My Word For 2020: CHANGE

The year 2020 has symbolized a lot of things for different people, and today I’m thrilled to finally share my word of the year with you — CHANGE. I was hesitant to post about this prior to now, and here’s why.

Saturday was my last day working at Orangetheory Fitness. Most of you know that I worked as the Studio Manager in the Park Slope location of Brooklyn for three and a half years! It was a wild ride that took me from the solo employee selling memberships on a construction site to accommodating almost 1,200 members to sold-out classes. It’s a very busy studio with a million parts moving at once, and I can honestly say that I’ve never been bored working the front desk during any one of my shifts. Every day was different, and the experience taught me more than I expected it to. My days started at 5 a.m. and came with incredible highs along with unpredictable challenges to navigate.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that I was given and trusted with to help open a new location in my neighborhood! I’m going to miss my co-workers, my OTF Brooklyn/Queens team, and most of all, the members that come day in and day out with stories and smiles. The best part of my job was when it didn’t feel like work at all … chatting with members, roaming the lobby to catch up with how the weekend went for everyone, and seeing peoples’ lives change right in front of me. That kind of personal success and inspiration is unparalleled and so cool to witness!

That being said, the decision to leave my role this year did not come lightly, but it proved to be the necessary next step while focusing on the future for myself, my family, and my career path.

Have you ever felt like you’re keeping busy doing a lot of things, but doing none of them well or up to your potential? That’s exactly how I’ve felt over the past few years when I lost the time to write consistently, the motivation to pursue personal training, and most recently, the hours needed to grow my Beautycounter business.

Becoming a mom is and will always be the most important job to me, and juggling everything I was doing at once greatly affected my performance. I struggled to write in whatever free time I had, I sacrificed sleep and averaged about 4-5 hours a night, I came home too tired to play with Skyler more times that I like to admit, and I just didn’t see a path to grow anymore. I felt stagnant and on autopilot into survival mode. Add Scott’s travel schedule into the mix and it started feeling impossible. Something had to give!

Last year was a huge reflection year for me. And looking back at this post feels surreal (sharing my word for 2019 as DREAM). Something clicked in me to figure out what drives me the most, what makes me the happiest, and to create a plan for how to make it happen. Re-attending the IDEA World Fitness Convention last June (after having to skip it for several years) lit a fire in me to stop dreaming and start planning, which brings me to where I am today sharing my #2020vision if you will — CHANGE.

So now, here I am, Day One in being Skyler’s full-time caretaker. It’s something that I never thought I would get the chance to do, and I feel very lucky for all of the extra time that I get to have with him.

Don’t get me wrong, this leap of faith to pursue CHANGE doesn’t mean that we have it all figured out. You’re talking to the girl who married Mr. Spontaneous and was talked into uprooting our lives and moving to a new city (away from our families and support systems) after a big job lay-off … twice. You’re looking at the couple who moved to New York City in a U-Haul with three pets, without jobs, without an apartment, and without a plan beyond “making it happen.” And yet, here we are almost four years later, both leaving our comfort zones of full-time and steady work, more optimistic than ever to make our dreams become our reality.

Some may call it crazy, but we like to call it God’s plan for us. It always seems to work out, and it’s undoubtedly tied to the faith we’ve had in our hearts that He will take care of us through the storms and guide us into the rainbows. And He certainly has.

So, what’s next for us this year? A lot of great things! Scott is currently in Chicago working diligently in planning entertainment for the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend coming up, and his calendar year is quickly filling with gigs, contracts, auditions for local stunting/acting work, and trips overseas. I’m so proud of how hard he has worked on his business (he’s a consultant for sports entertainment and event production), and it’s come to a point where he needs help. I’m looking forward to also being in the position that I am to help him grow an online presence and highlight all of the cool things that he gets to do!

Beyond that, I am most excited about returning to posting regularly around here, growing my mission to share the importance of safer, cleaner skincare and makeup, and pursuing personal training. I’m highly considering putting my services online with 1-on-1 coaching, and I’m entertaining the thought of teaching group exercise again. I guess we will see how it all unfolds!

So there you have it. My word for 2020 – CHANGE – and what it means to me. I want you to know that I truly appreciate every one of you who clicks over to read my articles here on the blog, and that I don’t take you for granted, either. Thank you to all who have supported me and this space throughout the years, even through the rocky and not-so-consistent years. It means the world to me, and I am more than pumped to see where the next chapter takes us all together.

Here’s to a great start to the day, the week, and the rest of the year.

So much love to you!