49. My Most Successful Year Yet: What's Coming With Me into 2026 & What's Staying Behind

The Honest Truth: What I'm Taking Into 2026 (And What I'm Leaving in 2025)

This isn't just a highlight reel. It's the warts-and-all truth about my most successful year yet - the brilliant highs, the messy middles, and the hard lessons I'm not repeating.

Here's exactly how putting on my big girl pants transformed my business (and bank balance).

In this episode, I'm getting real about:

- The breakthrough moment - Why stepping up and getting properly known (not just good at what I do) changed everything

 - The income truth - How I hit my full annual target 4 months early and why alignment with my audience was the secret- 

-  What actually worked - Pitching for scary opportunities, backing myself differently, and finally walking the walk I've been teaching

-  What I'm leaving in 2025 - Money mindset mistakes, being too formulaic, and giving Mrs Doubtfire way too much airtime

 - What I'm taking into 2026 - Big girl pants energy, more fun, better support, and a whole lot of courage

Here's what I learned: Every single breakthrough came from doing the things that scared me. Not the comfortable stuff. Not the "should do" strategies. The scary stuff that pushed me out of my comfort zone.

The bottom line? When you properly align with your audience, back yourself, and step into being known for what you do - your confidence changes, your opportunities change, and yes, your bank balance changes.

And once you've had a listen you can:

- Join my DIY PR Membership - six month subscription for just £247 available until 6th January - use this link here

- Join the Waitlist for Get Known - my six week group sprint starting in Feb here (places launching VERY soon with some juicy early bird bonuses)

- Follow me on instagram @pippa_the.pr.set or LinkedIn (@Pippa Goulden) for more tips and insight into the world of PR

Find out more at www.theprset.com and book a discovery call with me to chat more here or email me pippa@theprset.com

Transcript

please note this transcript is generated by AI - apologies for any mistakes 

Pippa Goulden (00:02.062)
Hello and welcome back to PR Made Simple. So today's episode is gonna be a little bit different. I'm not focusing in too much, although actually maybe it will come through, but on specifics around PR. But I thought I would do a bit of a reflection and wrap up on my own 2025 because I love listening to these for other business owners who are in a similar position to me or perhaps a bit ahead of me. And I...

think it's really interesting isn't it to hear the honest truth about what's happened in people's businesses. So this is a bit of a warts and all it's the highs the lows the messy bits in the middle but on reflection it has been an absolutely game-changing year for me in my business and I'm gonna talk about why I think that's happened or why I know that's happened and then

looking at what I am taking with me into 2026 and what I am leaving firmly in 2025 and probably some of them should have been left in 2024 let's be honest but you you live and learn so grab a cuppa or something stronger if you know it is Christmas after all and let's dive in. So to start I'm going to share something that I am so proud of actually in that I run my business from April to April and

By November this year, I had hit last year's income. That's four months early. Four months, people. I mean, that is amazing. So caveat on that is it's gross income, absolutely. And I've had more expenses this year. I've invested more in the business. I probably need to do a little bit more deep diving into the profit of it all. But gross wise, I have...

hit my income from last year by November of this year and that is really exciting for me because actually it is showing that year on year this has been the most successful in my business that the you know I've had five years in and this is the thing I know exactly why this is and the key to it is because I finally properly put my big girl pants on

Pippa Goulden (02:26.143)
In putting those big girl pants on, it wasn't just my confidence, it wasn't just my mindset, it wasn't just the fun levels, because all of those things it's had a positive impact on, but it was really bloody good for my bank balance. Putting myself out there, making a concerted effort to get known for what I do has had an incremental, brilliant effect on my business in so many ways.

So what do I actually mean by putting my big girl pants on? So for me, it meant getting serious about being known for what I do, not just being good at what I do. I was doing that already. I've always been good at what I do, but actually stepping up, stepping out and making sure the right people knew about it. It meant putting myself forward for things that scared me. And I have massively more than ever before walked that walk as well as taught that talk this year.

you know, towards the end of last year, I realized that I was absolutely not really doing what I was telling other people they needed to do in their business. And I pitched myself for those opportunities that have had a game-changing, momentum-building impact on my business. I wouldn't say it was one specific thing that I did, but it was the incremental effect of doing more and more and building and building.

And speaking on stages where I maybe was really nervous about speaking on, being worried about getting in inverted commas found out, pitching for opportunities where the old voice in my head, if you've listened to this podcast enough, you'll know I call her Mrs. Doubtfire. And I have to put her back in the kitchen to make shortbread. But where she rears her head and she questions whether I know what I'm doing.

and absolutely categorically, I have put her back in that kitchen more times this year than I ever have done before. Because this is what I've realized, that every single time I push myself out of my comfort zone, something shifts. And those shifts are what are driving me to hit my annual target four months early. Not the things that I feel comfortable doing, not the things that I was resting and staying within.

Pippa Goulden (04:46.057)
not the things that I'd done a million times over. It was the scary stuff and what I actually realized, and this is so cheesy, sorry for the cheese fest, but on the other side of that fear is joy. And I have had more fun and enjoyment in my business doing those things than anything else that I've done in the last five years, probably in the whole of my career, to be honest.

And the other thing that has changed massively, and with that, it's all aligned, is how I really intentionally align myself with my target audience. I got really, really clear on who I was here to serve, ambitious female founders who want to get known for what they do, who want to have an impact that is more than the sum of their parts. And I made every decision, mostly, through that lens.

So my content, my offers, who I collaborated with, the language that I used, the things that I talked about, the ideas that I developed, the kind of thought leadership pieces that I've been talking about, and the result has been incredible because I have worked absolutely with those people that I wanted to work with. People who are doing incredible things, who are building brilliant businesses, who are...

experts in what they do and who I genuinely get so excited about supporting and who I genuinely love working with. And when you're properly aligned with your audience, it doesn't really feel like work in the same way. Don't get me wrong, it's still hard work and I'm still riding that roller coaster as a small business owner, but it's really energizing to work with those people rather than draining. And I have made some mistakes in terms of that and the clients that I work with

when it isn't aligned are the ones who drain me, who I don't get the joy from, who we don't get the results from. And going into 2026, that is one thing I am massively taking with me again, is making sure that those audiences are aligned, that the people in my world are the people that I want to be working with. And the other thing that I am taking with me as well is the backing myself and doing things differently.

Pippa Goulden (07:05.663)
So when I started my business, I really made a conscious decision that wanted to, the PR set to be a different way of offering PR for founders, entrepreneurs, experts. I didn't want to go and launch another agency because I was working within those agencies and they weren't what lit me up. So I really have believed in what I'm offering more than ever before this year.

And it's funny because when you launch your business, you don't really realize that there's maybe kind of more that you can believe in. But that's what I have really focused on this year is what makes the PR set different. And I haven't.

worried about following what other people are doing and for the first time in five years that feels so freeing and I absolutely love it. And another thing that I have done this year and I will be taking into next year and doing even more, I've got plans to do this even more, is getting the right support within my business and I cannot stress that enough. Aligning myself, again that word, with the right people, getting the right support within my business.

I've joined a mastermind that's been incredible for me from a peer to peer support perspective and from a just understanding how other people are doing things and seeing which bits of their businesses I want to bring into mind, which bits don't work. I've worked with experts in areas where I need to get help. I've had my brilliant VA, Kirsty has joined my team.

And that is really important because I know I can't do it all by myself and I don't want to do it all by myself. I'm not really a very good solo worker. I'm an extroverted thinker. I love having a space where I can put ideas past people, get their feedback, brainstorm, all of that kind of stuff. And I think there is a bit of a funny badge of honor in the entrepreneurial world about doing everything solo, being a solopreneur and grinding it out alone. And honestly, that's...

Pippa Goulden (09:10.485)
It's absolute bollocks. The best investment I made this year was in the support I brought in in various different ways in the business. And that is totally carrying on into next year. I've got plans for other areas of support within the business. I'm staying in the mastermind and being really intentional about the areas where I need expert help rather than trying to do everything myself. And so, as much as I want to celebrate what has worked,

and giving you like, you know, a lovely rosy view of everything. I'm also going to talk about what I'm leaving behind in 2012 because I think that this is just as important, if not more important to be honest. First up for me are my money mindset issues that don't align with who I am. Now money mindset is my thing. It always has been. It probably always will be. It will be something that I have to consciously do, but I have done a few things this year which have felt

actually not very aligned and not very good for my nervous system. So a good example of that was I did two one pound trials for my DIY PR membership and they work really well in terms of retaining the right people in the membership. I've got people who did it back in whenever I ran it kind of early in Q1 or Q2 who are still in the membership. You know, it's a great way of getting people

into the membership who have been thinking about it, but because the doors are always open to the membership, they need like that little incentive to get them over the line. But what it also does is it brings in people who are really unaligned and who aren't ready and who don't want to do the work. And so what happens is, you know, this is a very, probably an ego driven thing and it's not good for my nervous system, but I get a load of cancellations all at the same time. And it makes me start doubting what I'm doing.

and it just doesn't really work for the energy of the membership and who I want to have in there. So I am leaving behind the one pound trials. I am not doing that whole piece at all. I've actually got some other ideas about how to have a bit more fun with the offers in the membership and what I'm doing. watch this space for 2026, because I'm still kind of planning those out in my mind. But I am leaving those money things

Pippa Goulden (11:30.284)
behind. The second thing, and I really realised this around the end of Q3, was I had become, towards the end of Q2 and into Q3, too formulaic in what I was doing. I felt like there was a lot of shoulds. I should be doing this. I should be doing this. I should be following the formulas. This worked for them, so let me try it in my business. I was being a very good girl with my marketing strategy, but do you know what?

I got really bored with it. And when I'm bored, I'm sure that my audience can feel it. It's not coming through. That alignment piece isn't right. I became very formulaic. I didn't get away from my desk enough. I didn't go to the in-person things as much as I should have done. I just got very, like I said, formulaic. And that is not how I want to run my business. It's not what works for me and my business.

I know that getting out there, meeting people, using PR to build my business is what works the best for me, not focusing on funnels and freebies and all of those kind of systemy things. Yes, they are important and some of, there are some things that I kind of keep within the business, but I'd been focusing on too much of that strategic formulaic stuff and.

So for Q4 I changed that, I brought the fun back, I started experimenting, being a bit playful, trusting my instincts again and that is when things really started working out for me. So and that is when it really all came together because I started bringing the right people back into the business, I was aligning myself, my god how many times can I say this word, but I was aligning myself again with the right people and so for me

Going forward, I have got a plan, if I look over my 2026, on making sure that I am having fun within the business. So for example, I've got an in-person day that I've launched in January. I've not done that before, but I wanted to give it a go. I'm going to be experimenting more. I'm going to be trying things out. I'm going to be doing a lot more in real life, whether that's other people's networking or my own events. I'm going to be doing a lot more of that stuff that brings me

Pippa Goulden (13:49.282)
joy and lights me up because that is the whole reason that we do this entrepreneur thing in the first place isn't it? And finally little old Mrs Doubtfire I'm really hoping that I can leave her in the kitchen this year or next year. I'm really hoping I can leave her in the kitchen next year. I'm not sure I will ever fully evict her from the building she's been resident for far too long but I am not giving her as much airtime next year so when she pipes up with who do you think

you are all that nonsense I have got so much evidence that I can show her that is proof and that's all that I need so I can put her back in the kitchen I can send her off to make the shortbread I'm not as mad as this sounds I promise you it works if you have a thing that you know rears its head all the time turn it into a character and have a chat with it and I guarantee let me know how you get on with it because I guarantee that that will help you to remove it from you

as it's not part of you, it's not your brain, it's not you, it is something separate. And when you can have that conversation with it and tell it to get back in its box, it's a really valid, really helpful exercise to do. So for me, my things that I'm carrying on doing into 2026, I'm putting on those big girl pants. I haven't taken them off. That sounds gross.

But you know what I mean, I'm carrying on wearing those big girl pants. I am going to be pushing myself out of that comfort zone. I'm going to be thinking about the new ways that I can be doing that. I am going to be focusing on what works for me, on building my PR, on getting known for what I do, about stepping into who I am meant to be in my business. Every single breakthrough I've had this year has come from taking myself

out of my comfort zone, doing things that scare me. But ultimately they've made me more confident in claiming my space as an expert who knows what they're Who knows what they're doing. And that is exactly what I am doing in the PR set next year. I'm gonna be helping you to do, to build your authority, to get known for what you do, to take up that space that is rightfully yours.

Pippa Goulden (16:10.497)
because that is so exciting and there are so many opportunities out there for you because when you step up and get known for what you do, everything changes. Your confidence changes, your opportunities change, your audience becomes more aligned and actually it really impacts that bottom line. It works to bring the income in to your bank balance changes as a result. So as we head to 2026, I'm taking with me the courage, the alignment,

the support and a whole load of Big Girl Pants energy and I really hope that you will too. I'm leaving behind playing small, following formulas that don't light me up, that don't work for me in the way that I work in my business and giving little old Mrs. Doubtfire too much power. And if you are thinking, yes, I want that for my business too, then come on in, come and have a chat with me.

Find me at theprset.com. I'm Pippa the PR Set on Instagram and I'm Pippa Gordon on LinkedIn. And I just want to say to you, thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting my little old podcast this year. I've done a whole year of podcasting. How amazing is that? And here is to an even bigger, even bolder, even more brilliant 2026. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to send the fucking emails and I hope you are too.