I doubt anybody noticed, but Q3 in Review never made it on to the blog. A few days into October, when I should have been working on the first draft, I finally succumbed to Covid. I’d had a good run, managing to avoid the virus for two years, even when the rest of my household had it… twice! As if making up for lost time, the germs hit hard. I spent two full weeks in bed unable to do much more than sleep, and then another two weeks slowly regaining my strength.
While I was ill, Carl had to spend 10 days in America, leaving the kids to fend for themselves and look after me while I remained in isolation. Once Carl was home, and just as I was starting to feel better, Jesse came down with a virus that turned into a chest infection, causing a nasty asthma flare. We ended up in A&E twice and I lost count of our emergency appointments with the GP. In the end, he was off school for two and a half weeks. It was a rough time for all involved, but especially Jesse. Determined to end the quarter strong, he tested positive for Covid at the beginning of December and needed another week off.
Now we’ve got our various health woes out the way, here’s Q4 2022 in review…
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What Felt Good in Q4?
Honestly, not much. The last three months have been tough. When I wasn’t desperately trying to catch up on work, I was fighting fires elsewhere. But there have been moments worth celebrating.
In October, Charlie and I appeared on Liz Mosley’s excellent podcast, Building Your Brand, to talk about co-mentoring. After all these years, we’re still incredibly passionate about this approach and eager to share our experience with other business owners. At the beginning of November, I delivered a bonus workshop for Maddy Shine’s online training program, Blogging For Gold. I love working with Maddy. Her energy and the way she does business is very inspiring. It’s always fun to meet new members of her community too.
Somehow, despite being unwell, I wrote 25 pieces of content and completed one big web copy project in Q4. The latter is already live and looking beautiful. I first worked with Matt and Lara at Launcells Barton many years ago. At the time, they were new to the wedding industry and their stunning venue in Cornwall was still under construction. I was honoured when they asked me to work with them again and create copy for the next exciting chapter of their business. After all the challenges of the last few months, receiving this testimonial upon completion provided a much needed boost.
‘When we decided it was time to rebrand and create our new website, without question I knew Franky needed to be involved again. When we launched our business and first website, Franky got “us” completely and really understood exactly how we wanted our website to feel.
Working with Franky is a pleasure, everything is communicated and structured in a professional way, so you know when to expect things and if any tweaks need to be made, when these will be completed. I always felt like I could be completely open and honest and if any changes needed to be made, Franky was understanding and positive and nothing ever felt like too much trouble. She just wanted to make sure we were happy and everything was exactly how we wanted it to be. Thank you for bringing our rebranding to life and continuing to be our voice!’
– Lara, Launcells Barton
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What Didn’t?
Shall we just say ‘life in general’ and leave it at that?! The clocks going back. Prepping for Christmas. Running a business in the current economic climate. Meeting deadlines. Remembering to email my accountant the stuff she needed for my tax return. Helping Izzy with her UCAS form and starting to plan her 18th birthday party. Even without everything else, these things would be overwhelming.
I also struggled with the constant feeling I was letting people down or keeping them waiting. My clients were so patient while I was sick, but it pained me to be providing what felt like a sub-par service. Now the dust has settled, I can see I was being pretty hard on myself {for a change}. I did my best during a really difficult period. I communicated clearly with my clients throughout and produced high quality work. I should have been patting myself on the back, not beating myself up.
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What Did I Learn?
Navigating multiple high stress situations back-to-back has definitely reaffirmed my desire to prioritise peace! As much as possible, I want my working life to feel spacious and calm. The past three months have also been a good lesson in dealing with overwhelm. The best approach is usually one thought, one task, one day at time. It always feels impossible until it’s done.
- I usually end these reviews with my goals and intentions for the next quarter. As we’re heading into a new year, I think I’ll save this for my first post of 2023. I’m looking forward to embracing goal setting season after a restful Christmas. I’ll see you on the other side!
Love Audrey xxx
P.S. Q2 2022 in Review and Q1 2022 in Review
