Recap of 2024

These yearly recaps started on my personal development blog, Into My Thoughts. Every year, I told my readers that these posts were mostly for me so I could reflect on the year I had what I was able to accomplish, but also so I could have something written down for my memories when I’m older (think like The Notebook). And surprisingly, people still read them and would leave comments. So, since I switched from writing personal development content for my blog to this newsletter, why not continue the tradition here?

Reflecting on the year is good for our personal development. It’s human nature to dwell on the negatives: what we don’t have, what we want to do but aren’t able to do, or where we want to be but aren’t there yet. However, when we intentionally look at what we were able to do and accomplish, our brains switch to focus on the positive. And then you will realize what a badass you actually are with everything you’ve accomplished. ;)

I’d love for you to join me in this exercise. You don’t have to do it month by month like I do, but make a list of the things you’ve accomplished to reflect on. Another way to approach this is if you write yearly goals, get those out, and see which goals you achieved or what happened instead of achieving those goals. Sometimes, we have something in mind about how we want things to go, but God has other plans, so it works out differently (usually for the better).

For example, one of my goals this year was to be a guest on 25 podcasts. I did not achieve that goal; I was only a guest on 14 shows - but I was a speaker for a virtual summit for the first time! Sometimes, things don’t work out, so something better can happen, and that’s what we need to focus on.

Alright, let’s get started.

January

This year started with the intention of getting my health under control. I started by walking just 20 minutes a day. During this month, I recorded a few in-person interviews, helped a client launch her podcast, and hosted my monthly How to Launch a Podcast Masterclass.

Sidenote: I just looked at my calendar from January of this year, and honestly, I got overwhelmed by it. Under February, I'll share about making the decision to step back on a few things.

The highlight for January was going to Universal and Disney World with the ladies from Alli Worthington's internship.

February

I was super emotional going into my birthday this year. It felt like I was having a mid-life crisis. My husband told me I was too young to have one, but since I've been through so much, I've always felt much older than I am. So, the mid-life crisis felt like it fit.

But it wasn't a mid-life crisis that I was experiencing; there was just so much emotionally that was going on. I had started therapy for PTSD, and I started my health journey, but I was also feeling really down. And I noticed that this happened after being on social media.

So, I decided to take a break from social media for Lent, in addition to the sugar fast. Before the social media fast, I asked online if any other ladies would be interested in joining me for the sugar fast, and seven other women joined me.

For 40 days, I did not log in to social media, and I had no sugar. After 40 days, I actually went longer without social media. I finally re-downloaded the apps on my phone after the summertime.

I also decided to stop taking coaching clients and hosting the monthly Masterclass. My sole focus was my health.

This month, I finished the SEO course I started in January and became SEO certified, which was a goal of mine for the year.

March

This month is always challenging because of the death anniversary of my mom and my mother-in-law. So, not much is done in March.

The highlight of this month was the launch of my new website and my podcast course.

https://heidydelacruz.com

April

This month, my podcast turned 2 years old! I didn't do anything significant to celebrate the anniversary; I just did a photoshoot to update the branding pictures.

I made my first digital product sale from my Stan Store. That was exciting!

My daughter came home from school with the solar eclipse glasses, and we were able to see partially where we live, but my husband and I were watching the event on TV.

Lastly, I had the opportunity to present my How to Launch a Podcast Masterclass to the Monetizing Mompreneurs Facebook Group, which ended up being on the MM Podcast as well. That was fun.

May

This month was busier than April. My daughter auditioned for a Christian movie called Migrants, filmed by JC Films, and she got the part. This was her first time doing anything like this, and this opportunity came because of my podcast!

The movie was filmed in Central Florida and lasted for long hours for a week, but my daughter had so much fun being a part of this project. She told me she wanted to get into acting, and we met an acting coach on set, who is now working with my daughter.

It was cool to see how movies are filmed behind the scenes. They needed an extra person to play a nurse in the background, so I got to do that. I can't wait to see the final production!

My daughter had her final dance recital for the year, and she won the “Best In Ballet” Award! This month, I was also officially nominated for the Women In Podcasting Awards!

This month, I started working with a podcast launch client, which was all God's doing because, remember, I was taking a break from marketing. But once I met her, I knew God sent her, and it was so fun watching her podcast come together!

I also had the opportunity to meet Jannese Torres from Yo Quiero Dinero Podcast at her book signing tour for her book, Financially Lit!

Lastly, I became a podcast production manager for a podcast production company.

June

Okay, this month, I had a lot of traveling. It was actually a busy summer, but all were good things. First, I attended the With The Perry's Podcast Tour with my good friend and got VIP tickets. Those tickets included a Q&A time with Preston and Jackie, pictures with them, a t-shirt, and a signed copy of Preston's new book, How to Tell the Truth. The whole experience was a good time and made me think I'd love to do a podcast tour for my show one day.

The following week, I flew to Puerto Rico with two good friends. We stayed at an Airbnb, went to beautiful beaches and a waterfall, and ate so much good food! This was the first time I went on a girls' trip, and honestly, I can't wait to do it again. Getting in the water at the waterfall was a big deal for me because there were fish, and I’m scared of all types of animals.

Two weeks after that, I flew up north to Michigan. It was initially a work trip, but we made it into a family trip. I'll explain. My job decided to get everyone together for one of the all-staff meetings the company has in the summer (we all work remotely). The headquarters is in Dayton, Ohio, and my best friend lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, my hometown, and she was going to make the 5-hour drive down. So, since my brother-in-law lives in South Haven, I told my husband we should all go and that I'd do the drive with my best friend down to Dayton. We extended the trip for 2 weeks since the following week was the 4th of July.

Meeting the whole department in person was a great experience because the people I work with are genuinely a great group of people. It was a good time.

It was also lovely visiting back home and eating many tacos, LOL.

July

We returned from Michigan after the July 4th weekend, and the following weekend, we drove down to Miami to watch Ciao Bambino. This musical was written, produced, and directed by Dr. Elizabeth Turner, and she was a guest on my podcast. This was the first time I met one of my guests in person whose episode I recorded virtually.

The following weekend, it was time for the summer retreat for the internship. The ladies came down again to Central Florida. On Friday, the majority of them were at Volcano Bay, the Universal Studios waterpark, and then on Saturday, we spent the day at Discovery Cove. At Discovery Cove, I faced one of my fears: snorkeling. As stated above, I’m scared of all types of animals, and there is an area where you can snorkel with different kinds of fish and stingrays. At first, I was terrified, but the more I swam around with three other ladies, the more comfortable I became, and it was a great experience.

My husband and I were invested in the USA men’s basketball games during the Olympics, so we watched all of them. We tried to watch other sports, but we are both big basketball fans, so that was the sport that really caught our attention.

August

On August 1st, it was time to get people to vote for my podcast for the Women’s in Podcasting Awards. Voting was from August 1st until October 1st. This month, my daughter started 5th grade, we celebrated my husband’s birthday, and we started the 75-hard challenge the day after. I was featured in the Harness Online Magazine for my podcast this month.

September

The next few months weren’t eventful because I primarily focused on the 75-hard challenge. However, I was able to go on a field trip with my daughter’s school for the first time. That was an interesting experience for me, and I don’t know if I would do it again, LOL. I was also selected to participate in a Hispanic Heritage Month speaker directory. That was exciting. So, you can officially hire me to be a keynote speaker at your event. ;) And this month, I officially signed my first podcast editing client.

October

Okay, this is the month I found out I won the podcast award, and I cried. I actually wrote a blog post about the whole experience. And this is probably the highlight of my year.

This month, I hosted two webinars about using podcasting as a marketing tool for writers, and I spoke at my first virtual podcasting summit, sharing about SEO for podcasters.

Toward the end of this month, we finished the 75-hard challenge.

November

November started with us visiting Southern Hills Farms, which has become a tradition. They have the best apple cider donuts! However, we didn’t stay long this year because we got rained on.

This month, my podcast received its first sponsor, another achievement that made me cry! I also met an online friend in real life. What’s crazy about this is that we both live in Central Florida and haven’t had the chance to meet in person.

My daughter turned 11 this month, and I cannot believe how fast she is growing. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house, and I loved having everyone over. That weekend, my daughter and I went to see the musical Wicked in theaters and absolutely loved it! I would watch it again.

December

I cannot believe we are in the month of December. It feels like every year goes by faster and faster. But since we are still in the month of December, I can’t really give a recap of it, LOL. So, I’ll start by saying that I am still actively looking for sponsors for my podcast; I am continuously interviewing guests for my show while also being a guest on other podcasts as well. I took my daughter to SeaWorld this past weekend because that was part of her birthday present.

My son will turn three on the 22nd, another hard-to-believe moment, and for the first time in my career, I will be off from Monday through Friday at my job. When I tell people that, they are surprised. The thing is, when I take time off from work, it is usually for one day or a long weekend, so I’ll do Thursday and Friday or Monday and Tuesday, but I’ve never done Monday through Friday. I am so excited for Christmas week just because of this, LOL. I plan on doing NOTHING.

Alright, well, that is my recap of 2024! Let me know if you also participate in your year's recap to see all you’ve accomplished.

Lastly, I would like to know if you chose a word for the year. I do, and in January, I will share my new word for 2025 and how my year went with the word “Focus.”

With Love, Heidy