My 2024 in Review
Highs, Lows, In-Betweens, and how much money I made
It's that time of year again—the best of lists are rolling out, everyone's talking about how great and successful their years have been, and we're barreling straight into the new year with a healthy dose of imposter syndrome as we all try to strive for bigger and better.
This, my friends, is not that.
If you've been in my universe for even a minute, you know I'm all about keeping it real and telling the whole truth (and nothing but it) to bring a dose of reality to what it's like to run a business.
My very first post on Substack was my 2023 year-in-review. And here's what I said:
I'm not going to lie, overall, my year was pretty great.
Good for 2023 me!
But in 2024, things looked different.
Coming into this post, I thought 2024 was pretty shitty.
But as I started compiling this list, I had way more highs than lows and lots of in-betweens. I realized my lows were mostly finance-related and when I dig into that further, I understand that's not the most important thing to me.
Is making great money helpful? Of course. But when I think about what makes me happy in my work and life, it has nothing to do with finances. It has more to do with autonomy and flexibility. Of course, these things are related to my finances (and privilege), but if I can obtain some sense of autonomy and flexibility in my life, regardless of pay, I'll be a happy clam.
If you're curious about my finances, keep scrolling. Paid subscribers unlock an exclusive look behind the curtain, including:
How much money I made this year
How much money I spent this year
My biggest purchase
My largest contract
And more!
Before we dive into the roller coaster that was 2024, have we met yet?
I’m Jamie Cox, brand strategist and founder based in Nashville, TN. I publish content all over the internet, but mostly on Substack and LinkedIn.
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Now, without further ado, here's my 2024 year-in-review.
The Highs
I went to France for Two Weeks
I think this is the longest time I've been away from my desk since starting my business in 2020 (I said this in 2023 about my trip to Alaska, so don’t fact check me). And while France was amazing (I'm still dreaming of abandoning all responsibilities and moving there to live a very chill life), the real accomplishment here was nothing burned down. No one needed me while I was gone (my dogs did miss me though). I truly stepped away. This is why I started my business to begin with—so I could have more autonomy and independence in my work that allowed me the flexibility to do things like travel and disappear from the internet for days, weeks, and maybe one day months at a time.
Cory and I went to France (and Amsterdam!) to celebrate our tenth anniversary. So unplugging and spending this time together was truly magical. Other highlights were seeing Omaha Beach (a bucket list item for me), hiking at Étretat, eating all the Moules Frites my heart and stomach could stand, and dog-watching in Paris (people don’t talk enough about how many great dogs there are in France).
I Became a Legend
2024 was my year of meeting people, and boy did I! I met people here on Substack, I made new friends on LinkedIn, and I connected with contacts of contacts in an intentional way (more on that in a future article). How did I do that, you ask? My friend Lex Roman is a person who knows people. They are also a person who creates tons of incredibly useful content that I learn from at least once a week. So when they launched Legends, I knew I had to join (for just $99 a year, and wow, what a deal)! As part of Legends, I participated in an exclusive Mixer that really made my year (and my investment worthwhile). I met so many great folks, some of whom I’ve hired and others to whom I’ve referred business. Here’s the ROI on my $99 investment so far, in case you’re wondering:
🤑 1 new consulting client (Valued at $250+)
🤑 1 new Brand Burnout Paid Subscriber ($7 a month)
🤑 10 new people on my list (value is undetermined, but I should figure that out!)
As a side note, I have not shut up about Legends since I joined. That’s because this community has been so valuable for me and I want YOU to know about it!
Secured Our Largest Strange Salt Contract to Date
If I’m being honest here, Strange Salt has been a struggle this year. As I’m sure a lot of you can relate, 2024 has been a “put your own oxygen mask on first” kind of year and promoting Strange Salt has been further down my list than normal. We launched a new website in April (it looks great, by the way) and I naively thought it would propel us into a new future.
You guessed it—that was a lie.
I know better than this—I constantly remind my clients that a new website won’t fix all their problems. But, taking your own medicine is hard. Toward the end of the year, though, things started to shift. Not because of our new website, but because our unique business model was already working for us. We got a great member referral for a new client and secured our largest contract to-date.
I Got Into Teaching
Teaching has always been something in my periphery—not teaching like a school teacher, but sharing my knowledge and frameworks to help others build their businesses. I wasn’t so invested in it though that I had pursued it in any way. But at the end of 2023, my friends at Pollen asked me to host a Brand Strategy sprint and WOW, was it fun! The sprint gave me the space to teach other independents my proven frameworks so they could build their brand strategies. The experience opened up a new world (and revenue stream) that I’ve enjoyed exploring as opportunities arise. I also taught a Design for Non-Designers Sprint last summer and ended the year with a Brand Audit Workshop (available to paid subscribers).
Teaching has helped me fulfill my mission of making brand strategy more accessible for small business owners, without sacrificing the value of my work.
I’ve got more workshops coming to Brand Burnout in 2024—stay tuned!
Launched New Services
This summer, when things started to slow down, I took the time to reexamine my services and business model to fix what wasn’t working (and double down on what was). With help from
, I dug into my processes and my work to paint a better picture of the value I provide to business owners. This helped me do something I’ve been resisting for a long time—niche into a specific audience.In the fall, I launched three new (or reworked) services built for service-based independents and solopreneurs. Brand Quick Fix is my brand consulting offer. I’ve had so much fun with these sessions and have helped business owners solve their biggest brand problems—fast. Brand Kick Start is a 5-week offer that combines 1:1 consulting with my proven frameworks to deliver game-changing brand strategies without the full-service price tag. Finally, my Brand Intensive offer is my re-worked full-service offer, designed exclusively for growing businesses who are ready to ditch DIY branding.
These new, niche services have re-energized me. I’m excited to keep pushing these forward into the new year.
Spent Money on Myself
This may be my biggest accomplishment of the year. And yes, I am the queen of *just a little treat* that gets me through the day (I type as I drink my $7 Saffron Latte). But I’m terrible at spending money on the things that help me grow my business. You know how it is—you could do it yourself, so you talk yourself out of spending money on the things that will free up your brain space to do the work you’re great at.
The spotlight on my new services has highlighted some of the glaring issues I have in my processes. Everything from onboarding and offboarding to invoices and contracts has been a clunky hands-on process that makes my life and work difficult. So, I hired Devin Lee, a systems strategist, to get my shit together.
Took (Most) Fridays Off
This time last year, I lamented that my Fridays were too busy. So in January, I took action. I made Fridays my day of rest. Sometimes work happened, sometimes it didn’t. The one rule I tried to follow was simple: “No client work on Fridays.”
I can count on a single hand the client work that slipped through the cracks and got done on Friday. The rest of my Fridays (about 47 of them!) were spent doing things I enjoy. Coffee with friends and colleagues, co-writing with
The Lows
My Income (lol 🥲)
My income (or lack thereof) was looming large (small?) this summer and even into the fall. While my total income wasn’t much different than in 2023, the consistency of my pay was way more sporadic. Mix that with migrating my banking partner and account software and oof—financially, this year has been hard. I’ve also built some new practices for saving and paying myself, which is part of the reason I’m feeling the pinch. But the hope is that this short-term struggle will equal long-term gains. As mentioned earlier, this isn’t an insignificant performance metric, but maybe one I should give less weight to.
A Client Ghosted Us for 2 Months
Strange Salt had a really fun project this year, one that we were thrilled to work on (really, this is all of our work at Strange Salt, and for that, I’m grateful). The project was meant to be small—an abridged strategy and identity—to help a business get the brand assets needed to finish manufacturing products.
When will I learn my lesson? It’s never a small project.
The project was going smoothly and we’d reached the final approval stage. And then…crickets.
The client ghosted us for a month. Then late one night, I got an email apologizing for their absence. I responded and said no problem, let’s keep this thing moving. And again…crickets. A month later, the project finally picked up again, we got everything wrapped up and put a bow on it.
Project delays happen, I get that, but this was a big hindrance and kept us from taking on new work. We’re a small team with limited bandwidth, and when anything is outstanding, it’s hard for me or anyone else I work with to commit to new projects. Because of this, I’ve mandated date-based invoices with all of our contracts. That means no more “Mid-way” points or “1 week before launch” due dates. If an invoice is due on January 15, it’s due whether or not you’re responding to my emails. And yes, late fees apply.
I Lost a Great Retainer
I had a small (but not insignificant retainer) that was filling some of the gaps I had felt in my income this year. The retainer started last July. After a year of working together, I lost the contract. It wasn’t anything I did and I don’t hold it against the client. They pivoted their business model and eliminated the program I was involved in. There’s no bad blood or hard feelings. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes.
When I lost the retainer, I felt immediate panic. But, after a week of spiraling, I told myself I was gaining space for something new.
That “something new” is yet to be determined, but I believe it’s coming. I’ve been sewing seeds in my business that I’m confident will sprout in 2025. Will they make up the income gap? I hope so!
Meetings Were Out of Control
While I was really good at making space for me on Fridays, I made space for everyone else the rest of the week. My calendar was packed with meetings—especially this month—and y’all, I am feeling the burn(out).
I’ve been contemplating making meeting-only days or meeting blocks on my calendar, but I haven’t quite figured it out. When you work 1:1 with clients and they have opposite meeting blocks as you, it makes things difficult. A friend proposed I create deep work blocks instead, so I’m exploring that possibility and making strides to block my calendar off, starting in February—because between travel and work, my January is mostly booked.
The In-Betweens
I Found Out I Just Like Working
During my slower months, I dug into why I was spiraling. It wasn’t quite about the money (but that did feel important). It was more about not feeling like I was contributing or using my talents to help others. And, if I’m being honest, it felt like I was simply wasting time. I had a bit of an existential crisis—who am I if I’m not working? And then I started reaching out to past clients to drum up some business.
A former non-profit client needed help with some marketing tasks—things I could knock out in a few hours. They didn’t have the money to pay me my full rate, but they did pay me (thanks, friends)!
With my small paycheck in my (digital) hand, I realized I felt happy contributing to their mission. So, I’ve taken this kind of sucky thing—the fact that my self-worth is sometimes tied to my work—and turned it into something fulfilling. In the new year, I’ll be giving 5-hours of my time to the organization to help them reach some of the marketing and fundraising goals.
I Traveled a Lot
If you didn’t know already, I used to work in tourism. And when I did I traveled for work, a lot. I loved it. But I was also in my 20s and could survive on little to no sleep. That is not the case anymore.
This year, I was happy to travel a lot—for both work and pleasure. But I was always happiest at home with my husband and my dogs. I love sleeping in my own bed with my Purple pillow that’s way too heavy to travel with.
We Ended Scope Creep
One of my highs last year was starting Scope Creep with my friend Liz Talago. This spring, we took what we thought was a short break as we caught up on work and made plans for new episodes. But, time passed and we started to feel further and further from the show.
After a nearly 6 month break and with 30ish episodes, we decided to call it quits. It was bittersweet. I love what we created and am so proud of it, but again, I have to believe that killing this darling is making space for something new.