As 2017 comes to a close today, I’m reminded of all the things I managed to accomplish this year. Currently, my lovely wife and infant (I’ll refuse to call her a toddler until she’s 2), are taking a nap. I’m watching/listening to a movie.
After seeing a number of year in review posts, I decided that it was time I produce one of my own. I have a number of them started for years previous, so I might as well start one of my 2018 goals a day early. Today I’m hitting publish.
I’ve made some choices that are going to help rebuild my presence online for 2018 based on some of the things I’ve been successful at in 2017. It was a bit of a weird year for me, but one that when thinking about all that I’ve done, I can see just how successful it was, both personally and professionally.
Traveling
My wife and I have always loved to travel. We took several big trips before we had Chloe. After Chloe though, we suspended our travel a bit until we got used to what it was like to have a baby. By the time Chloe was 8 months old, we decided that we would attempt to travel with Chloe. So we planned to go to Florida, Destin/Fort Walton Beach specifically, in March. It was an amazing vacation, one that I treasure.
In August, we took another trip, this time up to New England area for a week of adventure! We went to Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire! We were able to see the end of the Americas Cup Regatta in Newport, Rhode Island, and got to take Chloe to her first trip to Boston. Here’s just a few of the pics from the week of fun!
In September, I was invited to join my wife on a retreat for her company and a non-profit. It was the first time that we were going to leave Chloe home. We went to an amazing mountain resort called Mohonk Mountain House. We spent the mornings in sessions and the afternoons exploring the beautiful property.
I did travel quite a bit for work, attending a number of conferences, visiting our satellite office, and some partners.
Speaking
One thing I do a lot when I travel for work is speak at conferences. This year was no different. I spoke at the following WordCamps:
- WordCamp Jackson
- WordCamp Minneapolis / St. Paul
- WordCamp Sacramento
- WordCamp Ann Arbor
Coaching Sessions
Around June I had a couple of friends ask me for advice. That advice turned into several mentoring and coaching sessions. Which brought on a local speaking engagement. During these coaching sessions and in talking with a few friends locally, I’m realized how much I enjoyed this and would like to explore this more in 2018. So I am going to be spending some time in 2018, working on coaching.
Acquired Exchange
Probably the biggest thing I could have done this year was to acquire a plugin and form a new company. This was no small task! It required a lot of hard work to transition and bring customers over. The transition is now complete and I would consider us in a soft launch mode. The biggest thing I’m dealing with right now is ensuring that current customers are getting what they expected from iThemes. We’re finishing up some work and addressing a couple of process related issues to make ExchangeWP a successful product and company. If you are interested in simple eCommerce, make sure to subscribe to our email list.
Two LLCs Formed
This year with acquiring Exchange from iThemes, I needed to form a LLC. Not only did I form a LLC for Exchange, but I decided to start up another LLC for a consulting business that my wife and I intend to launch. We’ll be working on this business this year, and hope to have it up and running by Q2. We are looking forward to growing both companies more in 2018. It is also great that we will get to build something together again.
Thanks! See you in 2018!
I am thankful for everything that has happened in 2017 and am looking forward to what is in store for 2018. I have enjoyed the past couple of weeks of rest and relaxation but am looking forward to starting things out in 2018.
