2ND EDITION | ISSUE #171

I had a little more than half of the driveway done - when the mailman who had just finished delivering to my neighbor mail opted to trudge through the 4 feet of powder that had fallen in the last 24 hours instead of around their driveway and into mine where I had already shoveled for him.

But it wasn’t that decision that caught me off guard.

It was the fact that this man looked me dead in the face and said “i’ve had about enough of this already”.

Which solidified, froze, crystallized - one of the things I hate most about living in Western New York.

Not the weather itself.

But how much people complain about the weather.

Particularly the cold.

As if a four foot snow storm is a surprise after 30+ years of living in a geography quite literally called the snowbelt.

And this was only the first big snow.

I couldn’t help but think he’s got a long road ahead of him (and, maybe he is in the wrong profession)

Just like the mailman — complaining about the first of four months' worth of snowstorms — had a long road ahead of him, so do we.

But here's the difference: we get to choose how we walk it.

He chose to trudge through four feet of snow in someone else's driveway. You get to choose whether Q2 catches you off guard — or whether you meet it with a plan, a clear head, and the kind of focus that actually moves things forward.

Dont want to spend your winters outside in the snow? Move somewhere else! Don’t want to rely on last years brand bandaids and reactive strategies? Dont!

Don’t want to feel overwhelmed by all of your ideas for the year? Create focus

Now we’re gearing up for what I am sure will be our last big snow.

But, as fast as that last big snow comes - the crocuses, and then daffodils emerge right up through the remnants, reaching for the sun & somehow dragging it a little closer to the surface each day.

So maybe it feels like you are there — poking through the snow, but not quite ready to bloom.

I can relate if you’re there.

After a Q1 that forced me out of my comfort zone, due to a severe injury - I just now feel like i’m getting back to myself and my regular routine again. So as I gear up for Q2 and start to reach toward the sun - i’m taking stock of the focuses i have for my brand this year, solidifying Brand Missions & tracking progress (on paper & in Notion). I just published a NEW Substack article, all about my soloprenuer strategy for accomplishing my goals, prioritizing my creativity, and checking out when i’m off the clock, that you can read here.​

And if you feel like you need to get your sh**t together for Q2 keep reading.

If you’re anything like me, you don’t need a 47-step “quarterly reset.” You need an effective way to get back in the driver’s seat — before Q2 shows up like surprise, bestie, it’s April.

Because the truth is: planning doesn’t work when you’re doing it from a place of depletion. If Q1 has felt like snowbanks, setbacks, and you muttering “I’ve had about enough of this already”, the move isn’t to push harder — it’s to create focus.

So here’s what we’re doing today: a 2-hour Q2 tune-up that starts with feeling good, then designs your quarter around your energy, and ends with putting your plans somewhere you’ll actually look at them (hi, paper +/or Notion).

You’ll walk away with your availability blocked, your launch windows mapped, and 1–3 brand missions you can actually execute.

Let’s do it.

Before you touch a calendar, a planner, or a Notion template — take stock of where you actually are.

I do this through a quarterly brand audit — a quick but honest check-in on what’s working, what’s not, and where your brand actually stands.

Inside The 2026 Brand Roadmap, I walk you through the full audit step by step — but here’s a mini version to get you started right now:

• Reflect on Wins: Name 3 things that actually worked last quarter. Content that landed, a client who felt aligned, a project you finished and felt really proud of. Your wins are data — not just feel-good moments.
• Drains: What felt heavy? Where did you compromise on pricing, boundaries, or your own values? What’s been sitting on your "I really should…" list for months? You can’t plan around problems you haven’t named.
• Brand gut-check: If someone asked you to send them your website right now — would you do it with confidence or with a disclaimer? How do you feel about the brand you are putting out to the world.

Once you have that clarity, it's time to revisit and update your brand goals and progress for 2026.

If you already set brand missions at the start of the year — check in with them. What's on track? What needs to shift? What felt important in January that doesn't feel important anymore? The end of a quarter is the perfect time to recalibrate — not start from scratch, but get honest about where things stand and adjust your focus for the next 90 days.

And if you haven't mapped out your brand missons yet — that's okay too. It's not too late. I'd actually argue the end of Q1 is a better time to set them than January, because now you have real data instead of just good intentions.

The goal is to walk into Q2 knowing exactly what you're working toward and why.

Design your quarter around your capacity.

Before you touch a single project or launch date, block out the non-negotiables first.

• Start with your out-of-office time. Vacations, weddings, appointments, holidays, the random long weekend you already promised yourself — put it all on the calendar now. If it's not blocked, it doesn't exist, and you will book over it. I promise.
• Then block your CCO week(s). If you're not familiar — a CCO week is a full week that is just for your brand. No client calls. No deliverables. Just you and the work that keeps getting pushed to "next month." I try to protect at least one per quarter, and it's genuinely the thing that moves the needle most for my brand. (Click here to get my free framework & Notion template.)​
• And finally — block buffer days before and after travel. This one changed everything for me. A buffer day before a trip means you're not scrambling to wrap things up at midnight. A buffer day after means you're not trying to reply to 47 emails while still half asleep from a red-eye. Build it in.

Now that you can actually see what you're working with — and your quarter is built on capacity instead of how many things you can fit on a to-do list — it's time to fill in the gaps.

Whether that looks like a batch day system (like mine), time-blocking, or whatever structure fits your brain, this is where your plan becomes actionable.

If work tends to sneak up on you, this is the part that stops the chaos.

Open your calendar and add in your key windows for the next 90 days:

• Launch dates (or best-guess weeks): what is going live, and when?
• Promo periods: block 10–14 days before each launch for content, emails, and visibility.
• Announcements: schedule the “it’s coming” moment and the “it’s live” moment, so you are not winging it.
• Capacity check: make sure your promo windows do not stack on top of heavy client delivery weeks.

• My #1 tip: give yourself a flex day each week. For me, that's Fridays — admin tasks, odds and ends, the stuff that didn't get done earlier in the week. I've tried booking over it. It never works. Having a catch-up day built into every week does more for my anxiety (and my output) than any productivity hack ever has.
• The key is having one place for the big picture and one place for daily execution. When those two things talk to each other, you stop wasting time wondering what to work on — you remove the barriers to creativity, and productivity - and you can actually take action.For me, it's a Notion + paper combo.
• Reset your space: pick one tiny zone and clear it. For me, organizing my desk was enough to flip the “I can’t focus” switch back to “okay, we’re back.” Extend it to your digital space. Can I tell you a secret? I have 30 newsletters in a folder that I want to read/ catch up on, and my dad texted me last week to let me know (aka. ask me to take care of the fact that) I am using 1 terabyte of our family icloud storage. + my Notion could use some organizing. If you are reading this newsletter, there’s a chance that you spend a lot of time on your computer! Make sure that time isn’t spent looking for files!