2020 Year in Review
Strangest Year Yet?
My biggest lesson this year: adaptability is a powerful skillset both in terms of business and in life.
At the end of each year, I whip up an annual recap blog post like this and include personal and company milestones.
To state the obvious, this has not been a typical year. In the span of 2020, we’ve normalized terms like “global pandemic”, “social distancing” and “the new normal”.
For me, personally, my entire lifestyle changed. I went from being a “digital nomad” and hopping around the world to settling down in one place for seven full months.
My business took a massive hit when stores closed during the lockdowns. No shoppers = no revenue from art licensing royalties. While my art royalties were plummeting, enrollment for my online classes soared. 2020 created a balancing act between my income streams.
Once an everyday routine, I haven’t set up shop in a co-working space since March. On top of that, the rest of the world found out how easy it to work remotely. The ruse is up, guys– being a digital nomad doesn’t make us special.
Back in January, as I was leaving New Zealand and hugging my friends goodbye, our parting words were along the lines of, “See you in Italy in a few months!”
So yeah, things didn’t quite go as planned. For any of us.
But, in my annual tradition of recapping my year, I’m going to break down exactly how things wound up for me in 2020.
First things first, here’s where I was throughout 2020:
Just like the last four years, I lived out of a suitcase for the entirety of 2020. So when I’m staying in one place long enough to actually use coat hangers, it’s a novelty.
…I hung my clothes in four closets this year.
Home No. 1: New Zealand
Well this country is officially the most breathtaking place I’ve ever been. I spent all of January traveling throughout New Zealand with a group of friends.
I arrived just in time to welcome in 2020 from my friend’s backyard in Christchurch. Logan had invited ten of us to come spend a month with him in his home country.
Our month was split into four big chunks:
Family time at his parents’ home in Christchurch
Golden Bay for our annual “entrepreneur retreat”
A road trip throughout the South Island
A week of camping at Kiwiburn, a counter-culture festival similar to Burning Man.
Logan’s parents don’t typically share their home with their son and his ten best friends. So when we all packed into the Elliot home in Christchurch for a week, it was a completely full house to say the least.
Despite their lives going from calm to chaos, Derrick and Robyn welcomed us all with open arms and big smiles.
We shared lively conversations over home-cooked meals, filled up every bedroom (and floor space) in the house, brewed gallons of coffee every morning, and went through more bottles of wine than anyone could count.
We turned the dining room into a coworking space and the week was filled with sounds of keyboard clacking and bursts of laughter. One morning, Derrick (Logan’s dad), passed out headlamps and took us all cave spelunking through knee- (and sometimes neck) deep water. By the time we returned to the cars, we were soaking wet and euphoric. Another afternoon, we loaded onto his boat for a tour of Pegasus Bay.
I have so much gratitude towards Logan’s family for their generosity and hospitality. The ten of us arrived like a tornado, but we were welcomed with open arms. My memories at The Elliott’s house were among my favorites of the entire month I spent in New Zealand.
During the span of the next month, ten of us piled into two cars and we road tripped from one scenic destination to another.
In Queenstown, we soaked in the Onsen hot pools in cedar-lined tubs overlooking the Shotover River canyon. The very next day, I jumped out of a plane and an experienced an icy rush of adrenaline that only skydiving can elicit.
When we reached the Southern Alps, we hiked to a hanging glacier wedged into the mountains.
In four weeks, we packed in enough adventures to fill an entire year. This trip was one of my most memorable to date and I have so much gratitude to Logan, his family, and all his friends we met along the way.
This country is not only absolutely breathtaking, but we also felt welcome and at home at every stop.
Home No. 2: Bali
I always say that Bali gives me my highest highs and lowest lows. Back in 2019, when I left the island in a wheelchair after a debilitating motorbike accident, I wasn’t really expecting to return any time soon.
But ten months later, here I was back on the Island of the Gods. Better the devil you know, right? I shared a villa with my two good friends, Aga and Zak, and I quickly fell into a fairly consistent daily routine:
Mornings: I met my trainer at the gym for an hour, then ordered breakfast delivered by motorbike: an açaí smoothie bowl topped with mango chunks, coconut shavings, goji berries, and poppyseeds. I’d jet across the street for a coffee, then open my laptop and dive into my inbox.
Afternoons: I’d set up my laptop at the kitchen table and work alongside my roommates until it got too hot to bear. Our villa is traditional Balinese-style, which means most of the home is open-air. Even our bathrooms are small atriums with open-air skylights above the showers. So when it rained outside, it also rained inside. Our three bedrooms were the only spaces that are totally enclosed. When the temperature began to top 90°, I’d transition into my bedroom, crank up the AC, and work at my desk overlooking the pool.
Evenings: An hour-long stroll up and down the black sand beach for sunset. Afterwards, Aga, Zak and I would order dinner (poke bowls most nights of the week), and chat under the twinkle lights we’d strung along the rafters.
As the three of us were growing comfortable in our little Bali bubble, Covid was evolving from a blip in the news into a full-blown global pandemic.
By mid-March, it was clear that the world around us was not the same as it’d been when we’d first arrived in Bali. We came to terms with the fact that we’d probably need to establish a Plan B.
After discussing the risks of staying put in Indonesia, we decided we needed an evacuation plan to a place with more developed infrastructure. Ultimately, we wanted a place where we could settle in for months on end, if need be, to ride out this pandemic. And preferably drink the tap water. We narrowed it down to either New Zealand or the USA. Our main priority was sticking together.
One tense evening, we learned that Manila had announced a full city lockdown and grounded all flights. We’d been waiting on a signal and this was it. It was time to cut our loses and choose our next steps before they were chosen for us.
My roommates and I booked plane tickets that night and 24 hours later, we boarded a completely full flight back to the USA.
Home No. 3: Colorado
46 hours after leaving our tropical villa in Bali, we arrived at our new home: a cabin in the Rockies surrounded by snow and mountains.
I planned on being at the cabin for a week or so before finding my own place to wait out Covid. Turns out, the “Quarantine Cabin” became our home for four solid months.
We arrived in mid-March when the ground was frozen and coated in snow. It was a strange time– the world around us seemed to be in turmoil, but we were tucked away safe in this remote mountain lodge. The nearest grocery store was nearly an hour’s drive, so our only physical contact with the outside world were our semi-monthly grocery runs.
We spent our days working on our laptops, going on hikes, cooking dinners together, and soaking in the hot tub. When the snow finally melted, our recreational activities bloomed. We fired up the ATVs and explored the nearby wilderness, grilled steaks and burgers, set up the hammock, and dragged out a big table from the garage as our “designated beer pong area”. This was basically summer camp.
After four months in our remote cabin paradise, we thanked Connor’s family profusely for their generosity and flew the coop.
I moved to Denver for two months, followed by another month in Breckenridge. All together, I wound up living in Colorado for 163 days this year.
Home No. 4: Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Our timing couldn’t have been worse. The day after we arrived in Mexico, a category 4 hurricane slammed into Playa del Carmen.
I grew up in Kansas and spent the first 28 years of my life living in the midwest. I’ve had a few tornado scares, but nothing prepared me for a category 4 hurricane.
So when Adam and I found out that Hurricane Delta, the biggest storm to hit the Yucatán in fifteen years, was slotted to make landfall the day after we arrived in Playa, we went into full preparation mode: we taped up the windows, stocked up on candles and bottled water, and spent the entire day cooking enough food to last us for a week without power.
Turns out, Hurricane Delta wasn’t the absolute nightmare we’d been warned about. Still, it was a strong enough storm to knock out our power for the better part of the day. The next morning, as Adam and I picked our way through felled trees as we made our way to the beach, we passed flooded streets and plenty of shattered windows.
Hurricane season came and went, and things calmed down in Playa. I got back into a work routine: I filmed a couple new online class from our Airbnb, hosted a handful of live Zoom calls with 100+ attendees each, and created a score of new artwork on my iPad while sprawled out on the couch.
Adam and have a weekly routine of happy hours on the beach, complete with a 7-Eleven bottle of wine and two rubber cups. This is paradise.
We found out about a cenote (open-air cave entrance filled with fresh water) that can be rented out for the day and went for it. Seven hours in the jungle with our private cave was absolute bliss. (Until I saw a giant water beetle and noped out of that water faster than I ever thought I could move.)
Mexico is where I officially wave goodbye to 2020. I’ll probably be here until the rest of the world begins to open back up again, but that’s just fine with me. Between the street tacos and company, I’m pretty damn content here.
The biz highlight reel:
This year delivered plenty of challenges for my business (more on this later), but I want to take a moment to highlight some of my Big Wins.
Between hosting Instagram Live events, co-running Zoom workshops, and designing custom illustrations for special clients, I had some pretty cool collaborations with brands I admire and respect.
Here are the achievements in my business that I’m most happy about.
A whopping fifty-three CatCoq products are now sold in Target!
I’ve now partnered with five brands who have managed to get my designs placed in Target. The products range from art prints and canvases to calendars and wallpaper.
This is the largest collection of my designs that have ever been in Target at one time. One step closer to global art domination? Hopefully. Read more ➳
My third collaboration with Urban Outfitters lands yoga mats and wall clocks.
UO has a special place in my heart: they were the first big brand to reach out and ask to license my artwork back in 2016. Having that brand association with UO fast-tracked CatCoq into a global art licensing company.
This year, I entered my third collaboration with UO. You can now find my Leopard Print yoga mat and Palmistry wall clock in the Urban Outfitters home decor collection. Read more ➳
Well, looks like I’m writing a book!
I’ve officially signed on with LGR Literary to represent me in my future publishing endeavors. Next year, I plan on writing my first book and am thrilled to have such a capable team at LGR representing me.
My favorite gin brand asked me to host an Instagram Live
In April, I represented Bombay Sapphire and Society6 to host a “Drink & Draw” Instagram live event. The online workshop drew thousands of viewers as I taught simple drawing techniques to help ease the boredom of quarantines around the world. Read more ➳
My wallpaper line is featured in Target!
My partnership with RoomMates Decor blossomed to new avenues when my exclusive CatCoq wallpaper line was selected for Target. Read more ➳
I learned how to draw on my iPad this year! …and then created about 100 new illustrations.
I bought myself an iPad last Christmas and finally had the chance to try out digital drawing on my flight from Kansas City to Christchurch, New Zealand. Turns out, 20+ hours traveling is just the recipe for learning something new.
The icing on the cake? I took everything I learned and whipped up four new classes so others can learn how to draw in Procreate, too.
I began accepting reservations to a creative retreat I’m co-hosting in France next Autumn!
My good friend, Logan Elliott, and I decided to co-host a “art-preneur” retreat in France next year. We still have a few spots open and it’s first come, first serve.
Our retreat is basically 1/3 watercolor workshops, 1/3 business growth, and 1/3 vacation mode. We’ve booked a 18th century manor in the countryside of Southwestern France.
More cool biz stuff that happened in 2020:
I was interviewed by my 7th, 8th, and 9th podcasts:
Creative Elements podcast with Jay Clouse
Misfits and Rejects podcast with Chapin Kreuter
Inspiring Artists Series with Fem Visionary
I teamed up with my good friend Logan Elliott to guest-teach a couple modules for his Creative Business Accelerator.
Social media marketing
Partnerships, pitching & licensing
While promoting the CBA and our co-hosted French Retreat, Logan and I decided to host a couple Zoom calls to chat about all things business. Each call had over 100 attendees from countries all over the world. Watch them here.
I partnered up with Stitch Fix and Society6 to design a collection of holiday cards. It was a delicate positioning: reflect on the strangeness of this pandemic year but stay cheery and optimistic for the holidays. I think I did an okay job.
I decided to ramp up my email newsletter. I now send one email a week to my subscribers. (Want in the loop? Subscribe here.)
I put actual effort into building up my Youtube channel this year. Didn’t even know I had a Youtube channel? Yeah, this whole thing is brand new to me, too.
I put together a database of all the art supplies and business tools I use. Not only do I dish out my personal recommendations for the best watercolor supplies out there, but also delve into the software, apps, and platforms I rely on to keep my business up and running. Check out my recommendations here.
Online education in 2020:
It’s been a dramatic year for my company. Once Covid-19 struck and national lockdowns began, my art licensing income dropped by more than 50%.
In-store sales as a whole plummeted drastically during the lockdowns and my art licensing endeavors took a direct hit.
I needed to adapt, and fast.
In late March, I decided to pivot my business. I redirected my marketing strategy to focus on highlighting my online class catalogue.
In addition to hammering in promotions for Skillshare, the platform I teach through, I also ramped up my class output. I outlined, filmed, and produced more classes this year than ever before.
Some cool stats:
In 2020, I launched seven new classes, nearly doubling my output compared to last year.
Nearly a quarter million students have watched my classes.
In total, almost ten million minutes of my classes have been viewed.
Classes Published in 2020:
Learn about trend forecasting and how tracking trends can have a direct impact on your art sales.
Class: How to Discover Profitable Design Trends Before Anyone Else – and Create Artwork with Mass Appeal
In this beginner-friendly class, you’ll learn the basics for illustrating on your iPad using the drawing app, Procreate.
Class: Procreate for Beginners: Learn the Basics & Sell Your Artwork
Learn professional illustration techniques on your iPad, from sketch to sales.
Draw a perfectly-symmetrical digital illustration in Procreate.
Class: Live Encore: Design and Prepare Digital Art for Print on Demand
Take your Adobe Photoshop skills to the next level.
Class: Learn Adobe Photoshop Like a Pro: Advanced Techniques
These social media strategies are tailored to artists, designers, photographers, content creators, and visual creatives of all sorts.
If you’re interested in surface design, seamless patterns are a must. Learn how to illustrate professional seamless patterns and surface designs using only your iPad.
Class: Drawing Seamless Patterns in Procreate + Professional Surface Design Tips
The most epic moments of 2020
Noteworthy Moment #1:
I became an aunt!
For me, Aurora’s birth is the biggest thing that happened this year. Her entry into our world will affect the rest of my life. And I haven’t even met the kid!
Aurora Mae Coquillette was born on October 11 to a very happy Kelley and Will.
Aurora and I have FaceTimed a couple times, but to be honest, while she’s a great listener, Aurora’s not the best at holding up her end of the conversation.
I can’t wait to watch this little girl grow into an adult!
Noteworthy Moment #2:
My fam came to visit me in Bali!
Welcome to Bali, Mom, Dad, Aunt Claudia, and Martha! This was my family’s second trip to Southeast Asia to visit me, but their first time in Indonesia.
When my family arrived in Bali in February, no one realized this would be the last big hurrah before Covid forced global travel to a complete standstill.
Their visit was split into two chunks:
Canggu: This is the town where I lived. Their hotel was nestled against the famous black-sand beaches and only a 15-minute walk from my place. Canggu is on the west coast of the island, so the sunsets over the ocean are pure gold.
Ubud: The spiritual heart of Bali. It’s a bustling town enclosed in thick jungle. Think yoga studios, meditation retreats, and vegan restaurants.
In Canggu, I was able to show them a taste of day-to-day life. We had a fabulous dinner in my villa, catered by local restaurant I found on an Indonesian food service app and presented by a Go-Jek delivery driver. Basically, this is the UberEats of Indonesia. Fancy.
I gave my family the full tour of the villa and I’m pretty sure my parents were impressed with their 32-year-old daughter’s substantial collection of pool inflatables. (Flamingo, unicorn, and swan, respectively.)
After a few days in Canggu, we all packed into a van and began the next chapter of my family’s Bali visit: Ubud.
Despite what the Instagram photos look like, I wouldn’t exactly describe Bali as comfortable. It can be luxurious, sure– especially if you’re staying in a manicured resort. But the heat of the day is brutal if you’re not under the AC.
Bali has a fairly low cost of living, and I wanted to give my family a taste of how far their dollar can go, so I booked a private suite for us to share in a resort in Ubud. It didn’t disappoint: Our suite was its own separate building with three bedrooms, a living room, full kitchen, and it’s own private infinity pool. We were all pretty blown away.
As ostentatious and over-the-top as the suite was, it was the perfect haven to unwind after each action-packed day we had in Ubud.
We summited a volcano at sunrise, hiked along the famous Tegallalang rice terraces (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), fumbled our way through cooking classes, signed up for cycling tours, and browsed local markets.
The days were exhausting, stimulating, and immensely satisfying.
I relished getting to spend this quality time with my family. Although we speak often, I really only get to visit my parents a handful of times a year. We packed in twelve days worth of quality bonding time and made memories together that will last a lifetime.
Noteworthy Moment #3: Kiwiburn
Kiwiburn is New Zealand’s regional Burning Man event. It celebrates the same principles: inclusion, radical self-expression, and artistic culture.
For me, Kiwiburn represented a week in which I could get entirely out of my comfort zone and embrace my inner weirdo. I dressed up in rhinestones and furs. I raved until the sun began to rise. I saw more naked people in one day than I have in my entire life.
The first morning in, I browsed the events guide and highlighted some of my favorites:
Heckling Workshop: 10:00 am. Embrace a shouty journey of self-discovery. Megaphones available for use.
Cheese, Cracker and Leaf Blower Party: 3:00 pm. Join us in the depths of Bogan Alley as we attempt to be classy by throwing a cheese and cracker party. We can't guarantee a leaf blower-free dining experience.
Satanic Tea Ceremony 4:00 pm. Bring a drinking vessel, and sell your soul to Lucifer for a cuppa tea. Chanting optional.
Although I didn’t attend all the workshops, it was still a wild week and an experience I won’t soon forget.
Noteworthy Moment #4:
Skydiving in New Zealand’s Southern Alps
My friends and I were in Queenstown for a few days, the adventure capital of New Zealand. Not one to miss out on an opportunity, Zak and I impulse-booked a skydiving trip.
The following day, as we were velcroed into our jumpsuits, reality began to sink in. When we reached 12,000 feet, my skydiving instructor leaned forward to roll up the airplane’s side door. That is the moment that reality sunk in for me. I was about to jump out of a freaking plane.
The freefall lasted about 45 seconds. It was so intense that I couldn’t even scream– my entire state of being was the sound of wind ripping past me at 120 mph.
Once the chute was pulled, the world around me went from white noise chaos to complete and utter serenity. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.
Noteworthy Moment #5:
Attending an entrepreneur retreat in Golden Bay, New Zealand
Each summer, my friends and I meet in Italy for an annual Founder’s Retreat. It’s held in Stromboli, a small island off the coast of Sicily. We’ve termed it “The Volcano Retreat” because Stromboli island is actually one big, active volcano.
Last summer, as our Volcano Retreat was wrapping up, Logan posed a question to the group:
“If I facilitated a retreat like this in New Zealand next year, would any of you want to come?”
Turns out, we all did.
The twelve of us from the Stromboli retreat all came together in New Zealand for a “Not-a-Volcano Retreat”. Really, that’s what we named it.
The goal of these retreats is to level-up our businesses, receive collective insight on challenges we’re facing, and highlight our blind spots. The value I receive from experiences like this is monumental.
Noteworthy Moment #6:
I survived my first broken bone of my life!
I fractured my toe while sprinting barefoot around a giant burning effigy at Kiwiburn. Now that is a sentence I never expected to write.
Kiwiburn was a week of getting out of my comfort zone and, broken toe aside, I’m grateful I had this little slice of time to be weird and experience a lifestyle that is entirely foreign from my normal day-to-day.
Noteworthy Moment #7:
I got lip injections!
Just kidding. A mosquito bit me on the lip while I was asleep in my Bali bedroom. I woke up to this absolute nightmare in the mirror.
The timing was arguably the worst: This was my parents’ first day in Bali and I was due to meet them for brunch.
Turns out, my family was more amused than concerned. We laughed it off while I sipped my coffee through a straw.
Anyway, after this experience, I’ve come to the realization that lip fillers probably aren’t in my future.
Noteworthy Moment #8:
Our annual BFF Valentine’s Spa Day Ritual
Aga and I have an annual Valentine’s Day traditional: girls spa day, just the two of us. This year, we signed up for a couple’s spa package at a nearby resort in Canggu, Bali.
We showed up with the essentials: bottle of champagne, bikinis, and a selfie-stick.
After our couples massages, we dipped into a warm bath of rose petals and marigold buds. Treat yo’ self, right? We capped off our spa package with rosemary-infused skin steaming.
New artwork of 2020:
A video snippet of my year:
Things I learned in 2020:
1. Diversified income streams are crucial. Parts of my business were absolute decimated this year. But others thrived. Having multiple sources of revenue literally saved my business this year.
2. Adaptability makes for good business and a happier personal life. My biggest personal adaption happened when I went from living on my own terms in Bali to quarantining in someone else’s home in Colorado. Ben Franklin summed things up perfectly: “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” I was a guest for four months. I did not want to be that rotten fish. Adaptability, a go-with-the-flow attitude, open communication, and common courtesy made that transition as smooth as possible.
3. The rest of the world found out working from home is easy and therefore, I am not special.
4. Maintaining relationships should be a priority, not an afterthought. I spoke with my friends and family over the phone this year more than I ever have before. We carved out time for each other and checked in frequently, even if was simply a “how are you holding up?” text.
5. Sacrifices suck. I missed Thanksgiving and cancelled my Christmas plans with my family. I haven’t seen my parents in seven months. I haven’t met my baby niece. I miss my friends back in Kansas. I miss my nomad friends, scattered all over the world. BUT, I feel thankful that I have these people in my life that I miss so much. All things considered, this year is a blip in the grand scheme of things and sooner or later, we’ll see each other again. (See point #4 on how I’m dealing with this.)
6. I’m not as even-tempered as I thought I was. This was one of the most globally-divisive years of my lifetime and I’ve certainly gotten sucked into the polarity, too. I’ve felt my blood boil when I see people not wearing masks or hear flippant remarks towards the severity of Covid. Let’s have some compassion for our fellow humans and our planet.
7. I celebrated my ten year anniversary of lending through Kiva, a non-profit that allows people like me to lend money to low-income entrepreneurs. By offering small loans to entrepreneurs around the globe, I’ve helped 150+ women help themselves. My very first Kiva loan, ten years ago, was to Elvira from the Philippines. Elvira owned a food stall and was earning about $7 a day selling her goods. She needed $475 to expand her product selection so she could grow her business. I lent her $25, and so did eighteen others. Simple as that, she met her goal. Within a year, she repaid her loan in full. I took that $25 and cycled it back into Kiva so I could lend it to another entrepreneur. Every month for the past ten years, I choose an entrepreneur from a developing nation and contribute a small amount to help her grow her business. Each micro loan is as small as $25 each, but with enough lenders pooling money together, these women can reach their larger business goals. Kiva harnessed the power of micolending and made it accessible to everyone. Help someone help themselves, too. Lend here.
8. I celebrated another anniversary: this December marked five years that I’ve been self-employed. The last five years have had their fair share of struggles and challenges, but I don’t for an instant regret my decision to become my own boss.
Time to wrap this up.
Like the rest of the world, things didn’t quite go as planned this year. I cancelled flights, re-structured my business, broke off trips with friends, and bailed on the holidays with my family.
But the year I got instead turned out to be incredible. Many of the things that happened this year weren’t on my radar in 2019, but I feel eternally grateful for the year that unfolded instead.
