Starting after the first full year of my business, I started taking us on retrospective + planning retreats. I saw two of my favorite people, who also happen to own a photography/branding company talk about how much it helped them and I thought Whoa. That’s exactly what I need to do, too. Thank you for your forever inspo, Sullivan & Sullivan Studios!

I wrote last week about the mistakes I made in starting my business. I am all for jumping in before you’re ready. You can’t know what you don’t know, after all. However, I am not a person who is good at pausing to look at the big picture and ask myself questions like:

• What worked well?

• What didn’t?

• What are you doing now that you want to do less?

• What are you doing now that you want to do more?

• What aren’t you doing now that you want to do more?

• What’s lighting your fire?

• What’s dimming your light?

• Who are your dream clients?

• Where do you want to be in the next 3, 6, 12 months?

• How much do you want to be paid?

• Etc. etc. etc.

These retreats, where I take us away for the weekend to somewhere close but inspiring, are where we ask ourselves those questions. They’re where I get a mental reset and think hard and deep about the business. They’re where we write out our goals and try to get clear about what’s next. It’s hard to give you much that’s concrete from what we planned last year versus what happened because, well, 2020. I hope to have more to share next year.

This past weekend, I kicked us off with a reading from Powerhouse Priestess, who has intuitively guided my business this year and steered me in smart directions. I included Raz in it, too. I’m really excited about the direction we’re growing and hopeful for his increased involvement in our little company. We’re dreaming big and putting in the work. We’ll probably stumble and fail a few times, but I’m getting better at embracing the journey.

Do you take the time to check in with your business? What’s you’re process?