January | 2014 | Nicole Monahan

Thank you Timehop for the reminder that today is my third year living in New York! Time really does fly when you’re having fun.

Honestly, there are some things that haven’t changed since last year.

My cat still goes into baby mode every time I visit Florida.

It also seems to snow every single January 21st anniversary. (Real picture from today.)

I am still freelancing which is unfortunate. It’s not that I dislike where I work but definitely want to settle into one permanent company, not only to get my career where I want to go but I’m exhausted jumping from one client to the next. People seriously take having a laptop at work for granted. Benefits too. Spoiler alert to anyone who freelances and is over 26: Obamacare is the worst. Be very grateful your company takes care of you and/or your parents. This is also just one of the harsh realities I faced in year 3… Most of all though, I really miss having coworkers. People I can talk to or grab a drink with, can’t do that as a freelancer. In part, I know it’s still the economy but hope this goal is reached in year 4.

I still live in Astoria and still love it. Although we did lose a pretty big member of the family this year…

New Changes & Milestones:

Year three marked the start of Women Who Brunch and my leap into entrepreneurship. In the summer of 2013 my friend Megan and I took on this project to crate a monthly brunch series dedicated to inspiring and connecting more women over a great meal. I’m still blown away by the success and growth we’ve had so far. We have a new logo, just wrapped up our 6th brunch, have over 900 members, and have met amazing women from all backgrounds including agencies, startups, to companies such as MSNBC, Eventbrite, Mashable, CBS, Hearst, and Warner Bros. I love planning these events and can’t wait for what the next year will bring.

Bonus: I’m also very excited for my first speaking role this Friday at #CMGRHangout, where I’ll be discussing how I’ve built this awesome food community.

This year with Digital DUMBO I have successfully planned 2 conference, 31 events (with Google Local, Bing, Huge, 7Digital, Maker’s Row, and Venmo to name a few), and grew our Twitter following 174% and Facebook to 57% over 2013. Woop! Our events and social media are only going to get better.

Lessons I’ve learned:

My biggest lesson over the past year was learning to say no. As much as you try, you simply can’t do it all here. I’ve had to learn how to say no to many requests and opportunities that just aren’t the right fit for me. This really forces you to do some soul searching and truly think about what it is you want. Additionally, learning how to say no helps understand how your time and efforts could be used more effectively.