Year in review: 2025

This week, I took time to revisit the goals I outlined on Jan. 1, 2025, and was reminded of just how much can change in a year. I typically view myself as a river — ever-changing as new water washes through, ridding itself of what is no longer needed and depositing new. This year was an endless wave pool, dragging me through cycle after cycle of purging, regathering, and pushing forward.

While Miley was promoting her Plastic Hearts album, she discussed her ever-changing personal expression and stated “everything changes me forever.” When I listened to that interview in 2020, I made note of those four words in a scratch journal. It felt profound, and still does, because of my assumption that I am in pursuit of an end. A never ending journey toward my final “self” and my completed life. How wrong that is.

This quote resurfaced as I realized that many of my goals for 2025 were left unmet, not due to failure, but due to changing perspectives, values, and motivators. Everything changes me forever. Those goals slowly eroded as the endless “me’s” that existed this year constantly recalibrated.

These reflections allowed me to settle on my primary takeaway from the year: Change and inconsistency are not aspects to rid my life of — they are to be embraced and enjoyed.

Bird’s-eye View

2025 was quietly one of the best years that Taya and I have had. I say quietly because we didn’t truly realize it until we were entering November. The year wasn’t loud and dramatic, or full of life-altering changes. It was the culmination of seven years of collective persistence and manifestation. The pieces of life started to silently click together, allowing us to live more freely, more happily.

Here are some of our highlights:

• Thanks to business growth and a promotion, we increased our household income by over 40% compared to 2024.

• We made new friends and got closer to old ones. A focus for this year was really about showing up for those we love.

• We took on new clients for Lowtide and strengthened existing partnerships.

• We traveled to two new countries. (We’ll get more into travel in a moment.)

• Taya spoke at two conferences, one of which was in Berlin.

• We traded in our Tacoma for a Volvo, which I have been particularly excited about.

• We saw some fantastic concerts. (I’m up to 116 artists seen live.)

Travel

LAS VEAS

After saying we had no desire to travel to Vegas, we ended up there twice this year. We aren’t into gambling and we don’t drink, so focused on enjoying the food, shopping, and hotel gym. While we were there in May for a conference, we went to our first WNBA game, which made the trip worth it.

In July we returned to attend the Mayhem Ball before hopping over to LA.

LOS ANGELES

If we’re in LA, it’s usually for Taya’s job. I tagged along in July and spent too much money at Erewhon (great wraps) and Philz.

While we’ve been there a couple of times now, I still feel like I barely know the city. We might be back in the next couple of months, so please share recs.

CHICAGO

We took a quick trip to Chicago in May to go to the Cowboy Carter Tour and visit with family. Such an underrated city, and one I’d like to spend much more time in.

AUSTIN

Taya spoke at a conference in Austin in November, so we made a short trip out of it. I had been twice previously, but wanted to experience more of it. We stayed in East Austin in a neighborhood with fantastic shops and restaurants.

The Frances Modern Inn was a great little hotel — one that I will definitely return to. Loudmouth was one of the best meals I’ve had and the pastries from Paperboy were incredible. I also enjoyed shopping at take heart, which I’m sure will be receiving plenty of online orders from us.

DURHAM

At the end of our Europe travels, we stopped in North Carolina to see a good friend and go to a concert. Durham was a gem that we’ll be returning to — incredibly diverse and welcoming, great walkable areas with local businesses.

COPENHAGEN

Honestly, our primary motivation for visiting Copenhagen was pastries, but we loved our entire experience there. We stayed at 25Hours in Indre By, somewhat due to its proximity to one of my favorite coffee shops, La Cabra. Our time there was spent walking through parks, browsing in shops, and trying little treats. We found the time for some history as well.

Copenhagen is currently #2 on our list of top cities we’ve visited. Our meals at Gaza Grill and Seks were some of the best we’ve ever had. The cinnamon bun at Apotek 57 was our best pastry of the year.

BERLIN

After Copenhagen, we traveled to Berlin for Taya’s speaking engagement. I think our opinion of the city was heavily impacted by the fact that we had just come from Copenhagen, so all I’ll say is that it was fine. We had some great coffee at Jules and Bonanza Coffee Roasters and wandered through a few nice neighborhoods.

CONCERTS

COWBOY CARTER TOUR

Cowboy Carter was one of the best albums in recent years, from one of the greatest entertainers, so not going to the tour was not an option. We went to the Renaissance Tour in Louisville in 2023. For the Cowboy Carter Tour, we secured tickets in Chicago. The show was phenomenal — a beautiful production and well-oiled machine.

MAYHEM BALL

Somehow, this was my first time seeing Lady Gaga and it was well worth the wait. We attended the Mayhem Ball in Vegas on the second night of the tour. Gaga leaned into the theatrics, making it feel like you were attending her opera. Each song told a piece of the story, pulling from every era of her extensive catalog. As a long time fan, I feel like the the set list could not have been better.

VISIONS OF DAMSELS & OTHER DANGEROUS THINGS

The first time we saw Chappell Roan was at Kentuckiana Pride in 2024. They booked her right before her meteoric rise and the venue ended up being far too small for such a massive act. While I was in attendance, I can’t say I actually saw her, given the size of the stage compared to the crowd. I caught glimpses.

In October, we went to Kansas City to see her perform for over 30,000 fans at an outdoor venue (well, WWI museum). It was a great show, especially since it was her hometown crowd.

SHOOT FOR THE MOON TOUR

I’ve been wanting to see Sierra Ferrell since I started listening to her about five years ago. It finally worked out for this tour. The show was, unsurprisingly, very different from the ones listed above. It was a very chill environment, just a group of people sitting and enjoying good music.

BUSINESS

LOWTIDE

2025 was a great year for Lowtide, with both of us taking on new clients and securing larger retainers. Going into the new year, we’ve been working on refreshed branding and a new website. We’ve already secured contracts for 2026 that put us past 2025’s revenue, but we want to push much further.

I’m excited to share the updates on this business soon.

OTHER BUSINESS

In August, we launched two additional businesses: Warren & Co and Greenland Athletics. Both of these are ecom ventures and both required a good bit of cash to get started. As of right now, I’m not sure about the future of either. I’m proud of them and have no regrets about building them, but I lost a sense of direction.

I’m at ease with this. I might wake up tomorrow with renewed passion for either or both of these projects. I might not. I’m proud of the fact that I’m not afraid to try things.

HOBBIES + PROJECTS

PHOTOGRAPHY

I bought my first camera in 2019 and spent the next couple of years doing what I thought would fulfill that creative desire — freelance photography. I photographed families, couples, babies, high school seniors, reunions, soccer teams. With each project, I started to feel less connected to the creativity.

After 1.5-2 years, I stopped taking on projects and put the camera down. Since then, I’ve been slowly working my way back into this craft that I feel so passionately about. It’s a way for me to capture my memories while traveling, but also a way for me to capture memories for friends and family. I took some of my best photos in 2025 and am excited to keep exploring this creative outlet.

PIANO

For Christmas, Taya gifted me a beautiful keyboard. Growing up, I used to play the standing piano we had in our house regularly. It’s a form of connection and meditation that I haven’t had access to since college. I’m excited to pick it back up in the new year.

COFFEE

We started building out our coffee setup in the past few months. Like playing piano, the act of making a drink is meditative. It’s a ritual that provides a moment of grounding. Right now, we have an Aeropress and Pure Over that we use depending on the day. We also added a Fellow Opus Grinder a few weeks ago, which has been a game changer.

After we did a cupping in Copenhagen, I’ve been really interested in putting my new knowledge to the test and exploring more. In 2026, we’ll likely get an espresso machine to complete our setup.

WRITING

If you had asked me about writing at any point in time previously, I would’ve said “I hate writing.” I’ve never considered it to be something I’m decent at, and even considered myself to be pretty incapable of it. A few years ago I started journaling — some daily entries, some scribbles of thoughts. Then, at some point in the past few months, I decided that I wanted to start using writing as more of an outlet.

I published my first post on Substack in September, The Willow Tree Lesson. As I’m writing this, I’m enjoying it. It’ll be something I keep doing in the new year.

YOUTUBE

In 2025, I posted sixteen videos on YouTube. If you were to watch them in order, you’d likely be able to sense the struggle going on off camera. Constant reworking of strategy, wondering if it’s worth it, and asking myself what my real goal is. What I’ve known the entire time is that I want to share and, more importantly, I want to connect. Maybe I’ll have an epiphany soon that’ll help me understand where to go with it, if anywhere.

STAND OUTS

BOOK

I recently read The Wager by David Grann. It’s a nonfiction novel about a shipwreck during the War of Jenkins' Ear. It’s dramatic, fascinating, and educational.

SHOWS

We don’t watch many shows, so it’s pretty rare that we find ones worth binging. This year, we loved The Gilded Age and The Residence. The first is a period drama that we legitimately could not stop watching. The Residence is a quirky whodunit lead by the incredible Uzo Aduba.

FOOD

• Best Pastries: Cinnamon bun at Apotek 57 in Copenhagen, Key lime brioche at Paperboy in Austin, Chocolate chip cookie at Andersen & Maillard, Cinnamon roll at Grale Goods in Louisville

• Best Coffees: La Pana in Louisville, Philz, Desnudo in Austin, Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, La Cabra

• Best Meals: Seks in Copenhagen, Loudmouth in Austin
  
  

2026

Multiple truths can exist at once. Yes, you can create change whenever you want. You don’t need a new year to do that. But I also believe in the collective power of this moment — the period of the year when millions of people are focused on the pursuit of better. It’s powerful.

January is always our “lock in” month. It lasts an eternity, so we like to make the best use of our time. We’ll spend the next few days mapping out life — mulling over routines, systems, values, and ambitions. We don’t do it in vain; we’ve seen it work for us year after year. For the remainder of the month, we’ll dig in deep and see just how far we can go in a matter of weeks.

FOCUSES

Digital-Forward Analog Life
In 2026, I’ll continue to improve my relationship with technology. Given my line of work, and how life operates now, unplugging completely is not an option. I don’t think I’d want that anyway. I’ve been working to add more “analog” elements into my life — a physical planner, a home phone, a binder to keep track of my routines and ideas. Doing this has helped me feel more grounded, more real.

Creation Over Consumption
Building on the previous focus, I plan to create more than I consume. What I do consume will be intentional, ensuring it’s aligned with who I am and the life I’m building.

Adding Friction
A frictionless life is unhealthy and unfulfilling. Getting up on a cold morning to drive to the gym adds friction. Searching shelves of a bookstore instead of shopping online adds friction. Our obsession over removing friction from life prevents us more meaningful connections, accomplishments, and habits.

Community is inconvenient.

GOALS

Just a sample. The real list is intense (on purpose).

I’ll also note that these goals are being used more for directional purposes than anything. In a few months, I’ll be different and they’ll shift accordingly. And, did you know that you’re more likely to accomplish goals if you focus on systems instead of outcomes? I’ll be taking these and using them to inform routines and actions that will get me there.

• Travel to 10+ places

• Complete French beginners course

• Become more cultured (attending events, learning)

• Surpass $xxxk annual household income

• Finish furnishing apartment

• Try 2 new restaurants per month

• Decrease phone screen time to <2 hours per day

Happy New Year!