Annual review 2022
Wow, what a year it’s been. I’ve never written an annual review before but I’ve made a commitment to write weekly notes next year and to generally write more. So I thought I’d give it a go!
The start of the year is a bit of a blur, there was a lot of change at work as we all worked together to bring many separate organizations into one unified brand (now TPX Impact). I was unclear on my direction, I didn’t have the capacity to really think beyond what I was currently working on — we’d won some meaty projects at the end of 2021 so my head was set on delivering those.
Amidst, project delivery there was a lot of change happening around me. I started to dissociate and I felt increasingly disconnected. I had always planned to take 5 weeks off in May for a sabbatical (a legacy benefit from Deeson which was kindly honored) and as the sabbatical crept closer I started to think about what I wanted to come back to. I knew the shape of the role I was currently exist for much longer but I struggled to see a Holly-shaped piece in the new world.
It was around this time I started to have conversations about moving on. The sabattical felt like a good juncture, to take a break and reconsider what I wanted to do next.
I literally finished work one day and then caught a flight to Washington DC to travel the East Coast of the US and Canada for four weeks the next. Looking back, it was perfect timing. I didn’t have time to overthink (something I’m prone to do). I was ready for a break, ready to travel and spend some quality time with my partner Rachel and jumped right in.
We had the best four weeks, miraculously I switched off and relaxed pretty quickly. For the first time in a long time, I had the headspace to read and be mindful again and I felt my old self coming back.
Upon our return, we both got Covid but we felt incredibly fortunate to have avoided it for the duration of our trip. It took quite a few weeks to regain strength and energy and It was actually quite novel to be sick without the normal pressure of returning to work before you’re ready to do so.
Once recovered, I started my search and got the ball rolling with sharing a blog post and starting to have some interesting conversations with people in my network. I’ve blogged about this enough elsewhere, so will spare the details but in summary it took longer than I anticipated and it was definitely challenging at times but in the same breath it was also one of the best times of my life — I had complete freedom about how I spent my time.
I said yes to any adventures that came my way, a camping trip to Cornwall, I joined my parents on the Isle of Wight for a week, I went on a road trip in Spain with a University friend.
I spent lots of time with family, my Mum has had a difficult few years and I’d felt guilty that work often got in the way of me being able to support her and my Dad, so it was great to be able to be there at the drop of a hat whenever they called — even if it was just for a hug.
I also became a Godmother this year and spent a lot of time with my goddaughter as my friend was on maternity leave at the same time I was on sabbatical, so it was a perfect opportunity to spend some precious time with Emily, my goddaughter who was born in October 2021.
I also supported my partner, Rachel, where I could with her cake business, doing the odd market, social media assistance, and the like!
I got outside lots, ate lots of good food, drank a lot of delicious coffee — did quite a few reviews for Bitten Oxford which we loved. This woodland feast being one of our favorites.
It was all fun and games, until around September time when the weather started to change and the schools went back I was starting to find the lack of structure a bit more difficult.
During the next couple of months, I took on a contract and was providing paid mentorship to three different companies to delivery-focused team members who felt they’d benefit from some external support. I really enjoyed doing this and even contemplated trying to make a mix of contracting and mentorship work longer term (ideally working 4 days a week) but it turns out the world had different plans for me.
In November, I got offered and accepted a new role as Principal Delivery Manager at Torchbox, and a few weeks later (after spending my birthday in my favorite place at West Wittering) I joined officially. In many ways, it felt like the job was written for me.
I feel really proud of how I’ve navigated what could have been a difficult year. I think the main word that sums this year up is growth. I hope next year will be a year I can settle again and find my feet.
I’m grateful that this year has reminded me a lot about what’s important to me. I hope in another 5 years I may even be able to take another sabbatical…
