Oh my goodness I feel SO much better than I did this time last year (and the year before)!
What to expect from this article? Probably TMI. This is a massive brainfart of practically everything I did in 2025.
It’s an excuse for me to look at each month from the past year and remember everything I achieved (or didn’t achieve) in a way I just wouldn’t be bothered to do if I weren’t publishing it.
And I’ve had good feedback on previous iterations, so I’m going to keep doing it for the foreseeable!
Personal stuff and how 2025 started
2025 started very gently because at the end of 2024 I hid in my office to write a book. And early 2025 was all about getting the ruddy thing finished.
Looking back on the end of 2024 I can see quite clearly why I chose to hide for a bit.
After the rollercoaster of 2024 with bereavement, stress and generally crying a lot, I needed some down time. My gut knew stepping back was the right thing to do, so I did it. Thank you, gut!
I’d planned for a variety of different business activities in H2 2024, including launching something to earn some money (fancy that!) but instead I decided to spend a tonne of money, time, and energy on getting my book written.
Productive procrastination at it’s finest!
The writing was easy enough. I got most of that done before 2025 had started. I had a really clear view of what I wanted to achieve, which was to get the Easy Yes® model down in print so it was my IP!
‘Such a quick read but it clarifies so much.’
‘An easy, funny and very informative read. Janine is very engaging and she presents a very useful framework, that makes complete sense.’
I’ve been in digital marketing for the last 20 years, so there’s not much I can learn from this book, right?
Wrong. It helped me find holes in my own marketing strategy, and I’m not even a coach-shaped person.
Where it all slowed down was when I tried to collate of the feedback of my thirteen BETA readers was mind-numbing.
Is it recommended to have so many BETA readers?
No it is not.
And it’s not what my book coach, Vicky Quinn-Fraser, advised either. But you know me, I’m a rebel!
It took another five months to get the thing edited, proofed, cover designed, hard copy proof approval and up for sale.
I finally got it launched in early June. 7 months. That’s not bad to get a book published from scratch is it? At the time it felt like it took fooooreverrrrr. (Vid of my book launch here.)
Events I went to
After my year of being a hermit in 2024, I decided that 2025 was the year I was going to get out there! So I intentionally went to tonnes of events. The result? It was a total blast! I made lots of new friends, great connections, and some new clients to boot.
Here’s where I went:
- Paseda360 conference and National Coaching Awards ceremony (Birmingham): Excellent event, so much so that I’m not only going again this year but I’m sponsoring one of the awards and I’m also a judge!
- You Are The Media Creator Day and Failed Nights (Poole): Another great combo. Failed Nights is the sister event that happens the evening before Creator Day. Such a good format. And a good way to meet people ahead of the big day.
- Sophie Lee’s Self Expression day retreat (London): Sophie’s a force to be reckoned with! A wonderful day and my first experience of embodiment work from Joy Borman.
- Dr Joanna Martin’s One Woman Conference (London): An enlightening two days! It’s geared around promoting their coaching accreditations but it had high value content and drew a wonderful group of people.
- Laura Brunton’s Ignited Woman event (London): Laura is a total energy radiator! Such a wonderful day and speaker perfection. MWAH! Chef’s kiss. I’m going again this year.
- Atomicon* (Newcastle): I’ve been to every single one and spoke at Atomicon21! Say no more. I’ll be back this year too. (*Affiliate link)
- Suman Randawa’s book launch (London): I met Suman early in ‘25, we did a LinkedIn live together. She’s now part of the Atomicon team and will be co-hosting Atomicon this year. Her book launch was so fab. Get her book here.
- MY book launch! (Bordon, Hampshire) Gosh I was nervous! Partly because my dad was there and I could see him TALKING TO MY FRIENDS! #EmbarrasingDad Get my book here.
- Big Festoon (Bolton): Lucky me- I won a free ticket! I love Dani Wallace’s energy- her showmanship is unparalelled.
- The HoLT Christmas Party (London): No, I’m not a member of The HoLT, Lea Turners vibey community, but I couldn’t resist going along to her Christmas party. Unfortunately, the early part of the evening clashed with an event that Daniel Priestly was throwing across town so the party didn’t really get started until I was heading out the door at 9.30pm ish. If I went again, I’d book a hotel room!
Other networking:
- ONLE network: I’ve been a member of the ONLE network for a couple of years now. It’s the network for people who like people; and it shows. I’ve met so many wonderful folk, won business, passed on business and made friends. All the good stuff. Thinking of trying it out? Go here to book a free trial meeting with ONLE. (If you do book, I get a free ‘guest’ meeting too.)
- Laura Brunton’s Super Connector: As I mentioned above, I love Laura. And her free networking calls are full of go-getting lovely people. More info on Laura Brunton’s Super connector sessions here.
And personally I got out more too:
- Theatre trips to see Oedipus (a sensory delight!), Devil Wears Prada (meh) and Othello (so beautiful).
- Family trips to Belgium, Bempton Cliffs (I saw puffins!), Teignmouth (our usual family hol) and we even made a funeral into a ‘trip’ by booking a lovely Airbnb and making extra time to hang out with family.
- I went on The Pullman (very posh train) with my sis and her family. Three course brunch? Yes please!
- I booked my first escape room with my family- I loved it!
- We went to see the Secret Life of Fungi with Merlin Sheldrake, who apparently is the rockstar of the fungi world. Who knew!? It was fab. Highly recommend it if you want something a bit different. My 12yo and 14yo loved it too.
- Wimbledon semi-final in the scorching heat! I went with Rich (husband) who’s a mad keen Wimbledon fan. I go along for the strawberries and cream and vibes!
- I also kept consistent with my thrice weekly Pilates with Louise Humphrey’s Studio44 Pilates online membership and I started a weekly fitness bootcamp on the green. There’s nothing like getting mud under your fingernails on a Wednesday lunch time to make you feel alive!
- I took the kids to walk some alpacas in the summer hols. They are TOO CUTE. Well, some of them are. Others are just freaky.
Kittens
This doesn’t fit anywhere else but I have to mention it because it was a big part of my 2025- WE FOUND KITTENS!
I was walking with my son in the woodland near our house back in June 2025 and a woman walking her dogs flagged us down because she couldn’t do anything about these two little kittens that were cowering under a bramble bush.
The vet thought they were about 6 weeks old; too young to be away from their mum. There’s no way that they could have walked there on their own, since there aren’t any houses nearby. And it’s unlikely their mum had gone off to hunt. It’s a known abandonment spot.
My youngest (who is non-binary) called one Leila and my son called the other one Bubbles, because he’s the more bubbly one.
From timid little things that would run and hide when we came into the room, they’ve turned into the most loving cats! Both of them love cuddles and strokes and have quirky personalities. They’ve brought us so much joy.
Archie, our 13yo cat hates them unfortunately…
Podcasts I’ve been on:
Despite having something amazing to promote (my book, ahem) I didn’t pitch to be many podcasts last year. Apparently getting positive responses to pitching to be on podcasts has become harder of late. Have you experienced that?
Anyway, I managed to get on, or was invited onto, the following fab shows:
- The Apple Cart with Gudrun Lauret – How to be bolder and braver with your marketing
- Freelance Business Unlocked with Anja Lordanić Mustać – Coaching, content, and clarity in business
- The Entrepreneurial Success Podcast with Henriette Danel – The one thing nobody tells you about niching
- Small Business Big Network Podcast with Liz Drury
- The Sphere of Success with Debra Blackman – The #1 Mistake Coaches Make in Their Marketing (And How to Fix It)
- Content Lessons with Justin Vajko – How to use blogging to attract clients
- Too Big For a Box podcast with Ola Kowalska – Too loud? Too expressive? Too much? Good.
- Unfrazzle – me interviewing host Louise Miller on her 100th episode!
- Halftime Huddle with Mark Webb
- Let’s Talk About Brand with Christine Gritmon
Listen to any of these podcast episodes by clicking here.
Blog posts I published:
Naughty Janine fell off the wagon! I intended to publish one blog post a month, like I did in 2024, but I did write a book so I don’t feel that guilty.
Here’s what I wrote about:
Should you sell to corporates?
What to do when the people who need you most have the least money
9 clever ways to reshare a blog post
The 5 myths that are stopping coaches from earning more
Support I got
As you might imagine, as someone who works with coachy people, I’m not at all scared of asking for help when I need it.
Here’s a run through of the support I got in 2026:
- I wrapped up working with my therapy-style coach in December after about 18 months. He’s helped me so much. My life feels filled with possibilities now (versus when I started working with him in the summer of 2024 and I felt like crap.)
- Louise Miller’s Make It Happen Club and Yearly planning. Louise is one of my biz besties and we’re mutual clients. Her club is a quiet space to do all your strategic thinking. Love. It. Learn about it here. (Affiliate link)
- Rachael Kennard-Wall of It’s All About Health. If you’d have told me a few years ago that I’d be paying money for someone to ‘muscle test’ me using a crystal, you would’ve got one of my stares. But I must be getting more open minded now, and it only ruddy well works! Go here for more info.
- About 5 years ago I was semi-famous on LinkedIn. I was NAILING IT! In recent years I’ve lost my rhythm though. So I’ve joined Gus Bhandal’s The Squeeze membership. Come on Gus, sort me out will you!
- And last but deffo not least, I’ve just started working with Osmaan Sharif, a business coach. I’ve known Osmaan for years and I just know he’s the right help for me right now.
Offers I focused on
2025 was the year I gave my offers a good ol’ shake up!
- I mainly worked with people through my unadvertised Marketing Mentorship; a blend of coaching, mentoring, and consulting for coach-shaped-people wanting to earn more without slogging their guts out. Email me at [email protected] for more info.
- I ran two rounds of the Easy Yes® Sessions– which is a week of me walking you through the Easy Yes® model so you can apply it to your own business and get easier yeses for your efforts. Low cost and effective. I found these super fun! And will deffo be running them again. Click here for more info about the next round of the Easy Yes® Sessions.
- At the end of November I put the feelers out to see if I could get three people to try my new Easy Yes® VIP Offer Intensive. One week to get a new offer positioned, packaged and priced including draft sales page copy. I got three takers and they all loved it! Email me at [email protected] for more info.
Non-fiction Books I read
Here’s a list of the non-fiction books I read this year, with a quick review of each:
- Women Who Work Too Much by Tamu Thomas – FABULOUS! Tamu is a force of nature- I saw her speak twice last year and she was electric. This book does not disappoint.
- The Four Fears by Mark Franklin – I’ve met Mark several times. Solid ‘good egg’ territory. And this book reflects that. So much care has been taken in making the concepts digestible and implementable. I think I’ll give it a re-read in 2026!
- Brilliantly Bouncy by Laura Chamberlain – A thought provoking and useful book about resilience from my fellow book coachee!
- The Course of Love by Alain de Botton – It’s allegorical; a story of a couple who grow apart and then back together. I enjoyed it.
- Shadow Life by Oli Anderson. Oli uses the word ‘bullshit’ approx ten million times. It was fine, but I think it’d be better for a reader who knows less about the shadow self and the teachings of Carl Jung. (Mind you, I don’t know that much…)
- Manifest by Roxie Nafousi. My 2026 resolution is to stop buying books on manifesting. It always boils down to; 1. be clear on what you want, 2. keep open minded as to how you’ll get there, 3. take action. Plus mindset tips e.g. visualisation exercises and reminders.
- Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin. I remember liking this book when I read it but now I can’t remember much about it. Note to self; make notes in future!
- In Their Shoes by Jamie Windust. My youngest came out out as non-binary last summer so, true to my natural default, I bought some books on it. The other one on my to-be-read list is The Gender Creative Child by Diane Ehrensaft.
- Forged by Charles Barnard – Loved this book! I had the privilege of meeting Charles in 2024. What he doesn’t know about running a profitable SME isn’t worth knowing. This book is allegorical and all the more readable and memorable because of it.
- Business Growth by Niraj Kapur – The strangest business book I’ve ever read! Niraj explores his business lessons through the lens of his romantic history. It made it engaging!
- Power Manifesting by Paul McKenna– See note on Manifest above.
Learnings from 2025
Be more broken record
I was talking to my pal Louise Miller about this the other day- those people on the stage; the ones with tens of thousands of followers and being fought over to ask them on podcasts and wotnot – they’re not better than you. They just happen to have a platform.
Do you want a platform? You can get one by being clear on what you do and then being a broken record about it.
I aim to be more broken record in 2026.
Being consistent doesn’t need to mean frequent
In 2024 I did one good blog a month. Just 12 in total but I really felt the traction of having that consistency. I could feel my coach-shaped-people gravitating towards me. In 2025, I didn’t even manage half of that and I could really see my audience growth and awareness of what I do slow down.
One blog a month is doable for me, fun, and it works! So that is deffo on my plan for this year.
Getting the help I need… helps
Right at the end of the year I made a flurry of investments in people who can help with with various things in my business. And do you know what? It really helped!
It’s so easy to put off these decisions. ‘I’ll wait until I earn X in a month and then I’ll invest.’ But what if that investment is what you need to move forwards and grow? Chicken and egg innit.
Looking forwards to 2026
Playing to my strengths AND my values
In the summer of ’25, I decided to act on something that I’ve known about for ages.
The fact that I am not a natural doer. I’m an ideas person. I flourish when I’m creative. Unlike many business owners I LOVE creating content and being on video.
So I thought; what could I do that would mean that the content itself was revenue generating?
My answer at the time was ethical affiliate marketing. Highlighting good people and creating innovative content to help people decide if they’re the right next purchase or not.
So I spent much of September going through my rolodex and speaking to all the talented and good-hearted marketing-related people I knew. My plan was to work out how I could create content and send business their way in return for a monetary thank you.
All fabulous in theory!
But my enthusiasm quickly waned. And then I did some long-overdue work on my values which made it make sense.
It turns out that ‘make a difference’ is extremely high up on my list of values. And creating fun content to sell other people’s stuff, even really wonderful and helpful people, just didn’t tick that box.
So in 2026, I’m going to go back to what I know to be THE key piece of missing puzzle for so many:
OFFERS
Specifically, the positioning of those offers through messaging, packaging (e.g. signature methodology) and pricing.
Once the positioning is clear, then you can make intelligent decisions about how, when and where to promote it.
Want to know what you need to say so the right people prick their ears up? That becomes obvious when this fundamental piece of the puzzle is in place.
I’ll still continue to highlight my affiliate partners where appropriate, but it won’t be at the centre of my business as I’d planned.
Book no. 2
The thing that resonated most with people who’ve read The Easy Yes® book is when I mention the area that lurks in the middle; The Friend Zone.
This is when you’re putting out loads of content, people are making the right noises but they never seem to buy. Despite doing all the right marketingy things, you’re still getting most (or all) of your clients from referrals.
They’ve put you in ‘The Friend Zone’.
This is a problem I’d love to solve for people! And I’ve already got lots of thoughts. In fact, I’ll be showcasing my early recommendations in my new talk that I’m preparing for Higher Voltage.
Higher Voltage is Christine Gritmon’s conference that’s running on 22nd January 2026 in London. Wanna come? Get 25% off by clicking here and putting the code JANINEFUCKINGCOOMBES in the coupon box at check out. (Christine chose the discount code. What is she like? 😂)
A year long 50th birthday extravaganza!
I know, I know, don’t die of shock because I’m so young-looking, but I’m going to be 50 this year! I rarely celebrate my birthday, which is silly because being alive for another year is huge cause for celebration however old you are. So this is my excuse for a pattern interrupt. I am planning a whole year of celebrations, with something new, exciting, and/ or challenging every month.
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
- Jan- Getting back on the speaking trail at Higher Voltage
- April- Walking 50km in Wales at SheUltra
- June– Go and see The Pixies (alt 80’s band) live with my sis
- Sept– Exotic holiday- Destination TBC!
So much to plan! So much excitement awaits!
I hope you’ve enjoyed having a skim through this. I really do enjoy putting it together. Why not do your own version? Send me the link to it if you do won’t you!
Read my previous personal year reviews here:
