Off To The Races

2022 is off to a roaring start. My first month at Sweet Fish Media has been full of new faces, workflows, and new appreciations for podcast production across the board.

I could not have asked for a better situation, and I’m so stoked to grow alongside my team and the company. I’m officially fully onboarded as of this week!

One of my favorite things about Sweet Fish are the company values: Love People Well, Never Stop Learning, and Own the Result.

It sounds farfetched, I know—but we live them out daily. Embracing these core values has made me reflect on my interactions with others, past experiences, and how I want to conduct myself. They help me remember how blessed I am to have the people in my life that I do, and the opportunities.

Here’s an overview of my January, as framed by Sweet Fish values.

Love People Well

This value is playing out through curating a more active social network and being even more intentional about my connections, both on and offline.

Another side to living this out is being accessible and open with others—lending an ear, a word of advice (when asked!), being a shoulder to cry on, and pitching in to relieve stressors as often as I can. In other words, exploring, connecting, and getting out there. Recognizing expectations and leading with empathy, always.

This month I met so many cool people and embraced new social environments.

Never Stop Learning

One of my cornerstones is that to live is to learn, and to learn is to live. I put that into motion through constant development—personal, professional, health-based, etc.

I have some projects simmering that I’ve wanted to develop for a long time. They’re more real now than they’ve ever been, and I could burst with the excitement—to hang onto the motivation, I won’t allow myself the “high” of sharing prematurely, but if you check back through the next quarter or so, I promise I’ll share as much as I can.

The bottom line is I’m seeing a way forward for my goals in a new light, and that feeling is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

Own the Result

Have you ever had an idea, a goal, that you knew you needed to follow, but you just kept putting it off? Maybe you even have one right now.

Y’all, it is so much easier to not do things. 

You may be thinking, “Yeah, duh. And?” which is valid, but bear with me a moment.

It’s simple—we get comfortable and complacent, and we let days slip by without comment. I’ve been there, some days I fall there again. We give excuses and we put projects on shelves.

The truth is we take power from ourselves by feeding into false belief systems about who we are.

Maybe it’s a simple passive belief like “I can’t do that.” Or “I don’t have the time.”

The easier way—not doing things—costs so much more in the end.

I’d challenge you to switch those above phrases around: “I’m not willing to do that.” “I’m not making that a priority.” That phrasing lands entirely different on the heart and mind, and they give us back the power of choice. Be honest with yourself. Don’t hide.

I’m big on choices—some people might think I put too much stock in internal dialogue directing outcomes. That’s alright. They can think that.

Because you know what? That’s their choice.

My choice is to challenge every limiting belief I’ve held about myself. I refuse to succumb to defeatist patterns or the victim mentality.

I am not a victim of my circumstances—I’m a product, and innovative products improve over time. I’m building new patterns for myself with the tools I’ve gained and the wounds I’ve stitched. I own the result of what I do and who I am.

That’s all for my January update—go and create something!

Bye for now, and thank you for reading.