6 business priorities for 2025 that came to me during my last 6 days in France (hint: #4 is a game-changer)

Welcome to the 7.7 Edition of "What I Did Last Week (and what I'm looking forward to), a weekly newsletter where I share what I am doing personally and professionally. I'm living and working in Nice, France for 2 months and write to you from here.

Today at a glance:

What inspired me to live in Europe for 2 months a year?

How I planned for it?

Dining and site visit recommendations if you are coming to the South of France.

During the pandemic, I interviewed Lisa Druxman, CEO of FIT4Mom. [video]

Each year, she spends 1 month in Europe, with her family.

There was a time when her business was growing like crazy, but life felt out of sync with her values.

She did a hard reset. Not wanting to return to hundreds of emails that only worked to reverse the relaxation, she put on her OUT OF OFFICE RESPONDER a very unapologetic reply:

"If you email me between [date of departure] and this [date of return], your email will be deleted."

Friends asked, "How could you say that?" It was so brash. But she was so unapologetic about observing a life aligned with family and fitness at its core.

I envied every single part of it.

Everyday, for 1 year, I journaled "What do I want?"

Everyday, the answer came back: Four weeks in Europe.

So I took action.

A year ago, I put down on deposits on my Airbnb where I would stay.

2023, I did 1 month in Paris. 1 month in Spain.

2024, I am doing 2 months in Nice. 1 month in Paris.

This also helped me to lock in a better rate for lodging, which is often the biggest expense. Then I started planning my retreats for business around that location.

After all the bustle, and group 1 and group 2 coming through, it's just me again here in Nice.

I have five more days of alone time here and intentionally so.

6 business priorities for 2025 that came to me during my last 6 days in France (hint: #4 is a game-changer)

1/ Strategic thinking. I'm thinking strategically about my business. I need this whitespace, away from the New York City carrousel, to take a step back and look at all of its parts.

2/ Hiring. A sales person as I start the interview process for the Class of 2025 for my Mastermind. I need a better filtration system for high value clients.

3/ Planning the rest of 2024. My Mastermind members take the stage for their TED style talks on November 14th. We are in the 6 month march to that with an 8-week storytelling workshop baked in. It includes guest judges each week who are former TED speakers and folks who nominate speakers for TEDx.

4/ Planning next year's retreat in Corfu. My Mastermind members head to Corfu, Greece for the "Deep Writing and Reflection" retreat in 2025. I'm planning logistics. How do members get from the mainland to the island? What hotels will house them?

5/ What do I want my business to look like in 2025?

Central to this is

Daily journaling.

Reading.

Writing.

Lots of mid-day walks.

I have 2 online courses

The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work

Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

But what is a better course I could be building that is central to my business?

6/ Building my list of 100. Who do I want in my network in 2025. I'm creating my influential list of 100.

And now onto this week's newsletter

What I Did Last Week (and what I'm looking forward to)

"What do you do?"

An often-asked question while I've been living and working here for 2 months.

The high level answer at the gym:

"I'm a TV presenter. I teach women how to do better public speaking," I say.

If I have a more sophisticated audience, I expand further.

My ideal client is either

-laying ground for her first public board seat

-laying ground for a promotion

-has switched professions

-or is doing business development for clients

I'm helping her tell the right story for this transition.

A woman on a discovery call this week asked me, "So all your clients are content creators?"

My clients are in many different fields.

In a sea of social media noise, you are just another tech consultant or just another accountant.

-What is the unique way you solve problems?

-What frameworks do you use?

-How are you letting the world know about that uniqueness?

-What I teach is how you differentiate yourself from everyone else.

-What story are you telling?

Right now, I'm interviewing members of the 2025 Class of the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders for 12 months. The Mastermind works on 3 things: your mindset, the build of your personal brand It culminates in a TED style talk on stage in front of 200 people at the end, that is recorded.

I only enroll for this program once a year.

The waitlist is open for the Class of 2025.