Hey! Hello!

It's been a long time since I've sent one of my personal newsletters. I've been thinking about you, and your goals, and how I can still play at least a small role in helping you achieve them.

Three big events to catch you up on from the past year:

First, I got very quiet for a while—most of my time that wasn't already commited to client projects was spent caring for my father. He taught me so much about how to serve customers well, and we were fortunate that he spent his last days surrounded by professionals who cared for him so deeply.​

Second, I spent a chunk of time investing in earning a formal User Experience expert certification from the folks at Nielsen Norman Group. As I wrote on my blog, so many of my projects over the past two decades often involved me hopping in to solve UX challenges for my employers or clients—before we could tackle the content I was getting hired to make. It's nice to get a little formal recognition once in a while, and this highlights the focus of the work my team and I have been doing at Johns & Taylor.

Third, I'm back behind the microphone, making three new episodes each week of Search and Replace. It's a show about folks who have all made one simple change to achieve professional success or personal contentment. (Or, sometimes, both!) Our Podcast Taxi production team, led by Nicole Hubbard, have been setting me up with some extraordinary guests. I'd love to share their stories with you: you can subscribe in your favorite podcast app, then rate us so the show can get recommended to even more listeners.​

In other personal news, you may have noticed a rotation in the pet photos on my Instagram feed. We said farewell to Cody, our cocker spaniel, after nine years together. He did get to spend the last few months of his life hanging out with our family's latest addition, a gray longhaired kitten named Tulley. (Pictured, at left, getting mentored by his big brother Fred.)

While there's been so much going on in our family, and so much going on in the whole world, I've been thinking—as always—about the things my team and I can make better for our clients, for our friends, and for our communities.

I've never been super-great about staying in touch, but I am commiting to sending you a quick note like this a few times every month. And if there's anything I can do to help you right now, just reply—I'm happy to kick ideas around over e-mail even if we've never worked together before.

Thanks for allowing me into your inbox. I'll see you here again real soon.