Goodbye, 2024: A Year of Tears, Risks, and Transformation

Goodbye, 2024: A Year of Tears, Risks, and Transformation

Au revoir, 2024! What a whirlwind you’ve been. Right from the start, you brought your A-game. By January, I was handed a postpartum depression diagnosis. Not even a month into the new year, I left a company I had worked with for a decade—a place I once loved, walking away with the kind of tears that flood waterfalls. Was I making the biggest mistake of my life?

Fast forward to a job at Dailylook—a mix of fun, high-school drama vibes, and paychecks just big enough to cover daycare. Then came the kicker: a mass Zoom layoff in April. Picture 20-plus employees, the CEO fumbling an explanation about “miscalculated numbers,” and managers staring blankly like extras in a bad soap opera. It felt like a fever dream. I closed my laptop, sent a text to my cousin-in-law, and promptly cried my face off.

With my husband off on a two-week fishing trip, I was left to greet him at the door, jobless, overstimulated, and crying enough to fill Lake Michigan. But I tried my best to be optimistic, telling him, “Maybe this is a sign! I can finally focus on my business!”

That “business” was once thriving with branding collabs and custom clients, but life (and a lot of therapy) had shifted my priorities. By June, I went full-time with Patricia’s Stationery + Designs, only to realize I hadn’t fully turned the engine back on after my long break. Cue panic mode.

The Wedding Expo I signed up for in October? A bust. Twenty-six brides booked consultations. Four showed up. Ouch. I had thrown my savings into what felt like a black hole of disappointment. And let’s not forget the Pizza Hut parking lot meltdown in November—a cinematic scene of me ugly-crying after reading yet another email criticizing my pricing. I left a tear-filled voicemail for a friend, fixed my hair, and walked into a local yoga studio to ask if they were hiring. Spoiler alert: they were.

That brings me to now, where I find myself working part-time at the yoga studio—a job that doesn’t pay much but also doesn’t drain my soul. I’ve cried buckets over what feels like a financial and professional step back, but here’s the thing: when I shift my perspective, the story reads differently.

I left a toxic job. I took a big risk with a new company and, even though it didn’t pan out, it pushed me to dive back into my business. I found cracks in my business model and started patching them. And I’m ending the year at a job I actually enjoy, talking about things I love, while steadily rebuilding Patricia’s Stationery + Designs into something even better than before.

This morning alone, I packaged two orders, sketched a custom piece, and received a message from someone wanting to connect me with their wedding-industry-savvy sisters. Progress may be slower, but it’s progress.

Which brings me to 2025. My word for the year? Connection.
I want to connect with my clients by building a community they love. I want to connect with brick-and-mortar stores and licensing brands (Papyrus, call me!). I want to reconnect with friends, colleagues, and my family.

If 2024 taught me anything, it’s that even in chaos, there’s growth. So here’s to 2025—a year of connections, opportunities, and whatever beautiful mess the universe throws my way.

XoXo-
Patricia