How can I summarize 2015? I really struggled with this and put off writing this post for as long as I could. Some great things happened, and I had some major frustrations.

It was definitely a year of transition, and while those are fascinating in retrospect, they’re not that fun to go through.

I often joke that I prefer to coach my clients through transitions than to go through my own. But seriously, don’t most of us?

Winter 2015

Not a bad winter here in Chicago, as I remember it. I did get to spend a week in Sarasota, which was lovely. I wrote some posts for Carol Roth’s blog, including a passive-aggressive jab at service provider who did a crappy job for me titled “How to Make Money Even If You Suck.”

I had a blast doing The Boomer Business Owner podcast with Charlie Poznek. And was nominated for a RuleBreaker Award. (I didn’t win but I might this year.)

Spring 2015

I attended an event by a marketing “expert” and was appalled at the legal, yet questionable, way that you can buy expert status and published a snarky post about that titled “Can You Buy Your Way to Expert Status?” It received some nice social-media love.

I was interviewed by Jim Beach for School for Startups Radio. He was a real pro and we had a good conversation. I also spoke with Luci McMonagle on the Wealthy Wednesday Radio Show. This was an hour-long interview, and I remembered why I think interviews should be 30 minutes. Mostly because I have a short attention span. Squirrel!

The hardest interview I did this year was for The Successful Failure podcast. I shared some really icky stuff.

I posted something I continually send people to on LinkedIn Pulse titled “The 3 R’s of Employability.”

And the snarky posts continued with “Please Don’t Ask to Pick My Brain,” which blew up (in a good way) on social media. I am always grateful to have Carol’s blog to post this kind of thing.

AND *drum roll please* I gave my first TEDx talk. This was the big triumph – and major frustration – of this year. For some reason that nobody will tell me, our videos will never be posted on the TED.com site. SO the biggest opportunity of my career…wasn’t. You can watch a friend’s iPad version on my YouTube Channel.

Summer 2015

It was great fun to be a panel member for once, instead of the moderator, at an event sponsored by SCORE and Sam’s Club. It was definitely one of the highlights of the year.

And I enjoyed my conversation with Anthony Quinones for his Over the Middle Show podcast.

I got to spend a little time in Los Angeles catching up with clients, friends, and family. It was very renewing. I got to celebrate with a client who landed his dream job. That was a joy.

I spoke at the Career Resource Center and remembered how much I love speaking to groups.

Fall / Winter 2015

I turned the traditional coaching business model on its head and started working with career-transition clients on contingency. I don’t know anyone else who guarantees results and puts their money where their mouth is.

I was nominated for – AND WON – a small business influencer award. It was a really big deal to be a Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencer for 2015, on the list with famous people and well-known companies.

So the year wrapped up on a high note 🙂