Lessons from my 2022 Summer Slowdown

PERSONAL

Aug 26

Updated December 2022

Every year I schedule a planned summer slowdown. What this means is I reduce the number of new clients we’ll take over the summer months, shift some of that time toward big-picture business projects and behind-the-scenes refinement, and work less. Read about taking time off and intentionally slowing down here.

As we’re wrapping up summer (the girls went back to school this week), I’ve been reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and what I learned from my slowdown.

Here goes!

LESSONS FROM MY SUMMER SLOWDOWN (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

I WAS BURNED OUT!

I’m passionate about the work we do and the clients we help, and I tend to take on more than I should, both professionally and personally. I started to recognize the burnout when I could feel my brain refusing to make connections — it was physically exhausted and needed a break. Even with a full list of projects and client work, I would often find myself procrastinating and feeling foggy in my brain: a sure sign that I needed a break. My summer slowdown could not have come at a better time.

LONG FORM CONTENT IS SO WORTH IT FOR MY BUSINESS.

With a reduced schedule, fewer 1:1 clients, and being less active on social media, my long-form evergreen content (here) and my lead magnets (here) brought a lot of new people into my corner of the online world. It was very cool and oh-so-rewarding.

Content I wrote years ago is still bringing new people to my site (and this is why I continually update old blog posts, run analytics to see what’s doing well, and use Pinterest to widen my reach). This also has me rethinking Instagram as well. While it does take me way less time to post on Instagram each week than it does to write a blog post and newsletter, I don’t enjoy being tied to my phone and might change things up a bit on that platform (like focusing more on creating reels!). Also, the data shows me where Instagram ranks as a lead source for 1:1 clients and for Design Library sales so it’s important to consider that information as well.

I WON’T TAKE AS MANY CLIENTS AS I ONCE DID.

Having an intentional slow period with fewer meetings and fewer deadlines was scary at first (thoughts like, “Am I killing my business?” and “Will potential clients stop waiting?” crept in often) but then felt so refreshing. I had so much more flexibility with the kids and our summer schedule, felt less overwhelmed, and had so much more control over my workload. I fell in love with the cadence of fewer clients and knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to the old days (hee hee). This brings me to my next point….

I WAS TIRED OF OUR SIGNATURE SERVICE.

Gasp! I know I know. I’m all about the client experience — still am, and always will be. When done right the impact is IMMEDIATE.

But, it was an intense service and required a lot of work in a short amount of time by me and my team, and we also required our clients to be involved in the service to review the materials we created for them, give feedback, and follow the process so we could support them if questions came up.

Sure, an easy answer could be to reduce scope or increase the timeline, but I also know how my clients are and how my brain works, and a quicker turnaround is best for all involved.

Bearing in mind that I have a team of women I love employing, I knew I couldn’t kill the service and just write all day (ps: writing emails and blog posts is my absolute favorite thing to do in my business). I am committed to giving them a certain number of hours each week/month and didn’t want to lose them. SOOOO, we restructured our services so they could be more involved and so I could shift the work I’m doing with each client to work that is more aligned with what I enjoy the most. Everyone wins. We also rolled out a smaller partnership service so we are now able to meet designers at every level — something I am so pumped about.

I LOVE MY TEAM!!!!!

This goes without saying but when you have a good team and things happen “magically” while you’re at the zoo with your kids or spending time with family, it’s a great feeling. Pins were going out. Emails were being responded to. Clients were being taken care of. Blog posts were going up.

In addition to that, having checks and balances in place is critical. For example, I like to overthink things. I will spend hours and hours going around on something just to land back at square one (anyone else?). BUT, when I throw something at my team or pull them into my madness, they very quickly put me back on track, most often with a NO, KATIE, WE DON’T NEED TO DO THAT. So they save me time and help me reclaim some of my mental space.

The question, “Katie, how can you make this easy? What is the easiest way to do this?” was a constant in my brain.

EVERYTHING TAKES 3X LONGER THAN I THINK IT WILL.

Duh. I think we all know how this goes. I found myself saying often, “I just need ten minutes to finish this one thing”, and then thirty minutes later, I was finally wrapping up. Because I know this about myself, I also know that giving myself SHORTER timelines is KEY. My tasks will take however long I give them.

I WAS MORE PROFITABLE OVER THE SUMMER ON AN HOURLY BASIS.

Even though I reduced my 1:1 client workload by 75% during the summer, I was more profitable on an hourly basis. I attribute this to my long-game content marketing strategy, a focus on growing my email list, and consistently being of service to my audience.

While at first I thought I was destroying my business, the data showed me a totally different truth. The whole “It’s hard to make money” belief I’ve carried with me for a long long time kept getting squashed.

I can be successful and less stressed.

I also worried that with so many potential clients on my waitlist, they would get upset and not want to wait.

And guess what? That's okay. I know we offer a unique service and it’s not easy to find someone who does what we do in the way we do it. The thing that worked to calm that fear was to write and serve my audience. I was consistent with writing blog posts, sending emails, responding to emails, and showing up with valuable resources my audience could use while they did wait.

IF I COULD JUST WRITE ALL DAY, I WOULD BE HAPPY.

With fewer clients, I found myself writing more and more. Blog posts, articles, pitches, emails, resources for my company, more more more. They say to look at what you do when you’re avoiding the thing you should be doing, and for me, that was always writing. I said so many times over my slowdown: I just want to write and help people. My summer slowdown showed me how aligned I was with the kind email responses I received from designers on my email list.

THINGS I ACCOMPLISHED DURING MY SUMMER SLOWDOWN

I reworked my services and rolled out a whole NEW partnership experience service. Join the waitlist here.
I updated the Emerson Client Experience templates and added Client Management Emails for Tough Situations as well as a Revisions Guide. Check them out here.
I made a few minor updates to the Designed to Scale Hiring Blueprint (and saw that one of my competitors rolled out the exact same thing a few months after me….that’s kind of cool considering they are HUGE and I am small). It means they are watching ME. WOO HOOOOOOO!
I very last minute rolled out and hosted TWO Design Day Workshops in response to several 1:1 client issues with their customers going MIA and not purchasing. The workshop sold out quickly both times and many designers launched their own design day service (some for $1500, $2500 and $3500 for ONE DAY of design work 🙂). If you missed the live workshop you can grab the recording here.
Brought on two new team members (Hi Gloria! Hi Madison!)
Rolled out a new resource: Are You Ready to Hire? Grab it here.
Was on Luann Nigara's podcast for a SECOND TIME!! Listen here.
Was on Wingnut Social's podcast (despite technical difficulties). Listen here.
Sent a gazillion pitches (with the help of my team!) plus prepared a workshop for ASID
Wrote 9 blog posts
Read 18 books (psychological thrillers are my jam! I’m at 37 for the year so far and my goal is 52).
Wrote 12 weekly Friday emails (didn’t miss a single week-WOO HOO!). Join my list here.
Spent so much time with my girls and my family. Skied, surfed, went on adventures, caught frogs, celebrated birthdays and milestones (ear piercing!!!), took Mondays off, and almost made it through our entire summer bucket list.
Walked my daughter to and from school every day. We both loved it and I plan to keep this up until the sidewalks get icy.

THINGS I DIDN’T ACCOMPLISH DURING MY SUMMER SLOWDOWN

I had hoped to finish the updates to the Designed to Scale Business Blueprint but I didn’t complete them just yet. If you’ve purchased or plan to purchase, we’ll send out an email with the updates once they are complete. Check it out here.
I wanted to start doing yoga again but didn’t.
I didn’t finish work by 4 pm each day as I had hoped to so I could spend the rest of the evening with my girls once they got home from camp. To be honest, the fighting was a lot and I took advantage of our nanny being here so she could keep them busy and out of the house.

I know I’ll continue to uncover lessons from my summer slowdown that will make me a better business owner, mom, and person, but for now, at 5 am, this is all I’ve got.

If you’re attempting a summer slowdown, or a slowdown at any point in your business, I highly recommend it and believe it is NECESSARY as a business owner to take care of yourself and set aside time for big-picture thinking and projects. If this resonates or you’re like HOW would I ever do that, email me and let’s chat.

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