Closing Out 2025 and Stepping Into Our Biggest In Between Yet

Welcome to The In Between Podcast, a show for women navigating the space between where they are and where they want to be.

This is your go-to holistic business podcast where we dive into strategies, mindset, habits, and of course, making a meaningful income so you can live your dream life.

I'm Astrid, a multi-six-figure luxury wedding photographer and a former corporate marketing girly.

And I'm Alexis with 10+ years in tech as a senior brand partnerships manager and business coach. Think of us as your business besties cheering you on as you level up. Let's get into it. Hello friends, hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of The In Between Pod.

It is one half of the podcast, Alexis, and the other half, Astrid, and it is so sweet to be back. We have missed you all so much. Life has been a little bit crazy, but we are ready to catch you all up and share some of our biggest lessons from such a transformative year that we have both had.

Yeah, 2025 has been that girl. She really has been the biggest year for both of us in so many ways and excited to share what we've learned, what we're taking into the new year. And not only will this be the last episode of 2025 for us, but it'll be the last episode for a while because both Astrid and I will be going on maternity leave. Um, I'll be going on mat leave. Here any, any week, I would say, but really shooting for Christmas, New Year's. Um, and I'll be off for 4 months, and then Astrid is gonna have her baby boy in March, and so then you'll be off for a couple months. So hoping to be back in your ears with lots of lessons, I would assume, um, in the summer of next year. So kind of bittersweet, but excited for All the ways our lives are going to change, um, in between now and the next time we bring the podcast back.

We are going into our biggest in-between season yet, motherhood. And we're going to be totally different people on the other side of this in the best of ways, I'm sure. And I can't wait to meet that different version of us. We keep growing through so many different versions of ourselves since we've had this podcast. And it's been really beautiful to watch that. And watch each other evolve. And now we get to step back into the podcast space in the summer with 3 new babies to add to the crew.

Insanity. Like, it really is crazy. But I agree, like, we are entering into a really big in-between season, and I'm excited to listen back to this in a couple of months. When I'm kind of maybe in the thick of it and hearing where my headspace is and hearing even some of the lessons I've learned this past year, I it's been crazy. Like I think that I mentioned this prior in a different episode, but I walked into this year really feeling like it was going to be a big year for me, and I had this like knowing of like this is going to be a really big year. I don't know how. I don't know how that's going to. Manifest itself, but it's going to be a crazy, incredible year. And every single turn has truly delivered. It has felt amazing. I feel really grateful to be where I am in my life and my marriage and my career, in my health, in my friendships. Everything just feels really aligned and I just feel really Full right now, and I I'm really grateful to be ending the year in this headspace where I really do feel very like clear, and I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. I'm not living with any level of regret, and I I can't I honestly don't know when the last time I've ended a year with no regret in some way, or like oh I wish I would have done this, and. I didn't do that, or, you know, whatever that kind of like what-if-isms that can come at the end of the year. I don't have any of that this year. And I don't know, how do you feel? Like, does this— does the end of this year feel different for you in your own way of like how much transformation you've experienced?

Absolutely. Absolutely. I— one, it's been beautiful to watch your journey through the whole year and As you share how much fulfillment you have ending this year, that resonates so deeply with me. And I think that's my biggest gift that I've had from this year is being able to walk away feeling enough.

Mm-hmm.

And I feel like as people who are very driven and goal-oriented, it's always focusing, or for me at least, On where I missed the mark and not all the ways that I actually did really well. And I feel like that's something I've worked really hard at in the past few years on. Astrid, you did really great in this and this and this area. And there's always this, eh, but scenario of you could have done better X, Y, and Z. So here's our goals for next year.

Mm-hmm.

And similar to you, I just feel Excuse me. This sense of I can just be. I have worked so hard on myself, on my healing, on my business. And what if it's just time to be in everything that you've worked for? And it's time to be just a human being, first of all, a woman, second of all, a wife, third of all, a mother. Just being fully present in this season of life. And I think that's the greatest gift ever, is working so hard through all of my 20s to be in a place to have privilege that I can take time and take a step back and mentally be in a great place to be present.

Yeah, I agree. The present piece is, not to jump ahead, but it's one of my lessons this year as well, of just really being and soaking in the moment. And, um, yeah, I feel like I've unlocked a different level of like maturity, I would say, this year in myself and in the way that I think, in the way that I approach situations, in the way that I approach relationships. I think part of that for me is just feeling a lot more secure in who I am and what I bring to any situation. And then the level of maturity that I get to access Is also important of like, what do I want to give to this situation? Whereas like, I could see myself in past lives where maybe a more mature— immature, and maybe a more like emotionally reactive version of myself would handle things really differently. And I feel like this year, while it was so amazing, it was also very challenging in a lot of ways. And I feel like I was able to manage those challenges, manage stress, manage a lot of unknowns with a lot more resolve and maturity than I have in the past. And I feel like that's something that makes me feel more confident stepping into motherhood where I'm like, okay, this was a crazy year. I know that obviously adding 2 babies to the mix is going to be fun and challenging in its own ways, but like, if I can handle this, like it just Shows me this sense of security in myself to be able to handle stress, be able to handle unknowns, be able to like really lean in and not let some of that dictate how I feel about my whole life. And I think like more immature Alexis would take something and center it and it's like, well, what does this mean about my whole life now? Instead of just letting the situation be what it is. And then letting it go. And I, I feel like that was one of the things I've been able to, to access a bit more this year.

That's so powerful. Would you say like that was one of your first lessons?

Great question, Astrid. She's like, are we digging into this now? Or, um, hold on, let me see. Um, actually, yeah, it was. Do we want to just go in and share our lessons?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I, I just want to share whether no matter what season you're finding yourself in. I just want everyone to take this as our own journeys that are very unique. And at the same time, you're able to really hear 2 people that navigated business, marriage, motherhood, all these different things differently. And while motherhood is a big part of our lives right now, it's also about all the steps and all the things that have gotten us here and all the ways that we're going to continue to grow.

Yeah.

So with that, shall we jump back in?

Yes. Yes. Sorry, I jumped, I jumped, uh, I jumped ahead.

No, I love it. I love it. We're just yapping away.

We're just yip yapping. Um, okay. Yeah. So my first lesson is leaning into the unknown and having confidence that I can figure it out. Um, I think this was a big one for me this year in my career, and there were a lot of big bets and big experiments that I was able to test out at my job running brand partnerships at Circle. And there were definitely moments where I was like, I don't really know exactly what I'm doing or like the exact way to execute this, but I'm going to figure it out. And just really leaning into my confidence there. And are there people I can learn from? Are there other people I can tap into? And I think then taking that into even us launching Our first mastermind, like we had no idea how that was going to turn out, was very much kind of an unknown. And it ended up being really, really meaningful to both of us and hosting our first retreat and seeing, okay, again, we've never done anything like that together before. And it ended up being really impactful to the women and to us. And it's like just building up this track record of even when I don't know how to do something, or even when this is the first time I'm doing it. I have enough confidence to figure out how to do it or who can help me or mentor me or coach me through the problem or through the situation so that I can figure it out. And then the biggest one with that is like, okay, I'm leaning into the unknown of motherhood, you know, finding out I was pregnant in May and then spending the majority of this year navigating pregnancy and preparing my mindset For motherhood. And I— it just plays into that. It's like there's so many unknowns. I have no idea what the temperaments of my babies are going to be. I have no idea what postpartum is necessarily going to look like for me. Um, I don't know what going back to work is going to look like or feel like after maternity leave, but I know that I have enough confidence to figure that out.

Mm-hmm.

And I think that that sense of security in myself is something I've really nurtured and I'm taking away from this year. So yeah, really proud of that.

I'm so proud of you. It's been every single year I feel like I've seen you grow in your confidence, but above all the years, this has been one where I feel like you've taken leaps and bounds month to month in different areas of your life and your confidence. And it's inspiring. It really, really is. It was, like you mentioned, so beautiful that If you weren't able to resource yourself, you were able to be like, okay, how can I find those resources to help me feel confident? Like, what do I need to feel confident to execute this project or to jump into this new season of my life? And it's been beautiful to watch. And I love how much confidence has also then brought back the peace as well.

Mm-hmm.

Like, the amount of peace that You can feel just being in your body and be like, okay, I've got this and it's all going to be okay.

Yeah, I know. Thank you very much. I appreciate you. You're like such an amazing encourager. And I think that now going on almost 6 years of friendship, you've seen a lot of the variations of my confidence over the years. So it's always really, um, meaningful to hear that you, that you see that growth in me.

Yes.

What about you? What's your first lesson of 2025?

My first lesson of 2025 is learning to rest guilt-free. That was honestly a really tough transition for me, um, when finding out that I was pregnant in July, because my body just demanded so much out of me that first trimester. I was knocked out. Like, I just needed to sleep the entire day. I had so much nausea. And yeah, I feel like ever since I've been 15 years old, I, I've just focused on optimizing my life. I've been a very busy girl, and this was the first season of my life where I rested multiple days into weeks and close to 2 months at a time. And At first I felt very guilty and then I just learned to give myself grace and be like, no, this is productive. This is exactly what I need to be doing for my baby to grow healthily and for me to be able to have the nutrients that I need. Like, what do I need to focus on right now and shift that as well?

Yeah.

And I think it taught me to shift the amount of importance that I put on productivity. And I've had ebbs and flows with that relationship through the years. Like there's times where I'm like, Yeah, it's okay if I'm not working X amount of hours. And there's other seasons where it does feel good to work really hard and to have, um, yeah, to just work at the things that you really love.

Mm-hmm.

And so, yeah, so I feel like I have really learned to rest guilt-free, to take the days off that I need, to set up myself and my life in a way that Nothing is so urgent or I'm so behind that it needs me today and that I am able to create that breathing room. And so that has been a big lesson that I'm really grateful for and that I feel like will be huge to tap into next year as I navigate postpartum and healing. And who knows what my body is going to feel like and be like then, and leaning into that intuition guilt-free. Yeah.

It's been really beautiful to watch you transform, kind of a mindset switch, I would say, for you, because being a high achiever and being incredibly ambitious, there is a lot of fulfillment and meaning from the work that you do. And it's like, how do you then find meaning in rest and, and that feeling fulfilling as well? When you do love what you do, like you genuinely love the business you've built, but also how do you find enjoyment and true fulfillment from also resting? And I think it's a great lesson to take into motherhood because there's going to be seasons where, to your point, like it is, you are incredibly focused. You are on, you are like locked in on your job and getting as much done as possible. And then there are going to be seasons where you need to take your foot off the gas and just normalizing that. I think that is going to— motherhood is going to teach both of us that.

So much, girl. We will be undone in the best of ways.

I've also heard that like motherhood can make you even more productive with the time that you do have. And it makes you kind of like redefine your priorities and redefine like, okay, this is the most, um, important moving the needle type of task I have to do. And really focusing on that. Um, I am interested to see how it changes both of our productivity and like how we approach work. So that'll be fun to, to learn and unpack together.

Yes. I, I can't wait. It's going to be a whole new, a whole new world, but I'm very excited for it.

Yeah.

What is your second lesson?

Okay. This is one that does kind of tie in with confidence, but I would say this year I really learned to bet on myself. And just went bigger in pretty much every area of at least my career, I would say, and in my marriage. So, um, some examples on the career side is I started this year with really clear vision of like, okay, these are the key projects. This is the way that we're going to help grow the company, at least from my programs and to get to. these massive career highlights of, I want to be on set more, I want to be producing more content, to then being able to produce 8 very highly product— production value customer videos for Circle, getting the CBS documentary booked, built, and filmed, and then promoting that. Like, that was crazy. Getting Circle in Times Square, working with a team, On that entire campaign, getting to work with some of these amazing creators. Like I just feel every quarter was a level up and a level up and a level up. And I really think that a lot of that came from one, the empowerment that I feel from my team and from my leadership at my job mixed with like, yeah, I can do this. I can do this. Like I know that I'm stepping into maybe unknown territory of things I've never done before. But I'm going to keep betting on myself. I'm going to go bigger and try to think bigger. Um, which led to a promotion, which now is leading to building out a team and we're about to make our second hire. And so it's like going from a team of one to now a team of 3 is such a big example of betting on myself and showing what's possible with the program, but also, you know, just the team believing in me. And I think that's been really amazing. And then on the marriage side, on a more personal note, I would say really leaning into the connection that I feel with Matthew. We started the year— we ended last year starting marriage therapy, couples counseling. And so, we started the year really prioritizing going to couples therapy. And that was such a great place for us to start the year. And starting to have these conversations around building a family and what we wanted and what we wanted the next 5 to 10 years of our life to look like. And just that level of intentionality, but also dreaming together, thinking bigger, betting on ourselves as a couple, knowing that we can make it, knowing that we can get through anything, that we can build any business, we can build a family. Like just the level of confidence that we feel in each other right now just feels Like unreal. Like we celebrated six years, and I feel like this is one of our best years yet. And I just want to say that if you're going through a hard time in your marriage or you're in a season where you're not feeling as connected, there is like there is this on the other side too. Like last year was a very hard year for us, and it was really difficult to be back in a long-distance marriage after finally being together again, and. This was kind of our, again, another year of like, okay, we're not doing long distance. And just being able to navigate that and what we want as a couple and respect each other and listen to what each other's dreams are and nurture that has been amazing. And then, I think watching him show up for me in my pregnancy is such a beautiful example of how he's going to show up for our kids and how he's going to show up for me in postpartum. Just the kind of partner and husband he is. Like, I always knew that in him, but it's like when you go through this experience together, it does really solidify, like, I married a good one.

Yes.

So I just, I feel really grateful, um, for the work that we've put in and for where we are in our marriage and from a confidence perspective and just feeling very like solid and secure walking into a very, um, I would say intense chapter of our lives.

Absolutely. I love that all the hard work you've put in that at the time perhaps you're like, okay, this is just the next step forward.

Yeah.

Was really playing such a big role in this story that was developing chapter by chapter, month by month into what would now end up being where your career has grown to and those steps that you needed to get there. And then in your personal life where you needed to be in your marriage courage to then now feel so confident and so solid in welcoming 2 new human beings into your lives. And I feel like, again, it's, it's a testament too of when, when you need to seek out resources to when you can just figure things out in yourself and believe in yourself and, and have that duality of support. And it's beautiful to see that throughout your growth journey as well. And it's inspiring. And, and it's always helped me too to be like, okay, yeah, we— I don't have to do it all by myself. Like, how can we Get support from the people that we love or from professionals as well. Um, and I'm just so proud of you. I feel like one of my favorite things about you is you're always having this mentality of like, why not you? Why not me? Like, let's, let's go there. And since the, the first year of our friendship, you're like, well, why not? Why can't you quit your job? And I love seeing all the dimensions in which you've taken that in your life and to where it's led you to this year alone. Yeah, and just beautiful to witness.

Thanks, babe. I appreciate that. I think that the— it's interesting that you bring up the like, why not, um, kind of, I would say, like mentality is this year in particular, finding out I was pregnant. I just— to be very transparent, I was really worried about how it was going to impact my career. Because I was working towards a promotion and it's, it's statistically pretty difficult to get a promotion when you're pregnant. Um, and I was like, how, how am I going to like still make this happen for myself and still grow out this functionality and still be seen as a leader and still be like up for projects and, and not to be discounted. And I think that One of the things I wanted to live out was like, why can't I be pregnant and travel and do these brand campaigns and make it happen and get a promotion and build a team? And like, why can't I do that? Like, no one said that I couldn't. Now, does it happen a lot historically? Not typically contextually. Like, and I wish it did, but I had women on my team reach out to me after my promotion. And said like, you don't know how amazing it is to see a woman that's pregnant actively, like get a promotion. Yeah. And like, I just, it's amazing to see that one on the company just says like how great my company is. But it's also like, I think that a part of it was because I didn't, I didn't take the foot off the gas either. I didn't start discounting my career trajectory because of my pregnancy. And start kind of pulling back and taking myself out of the game. I was like, no, I'm going to lean in and I'm not going to let anything stop me from, you know, and obviously I, I, part of this, and it's a privilege, I was not sick. So like I was able to travel and I was able to show up to work and, you know, other than exhaustion, like I was able to still really be very present in my job and to give that sort of energy. But that was one of the things I wanted to mention is like the why not? goes, you know, both ways of like, don't, don't kind of like tuck away because of maybe what you've historically seen in other circumstances. Like you can still unlock different paths or, or get maybe what you're working towards, even if it looks a little different.

Absolutely. I feel like, and not to go on a tangent here, but we have our own podcast.

What's the point? What's the point if we can't go on a tangent? Let's go.

Um, But that has been, I would say, at the forefront of my pregnancy is having to challenge my own thoughts when I haven't really had a ton of that representation in my life of women who double down on their career or just double down on what do you want, right?

Mm-hmm.

Whatever it is, but just more take a seat back. And quite transparently, there's been times where my body physically didn't let me. And then in the second trimester, I caught myself still being stuck in patterns of first trimester that I didn't need in second trimester. I was fine.

Yeah.

I was feeling okay. I was just letting myself get there. I was just home too much and I needed to get out and just go and do things and snap out of it a little bit. And I think ultimately it just lean into your own intuition and how your body's going and your pregnancy's going. But how many times do we just go with either what we think it's supposed to be like?

Yep.

Or a previous pattern of ours that helped us in a survival season, but you don't really need to survive anymore. Like, you're okay. And I was— yeah, it's just been amazing to experience this. And then at the same time, as we're planning for next year, trying to figure life out, stop at every little section of our lives and be like, is that what we want? Is it not what we want? Okay, why, why did I default to next year I'm gonna make less money? No, what if next year I can make more money?

Yeah.

Is that possible? Like, let's backtrack that, Astrid. Like, let's rethink that. Why are we putting these limiting beliefs when we've worked so hard to break these apart? And so I think that's going to be a really interesting undoing of my own mindset in a whole new way as I step into motherhood that will also impact my career. And that I'm so grateful to be navigating this season with you as well. Like, it's motivating and challenging to hear how you're navigating it in your pregnancy. You're farther along than I am. And just so many beautiful women that I, I am surrounded by that are navigating this as well. And so, yeah, it's just a different way of mother being mothers now. And we get to figure that out.

Yeah. There is no right way. There's only your way. Yeah. And I think that that obviously applies to anything in life, but I'm really learning that as I step into this next season is like, maybe I didn't see myself in other representation of like working moms. Um, and even Matthew and I are having this conversation around like, being a feminist is, to me, is supporting a woman's right to choose whether she wants to stay home, whether she wants to work part-time, whether she wants to work a full-time career. Like, we have so many opinions on what mothers should be doing.

Mm-hmm.

And it's like a part of the way that I live out my feminism and am trying and actively even feel myself like Having opinions, I was like, "Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa! Why am I judging? No, no, no. This is like this is her choice." And I think that I have to apply that to myself too. Of like, to your point, what do I really want? Am I wanting that because that's what I think I should want? Is that what I really want? Where is this like desire actually coming from? Who's influencing it? Am I feeling pressure from some sort of direction internally that's telling me? I should stay home. I should, I should go back to work. Like there's all these narratives I think that we really get put on us, especially from social. I have to like take a break from TikTok. I'm like, it's been such a resource, especially during pregnancy, but I'm like, whoa. Like, yeah, I need to just take a, take a beat.

Yeah.

And I get to choose whatever path is in front of me. And so do you. And so I think it's like a good reminder of, um, You know, true ownership over our decision-making and, and really feeling a sense of like empowerment by that. And it being something that like we're really proud of and not something that's influenced by society or people in our lives. Like it really is, it's your life and it's your kids and, and you get to be and live that out however you want to.

Absolutely. And trusting your intuition with As life ebbs and flows in that season as well. Like, yeah, even as I think about when I'm going back to work, um, we've been fortunate to have support in that area and have someone, my mom, like watching our baby and offering to watch our baby for that time. And lately I've been finding myself actually picturing my life, like coming back to work. And realizing that I might not want to do that full-time. I might not— I want to work full-time, but I might not want her to take care of him full-time.

Mm-hmm.

And I think that part of being creatives too is creative problem solving. And so it's like, okay, well, actually I'm not bound to an 8 to 5 desk job. Like, can I make my business more efficient? Can I work 8 to 2, and then I go pick him up at 2, and then we hang out. And then when Dad's home at 5, then I go to the gym. Like, what could life look like? Like, what do I want? What are my needs? What are our needs as a family? And what are my needs, like me with my son? What time do I want to have with him?

Mm-hmm.

Could that just look different? Like, every day could be different, or every day could be the same. And so anyway, just like going back to the drawing board that there is no A, B, or C. And you're stuck with that. Like, yeah, what works for you, try it out. If it doesn't, then it doesn't. If it does, great. Sometimes for seasons too, it works great for a season and not for another one. But I feel like that's the biggest gift, and being able to be in a place where you have options is the biggest blessing you can have, and is also like choice just in general. I feel like just having choice—

Yeah.

Is Is everything I want right now. Just, I want to be able to make different choices. Um, so yeah, that's my tangent.

You have it. You have it, girl. You have the autonomy. You have the ability to make choices. And I really encourage you to just lean into that and figure out, testing out different things, like what really works for you. And you really won't know until you're in it. And then you're like, I'm going to adjust this. Or like, let's try this for a couple of weeks. And then I don't really know if I want to do that.

And.

Just giving yourself a lot of permission to be really adaptable based on what you're learning about yourself and what you really want with your son and your schedule. So love that tangent. It was beautiful.

Well, honestly, it goes really well with my second lesson of the year, which is more on the business front. But one of the biggest lessons that I had in my business was the importance of doing the work that is not glamorous. I spent the first 4 months of the year really focused on my automations, on my systems, on hiring marketing support. Like I made a lot of investments this year that little did I know a few months down the road, like my life was going to change so much. And now I feel like that made the time that I needed to take off during, um, My first trimester doable because there was systems working for me, and going into pregnancy making a solo entrepreneur running a team all these different things actually doable for the future. And so all of this to say that reflecting back, even when I chose to start my team, like it took about three years now where I feel like things are really solid where. Everyone's got a groove, we've got a system, things are going really well, and I feel so grateful for that. And I remember a year prior to that, I delayed launching the team because I was scared of it. It was just a big project. I was scared. I didn't know if it was going to go well. There wasn't as many photographers having teams. And now I'm so grateful that I did that. And so for anyone listening to this, whether You're choosing to step into motherhood down the road or not. What is a business decision that you may be delaying that could be costing future you something, whatever that looks like? Maybe it's freedom from your full-time job. Maybe it's travel. Maybe it's just a career that you really, really want. But being able to prioritize the day-to-day work, the putting yourself out there, the posting, the Um, behind the scenes, if you already do have a business and running that well was the biggest blessing ever. And I feel like time and time again, or like the lesson that I had was trusting my intuition as a business owner of what are the top things that the business needs right now. And let's actually execute on that. And I, this was a year that I actually did that and it's been really great. So, um, Yeah, I'm feeling really grateful that I did it at the time that I did. And I feel very supported going into maternity season in my career and that the business is going to keep running. There's still going to be weddings being shot. There's still going to be social media going out and there's still going to be client communication handled while I'm out. And that's, I just could have never thought that that was possible. Yeah.

You are our systems and sustainability queen. I'm seriously so, I'm so impressed by you. I'm always impressed by you, but like, I think watching your ability to execute and to double down on these areas in your business, not even knowing what the future held for you this year, but like really taking the time to grow out your team and one, showing up as a leader, figuring out how to run the team.

Yeah.

How to manage it, and then obviously how to continue to grow the brand and grow the business. And even like, you know, hitting social media milestones and you're growing on social and, and working with your team on that. It is what a blessing, but also what a testament to you as like a visionary leader, being able to have Matt leave and have the business running like that is truly that's like what everybody wants, right? And that's something that you have built. Yourself to this point where you get to, you know, um, reap the rewards of seeds that you've sown years in the past. And it's all coming to fruition now. And it's really beautiful. And I'm really proud of you because I know that it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of execution and a lot of vision to figure out like, okay, how do I make this work so that I can step back at any period of time? And you've really done it. So I'm I'm so impressed and I'm glad that you are getting this time to, um, put all of that work to test too, where it's like, okay, what does it look like to turn my brain off and like really be focused on this other human?

Yeah.

Um, for 3 months, like, what does that look like? What does it feel like? And what happens to the business? And that's exciting.

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I, I feel like there's still, you know, a 20% of it that I'm trying to figure out of like, how can I fully be off when there's a few things that just really do require my attention every month. And, you know, we'll see how that all turns out. But all I know is there's always a solution for everything. Yeah, I feel like that always brings me peace, that I, I may not have the answer right now, but it will come to me and it will happen. And if it doesn't and I lose some business because of it— I already lost some business this year because of it as well, and Things worked out fine. People get married all the time. And, um, yeah, so I feel very grateful. I feel like that has really helped my peace of mind. And, and I feel very, very, very grateful to make a living this way and that I get to take a maternity leave and be with my son and be very present, which sounds really wild to say my son. Um, what is your last lesson for 2025? Okay.

Last lesson for me this year is you have a deeper level of enjoyment throughout life when you can actually be present in it. And this is something I've worked on a lot. You know this. I can tend to have this tendency to always be looking at the future and being like, what's next? What are we doing? Where are we going? Like, what are we building? And it a lot of times creates this restlessness in the moment, meaning like it's really difficult for me to be present, for me to be proud in the moment, for me to feel things in the moment. I kind of like will numb out and I'm just like thinking about the future so much that I'm like, cool, cool, cool, this is happening now. But like, you know what's going to happen in 2 months or what's going to happen next week? And I noticed that pattern a lot over the last several years. And it's something I've been trying to heal and notice about myself. And I would say I've really done a lot of work this year in particular, that while it was one of the busiest years I've had in a long time, one of the years that has had the most professional growth and also the most personal fulfillment, I have been able to feel more present in it. And I think that's what's helped me feel more fulfilled and end the year feeling great. Like True gratitude and true meaning and like, wow, okay, this is what a beautiful life I have. And like mean that. And it's because I've, I feel like I've been present in almost every moment this year. Not perfect, but like I am giving it my attention and I'm not distracted and I'm not trying to rush to the next thing or rush to the next conversation and Again, I'm not perfect at it, but it is something I've put a lot of effort into and I feel proud of the ways that I've shown up this year and the ways I've stepped back in certain areas this year so that I can be more present in other areas of my life. And, um, yeah, I think that's been a part of this process is learning where do I want to step back so that I can put more energy and And present focus, um, on the things that really matter to me or matter most to me. And that has been a really big gift and lesson for me this year.

I love that. I, I have a follow-up question on that.

Ask away.

For people that are struggling with being present, but they want to be more present, what would be your biggest recommendation for them? To get to a place where you're at right now?

Yeah. I would say some things that have helped me be more present is one, focusing on my 5 senses a lot more. So like, where is my body? What do I smell? What do I hear? Um, what can I feel? And like just being more literally pulling presence into my physical self more because a lot of that like mindset of being future-focused is, is it's very heady, it's very up here. And so if there are moments where I can pull that down into the present moment, you could call this a meditation practice, a breathwork practice, or even just noticing your 5 senses a lot more. That's something that has helped me. And then I would also say, it's the phone. It's the notifications. It's the constant pressure to respond. It's the feeling like you have to be on call for everyone in your life, work or otherwise. And I feel like that was one of the things this year that's like, I, I am sometimes unreachable. Okay, I'm fine with that. I like being unreachable. I want to put my phone down. I want to look at my husband. I want to not be on our phones. I want to roll over and we just have this face time and we're not distracted. Well, I don't need to answer every text. I don't need to answer every email. I don't need to answer every DM. I'm not that important. And I think that a lot of this work for me was ego work of I yeah, I need to be on call. I need to be present with people that are trying to get a hold of me. I need to be accessible to them because like they need me. You know that they need the response. They need to. And I'm like no, I'm not really that important, and this can wait. And I am no longer going to subscribe to the urgency that digital communication applies to my life. And yeah, I'm just like over it, honestly, at my core. So I think it's less of a piece of advice and more of something I'm trying to adopt is, can you just step away from the need to be on and just let yourself like be in the moment with the people in your life?

Yeah, I love that. Such great tips. Welcome to the side of 3 to 5 business days for Siya.

More like 3 to 5 business weeks.

Yes, but truly, I think like that is something to navigate where all the notifications you've got, you've got DMs, you got your emails, you got your texts, you've got Messenger, you've got all the alerts from all the other apps that you have as well. And it's like a full-time job to respond to them.

Dude, I'm exhausted.

Like, I don't—

and I think again, it's like, why? Like, I'm not this important, you know? Like, I just— I think there's obviously caveats to that and I understand that, but it's like, I, I'm good. I don't need to be on call.

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I'm a surgeon.

Um, what about you?

My last lesson of the year is some of the best things in life happen unexpectedly. Slay.

Slay.

I feel like that's the theme since June on for me. And it's also timely because it's the end of the year. Past me has always been just focused on making goals and focusing on what I'm going to do next year. And it's kind of funny to look back at what I thought this year was going to look like and all the things that I wanted this year to have and almost like this hold of pressure that I was putting on it. And in the best way possible, reflecting back on our year, we got married, we got engaged, we're pregnant, we moved in together. And while it's been a lot of life changes at once, don't get me wrong, At the same time, it's everything that I really wanted. I remember having this moment a few months ago where I was just praying and reflecting and thinking back to 2020 Astrid, wondering, will she get married someday? Will she have kids someday? And I always wanted to be a mom in my late 20s or early 30s. And my foolproof plan and my own fears had us on a timeline of not having kids for 3 years because I wanted us to like, well, we're gonna enjoy the max out of our marriage and then we're gonna get all the things and do— we'll have all the tools and then I'm gonna get all these tools for pre-pregnancy before we even start to try and then we'll start to try. And everything came at once and at the same time, I believe it was such divine timing for so many reasons. And now being on the other side of it, I feel like this year I let go of so many fears and I had so many answered prayers and I had so much clarity come through from so many things that I was second-guessing and trying to figure out. And it ate me alive just because of past traumas.

Mm-hmm.

And it's such a gift to be on the other side and be like, wow. I have an incredible husband and partner, and the ways that I've gotten to know him now as a husband, I'm like, this is— you're incredible. Like, it's a whole new layer to him that I hoped would be there, but ultimately you don't really know until you get married, right? Mm-hmm. And getting to be parents just alone is a huge gift. We both have always wanted to be parents and Marriage happened at 30 and 31 for both of us, and it's just beautiful. And so I feel like just learning that maybe because things don't happen how I envision it and like this perfect quote-unquote plan, it doesn't mean that it's not the perfect plan. It's exactly how it needed to happen. And I always reflect back on this year how my 30th and a half birthday was like God's unintentional bachelorette party to me, literally. It was, yeah, because it's like, honestly, that's all I would have really wanted is have my best friends. Let's go to Spain. Let's have a good time, which is a lot. I mean, it's not all like— it's a big celebration, but yeah, we would have— it's just perfect. And so we got to celebrate together. We got to have this Euro summer. We got to have all of these beautiful experiences. And God knew like that next season of life, this was going to happen next. And it just felt like the right time, reflectively. In the moment, I was freaking out, but reflectively, it was great. And yeah, I just feel very grateful and I feel like it's now, it's toned down my need to hyper-plan.

Mm-hmm.

To feel safe, but rather I just plan to feel or to be more resourced and that's it. And I feel like that's the halfway point. And the other halfway point is just letting life happen how it needs to happen and letting that room of honestly just magic be there. And so, yeah, I have never felt this Type B before, and it's nice.

I love it. And yes, I mean, watching you blossom over the last six months with so many like new things, you know. I know that working towards marriage, getting engaged, getting married, eloping, finding out you're pregnant, finding out as a boy, like there were so many celebration and milestones, and. To your point, they didn't maybe happen in the, like the timeline or like as far apart, I guess, maybe as you thought they would, but like they're happening exactly as, as it sounds like you like needed them to in a way. Like it's always interesting how we can, um, focus a lot on like what we want to happen and then life, God, the universe gives us what we need.

Yeah.

And they're like, no, no, no, this, like, this is actually what you needed.

And.

It's been really amazing to watch you and Nick, like, one, lean into your marriage and also this like new season as parents. And like, I'm just so excited to see even the next year of like watching you guys be parents together once he's here. It's, it's, I think it's like one of the most beautiful things that you can see in your, in your best friend is seeing them be loved and treated really well.

Yeah.

And also see them navigate new seasons. And like, you're, you know, I'm gonna— you're gonna see a new version of me, and I'm gonna see a new version of you in this new chapter. And I'm, I'm so excited for what it holds. And yeah, it's gonna be really beautiful.

I cannot wait. Truly, this is gonna be such an incredible season of life. And I know that we've said that quite a few times, but it never stops to blow me away that we We started this year with, um, a mastermind and just so many things in mind. And we're ending the year, both of us married, pregnant, and just with so many goals and hopes for our careers as well for next year. And it's such a blessing. Like, what are the odds that you could get pregnant at the same time as your best friend without trying? Either one of us. I know.

And then some of our other best friends are also pregnant. So it's like, it's crazy. I feel very, very lucky. And yeah, I, yeah, I just, women are amazing. Like we're such badasses. We can do anything. Like we're, we're, we're like, oh yeah, I'm exhausted. Then you get up and you're just like, you do everything. You just do it.

Yeah. We're superwomen. And I know in a future season of Life, we're going to be talking about how much we love living close to each other and how our kids run over to your house and they run over to my house and we have dinners together.

Manifesting that.

That's my dream. Yeah.

Lots of, lots of like, I'm excited to share once some things come to fruition, but like there's a lot of things that Matthew and I want next year. Obviously like the kids are arriving and I think the first 6 months of the year is really just gonna be focused on that and figuring out parenthood and getting back to work after mat leave. But the second half of next year, we have some really big goals and things that we're Saving for and working towards, and I'm really excited to keep working on my goals. And I think that that's one thing that like I don't ever want to change about myself is yeah, different circumstances are going to change. Like I still have goals that we want to achieve, businesses we want to start. Like we're in that sort of life building stage, and it's so exciting. It's like the stuff that you do in your thirties. Really does set you up for your 40s, and so on, and so on, and so on. And I feel like we're really feeling that right now in our early 30s of like, okay, we're building the family, and we're building the legacy, and we're building the businesses. And like, there's this entrepreneurial flip—sorry, this entrepreneurial switch—that has always been on, but I feel like it's being turned up for Matthew and I at the same time. And so we're like, what are we doing together? What are we building together? Like. Obviously we love our W-2s and we love our jobs, but we're such side hustle people and we have skills that complement each other. And so there's different things that we're wanting to start, wanting to grow. And I'm just excited to see where the evolution of this show goes to, of like the life side, the friendship side, the business side, career entrepreneurship. But, um, thank you for just being with us and being part of this community over the last several years, or if you're a newer listener. I know that the last couple months have been more sporadic from us, but yeah, it just feels really nice knowing that we have this amazing community, and I don't take it for granted. So I hope that you are taking some time at the tail end of this year to really reflect on lessons that you've learned and and what this year has meant for you, and what you're hoping to take from it, and what you want to bring into the new year. I think it's always a really nice time of year to. Just sit with yourself and really reflect and do some of that inner work.

Absolutely. Wow, what a great teaser for this hiatus that we're going to be on. It's like, what is this next chapter going to hold for us? We don't know. We are going to be deep in the in-between. We will, we will be back with lots to report on, I am sure. Um, but yes, like, like Alexis said, thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. This has been such a beautiful community of support throughout the years and all our different seasons of life. And I know that we'll continue to receive that support as well. And thank you for just taking the time to listen to us. We love you all. We cannot wait to meet you on the other side. And if you want to connect with us, um, you can do so on our Instagram @inbetween.pod. You can connect with me @astrojohannaphoto.

And you can connect with me @alexisteichmiller. And with that, we will see you next year.