Every year I write a year in review post. 

This year has been a roller coaster ride on a personal and global level. 

But I can honestly say that I sit here writing this year’s review feeling super proud of how much I achieved and how I stayed focused and on track despite the uncertainty and difficulties that the year threw at us all.

I experienced quite a lot of sickness in 2020, from shingles to copious amounts of sinus infections so I decided to have sinus surgery in December to put me in a better position with my health for 2021.

I also experienced quite a bit of personal grief in 2020 with a work colleague, a childhood friend and a friend we’d met through our kid’s friends to the scourge of Cancer – all died way too young and leaving children behind.

My dad was also really unwell and at times I felt sure that we were going to loose him in 2020 but thankfully he made a comeback. 

I really missed in-person connection with some of my best business friends who live interstate and I struggled to surrender to not being able to plan any future international travel. I had to surrender to being “grounded” and to be content with the here and now.

I struggled at times with my anxiety, particularly social anxiety and the lack of genuine in-person connection.

2020 was a year of groundedness, of growth, of expansion and inspiration in my business. It was a year of seeing the foundations that I had laid or seeds that I had planted to start to sprout, grow and bloom.  

It was the year I turned 40.

The energy of 2020

Numerology

I was in a personal 4 year which can best be described as:

Vibrations: Responsibility, Maturity, Maintenance, Work, Self-Control, Honesty, Patience, Authority, Leadership, Loyalty, Finances, Security, Foundation, Health, Defining, Planning and Hard work.

If you want to find out what year it is for you and how you can best work with it check out Your Soulful Year Online Workshop.

Astrology

My major transit in 2020 was the 2nd year of a  Pluto square Pluto transit.

Pluto square Pluto asks you to release what doesn’t serve you and what is holding you back.

This has not been an easy transit for me with lots of lessons and challenges around claiming my power and independence and being true to myself.

I had a lot of planetary energy over my 4th house of home and family in 2020 which makes sense given the type of year it was for me.

If you would like to learn how to work with astrology to understand why you are feeling the way you are and what is going on for you astrologically then check out my year ahead reading.

My 2019 Theme Word

My main word for the year was Thrive and this really directed my decisions in both my business and personal life. 

It was about creating the conditions for my  business and myself to thrive. 

To support this I dropped down to 3 days in my corporate work, I created the programs and offerings in my business that would support the growth of the business in the next few years and I focused on getting my business finances in order so that I could grow and thrive. 

Supporting Themes

1. Be known & respected for business Astrology

2. Be on-purpose & Aligned 

3. Feel free & empowered

4. Be receptive to amazing opportunities & magnetize abundance to me

5. Feel secure in my finances

If you would like to create something similar to the above for 2021 then check out Your Soulful Year

Overview of 2020

Expanding the Embodied Soul Astrology Academy

My main focus in 2020 was growing the number of courses offered by the academy.

In 2020 we launched new programs of Your Astrological Style, Your Astrological Substance, Your Astrological Purpose and Astrology Abundance. 

We have 81 paying students which is 45% growth from 2019 and have created a year-long Business Astrology Accreditation with the first cohort in 2021.

Astrology Readings

I was consistently booked every week for my astrology readings including Natal Chart Readings, Year Ahead Readings, Business Chart Readings (including picking the best date to launch) and AstroBranding readings. I worked with 46 clients in 2020 for Astrology Readings.

I absolutely love doing astrology readings for clients and helping them to join the dots of their life and to make changes (big or small) to align their life and business to their cosmic signature. I love that I now have return clients for year ahead readings and clients who I have done multiple types of readings for.

And when your friends who are also amazing entrepreneurs (looking at you Denise Duffield Thomas) become regular astrology clients you know you are doing something right.

Your Soulful Year 2021

My Your Soulful Year Online Course has become something that my ongoing clients look forward to each year. It’s a beautifully simple yet powerful process and I describe it as a business retreat in a box – so I was thrilled to launch it again for 2021 and bring in additional Astrology content to make it even better.

AstroBranding & Pisces Creative Co

In November, after months of planning, I finally launched my new business Pisces Creative Co where I do AstroBranding Readings and AstroLuxe Brand Identity for creative women in business.

In just a couple of months I have created beautiful brands for Bobbi Klline, Melissa Cosby, The Connection Centre and Toni’s Healing Room with another in development.

Speaking

I intended to continue public speaking in 2020 but Covid put the kibosh on that! 

However I did manage to squeeze in speaking in February 2020 at Tammy Guests amazing Natex event for the second year in a row. 

I’m hoping that there are some more opportunities in 2021 in Australia to do this.

Best Moments

// Hanging out with my biz bestie Denise Duffield Thomas and Tammy Guest in Fiji at a business retreat and hearing Elizabeth Gilbert speak.

// Taking two solo business retreats – one to the Barossa Valley (Wine country) and one to a gorgeous hotel in the city.

// Couples weekend away with my hubby (finally!)

// Getting a new kitten little Zen

// Having a new photoshoot with Emma of Lifes Light Creative for my new Business Pisces Creative Co

// Rebranding the Embodied Soul Astrology Academy

// Launching Pisces Creative Co and creating some amazing brands for amazing women.

// Launching my year long Astrology Certification and enrolling amazing women

// Getting a gorgeous morganite ring and a beautiful Jessica Watts print for my 40th Birthday.

Big Lessons

// I learnt a business lesson around the term “lifetime access” and how people interpret that as well as being intentional about how you set up parts of your offerings like communities. I shut down all of my non-astrology programs on the 11th December 2020 after running them for the last 8 years. I had over 1,000 clients that I did my best to communicate this change to and to do it with integrity and love but it still had challenges and taught me lessons for the future.

// A couple of years ago (probably about 3 now) I got myself into some financial issues. After having had a very successful business for the first 5 years (at it’s height turning over $500k/year) I got myself into a not so great situation. It’s something that I have paid dearly for – quite literally. I had to take on some corporate work, sell some assets and basically just knuckle down and work really hard to re-vision my business and grow it. In 2020 my next step was to get really intentional with my business finances and 3 months ago I adopted the Profit First system and I have not looked back. This disciplined and structured approach to my business finances is what was missing from my ability to grow and I am already reaping the benefits and have been able to reduce the corporate work that I need to do with a goal to quite completely within the next 12 months.

Busting Through Blocks

I had a few significant blocks to work through in 2020 (don’t we all!).

• Owning it – I had to move through the next levels of embracing my work as an astrologer, I still don’t always find it easy to introduce myself as an “astrologer” but I have told my family that this is how I now earn a very healthy business revenue.
• Money mindset – I had to work on my mindset around my ability to create sustainable wealth after it took a battering in 2018 but I have made a lot of progress in this area and have regained my confidence in myself and what I can create for the future – just watch me do it!
• Managing my business finances – I had to get more serious with my business budget and get comfortable with having more than I needed in my business accounts and only spending what was available (40% of revenue) on expenses. It’s starting to feel really normal and healthy now but it took a while!

Business Success Secrets in 2020

I like to see every year that I am in business as a success – and you should too! So here are the things that I think had the most impact on my year.

• Blogging – Blogging is still an amazing traffic generator for me and my web traffic has quadrupled in 2020. My top five blogs (based on traffic) are all astrology topics and the top 2 bring in 6.700k hits per month
• Pinterest – Being active on Pinterest and sharing great content there drove a lot of additional traffic to my offerings, some months I have viewers of over 500k to my pinterest content.
• Instagram – Nurturing my smaller but engaged following on Instagram with weekly educational posts has provided a strong return on investment. 
• Continuous Learning – Investing in graphic design training from amazing mentors and continuing to invest in astrology training and reading many books from astrology greats.  
• Finances – Implementing the Profit First financial system allowed me to start paying myself a salary from the business, set aside adequate tax and superannuation as well as pay myself a quarterly profit distribution. 
• Consistency – writing blogs, newsletters and scheduling instagram content every week has been core to my growth.
• Making strategic offers – you can only make money from your business if you have offers for people to take you up on. I have a structured plan for launches and promotions that I plan a year in advance to ensure that the business continues to grow.
• Reward existing clients – my existing clients get the best prices when I launch new courses, this has been a really successful way to encourage students to move through multiple courses in the academy.

Biggest Challenges

• Juggling parenting with my husband who also works full-time with two kids in school – much harder than running a business!
• Finding the time every week to be consistent and meet my commitments and goals in the business.
• Being patient and trusting that my business would continue to grow – I’m two years into a total business shift and I know from experience that it is year 3 and 4 that the momentum truly kicks in.

What I actually did this year!

• Worked part-time on one of Australia’s largest digital transformation programs 
• Created, Launched  and ran 5 new programs for the Embodied Soul Astrology Academy
• Launched a New Branding Business = Pisces Creative Co – and two new AstroBranding Offerings
• Worked with 4 Branding Clients
• Did 46 Astrology Readings
• Wrote over 40 blogs
• Sent (on average) weekly newsletters
• Shared Astrology education over on Instagram every week
• Travelled to Fiji for a business retreat and took two local solo business retreats
• Designed and launched a 1 year Astrology Certification
• Revised and expanded my Your Soulful Year program for 2021!

What’s Next?

So that was my 2020! Look out for my next blog that looks forward to 2021 and what you can expect from me.

From my family to yours Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – May it be all you wish for and more!