#165 — 🎊 2021 in review

0:00  
What's up everybody? This is Lola Ojabowale, founder of Lunch Pail Labs. Welcome back to Lunch Pail Daily, my personal audio diary where I share all of the realness on building and growing Lunch Pail Labs, which is a digital product studio based out of Atlanta, Georgia, it is the last Friday of the year, last day of the year. So this will serve as not only or even less of a week and review, but just a year in review. 

0:32  
So looking back at 2021, all I gotta say is, I am so full of gratitude. I'm just so happy where, where I am sort of like professionally, where Lunch Pail Labs, and I have nothing, nothing but thanks and kudos to the partners, to the clients, to the friends, to the Twitter friends, to the universe for everything that came to fruition last year. So kind of taking my sections by sections, looking at the like goal and vision of Lunch Pail. Currently, you know, what I say every week is it's a sustainable economic engine. My goal current sort of like revenue goal is to take it to half a million with products and services. And then through Lunch Pail Labs, I've honed my craft and conceiving, designing, building, launching and growing products. 

1:28  
And looking back at last year and what my framing was with my goal, it was pretty much the same, just like a different revenue goal. So last year, I really, really wanted to get my company to like 180k a year, why 180k Because at my last corporate job, I was making $175,000. And for me having an entity of my own, that outperformed that was like my, I guess metric of success, and was happy to make that happen this year. I also live a life of balance. I think this is a new part of the goal and vision moving forward into 2022. I want to take care of Lola as much as I'm taking care of Lunch Pail Labs. And I think personal investment and personal growth are going to be a pretty big theme of this upcoming year. 

2:21  
And then for the actual meat, like what was the year so what went well, what went poorly what I learned. What went well, highlight of 2021 hands down -- grew my business to a real money making enterprise at the end of 2020 was when I actually started to make a little bit of money in Lunch Pail Labs enough to kind of like cover my like basic expenses and some rent. And then like the first quarter of the year, I was like, okay, okay, like, I'm not spending more money, then to do Lunch Pail Labs than I am kind of like making from it. And I think throughout the year, it sort of has progressed and grown and I've been so thankful. So yeah, like the fact no matter what the future holds the fact that I, I did it like I had a year that I did it, I think is going to be something that I remember and I feel proud for For for some time to come. 

3:23  
I also got to work with literal dream clients, like when I think about the people I get to interact with, and the problems that they're solving. And, yeah, the fact that they even like that I get to work with them, man, I'm definitely super super, that's a massive win there. I also got to work with clients and partners literally all over the world. So in six of the, seven continents, got to do a lot of interacting with folks in Africa, specifically Nigeria, which was totally cool and new for me and never done that in my corporate career. People in Asia, tons of folks in Europe, southern South America, and I'm just super happy and excited that I even those opportunities even came into my orbit. I also got to share my stories on podcasts and grew my own podcast, started Lunch Pail Daily end of last year and have been relatively consistent through it this year and has grown it to over like 160 episodes now.

4:30  
And I was more vulnerable in public. I think the the no code wealth podcast that I did with Abdulazeez was the most real I've ever been on like a podcast and in public and that was awesome. I consider that like a highlight of the year and a win to even expose myself in that way. I got to work officially in like pm capacities and even like dev capacities, which is so funny because when I was working a job at the company I was always always always trying to like get myself into exposure to more of those things. So the fact that like now I have like a whole consultancy where people literally freakin pay me to do that is just Whoa, mind blown. 

5:18  
So many firsts as well, this this year, kind of first first cohorts I think on deck and doing their no code fellowship was a highlight founder summit and doing their cohort as well and getting connected to all sorts of entrepreneurs who are way way further than I am was also a highlight. So yeah, 2021 was one of the better years in a while, and I'm very thankful for that. 

5:46  
In terms of what went poorly, honestly, definitely learned a lot made some mistakes reflected tried better the next time. Overall, I'm really proud of this year that I really can't pinpoint a ton of things that I would I would change. And next year, again, just focused on that balance, taking care of Lola as a person, and then investing a heck of a ton more in media, deliberate practice, and that pursuit of excellence. 

6:16  
Lastly, you know, what did I learn this year, um, definitely some tactical things about how to better connect API's and bubble. And I feel like this year was really the first year I even did a lot of stuff with like, react, or even even looked at like next JS things from like, a more pure code perspective. So lots lots of tactical. But I think my highlights were less tactical, maybe even more platitudes. But it's better not to be busy at all than to say yes to a lot of things you don't actually want to do felt this very strongly in the beginning of the year, where just the fact that like, oh, anybody, like even wanted to work with me, was totally, like mind boggling and exciting, that I said a lot, yes to a lot of projects that weren't really like where I was trying to take the business. And I think I've done a better job of defining those edges. And then when I did do those things, of taking the projects that weren't actually where I was trying to go, like the dopest opportunities would present themselves and I would literally have no time, no time at all, to be able to pursue them. 

7:35  
So that was a big lesson, defining your boundaries. I think, like towards the end of the year. Just like, take care. Have fun. Don't take yourself too seriously. Yeah, I think I let myself let loose a little bit at the end of the year. And incorporate more play into just we're in this video game. Feel like yeah, I feel more like I'm in this like video game of just in the pursuit of trying to be the best version of me trying to do the best for my clients trying to do the best for Lunch Pail Labs. And that is just like the journey and I'm in here and I'm just trying to have as much fun as possible. And so that's really my very short recap year in review. I hope everyone has a wonderful start to 2022 and I wish good things for all of you and I will catch you in the new year.