2024 Year in Review…The good, the bad, and the ugly
Every December as I’m planning the new year that’s quickly approaching, I love to reflect back on what the current year brought me.
January Highlights
We kicked off 2024 with a BANG - literally - as we attended a yacht crew New Years’ Party on the beach in St. Maarten on January 6th. Everything at the party glowed in the dark and the fireworks were some of the best I’ve ever seen! So much fun to ring in the new year with dear friends and beloved fireworks!
Jim and I also traveled back to St. Louis mid January and were met with -6 degree temps❄️🥶. Jim’s birthday is in January so we celebrated by visiting our dear friends in Kansas City, MO, eating some amazing BBQ, hitting up a couple new breweries, playing pool, and just catching up.
As for my business, Albers Mind & Body Wellness kicked off 2024 with my 90 day planning process with the British mastermind I’ve been involved with for the past 2 years. I also was involved in a small group coaching program to continue to support me on scaling my business. I’ve realized how absolutely critical ongoing learning, support, and accountability is in growing my business to the next level and for my personal development.
I also received notice that my amazing Online Business Manager (OBM) was pivoting in her business and was no longer going to be working with multiple smaller businesses.
While I was panicked and sad initially, I went into acceptance mode, as well as interview mode, and hired a new OBM and we hit the ground running right away. I cannot even describe how game-changing it is to have support in your business!
I also started with 2 new private coaching clients for my year long private business building program, and they’ve both gone on to get numerous paying clients, which is always so exciting to see!
February Highlights
In February, Jim and I went to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to visit my family, celebrated Valentine’s Day by seeing the Bob Marley movie, and participated in a trivia fundraising night, which I always love!
Oh, and I also got Lasik eye surgery (yay!), but got really sick (unrelated) ; I had kidney stones and an e-coli infection…let’s just say I NEVER want to experience that again!
Back in great news, we excitedly welcomed another Super Bowl win with our fave team, The KC Chiefs!! Though very sadly and senselessly, there was a shooting that occurred, where 2 people died and countless others left traumatized.
In my business, I offboarded with my OBM and onboarded my new OBM. I welcomed 1 new private coaching client and welcomed back 2 return coaching clients ready to scale their coaching business to consistent $5k months. I also participated in Kate Doster’s Back to Business Resource Bundle and welcomed a bunch of new lovely email subscribers.
March Highlights
March was a 50/50 living custody arrangement, spending the first half of the month in St. Louis. While still in St. Louis, my friend Tiffany and I took an epic road trip to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
If you’ve never been to OKC, you gotta go!
Tiffany and I visited lots of little towns on our way to see the infamous Blue Whale, a crime scene from the 70s we’ve been obsessing over, several cool local speakeasies, Pioneer Women’s restaurant, the site of Killers of the Flower Moon.
Jim and I arrived back in St. Maarten on St. Patrick’s Day. It was fun seeing all the St. Patrick’s celebrators all decked out in green up and down the Boardwalk.
In my business, I kicked off the month with a 3-day virtual messaging conference, which is always so invigorating for me to have 3 undivided days to learn, connect with new people, and implement some new ideas in my business. I also excitedly welcomed 3 new private coaching clients.
April Highlights
April was a whirlwind! Jim and I were in St. Martin the whole month and we had a lot of fun hanging out with our island family, going on a sunset sail fundraiser, and watching our favorite local band play (the band Orange Grove if you're interested).
Our good friends had just gotten an ADORABLE new puppy and we've been obsessed! The puppy's name is "Irie" which is Jamaican for "positive emotions" and "It's all good").
My Uncle Bob and Aunt Andrea came to visit at the very end of the month through early May, and they got to experience St. Maarten for the 1st time. We had fun celebrating my uncle’s birthday, days at the beach, and driving a dune buggy around the island.
In my business, I was a contributor to Steph Blake's Simple Marketing Bundle and welcomed 73 new email subscribers!
I also ran a small group coaching program for Dr. Kim Foster’s Wellness Coach Academy who I’m a Copy & Business Coach for. I welcomed 6 new wellness coaches into this hybrid group coaching program where we focused on creating an irresistible mini-offer, crafting a compelling sales page, and beta launching it to their audience.
It’s such a delight to see the clarity and confidence that builds during this program…and of course, seeing my clients get their first paying clients ever is beyond rewarding. If you’d like to do the same and bring in $1k+ to your coaching business while building your signature system, I’ve got you covered!
May Highlights
At the beginning of May, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Andrea were visiting; just a lovely time with them eating lots of red snapper, going to the beach, and introducing them to our island family.
We also had fun attending a ladies' Sunday brunch, many karaoke nights, and a few days spent in the sun.
In my business, I was pretty busy with clients and running my new group coaching program. I also got 2 new private coaching clients to help them scale their coaching business to consistent $5k months.
I participated in a 3 day virtual visibility training which helped me immensely shift my fears, thoughts, and strategies around being visible in my business. I’ve since been “showing up” more consistently and confidently on podcasts, summits, email resource bundles, during speaking events, and in my own business. I also recorded a summit interview for Liz Bloch’s June summit.
June Highlights
June was a busy month as well as we began renovation on a NEW RESTAURANT Jim and I invested in with our dear friends, Ruthie and Denny. It’s called Marley’s Sports Bar & Grill and it’s right on the boardwalk in St. Maarten.
The place needed some fairly significant renovations, plus we wanted to make it very island friendly (aka, lots of really bright colors and cozy seating).
Also this month, I traveled solo back to St. Louis (Jim's staying on island to continue working on the restaurant). I surprised my parents’ by making it to our family’s annual fireworks demolition where we test out all our huge 500 gram fireworks. It’s such a fun night and my parents were so surprised!
Then I stayed through the month to help run my family fireworks business.
Despite the heat, long hours, and being surrounded by explosives, I absolutely LOVE this time of year and working fireworks! We celebrated 39 years being in business, so it's truly been something I've grown up doing🎆!
In my business, I welcomed 2 new private coaching clients in my Make Money Now Program: Add $1k to Your Coaching Business While Creating Your Signature System.
I also began a 6 week tarot card business coaching program to help me lean into my intuition and spiritual guides to help me grow and scale in my business. It was such a fun, creative, and enlightening experience! I absolutely love learning all types of modalities and frameworks to grow in my business and my personal and spiritual development.
I participated in 3 visibility events this month:
Cat Griffin’s For Your Business Bundle
Mayowa’s Skills Bundle
Liz Bloch’s Cut the Confusion Summit
And even though I was out of the office much of June selling fireworks in my family’s business, I was able to grow my list by over 400 new lovely subscribers, thanks in large part to these virtual events…plus, make a few hundred dollars in commission.
Lastly, I finished my hybrid group coaching program, Make Money Now, and welcomed the awesome feedback from group members and seeing them welcome in some new clients.
July Highlights
WOW, July was a whirlwind!! Here's a quick recap:
I worked 58 hours just July 1st - 4th alone, between selling fireworks and running my business🛌
My brother and nephew came in from the North Pacific US to visit while I was also home visiting my hometown; had some lovely family time🙌
Bought 2 cars in St. Maarten, as the first 1 got stolen 10 days after buying😠
Spent some time with my hubby Jim when he came back from St. Maarten for a week in July💑
Jim and our restaurant partners continued working on Marley's, our new restaurant in St. Maarten (check out the pics)👷♀️
# of road trips in July: 4 (3 trips to Cape Girardeau, MO (my hometown where my parents and 1 sister and her family still live) and 1 trip to Kansas City (to visit our BFF's Bart and Jenny)🚗
I flew back to St. Maarten with my sister-in-law, Jane, for some proper time off (that's she and I in the pic below)!🛩
In my business, I’ll be honest, not a whole lot of work got done between fireworks, family in visiting, and vacation…BUT I’m ecstatic to report that July was still a strong month financially.
How you might ask? My team worked behind the scenes to send out my socials and promo emails which led to sales on autopilot. I also had a number of clients on payment plans so those payments as well as the payments from the clients I did see, and the consultancy fees I receive from wellness certification programs I consult with added up to a strong month.
In July, I launched a new lead magnet: a short quiz, “The Niche Clarity Quiz” to help Coaches determine if they’ve got a clear, specific, and profitable niche. Over 100 Coaches and Entrepreneurs have taken the quiz to date! You can check it out here.
I also decided to draw 3 winners from those who completed the survey and offered them a free Business Growth Strategy Call to help them identify clear next steps to help them grow in their business.
Not only was it fantastic to connect with new Coaches, but 2 of the 3 ended up investing in a coaching package with me (I share this to say that sending out a survey is a great way to better understand your clients’ language and challenges and offering a free strategy session to a certain number of them can be an effective way to add additional revenue in your business).
August Highlights
Even now as I reflect back, August was the most stressful month of the entire year!
Here’s the cliff’s notes version:
We were hit with a topical depression and a Cat 1 hurricane in the span of about 10 days!
My dear sister in law came to visit Jim and I in St. Maarten…BUT her trip home got delayed 2 days and we had to get her to another nearby island so she could catch a flight back to Miami.
Then less than 48 hours days after she left, my parents came to visit Jim and I for the first time ever…AND their trip got delayed 3 extra days due to the hurricane. In the meantime, I’m trying to work and get caught up as I wasn’t expecting the extra house guests.
THE day my parents left was the grand opening of a sports bar & grill Jim and I opened up with another couple on the island. Talk about CRAZY TIME!!
Plus in the midst of all of that, Jim and I celebrated our 17th year wedding anniversary and I celebrated my XXX birthday!
In my business, I celebrated my 1 year anniversary serving as a Business, Marketing, & Copy Coach inside The Wellness Coach Academy. I absolutely love supporting the students on creating and scaling their businesses, talking through mindset challenges, and providing in-depth copy audits so they can create compelling marketing materials.
I also joined 2 new monthly memberships to help grow my email list and be more visible, and to get implementation accountability and networking opportunities. Both awesome investments!
Lastly I welcomed 1 new private coaching client and added roughly another 130 people to my email list.
September Highlights
Phew, so glad to report September was a calmer month than July and August!
Here are the biggest highlights:
Jim and I and our friends/biz owners celebrated our 1-month anniversary at Marley's, our Sports Bar & Grill on the boardwalk in St. Maarten...a BIG thank you to all our friends and family (new and old) who've come to check us out already🥂
Really loved watching The Chiefs Football...but do they have to have such nail-biting wins at the final buzzer?!? I don't think my heart can take it!🏈💓
My in-laws came back to St. Maarten on the 24th...it's been fantastic to spend time with them again and take them to Marley's!
Bought our tix to head back to St. Louis for a bit in October...excited to see friends and family!
In my business, I participated in 3 visibility events this month:
Cat Griffin’s Leads to Dollars Resource Bundle
Tish Collins’ Growth Resource Bundle
Cat Griffin’s Rule Breaking Summit
These events added roughly 530 new email subscribers to my list and garnered a couple hundred dollars in commission. Boy, do I love bundles, summits, and podcasts as an effective strategy to serve my audience and grow my list!
I also began working with an AI Coach to create custom AI bots to help my clients (and myself) create uber compelling copy that actually sounds like you in a fraction of the time. Super excited to share these with you in the coming months!
Additionally I welcomed 1 new lovely private coaching client and 2 new collaboration opportunities.
October Highlights
Jim and I flew back to St. Louis and spent the 1st 2 weeks of October together getting to see some family and friends - though not nearly enough time! Then he headed back to St. Maarten October 15th so he could get back to our restaurant, Marley's.
Here's a few other personal highlights from October:
Been loving the Chiefs 7-0 football season so far🏈!!
Coming in 2nd place (just 1 point behind 1st at a trivia fundraising event (in case you don't know me well just yet - I LOVE trivia...actually all things Games🎮!
Spent some lovely time with my family and long-time friends including going to a Fall festival, watching our friends' son's football game, book club, and going out to dinner.👥
A road trip to Kansas City to visit our dearest friends, Bart & Jenny, and stumbling upon an old car show, some fun local breweries, and an old school arcade...did I mention I LOVE games?!🎮)
Had my oncology appointment and did my annual CT scan…Celebrated 7 years being cancer free🙏
Halloween with some of my beloved nieces and nephews who I don't get to see nearly as much as I'd like being in St. Maarten so much🍫
In my business, I continued my Copy Coach role with WCA as well as my years long role as a Master Group Coach & Trainer for The International Association of Wellness Professionals.
I also attended some embodiment classes for entrepreneurs with a mentor of mine. She teaches how to use movement and light dance set to music to release stress and tension from the body while strengthening your intuition. I’m always looking for new ways to rest, recharge, get in touch with my intuition, and expand my self understanding; embodiment work is perfect for that!
November Highlights
I split 50/50 custody with St. Louis and St. Maarten, flying back to the Caribbean on November 15th.
While still in St. Louis, I had a wonderful time visiting my family and friends back in my hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, that's 2 hours south of St. Louis. Had a blast doing a trivia night, a wine tasting, and
Once back in St. Maarten mid-month, I've been really busy doing a lot of work in my business (more on that below) and working a few days when I can at our restaurant, Marley's.
Our friends' band played its first gig at Marley's, and it was SO much fun seeing so many of our friends come out in support! Though boy, was it a crazy busy night!
Thanksgiving was a whirlwind working at Marley's while there were FIVE cruise ships in that day. Needless to say, after a 18-hour day and 13,459 steps later, I was exhausted!!
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I wanted to give another thank you to YOU for supporting me, my business, and just being an awesome human being!
In my business, I had a sound bowl healing session with my mentor, Karen Skidmore, and as I mentioned in October, I just love exploring new ways of stress relief, personal development, and a deeper connection with myself.
I had a meeting with my current team about my needs, business goals in 2025 and beyond, and the kind of support I most need and we decided to release some of the team so we could hire some new team members to account for the areas I most need support. It was a very healing, amicable, and stress free experience to have my current team do the heavy lifting in interviewing and hiring my new team members.
Excited to welcome my new Project Manager and Virtual Assistant in January!
December Highlights
In December, I spent the first 3 weeks in St. Maarten, mostly working on my business (more on that below) and my little remaining time working at our restaurant Marley's.
I flew back home to St. Louis, MO, area on December 20th and spent much of my time at my childhood home with my parents, siblings, brothers-in-law, and niece and nephews...everyone but my hubby Jim was home (Jim stayed back to make sure everything was going smoothly at Marley's😢).
In the midst of all that, we celebrated my Mom's birthday and one of my godson's birthdays🎂.
So my days were filled with playing games with the fam, get togethers with friends, eating Christmas cookies, running errands, and lots of laughter!
I rang in the new year with some dear friends I've known since college.
In my business, I welcomed 67 new email subscribers primarily through my participation in Tish Collins’ 5 Day Christmas Advent calendar. I welcomed 1 new private coaching client-woohoo!
I participated in a 3 day virtual planning and manifesting training with a business mentor of mine, and left feeling so inspired; so much so that I invested in her year long mentorship program!
I’m feeling both super excited and scared to do this program as it’s quite a bit more than I’ve invested to date in any coaching support. But I’m well aware that to scale to beyond 6 figures and continue my own learning and skill sets as a coach so I can best serve my clients, it is an absolute necessity to invest in support.
It was all good timing as well as the British mastermind I’ve been involved in the past 2.5 years is coming to an end. It’s always bittersweet when one door closes, and a new one opens…which feels like a great place to end my monthly mini wrap-ups!
My Biggest Takeaways from 2024:
1. The Power of Multiple Income Streams and Passive Income
Rather than relying solely on one-on-one coaching, 1 primary referral source, or project-based income, all of which can create inconsistent income, I focused more heavily on multiple and passive income streams.
I have numerous digital products, courses, referral sources, and affiliates that create more consistent income and grow my audience and impact.
And in 2025, I’m planning to launch a monthly membership and add more courses and digital products that my wellness coaching clients are asking for.
The Big Takeaway:
The blend of active and passive income creates a more resilient business, freeing you to focus on high-impact areas without constantly chasing the next client.
Book a complimentary call to discuss what this could look like in YOUR coaching business!
2. The Need for a Team (But Don’t Make Them Indispensable)
I’ve known for several years now the absolute necessity of having a team; however, it wasn’t until my first Online Business Manager (OBM) left in February 2024, that I realized how reliant I had become on 1 person.
Thankfully she was immensely helpful during the offboarding process making in depth standard operating procedures (SOPs) so that onboarding my new OBM, Blair, was relatively seamless.
Then as my team is once again evolving (but in a good way), it’s been almost 0% stress in bringing on my new Project Manager and my soon to be new Virtual Assistant.
3. The Need for a Team (But Don’t Make Them Indispensable)
I’ve known for several years now the absolute necessity of having a team; however, it wasn’t until my first Online Business Manager (OBM) left in February 2024, that I realized how reliant I had become on 1 person.
Thankfully she was immensely helpful during the offboarding process making in depth standard operating procedures (SOPs) so that onboarding my new OBM, Blair, was relatively seamless.
Then as my team is once again evolving (but in a good way), it’s been almost 0% stress in bringing on my new Project Manager and my soon to be new Virtual Assistant.
The Big Takeaway:
Teams accelerate growth, but ensuring your business can function smoothly even if someone leaves is essential for long-term sustainability.
4. How Truly Critical Self-Care Is for Entrepreneurs
Running multiple coaching programs, memberships, and content strategies pushed you to your limits at times. You discovered that when you neglect self-care, productivity, creativity, and mental clarity suffer. Taking time to recharge wasn’t just a luxury—it became a non-negotiable part of your business strategy.
What Worked:
Scheduling “CEO days” – Blocking out time for personal reflection, planning, or simply resting allowed me to make more intentional business decisions.
Mindfulness and Movement – Exploring other forms of self-care such as embodiment work, tarot cards, and sophrology gave me the mental space and calmness to handle challenges with resilience.
Bookending My Work Day - have a morning routine before work and at the end of the work day to unwind, process, and decompress mentally, emotionally, and physically have been essential to create boundaries in my business and be able to transition to the different parts of my day without always feeling stuck with 1 foot in both places.
Big Takeaway:
Your energy is the engine of your business. Protecting it through intentional self-care directly fuels your success.
4. The Incredible Power of AI When Used Correctly
In 2024, I fully embraced AI tools to streamline content creation, automate workflows, and generate insights, allowing me to scale my business without scaling my hours.
However, AI works best when guided by customization, human creativity and strategic oversight.
What Worked:
Content Creation – AI-assisted writing tools helped you draft newsletters, Instagram posts, and client resources faster while maintaining your brand voice.
Client Engagement – AI chatbots and automated email responders provided initial touchpoints for leads, nurturing them until you could step in personally.
Data Analysis and Market Research – Leveraging AI for trend analysis and market insights allowed you to stay ahead of the curve without endless manual research.
Big Takeaway:
AI isn’t a replacement for human connection but a powerful amplifier that allows you to operate smarter, faster, and more efficiently.
And just like that, 2024 is in the rearview mirror. This year gave me a whirlwind of highs, lows, and lessons served with a side of “are you kidding me?” But through it all, I grew stronger, learned to pivot like a pro, and discovered new ways to show up in my life and business.
Here’s what I know for sure: Life isn’t about waiting for the chaos to calm down—it’s about showing up, taking risks, and making magic anyway. And let’s be real, the occasional glass of bubbly doesn’t hurt either.
So, here’s to 2025—may it bring more laughter, less kidney stones, and all the growth, gratitude, and glittery wins our hearts can handle. Thanks for sticking with me through all the twists and turns, and here’s hoping we slay the new year together. Cheers! 🥂🎉
Check out more of my blogs around business and marketing, mindset, copywriting, and all things in between.
May 2025 shower you with laughter and love, patience and presence, and growth and gratitude!
