Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and was able to spend it with their loved ones in whatever traditions they celebrate.

The craziness of December is always one of my most favorite months, and making traditions with our kids is something extra special during that time of year.

One of our new holiday traditions is mistletoe “hunting.” I always thought of it as fun and cute and a little romantic even, but my husband quickly corrected me that it is actually a parasite that got its name from the Anglo-Saxon word for dung. Thanks, honey.

But in all honesty, our new tradition is very special and something we all look forward to every year.

The rest of the month is filled with the “normal” traditions many others share as well. The holiday season comes with so much excitement, anticipation, and honestly, exhaustion.

I personally feel a huge downturn directly following Christmas as we approach the New Year. It is a time of reflection, yes, but that means we also have to look at our goals we have made and assess if they were achieved, or which new ones are taking their place this upcoming year. That’s a lot of pressure! And self-reflection is something that is not always so fun.

Both personal goals and business goals are front and center as we approach January 1. The big turn around for me is once we hit January. It’s game time. This is it!

I feel like we have the month of January to put into place all that we have as our goals before the craziness of spring hits. After that, we roll straight into other projects, repotting, planting, Farwest Show, inventory, fall shipping, and bam! It’s Christmas again.

I know that there are many different businesses within our organization and that many do not share the same time frames that we have, but everyone has that one month that is their turnaround month or their beginning of the new year and for us, January is it.

I look forward to seeing customers in person at trade shows around the country. I also like to take this time to check in and see how their holidays were and what they are anticipating for the upcoming season.

Of course, we discuss what their needs for plant material may be, but I would be remiss to not mention the fact that they are also good friends. I love chatting with them about their families and telling them about mine and the conversation always transitions into how excited we are for the season right around the corner.

It’s a time of anticipation and excitement for all of us. I feel like one of my kids getting excited for Christmas as I look forward to the upcoming months and spring ahead. I hope all of you share in this exciting anticipation for the upcoming season, and I wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year.

From the January 2024 issue of Digger magazine | Download PDF of article