THE EMAIL GROWTH SHOW EPISODE 170
Can you believe it? We are already diving headfirst into 2025. I’ve got my coffee steaming beside me, a notepad filled with dreams, and a heart that’s ready for all the possibilities this new year holds.
Today, I want to share something deeply personal yet incredibly powerful with you – my journey of choosing a ‘Word of the Year’. This simple practice has been a game-changer for me, guiding my life and business in the most profound ways.
Click play if you want to listen to this episode:
The Power Of Choosing One Word
Since 2020, I’ve embraced the practice of choosing a single word to serve as my guiding light throughout the year. This word becomes more than just a theme; it functions as a touchstone for decisions, a filter for my mindset, and an anchor amidst the chaos. It’s not about finding the perfect word, but rather discovering one that resonates deeply within you – a word that lights you up and keeps you focused.
As we look forward, it’s crucial to reflect on the past and recognize how previous words have shaped our journey.
In 2020, amidst the upheaval and uncertainty of a global pandemic, my word was “BREATHE“. It reminded me to slow down, stay grounded, and take life one day at a time.
Moving into 2021, my word “ADAPT” encouraged flexibility and growth as I faced new beginnings and challenges.
2022 brought about “PLAY“, a permission slip to experiment and embrace the fun of life and business, leading to the creation of my membership.
In 2023, the word “BUILD” focused on laying solid foundations for my dreams. It was a year of quietly strengthening my business and confidence without the immediate demand for results.
Then, 2024’s word “BALANCE” shifted my attention to creating harmony between my roles as a mother, wife, and business owner.
Each word acted as a guide, allowing me to prioritise what truly matters and adjust as needed.
Bold: My Word Of The Year for 2025
And now, standing on the threshold of 2025, my word of the year is “BOLD“. This isn’t just about taking risks; it’s about stepping into my fullest self with courage and intention. Boldness for me means making decisions and taking actions that resonate with authenticity and purpose. It’s about not holding back, even when it feels uncomfortable or uncertain.
Being bold involves launching new offers and stepping outside my comfort zone.
For example, in February I’ll be opening the doors to my Headliner Mastermind, a six-month program designed to elevate women to household names, amplifying their impact, influence, and income. Hosting such a space has been a dream, and now, with boldness by my side, I’m ready to bring it to life.
This year, I’m not just inviting boldness into my business moves but also into my daily interactions. It means speaking my truth clearly and unapologetically, whether on this podcast, in emails, or during any interaction. Over time, I’ve learned that playing small benefits no one, and this year is about showing up with big energy, vision, and action.
I’ve also prioritised having support to navigate this bold journey. Joining a mastermind with my coach Angela Henderson has equipped me with the support needed to keep my nervous system steady as I tackle new challenges and expansions.
Choosing Your World Of The Year
If you’ve never chosen a word of the year before, let me assure you that it’s a transformative practice. Whether it’s “Focus”, “Freedom”, “Growth”, or another word that speaks to you, this word will become the guiding star for your decisions and actions over the next year. Write it down, place it somewhere visible, and let it lead you towards the life and business you envision.
As we sail into 2025, I invite you to embrace the bold with me – make this the year of big moves and growth. Whether you join the Headliner Mastermind, the Email Growth Club, or work with me one-on-one, let’s embark on this incredible journey together.
Email Growth Club: Click here for more info!
Headliner Mastermind: Join the waitlist here
Interested in 1:1? Send me an email for a chat.
Here’s to a year of being bold!
And if you’re ready to really dive into these strategies and grow your email list faster, grab my free Your Next 1000 Subscribers – Ultimate Collaborations Guide. It’s packed with actionable steps to get started with collaborations right away – click here to grab it today!
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Full Transcript:
Kylie Kelly [00:00:00]:
If you’ve never chosen a word of the year before, let me tell you it’s such a powerful practice. Your word becomes a touchstone for your decisions, your mindset, and your growth. It doesn’t have to be perfect and you can’t choose the wrong word. What matters is that it speaks to you. It’s a word that lights you up, grounds you, and reminds you of what you’re working towards over the next 12 months. Are you a female business owner frustrated with battling the algorithm and looking for growth strategies that don’t involve awkwardly pointing or dancing online or throwing cash at paid ads? Welcome to The Email Growth Show. I’m your host, Kylie Kelly, visibility and email marketing strategist. I grew my email list from 0 to almost 10,000 subscribers in less than 2 years, and the same is possible for you too.
Kylie Kelly [00:00:47]:
Are you ready to build your email list and start making more money in your online business? Let’s head into today’s episode. Hello, my loves. Oh my gosh. Can you believe it? We are already a few days into 2025. I’ve got my coffee, my notepad, and a heart full of possibilities as we dive into this new year. Today on the Email Growth Show, I wanted to share something personal yet incredibly impactful. My word of the year for 2025. Now this simple practice of choosing one word has been a game changer for me since 2020.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:23]:
It’s a simple, non complicated process that guides me, grounds me, keeps me focused and motivated throughout the year. It also shapes my decisions and mindset, a little like a filter I can put all of my decisions through. It’s guided my life and business in the most powerful ways, giving me clarity and focus when things get a little crazy, which, let’s be honest, life has a happen of lifing and as a mom to 2 little kids, things are crazy more often than not. So here’s the thing. I want you to know that your word doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to speak to you. So what’s it going to be? What’s the one word that will guide your decisions, inspire your actions, and anchor you as you navigate the year ahead? Let’s figure that out today. I wanna take you on a little journey through the words that have shaped my last few years and reveal why 2025 for me is all about being bold.
Kylie Kelly [00:02:17]:
Okay. So let’s take a quick look back at the words that have shaped my life and business over the past few years. Each one tells a little bit of a story, a chapter of growth, and a season of change. So for me, 2020 was all about Bree. 2020. Right? The year that changed fucking everything. For me, it was a year of surviving and slowing down. In 2020, I fell pregnant with Samuel.
Kylie Kelly [00:02:41]:
I relocated interstate. I closed my wedding photography business all while navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic. My word, breathe, reminded me to pause, to stay grounded, and take it fucking one day at a time. So important in times when things feel uncertain. Then we moved into 2021. My word of the year for 2021 was adapt. With so much change happening, 2021 was about flexibility. New beginnings, new challenges, and a lot of growth required me to adapt.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:12]:
What is that saying? Adapt or die? I honestly felt like that was true for me in 2021. And whilst it wasn’t as dramatic as actually dying, if I didn’t allow myself to adapt to change, I would have had to go back to a corporate job. And for me, that would have felt almost like the same kind of death of giving up. So this word, adapt, became my mantra as I navigated all of the transitions in 2021. Then we moved into 2022. 2022, my word of the year was play. This was my permission slip to experiment, to have fun, and to let go of perfection. I played with new offers, new ideas, and allowed myself to explore without pressure.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:49]:
I started aiming for a b minus, and it’s still a work in progress. I’m still a perfectionist at heart. But this word of the year, play, helped me remember that business, that life is meant to be fucking fun. We’re meant to play, and when we do, that’s when the best things often happen. It was through that concept of play, of relieving pressure, that I came up with the idea for the membership. So, again, play, that permission slip to experiment, is just so important. 2023, my word of the year was build. So this is the year focusing on foundations.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:24]:
I built my business brick by brick, strengthening my confidence, and laid the groundwork for what I wanted to create long term. This also helped me take the pressure off the results. Often when we’re building, we don’t see immediate results. Right? But the foundation still needs to be there. So that was my word for 2023. 2024 last year was balance. So as a mom, wife, and business owner, last year for me was all about balance. I focused on creating space for my boys, my business, and myself as the woman behind it all.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:54]:
It wasn’t always perfect. My god. But it did remind me to prioritize what truly matters. Now this looked like for me not working every night because, yes, in the year before in 2023 when I was building, I was working often in the evenings when the kids were in bed. Do not get me started on the whole work 5 hours a week and make a $1,000,000 bullshit. Anything worth having does take some level of hard work. You just get to choose your hard. And in 2023, that meant putting in quite a lot of hours.
Kylie Kelly [00:05:20]:
But I found when 2024 came along, it’s not sustainable. I couldn’t keep that level of hard work up, that level of hustle up. So I had to make a decision to create more balance. So not working every night in the evenings. Right? I also tried to make sure that I said yes more than I said no to my kids. Again, not perfect here, but making sure that I was intentional that when I said yes felt like a great balance for me. And then also going away to a conference or for a few days and choosing not to feel guilty for it. Again, really hard as a working mother.
Kylie Kelly [00:05:52]:
Right? Making my hair appointments nonnegotiable, reading fiction instead of business books occasionally, eating chocolate on occasion, and working out. Occasion, and working out. Like, balance was a big focus for me. And, again, while I wasn’t perfect at it, because I was using it as a guide, as a anchor, as a filter for everything that I did that year, I definitely, got better at balancing all of the things. Now each of these words every year, like I said, became a guide, a focus point, and an anchor. And now as I look ahead to 2025, I know exactly what’s calling me. My word for 2025, like I I said, is bold. Bold in the moves that I make.
Kylie Kelly [00:06:31]:
Bold in the words that I speak. Bold in the actions that I take. This year is about not holding back. It’s about stepping into my next level self with courage and clarity. It’s about making 10 x moves even when they feel uncomfortable. It’s about embracing the identity shift that comes with growth and giving myself permission to change. So what does that mean? What does bold look like for me this year? It’s launching offers that feel expansive and aligned even if they’re outside my comfort zone. For example, in February, I’m opening the doors to my headliner mastermind, a 6 month mastermind for women who are ready to become a household name and experience more impact, more influence, and more income.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:13]:
Hosting such an incredible powerful space has been a dream in my heart for years, but I wasn’t brave enough to bring it to life until 2025, until I decided to be bold. If you want more information about the mastermind, go to the link in the show notes and join the wait list because you’ll be the 1st to know exactly what it includes when the doors open. But, again, it’s a bold choice to make. It’s also about making changes in my membership, the email growth club, and being bold enough to trust in my vision even if not every member can see it yet. That takes fucking balls, you guys. That takes boldness. What does bold look like for me? It’s also about speaking my truth loudly and apologetically in my emails, on the podcast, and in every single interaction that I have without second guessing myself. I have always struggled with this.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:57]:
I would be on a Zoom call. Like, you know when you have to speak in public or you’re on a Zoom call with a lot of people that you respect or you have an interaction with somebody that you admire and you’re really nervous? Like, those interactions, I used to then go home and be like, oh my god. I shouldn’t have said that. Did I say this right? Have I offended them? Should I have to second guessing the fuck out of myself. Not this year. 2025 is about speaking loudly, unapologetically, and not second guessing myself even in big rooms, even when I feel uncomfortable. Right? Speaking my truth. And then lastly, being bold this year for me, it’s about showing up with big energy, big vision, and big action knowing that playing small serves fucking no one.
Kylie Kelly [00:08:36]:
I joined a mastermind at the end of last year that is run by my now coach, Angela Henderson, and it was supposed to start in February of this year. I started early because when I’m ready to move, I’m ready to fucking move. No surprise there. But it’s a substantial investment. Right? Again, I did my numbers. I could afford it. I was smart about it, but I knew I needed support to make these 10 x moves this year, these bold moves. So I made sure I had someone in my corner to help me so that I can show up with big energy, with a big vision, take big action, and know that when my nervous system might freak the fuck out a little bit, which it often does, I have support to help me through it.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:11]:
I don’t have to shrink back. I don’t have to take the easy way out. I don’t have to do what feels safe. I can tell my nervous system. I can tap. I can do cold water immersion. I can do whatever I need to do to calm my nervous system down. I can breathe so that I can continue to take those big moves, make bold moves, and be okay with it.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:30]:
So for me, bold doesn’t just mean reckless or ungrounded. It means intentional. It means confident. And it means true to myself. It’s all about owning who I am, what I want, and going after it with everything that I’ve fucking got. So if you’ve never chosen a word of the year before, let me tell you it’s such a powerful practice. Your word becomes a touchstone for your decisions, your mindset, and your growth. It doesn’t have to be perfect and you can’t choose the wrong word.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:59]:
What matters is that it speaks to you. It’s a word that lights you up, grounds you, and reminds you of what you’re working towards over the next 12 months. So my loves, what is your work going to be for 2025? Maybe it’s focus or freedom or growth or connection. Whatever it is, write it down. Put it somewhere you’ll see it daily and let it guide you. As we step into 2025, I invite you to get bold with me. Let’s make this the year of big moves, big impact, and big growth. Let’s show up for ourselves, for our business, and for the lives that we’re creating.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:35]:
If you wanna do this together, if you wanna jump on this incredible bold ship with me that we’re sailing into 2025, there are links in the show notes to work with me further. You can join the wait list for the Headliner Mastermind. You can jump into the new version of the email growth club that’s fucking fantastic. Or there are other ways to work with me in a 1 on 1 capacity as well. Please check out those links. I would love to help you make some big moves, create big impact, and really grow your business in more ways than you ever thought possible this year. And, hey, if you loved this episode, I would love you to share your word of the year with me. Send me a DM on Instagram or reply to my latest email.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:11]:
My email address is hello at kyliekelly.com. I’d be so honored to hear what’s guiding you this year. Thank you so much for tuning in to The Email Growth Show, my loves. Here’s to a year of being bold together. I’ll see you next week. Bye for now. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Email Growth Show. I hope you found valuable insights into the next steps you can take to grow your email list and boost your business without relying on social media or paid ads.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:38]:
If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show and share it with others. Your feedback helps me reach more female entrepreneurs just like you, who are ready to say goodbye to social media and leverage email marketing to grow their business and make a bigger impact. Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you in the next episode.
