I took a break. Here's what happened (& a small favor to ask!) 👋

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So… hi. It's been a minute. 🤭

I'm not going to act like this was a planned sabbatical. I didn't send a "see you in spring" email and peace out gracefully. I just… went quiet — well, not entirely, but mostly. The blog went dark after September 8th, and my YouTube channel along with it. The only thing I managed to squeak out since then was a phishing scam warning in February, which, not exactly the triumphant return content I had in mind. 😂

And if you noticed the silence & wondered where I've been —hi. I see you! Thank you for still being here!

Here's what happened

Last fall burned me out; I felt it coming, and I was still caught off guard when it happened. 😂 🤦🏻‍♀️ Back-to-back things from August to December, including re-recording my entire Ultimate Client Portal System course right before Black Friday sales usually happen, and then planning for a 2-week vacation over Christmas where we were traveling and I'd be totally out of the office... It was a lot.

After we got back from Christmas vacation & visiting our families, we quickly realized Luna needed a vet checkup, after finding a few new lumps & bumps that made me nervous.

Within a week of that checkup, Luna was diagnosed with Stage 3 Lymphoma. If you've seen my YouTube videos or hung out with me on our monthly Club calls, or Paige Brunton's monthly student Q&A calls (she's a fellow Squarespace educator & I co-lead those with her every month), you already know Luna — she's usually somewhere in the background, sleeping or doing her thing, completely unbothered by whatever I'm trying to record. 🐾

We caught it fairly quickly, so we have a lot of different treatment options and we jumped on them. She's been doing chemo since February, which sounds scarier than it actually is for dogs — the side effects are minimal compared to what humans go through, thankfully. The hard part is that the nearest oncology specialist for doggos isn't exactly around the corner, so treatment days basically eat the whole day by the time we make the trip there and back. It's been... a lot of very full weeks. 🥴

So you don't have to ask, in case you're wondering: the realistic prognosis is what it is. Unfortunately the chances of permanent remission are extremely low — somewhere around 5% of dogs stay in remission for the rest of their lives — so we're not pretending otherwise. We're just taking it day by day and soaking up every extra minute we get with her while we can keep her healthy over the next year, and hoping for the best outcome possible, given the situation.

Most of my energy these past few months has gone into the Club — keeping that space running well and being present for the wonderful people inside it — which meant the blog and YouTube quietly took a backseat. Not forever. Just for a while!

Here's the thing about disappearing when you run a one-person show:

• there's no team member to alert people, ie: "Hey, Katelyn's taking an unexpected break from content!" on your behalf.

• there's no out-of-office message on a YouTube channel, either.

• you just… vanish, kind of unexpectedly, if you're unprepared for it (ie: content is not scheduled out further than the next week, lol ––which, it wasn't.)

And then it feels weird. And then it feels weirder the longer it goes. And then at some point you're like "how do I even start again?" because you're no longer in that old schedule/habit — and THAT becomes its own little trap.

So I'm not over-explaining it. I'm not hoping to tickle your guilt-strings. I'm just showing back up as a human, with a life outside of my business, that suddenly got partially in the way. Like I said I would, but with honesty about the 'why' and sharing what I can so that maybe it'll help someone else to know this shit (burnout, overwhelm, life, etc) can truly happen to anyone/everyone sometimes.

By the time November hit, I was running on fumes I didn't even realize were fumes until the tank was already empty.

Burnout is such a sneaky thing. It's not always the dramatic collapse. Sometimes it's just… the frog in the slowly boiling water suddenly going, "Oh! Oh no.... This is bad." And by then, you're already cooked. 😂

I spent most of January doing what I probably should've been doing in December: actually resting. Taking care of my husband while he was sick. Watching Luna for signs of anything serious while we waited for her appointment to arrive. Catching up on the literal mountain of notifications that had piled up while I was in survival mode & then away on vacay. Basically, being a person, not a content machine.

Not exactly the "new year, new me" energy. 🤭

My takeaway from all of this

A longtime client —someone I've worked with since 2020— mentioned in January that a friend of hers does all her annual planning in January instead of December. On purpose.

• Because December is for the holidays, the family stuff, the chaos of travel, gift-giving if you participate in that, holiday sales, and rest when/where you can get it.

• January is when you actually have the headspace to think clearly again.

I almost laughed out loud because it was so obvious and yet I'd never once considered doing that! My clients already know I take December off from client work, and as she told me this strategy of her friend’s, I realized that now January is going on that list for me too — each “off-time” scheduled for very different reasons, because I’d just experienced what life can be like without scheduled breaks (even when you LOVE your work).

The clarity I kept chasing in January didn't show up until February, and then Luna got smacked with the cancer diagnosis, plus I was also summoned for jury duty (with multiple draw dates over Q1 this year), and oh––did I mention I got RIDICULOUSLY sick while we were on vacation? I was coughing for WEEKS.

The fog of burnout, overwhelm, and life’s general BS doesn't lift on anyone's schedule but its own. So, no New Year's resolutions this time, no annual review or word of the year, and no "here are my goals for 2026" accountability post. But I'm genuinely okay with that. 😂

The in-between isn't wasted time. For me, it's been the pause before things click back into place as I pivot and adapt to my new schedule and focus-levels.

What's coming this year 👀

Okay. The fun part —because a LOT has actually been happening behind the scenes— and even more is coming! So let me catch you up. 😃

First, what's already done that you may have missed:

• I've been quietly updating old blog posts that needed a serious overhaul — a whole category of them just got fully edited and refreshed, and they're so much better now. If you've ever searched my blog for email marketing content, go take another look. 😏

• I've also re-recorded about 80% of my Ultimate Client Portal System course in November, and have added 10+ new updates this month alone! 😮‍💨 If you're already a student, you can see exactly what's been updated right here. It's getting better & better with time, thanks to your feedback! And heads up, the price is going up this summer. So if it's been on your radar, keep your eyes open for a sale before that happens. 👀

• I've also been slowly doing a deep dive, optimizing the SEO on important pages of my website — working through the updates that are already making a difference! Thanks to SEOSpace*!

• And I've been showing up every single week inside the Club with fresh Monday Mindset posts for my members.

So yeah. A lot has been going on, even when it didn't look like it from the outside! I've still been here, replying to blog post & YouTube comments, and hanging out in my inbox and in the Club too.

Next: what's coming up

New blog posts and videos are back on a regular schedule — starting with this one, obviously. 😄 Topics on the horizon include website platform comparisons, client feedback tools, quiz funnels for your design business, and more. Stuff that's actually useful!

Speaking of what's coming soon — on April 14th, I'm co-hosting a free workshop with my friend and fellow designer Kadie Smith that you're not going to want to miss! More details on that soon, but mark your calendar now, and join Freeloaders in the Club so you don't miss that announcement where you can add the event to your calendar!

And later this spring, Diane Whiddon and I will be releasing our annual web design financial trends report — compiled from survey submissions we're collecting right now (more on that in a sec 👇). That report is genuinely useful data for solo designers trying to figure out what everyone else is charging, spending, and struggling with. Keep an eye out for when it drops.

I'm not trying to flood you with everything at once. My goal is one solid, useful thing at a time — not a panic-posting firehose just to prove I'm back. 🤣 I'm just excited to dig back in & get back to work!

The favor: pretty please, take our survey! 🙏

We need your responses!

It's a small one, I promise — and honestly, it's for all of us. Inquiring minds want to know what's actually happening in the web design world right now, and I'm just as curious as you are.

My friend and fellow designer Diane Whiddon, of Sway Rise Creative, and I are running our annual web design financial trends survey, and we need more responses!

Last year we hit 151 submissions, which gave us enough data to actually say something meaningful about what designers are charging, what tools they're using, what's working. This year we wanted more — because more data means a better, more useful report for everyone in the community.

It's anonymous. It takes about 5-7 minutes, and we're not using it as a marketing tactic to build our lists. Anonymous means you can submit without us knowing who you are, if you choose!

The results help web designers understand the bigger picture of what's actually happening out there — the stuff you'd normally only know if you had a very chatty designer friend group with no filter. LOL

If you've got a few minutes and a willingness to help your fellow designers —or a curiosity to see what's happening in other people's businesses since last year— seriously, please take this survey!

Thanks for sticking around

Whether you've been here for years & watching from the sidelines, or you stumbled across this post hunting for Squarespace tips — hi, welcome, I'm glad you're here & I hope ya stick around for the fun!

This space is coming back to life after a much-needed break, and I'm doing this at a pace that's more sustainable, with content that's actually worth our time. 😊

See you in the next one! 💙