2021 in Review!

About 12 months ago I decided, I wanted to learn, grow & give back. So I seized every opportunity I got this year just DOING that-

? Built my personal brand here on LinkedIn through networking- connected & grew my network 10 times since December 2020

? Met over +100 individuals over 1:1 sharing & learning about all things #customersuccess, EQ, networking & more! I have made so many new connections with individuals looking to find a home in the CS industry & the feelings are overwhelming!

?Attended some amazing mastermind sessions and Office Hours by SuccessHACKER & Gain Grow Retain - Got to meet & learn from many amazing CS Leaders in the space!

? Read +10 books, wrote +5 articles, shared +15 specific posts on LinkedIn including framework & resources related to #cs, #leadership & EQ, & growth

? Received coaching directly / indirectly by amazing Leaders (to name a few: Kristi Faltorusso Maranda Dziekonski (she/her) Wayne McCulloch Jan Young, MBA, CSPO, CSM Nils Vinje Sana Farooq Anita Toth, Marco Carrubba & many more!)

? Mentored & coached +10 individuals directly to help break into CS & career-building (directly & through Customer Success Network, Catalyst Software's coaching center & CS Ladies)

?Broke free of my fear of public speaking & spoke at more than 20+ virtual webinars, events, podcasts, meetups, workshops (some examples: UserIQ, CX Camp, The Customer Conference, Women in Customer Success Podcast, Customeruplift podcast, Engati, NY CS Meetup, inSided @women leading people, CSM Secrets, UpdateAI, Customer Success Institute, CS Time & more!!)

? Held 3+ panels with an average of 6+ individuals discussing important but not so discussed #cs topics alongside Rasika Kelkar & wrote articles with findings

? Got to attend & co-host So. Cal PulseLocal's very first in-person Happy Hour & have a Bookclub booth at the Pulse Local event (all thanks to Dana Soza, Lauren Olerich & Gainsight for the opportunity)

? Founded CS Raving Fan Bookclub with Erika Villarreal- first started the USA, then London chapter with Arti Patel grew into +450 members book club, read +2 books with +10 virtual review sessions helping +100 individuals networking, brainstorming & learning CS in action! (thanks to amazing authors: Ashvin Vaidyanathan, Ruben Rabago & Paul Henderson)

?Co-Founded CS Insider with Brandon Cestrone in about 12 months grew a network of 2500 Linkedin followers, +1500 subscribers, +20 Insider's team helping over +100 individuals breaking into CS & growing in their CS careers! (a few to thank for this achievement: Jon Johnson, Vincent Conti, Mike Cardona, Jan Young, & Erika Villarreal)

? Kickstarted CS Insider Speed Mixers with Brandon using Gatheround: Helped over +100 individuals network, connect & build genuine relationships in customer success community!

? Co-founded CS Ladies with Ronni Gaun, Bhavika Kochhar, Diana Rubine, Liane Cafarate & Ali Topaz under the amazing guidance of Kristi Faltorusso- Grew +400 members, +1700 Linkedin followers, 2 successful Mentorship cohorts & over +30 workshops supporting & empowering +100 women in (for) #cs

? Became a "Personal Growth & Empowerment" Thought Leader for #successhub community by Rick Adams at Practical CSM

? Went from IC to a Leadership role in customer success & ended up securing 2 promotions in under 6 months! Implemented strategies, created resources built out processes for internal & external use. Hired, onboarded, mentored/coached & grew team members. (All thanks to my amazing team & leaders at Ascent Cloud)

FINALLY...

??WON Top 25 Customer Success Influencer Badge by SuccessHacker (With Gain Grow Retain & ClientSuccess) &

??Top 222 Influencers of 2021 Badge by Engati

and now-

??? WRITING this very first article on Linkedin on the last day of this year ??

& ? Personally: Took many small trips with husband, friends & family, visited- cities, mountains, national parks, waterfalls, star & galaxy gazing & much more! Made many new friends, learned to cook new dishes & invested time in some hobbies such as embroidery, painting, planting & some outside activities.

I got to break out of many of my fears & bubbles this year, spread my wings & fly! If you could have asked me 12 months ago, I was going to get any of the above items done by the end of 2021, I would have laughed at it. Not because I didn't think I was competent but because I didn't think it was possible & that I would get such support from the community!

?Did I only ACHIEVE this year? NO! I also had some failures & also made some mistakes!

? There are times I struggled with time management & could not find a good balance juggling work | side projects | personal life

? I overworked many days, felt burnout & did not do 100% justice to my personal care

? There are times when I got excited and took more than I could handle

?I've regretted not being able to get back to everyone that reached out to me here on LinkedIn (I have OOO message activated but also have many pending messages from months YET to receive a response from me)

?I have had some personal loss that shook me from my core & made me question if all of this was truly worth the time & energy I was investing in!

So what does this mean?

?BALANCE is not just important, it's a necessity for the sanity of our mental & physical health! While I had one of the most successful years career/growth-wise, I also struggled but most importantly = I LEARNED!

I learned so I can be better next year! I could be smarter & brighter!

So what's it going to be in 2022? > Another year of learning, growing & giving back! ????

BUT doing all that with a proper BALANCE! Prioritize & re-prioritize as the need arises.

HOW?

• By giving my personal health needed time: 2 hours every day on personal care, complete shut down after 5 PM & some more!
• By eliminating unwanted noise & being consistent in prioritizing what's really important vs what's good to have
• By going after what I LOVE & what makes me happy, even if that leads to a CHANGE!

It's easy to say in words here but too hard to implement in life & even harder to be consistent at it! But, we've got to start somewhere & no better place to start than at the begging of a new year!

So, if you were to ask me- what is the one thing I would change about 2021 if I can, I would say NOTHING! because, I've only gained in knowledge, in connections & inexperience!

????What are you looking forward to in 2022?

#yearinreview #2022 #newyear #newbeggning #balance #growth #empower #learning

???? Gratitude: THANK you, everyone, tagged here & many more out there for your immense support & contribution this year in my growth! I am better because of you & I look forward to continuing our journey together in 2022 & beyond! ????

?? Here is hoping that we will never stop LEARNING & growing??