My Word for 2026 and How 2025 Shaped Me

I’m ready for 2026, to be honest. I am really prepared to say hello to all the wonderful, exciting, heart-pumping experiences coming my way. 2025 felt like a year of getting out of the seasons of hardship and finding a sense of purpose in the chaos of life, the world, and the job market, while attempting to stay grounded.

Last year, my word was “thrive,” and this year my word is “growth.”

I just had my first accountability call of 2026 with my lovely accountability partner, Gina Oliver (who is amazing if you don’t know her). She and her husband have built a wonderful social media agency, and I am just really inspired by that. She shared her word for this year with me as well, and they were both similar, which I thought was just great.

Reflecting on 2025, I made an effort to shed what wasn’t working for me. I chose not to continue holding on to things that didn’t serve me, drained my energy, or gave me anxiety, and I released them.

That also included relationships; I let go of friendships that had gone past their season and continued watering the relationships that have been:

1. Super nourishing
2. Full of value
3. Deeply connected
4. Sources of light for me

I also stepped outside of my comfort zone a little bit more and tried to pivot in ways that felt aligned with what I wanted to do and how I wanted to improve myself. I wanted to make an impact and become a person who serves as a beacon of light in the times we’re in.

For me, some of the most influential highlights of 2025 revolved around my relationship with social media and how I wanted to show up in that space.

I took a break for several years, which really helped me to figure out:

1. How I want to connect in the physical world
2. How I want to connect in the social digital world

This process helped me find where the comfort is for me, rather than the anxiety.

When I came back into the digital world, I realized I love quieter spaces, and that includes emails, blog posts, blogging, and video, or just connecting in easier ways.

I’ve been shedding platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to reconnect in a new way. Doing so has been helpful for me to focus on what I want to do for the future.

Last year had a few highlights that I’d love to share.

Highlight one is my ADHD diagnosis. I had the opportunity to get an evaluation done here in Italy, though it was not a straightforward process. I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to get answers, but I did end up receiving an evaluation and a diagnosis.

It turns out I have a mild form of ADHD. It is not terribly afflicting, but it explains some of the repetitive behaviors and patterns in my life. Over the past few years, I’ve questioned why I struggle with focus, why I constantly multitask, and why I’m so easily distracted or prone to making certain mistakes.

Finding out the “why” has been a blessing. It has informed me on how I can work, live, and be present in the world, while helping me find new coping skills and tools to support myself as I move through life.

Highlight two is joining a new community, the OGC Club, and connecting and building something totally new with two lovely ladies that I’m excited to partner with to create something bigger than ourselves.

This project is a retreat that we, as three women of color, wanted to create to offer something different from what we have already seen. It has been really satisfying to meet with these ladies every month virtually (since we haven’t all met in person yet) to work on building this amazing retreat that we want to share with the world and invite people to experience.

It’s called The Italian Reset, and its themes are Serenity, Sisterhood, and Self. We really want people to experience this retreat and come away with:

1. New relationships
2. New ideas
3. New ways of resetting and restoring your energy
4. Experiencing the culture of Italy in a vibrant and curious way

I invite you to sign up for our newsletter! We will be sharing updates and more info on what’s to come in the next few weeks as we go into a soft launch very soon. I’ll definitely be chatting more about this.

Finally, highlight three is how I have many skill sets that I have been attempting to siphon into tangible services that I am ready to share and offer.

These include:

1. Fractional Chief Operating Officer and Integrator: Working with startups and nonprofits to support their vision
2. Process Development: Building out processes and SOPs to ensure everything is in a coherent, cohesive, and easy roadmap, so to speak.
3. Immigrant/expat support after they’ve relocated.

I am stepping into the world of offering support to immigrants, expats, and migrants (even though “coaching” is a word I don’t necessarily align with). My focus is on supporting people who are moving abroad or relocating to new countries and need guidance after the initial honeymoon period has passed.

It is often after those first few special weeks or months in a new place that you truly begin navigating the day-to-day life experiences, and I would love to support people through that transition. I call myself an “Immigrant Sherpa” rather than a coach, because my goal is to help you flourish and get you past the top of the mountain to the next one.

I still have my video production business and am continuing to do freelance projects. I’m working on restarting my YouTube channel and building a community there!

2026 seems like I’ve already put a lot on my plate, I think it’s well measured though, and aligned with how I want 2026 to unfold!

What are you looking forward to in 2026? I’d love to hear the projects you’re working on!