I wrote this newsletter en-route to a place to that changed it all

I’m writing this newsletter en route to one of my favorite places (even if I’ve only been there once), and I can’t help but think about our first trip there four years ago.

I was transitioning from being a jack-of-all-trades freelancer and creating Cedar June.

One of my contracts was doing social media management for an e-commerce rug company.

In the 4 months I worked with them, I had 3 different people cycle through the role that was my contact, and only the first ever even made an effort to meet with me face to face.

A few weeks before that road trip in 2021, the same company asked me to start managing one of their sub-brands that was launching while I would be in the national park.

I explained the situation and pre-scheduled all the grid posts for their launch to match the specs I was given.

Or so I thought.

As soon as I got service again, my email notifications (that were still on at the time) started flooding in.

I uploaded the provided grid so it would load on as it appeared. But they wanted it backwards?

It made no sense. Stressed me out. It was a half-baked launch with little to no communication to begin with.

And it was the moment that gave me the push I needed to jump from freelance sites to my own business. So I could make my own rules while I traveled.

Fast forward four years, and I’ve visited 9 states, traveled all over my home state of NY, spent at least 8 weeks sleeping in my tent, and taken off the majority of July each year.

I could say I’ve been lucky to travel this much but it isn’t luck. It’s intention. Sacrifices and lots of planning to make the time, and to make my brand and business something I can check in and out of as I want.

So this week's newsletter is dedicated to my tips for taking more time off from your business in 2025.

Let’s dive in.

One of my biggest goals this year is to spend more time with family (none of my own lives near me) and to embrace the fact that I CAN work and travel at the same time (thanks to all my on-the-road and digital nomads for that reminder). This whole flexible work and travel thing is new for me, so if that’s the tips you’re looking for, unfortunately, I do not have them 😂. But here are the tips I do have.

Decide what content looks like. For me, that looks like documenting when I feel like it - and figuring out what to use it for later on. I batch email content in advance and TRY to have my newsletter done, which is my “bare minimum”. That being said if there is one thing I’ve done it’s write newsletters on the road. Like I am on my phone at this very moment.
I block my time off way in advance and set a goal of how much time I want to take off each year. It goes on all the calendars, even if I don’t know what exactly I’m doing with that time yet. Remember, “regular” jobs give you a set amount of vacation days each year. Why can’t you do the same for yourself?
I ALWAYS prioritize off-grid time. And it is truly the best thing for my business, mental health & creativity. If there is anything you take from this email - get offline for at least some of your vacation time. Whether that means you have no cell service or you just delete socials from your phone. I can honestly tell you I have an income spike after each and every time I take off to travel and I 100% attribute it to reconnecting to nature and getting offline.

And that’s all for now! I’ll be back online Tuesday, and the 2D design masterclass goes on sale Wednesday (don’t worry I’ll email you the deets then). Until then, you can still grab the CJ color kit pay what you want (till the end of the month) and snag on of the two remaining Brand Brushstrokes spots for May (I just wrapped the first set of illustrations under this umbrella and I can’t wait to show them off to you). I hope you got to take some time off yourself this past week and if not, that this newsletter inspired you to block off some vacay time to unplug in the coming months.