Continue Consistent Movement - 3-4 times per week - Overall I did pretty well on this, continuing with the Future App (h/t to Sarah Shapiro for sharing it in her episode). If strength training or more consistent movement is a goal for you too, here’s a link with a discount to get started with Future if you’re interested - I’ve loved it.
Run 100 miles this year - This did not happen in the slightest. I hurt my knee in the fall, but I’d be lying if I said I ran much at all in 2025. It’s something I’d like to do more in 2026.
Read 100 books - I read 123. I’ll do a full reading recap, but you already know the majority of these are romance and the non-romance books are probably bookclub books.
Learn Mah Jong - Didn’t happen but would still like to learn.
Finish Needlepoint Ornaments - I got into this in q4. I’d like to be more timely, but each finishing is taking me a while. I’m proud I figured it out though.
Find more fulfilling work - Done. I switched jobs in March and it’s been such a great change. I’m challenged and fulfilled, and I work with an incredible team.
Continue playing tennis - This fell of in 2025. I did play a bit in the spring and summer, but with travel, I haven’t been able to commit to getting to a weekly clinic.
Get my colors done - I didn’t end up doing this, and don’t know that this is something I’m particularly keen on doing anymore. We’ll see.
Podcast
Reach 200k downloads - 132,467 We didn’t quite get there, but I’m not disappointed. Hitting 100K felt like a HUGE milestone! I’m excited for how to continue to grow this in 2026.
Post 6 additional podcast episodes/bonus content - I didn’t end up doing this - mini episodes fell off this year entirely. This is something I’m going to challenge myself to do in 2026
Generate 2k in Affiliates - Done! More on the pod financials below.
Verified on instagram - Done. I upgraded to this this year for security reasons, no regrets.
Be a guest on 6 podcasts - Was a guest on 3 podcasts! Frame of Life Podcast, Unswaddled, and Do You Want The Truth - thank you for having me!
2026 Goals
As I said, I’m trying to make these goals more present and review/check in on them more regularly throughout to the year to update and flex as it feels right. I’ve not quite finalized my full 2026 goals, but here’s a peek.
Personal
Continue consistent movement, add in more cardio (tennis, running, more walks)
Be more intentional about scheduling time with friends
Schedule at least 2 special 1:1 days with the kids
Host more - it doesn’t have to be formal, but I love hosting
Manage my reactions first when dealing with troubling kid behavior
Celebrate big this year - we have some milestones coming up this year, and I want to make sure we’re celebrating!
But on the flip side - continue to hone in on our budget and make sure our spending is aligning with our goals
Podcast
More bonus/special episodes - once per quarter at least
Get to 250k Downloads
Grow Substack and Instagram communities in meaningful ways
Rename my LLC and align changes in my backend business stack (not sexy but necessary)
Streamline processes where possible
2025 Podcast Review
We had 50 episodes in 2025, with guests from all over - engineers to founders, authors to consultants. We tried new things like our rapid fires, and I’m continuing to tweak some questions.
I rolled out the Episode Index in November, and I’d love to know if you’re using it?
I did one solo episode, Anna and I introduced Pepper Books, and we had so many laughs and honest moments with so many interesting women!
We talked to some night owls (looking at you Bailey and Demetra) and some early morning risers (including but not limited to Steph, Allison, and Stephanie). We talked to two bi-city moms (Kyla and Virginia) and a mom in Australia working US Hours (Samantha). We talked to moms with older kids (Andrea and Jessica) and to pregnant and new moms (Lauren, Christina, and Meghan).
Thank you for listening in and sharing in the conversations! This podcast brings me so much joy to put out and I’m so grateful to you for listening and sharing it with friends.
Annual Calendar Review
I started the Calendar Review series in April and this has been so fun to look back on the year and see what happened!
There was a lot of travel - For fun - Skiing twice, Jamaica, Paris, London, South Carolina, Cape Cod, and New York twice. For work - Phoenix, Pittsburgh twice, New York, Chicago, Vail, Fresno twice, Toledo twice. I finally got Gold again on Delta, and honestly Sky Priority feels pretty good again.
We had some tough seasons with the kids - broken arms and transitions - but getting to see them grow up is one of the greatest blessings I could have.
I had two incredibly cup-filling trips with girlfriends this year and feel so lucky that this podcast has grown my circle this year to include women I value so deeply and talk to daily. Closer to home, I’m so grateful for regular moms nights, friend walks, book clubs, and the occasional party. Putting yourself out there is hard, but worth it.
Looking to 2026, I want to be more conscious about not overcommitting to things. This year felt a bit frenetic at a few points - April with back to back work travel and an international trip, and December with lots of work travel at the same time as my son’s birthday and the Christmas prep. While I want to, I can’t do it all, but I’m incredibly grateful for a partner who pulls his weight so I can do a lot, and did far more solo parenting than I did this year.
Podcast Accounting
I’ve always appreciated transparency when it comes to things like affiliate links etc. Below is a state of the state of the Podcast Accounting. Hosting, producing, editing the podcast costs money - a not-insignificant amount per year. Your support of the newsletter and using affiliate links helps to offset that cost, and this year, we’re in the positive! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your support!
Podcast Costs - $1468: (realized I under counted this last year)
RiversideFM - Podcast Recording - $180
Descript - Podcast Editing - $388
Buzzsprout - Podcast Hosting - $297
Squarespace - $204
Gmail - $159.43
Instagram - $239.90
Postcast Revenue - $1759:
Affiliates via ShopMy - $1,444
Affiliates via Amazon - $315
More A Day In Her Life:
This week - I loved chatting with my friend Lucie about her days as a stay at home mom of three while balancing writing What Lucie Says and her feature Between Friends.
Last year -
Two years ago -
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Really appreciate your podcast and love reading your Substack.
Love the transparency on financials—as someone with no real insight into podcasts and influencing financials, it’s really interesting!
Also, I got my colors done this year with work and I know I’m in the minority here but I found it to be pretty “meh”. I think after decades on this here earth, you have internalized the bulk of what they can tell you. Just my two cents since it seems like you are leaning that way!