2025 Recap

This past year was full of big perspective shifts for me. For those of you that don't know, HCM is ran by me, myself and I and this job is my baby. 2025 was the most challenging year I've had in terms of hard work and self-doubt. Here’s some of the things that shaped my year and the lessons I’ve learned…

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 '𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍' 𝑱𝒐𝒃”
Many don’t know this, but I took a full-time job in the summer of 2024. I was terrified it would mean the end of HCM. I kept the “real” job quiet, worried about others doubting the legitimacy of this business. I was determined to keep it quiet and not let HCM die.

I have big goals for HCM, and I was barely scraping by through the slow months. Something had to change. Taking a “real” job got me on my feet financially, connected me to people I would have never met, and gave me insight into how a large company is actually successful. What I thought was me failing or taking a step back was really a season of learning and growth I could not have achieved on my own.

I’ll be forever grateful for that season because it opened my eyes to business practices, sparked ideas, set HCM up to succeed, and gave me a whole new level of work ethic. I step into 2026 without the “real” job, but with new perspectives to make my passion more real than ever.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣? 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆”
I was flying to Nevada for their ranch rodeo finals on a full flight far past my bedtime. Trying not to use all my PTO hours from my “real job” for HCM work had me going places at crazy hours of the day this past fall. I had my cowboy hat on, which tends to spark conversation—especially when you’re clumsy and bump your brim into people in tight seating.

The man next to me asked where I was going and what I did. Throughout that three-hour plane ride, I had some of the best conversations about life and business I’ve ever had. He was a photographer and videographer who had shot for some major outdoor lifestyle brands. He viewed my work and didn’t understand why I needed so many different lines of work to stay afloat... at first.

He asked me the hard questions about my business—where I want it to go, how I see my future fitting around my current crazy schedule, how I structure my pricing, and more. I told him about my non-structured, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach, which obviously hadn’t worked in the past. This random stranger reminded me how valuable my work is and challenged me to really consider how to make my business and my life sustainable.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣? 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙙-𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚. 𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.

“𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒚 𝑪𝒖𝒑”
Here’s the downside of the “real” job: I was sitting at a computer for a minimum of eight hours a day, then coming home to work more on my computer. As someone who has always been active and loves the outdoors, I was constantly drained. I picked up bad habits, put on weight, didn’t take care of myself, barely rode my horse—so many things I’m still working to come back from.

I rarely said no to HCM clients, so I was working crazy hours and driving at all hours of the day and night to show up for my clients with minimal time off. I lost the passion for it. My creativity was sucked dry. If you’ve noticed minimal posting or a lack of my normal HCM advertising, that’s why.

This is one of the first times I’ve ever not been hustling. I’ve been taking a mini break to refill my cup—spending time outside, riding my horse, being creative, moving my body, praying, and spending time with friends. I can already feel the spark coming back.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣? 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡—𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙. 𝙂𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠.

"𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑎𝑧𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔? - 𝐾𝐵

“𝑴𝒚 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒗𝒔. 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔”
I’ve used the “I’m a good person” and “I believe in God” justifications many times to excuse myself from going to church or praying. I’m an independent person who doesn’t like to ask for help and will work my butt off to do things on my own if I can.

After many conversations with friends, recent audiobooks, and my devotional all calling me out, I finally had to take notice of the theme: obedience to God’s will. This business is called High Call Media for more than just the phrase tied to the rodeo world, it’s about higher callings and amplifying them through this platform for His glory.

I don’t have this lesson all figured out, but I’ll work hard to obey God’s will in 2026 through His plans for this business. I’m starting with myself—going to church, praying, reading the Bible, listening to Him. This business is an extension of me, and I know it will spill over.

“𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝐺𝑜𝑑’𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛’𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑖𝑚?” — 𝐾𝑁