As the year wraps up, I’ve been slowing down enough to take an honest look at what actually happened. Not the highlight reel version, and not the neat summary you write after the fact. Just the real work, as it showed up.
Here’s the truth: I did a lot of brand strategy work this year.
I worked on positioning, messaging, story, and identity. The kind of work Leadout has long been known for. I’m proud of that work. It mattered to the clients I partnered with, and it mattered to me.
But underneath it, something else kept surfacing.
The questions clients brought to the table were rarely just about brand. They were about communication. About why a message wasn’t landing internally (or externally). About why teams heard the same thing and walked away with different understandings. About how leaders could say the right words and still feel like something was missing.
Those conversations pulled me back to my roots.
Long before Leadout existed, I was drawn to communication because of story and meaning. Because of how people make sense of what’s said and what isn’t. That curiosity is what sent me back to grad school. It’s what made me want to study communication not as a tactic, but as a human process.
This year reminded me of that.
Brand strategy was the work. Communication was the thread running through all of it. The connective tissue that explained why some strategies held and others didn’t. Why clarity mattered more than cleverness. Why shared meaning mattered more than perfectly crafted language.
I didn’t stop doing brand work. I started seeing it more clearly.
And once I named that, everything made more sense. The shift wasn’t a rejection of what I’ve built. It was a refinement. A return to the part of the work that’s always mattered most to me.
I’m deeply grateful for the clients I worked with this year. For the trust they placed in the process. For their willingness to look closely at how communication was actually functioning inside their organizations. That kind of work takes honesty and patience, and I don’t take it lightly.
As I head into the new year, I feel clear about what matters most in the work. Not because everything is perfectly defined, but because I’m paying closer attention to where the work actually lives. Leadout will keep doing strong strategy and story work, with more intention around communication, meaning, and how people experience what’s being said around them. That’s the part that keeps showing up, and it’s the part I want to keep following.
If you were part of the Leadout story this year, thank you. And if you’re stepping into the new year knowing something about how your organization communicates feels off or unfinished, I’m here when you’re ready.
That’s where I’m ending the year, clear about the work, grateful for the people, and paying attention to what comes next.
