2019 was a great year of creative growth and continuing to bloom amid trials. My goals for 2019 revolved around becoming comfortable with my creative voice and being able to afford to pursue opportunities. While I was not able to accomplish all I had plotted, I am happy with the progress I did make.

I am not going to share all my goals for 2019, but would love to hold myself accountable for some of my more public goals. Here I go!

2019 Goals

Radio Work

At the start of 2019, my work as a radio producer with The KSL Movie Show was new and intimidating. (It still is in many ways!) I really wanted to learn the show, find ways to organize it so we can runs smoother, plus-up the content of the show, and increase interactivity to add value to our audience. I also wanted to seek ways to showcase my skills and prove my worth at KSL while improving my resume for future career opportunities. This is probably the goal I have done the best as achieving this year.

I cannot begin to describe the pride and excitement I feel at what I have brought to the Movie Show and KSL. 

I developed a system of organization and templates that allows for quicker prep time, clearer communications, and just a more fun show for our audiences. The system has been adopted by many of the talk producers, so I must be doing something right! I cultivated great topics, guests, and relationships that have added variety and interest to the show. And expanded our show’s audience interactivity through the launch of the Movie Show Club, texts, Facebook group, and more. 

I have proven my value outside of The Movie Show through special projects like launching new shows, training producers, modernizing a legacy show, and improving my ‘talent’ voice. I have become a regular contributor the Fan Effect podcast, building myself as THE Salt Lake Fangirl. And I have a special sense of pride in my work with General Conference special programming. 

I am excited for all these developments and the opportunity to continue to grow my show and presence at the station in 2020.

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Creative Work

In 2019 I really wanted to expand my creative voice beyond my work at KSL. While I had big dreams of writing blogs every week, short stories every month, a sequel to my Drama Princess book, and building myself into a kind of pop-culture influencer in 2019…. I totally chickened out.

Because, you know, talking to people is scary! 

But, despite the fact I didn’t keep this goal as fully as I wanted, I did push myself to do some cool creative things:

I went to several pop culture, artistic, screenings, and cultural events. I had planned on blogging and social media posting about these,  but didn’t for the most part. I did meet some amazing artists, see some great shows, and learn that I do have an interesting enough to follow, but I would need to post about them to make this possible. 

I e-published two of my short stories on Amazon. ‘The Salt Shaker and the Pepper Grinder: A Charming Short Story About Our Favorite Couple,’ and ‘The Rock, The Paper, and The Scissors: A Cautionary and Fanciful Tale of How Three Best Friends Became Enemies.’ 

One of the things I am most creativity proud of is becoming a special guest at Fanx Salt Lake Comic Convention. I had set the goal at the start of 2019 to be on two panels, not even knowing how I would go about such a thing, but I did it! I got to talk about my favorite place on earth on the Disneyland 101 panel, and I moderate my own panel on embracing your inner geek. 

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Financial Goals

I knew 2019 was going to be a challenging financially for me. It really was an experimental year to see if I can earn a living through part-time contract work, creative earnings, and as a self-employed massage therapist. The answer was.. kinda?

The most important financial goal for me this year was to afford the dream Disneyland trip that a friend and I had been planning on for years, which I am happy to report that we made! My friend is an amazing single mother of two great kids, one of which has special needs. We both took on extra work and budgeted like crazy to take the kids to Disney before they got too old for the magic, and while her son with Muscular Dystrophy could still enjoy most of the rides and experiences. It turned into one of the best Disney trips I have ever had!  

Other financial goals revolved around taking care of myself better money-wise. Early in the year I took a course through my church on Personal Finances and Self Reliance that really emphasizes the importance of financial freedom. I understand the concepts, but could have done better applying them in my life. 

I worked at building an emergency fund, but it got drained often because of well…emergencies…and poor planning. I was able to pay off my massage school student loan (after 14 years!) due to hard work and one final donation from an amazing massage client. And I meant to afford to finally visit doctors this year, but besides an emergency dental visit, I managed to procrastinate those much-needed appointments. 

So, ya… I kinda failed the ‘financial experiment’ but am back in the lab redeveloping a plan to succeed in 2020. 

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So… What Happened? 

At the start of this post I mentioned that 2019 was a year of growth amid trials. While I don’t want to give details about these trials, I do want to acknowledge them. I got a piece of news mid-summer that crushed me, forced me to alter my life significantly, and basically ruined the majority of the rest of the year. This trial forced me to move from a place of comfort to discomfort and I continue to grow because of it. I learned I can lean on trusted people in my life, that I am stronger than I thought, and progress means whatever I need it to mean.

My wounds are healing now. And in the future, I can help others because of the scars they left behind. 

2019 was hard, and wonderful, and terrifying all at once. I got to do so many amazing things! Meet awesome people, go great places, and overcome significant trial. I learned I need to trust my own voice and put myself out there even more as a writer, creative, and as a massage therapist in order to afford a better life for myself. I frankly need to earn more income to pursue the creative lifestyle I want, and help the people I want to help. 

As such, I am excited for the growth 2020 has for me, and excited to share my 2020 goals with you in another post. 

Thank you for your time. 

-KAH

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Please note: All opinions expressed on this website are KellieAnn Halvorsen’s and do not reflect on the opinions, policy, or believes of any entity she work for, her clients, or any of her affiliations.