(YOUR WEEKLY NOTE FROM ANGELINE)

Hii Reader,

If you're new here, welcome! You made it just in time for my 2025 year-end reflection: "How I squeezed 365 days into 45 entrepreneurial lessons." (If you're in year 0 or are thinking of taking the leap, keep reading!)

In this newsletter, I help coaches and speakers who use speaking engagements create systems for nurturing leads and turning audiences into clients.

But today's a special edition on the lessons I'm taking into 2026. Let's get started!

I worked twice as hard this year for less than half the income.

That's the cost of year one as a corporate-exit-turned-solo-business-owner.

But it taught me more than any corporate job ever did.

Here are the lessons I'm taking into year two:

On identity:

• Letting go of corporate identity is hard
• Embracing a new identity is less hard
• Talking about myself is hard
• Sharing how I can help others is easier

On pricing:

• Have three pricing tiers for my services
• Put the one I really want to sell as the mid-tier
• Rarely will clients buy the cheapest or the most expensive

On community:

• Don’t be without a coach
• Find my Core 4: Promoter, Teacher, Butt-Kicker, Pit Crew
• Surround myself with people who are passionate about the same thing - that energy compounds and keeps me going on the "I can't even..." days

On networking:

• Get out and meet local people
• Introduce myself first and ask for people's names
• Repeat their names at least 3 times and watch their face light up
• Practice my introduction. Write it down and say it out loud every day until it's etched into memory
• Networking costs money, budget for it

On asking for help:

• Be okay with asking for help
• Learn to accept help with gratitude
• When people help me it creates a feel-good effect for them (so it’s not just about me)

On making offers:

• Make many offers
• Most will be rejected. That's okay
• Ghosting isn't personal—people are busy

On relentless:

• Learning without action is a waste - tweak and re-offer what doesn't sell the first time
• I ran my newsletter workshop 4 times - what you don't see are the times when no one signed up
• People need to hear it more than once - send way more emails than I think I need
• Progress requires reps - run the same workshop multiple times to get better

On flexibility:

• I am my own boss
• I can work on Saturday and take off Wednesday
• Somehow that still feels weird

On being present:

• Don't slyly slot in work during family vacation
• Nothing's worse than being with family when my attention is elsewhere
• Better to commit to being present to one thing

On momentum:

• The biggest watchout: Outreach takes a backseat when work gets busy
• No outreach = no filled pipeline
• Clients churn - don't put all eggs in one basket

On focus:

• Pick no more than 3 goals for the quarter
• Any more and the emotional toll of not finishing is not worth it
• If a shiny object catches my attention, it replaces a goal or gets parked until next quarter

On reality:

• I worked twice as hard for less than half the income
• This is the cost of getting up to speed
• I'm paying down the ignorance tax—it won’t be forever

On visibility:

• Write on LinkedIn
• Share my thinking
• Test the market
• Send the connection requests
• Be visible on my own terms

If you're reading this and you're in year one (or thinking about making the leap), here's what I want you to know:

The struggle is normal. The uncertainty is part of it. What we’re experiencing is growth.

The biggest thing that helped me this year is to show up consistently. Writing on LinkedIn. Sending my newsletter. Having lunch with local folks. Being visible even on days when hiding in bed sounds way better.

That visibility is what brought you here. It's what connected me with clients, collaborators, and readers like you.

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If visibility feels hard right now—if you're stuck trying to figure out "what to say" or "how to show up"—I'm running a workshop in January that will help.

It's called "Build Your First Newsletter" and it's designed for coaches and speakers who want to stay connected with their audience without the stress of figuring it all out alone.

I'll walk you through: Setting up your email platform (Kit) Creating your first newsletter template Writing your first welcome email Building a system that runs on autopilot

I'm running this limited-spot workshop once in late January. Registration isn't open yet, but join the waitlist to get first dibs (and access to best pricing) before I announce it to my full list.

​Grab your spot on the waitlist→​

• 🎈 • 🎈 • 🎈 • 🎈 • 🎈 •

Here's a glimpse of 2025 adventures that took me places (and recharging with my favorite people). Am looking forward to 2026, to progress over perfection, and to being visible on our own terms.

• 🎈 • 🎈 • 🎈 • 🎈 • 🎈 •

PLEASE, before you close this email, answer this one question:

Happy New Year! I'm all in on making 2026 the year we show up and create genuine connections! 🎉 🎉 🎉

P.S. Which of these 45 lessons made you tilt your head and go "hmmm"? Hit reply and tell me more.

P.P.S. If you've always wanted to start a newsletter, join my workshop waitlist (to get best pricing)!

May your strengths be with you always, Angeline Soon I help coaches and speakers turn applause into leads. Email marketer | CliftonStrengths Coach | IT project management. Are we connected? Send me a LinkedIn connection request!

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