The conclusion of each year brings lots of anticipation around everyone’s “Wrapped” list – a term made famous by Spotify’s yearly “Wrapped,” which is an interactive, shareable recap of their listeners’ music habits and highlights. It’s a great way to reflect on one’s evolution throughout the year and connect with others over your shared interests (or lack thereof).
Some of you may read this and say, Hey, didn’t Spotify Wrapped come out in November? Aren’t you a little late on this trend? And to that, I answer: yes. It came out in the middle of my Japan vacation so please forgive me for this belated post. We are a small but mighty team here at cThru, and one of our 2023 resolutions was to be more transparent about getting back on the social media horse, so, here we are.
As our own version of “cThru Wrapped,” I asked each of our team members to reflect on their personal and professional highlights of 2023:
What are your highlights (work and/or personal) of 2023 and why? What trends, events, or goals are you looking forward to in 2024?
Kevin (Founder + CEO):
Where do I start?! So many wonderful things to reflect on, including the people and clients I get to service and work with. Mixing in a couple of great surfing adventures, learning Spanish, hosting cThru’s inaugural client appreciation event, and having a happy and thriving family, 2023 was good to me.
Looking forward to 2024 is easy: Lead with confidence, gratitude, and grace. Continue to make time for developing new business relationships while over-delivering for the clients who already trust and enjoy working with us. I see more surf adventures for sure, sending another kid to college, and a planned (personal) downsizing move from South Bay, where we’ve raised our family for the past 20 years, to somewhere in North County. Let’s see what happens next!
Kat (Director of Operations):
Finishing my 6th year at cThru Media, I realized that this job is now my longest time working with one company, aside from owning my own business. I feel fortunate to have found a wonderful team of people to work with, and keeping that level of thankfulness is my goal for 2024.
The highlight of 2023 for me personally, is that I now have both my daughters living close by. My husband and I have been prioritizing our time together, knowing that one day they may not live so close to us again. We are also trying to visit and enjoy as much of Central California, while we live here in the area.
In 2024, professional and personal goals go hand in hand. Supporting my team in fulfilling their objectives for the year is very important to me. However that looks, and whatever I can do for them, I will.
The pendulum swing of working remotely is now moving in the opposite direction! Instead of working remotely full-time, I will be looking for a local creative partner to hybrid share an in-person office space with. I miss my San Diego work family and only see them every 6 weeks, so I need to fill that gap with new local relationships while staying within the creative industry.
Being mindful of who I am, my limitations and my growth potential are all goals in 2024. Doing that alongside my cThru Team will bring me strength and a commitment to what life and our daily partnerships can truly be.
Jessica (Senior Account Manager):
January 2023 marked the beginning of my journey with cThru. Both my coworkers and clients warmly welcomed me. Highlights both professional and personal include:
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- Attending CCPro in Los Angeles: Allowed me to expand my personal and professional networks, building relationships that led to exciting collaborations and opportunities for growth.
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- Balanced Work-Life Integration: Joining the team allowed me to strike a better balance between work commitments and personal life, emphasizing the importance of mental health and productivity.
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- Family and Support: A surprise visit from family in NY for my daughter’s 13th birthday and watching my son play water polo at the Junior Olympics in Orange County.
Looking ahead into 2024, like Kevin, I would like to (re)learn Spanish and practice it without shying away. Professionally, I plan to enhance my public speaking skills and delve deeper into emerging trends like AI-driven marketing, and data analytics, and like always, I plan to have fun along the way!
Quynh (Creative Lead):
2023 was the year of “work hard, play hard” for me. My top highlights:
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- Celebrated my first work anniversary at cThru! As I write this, I’m celebrating my second work anniversary so time really does fly.
- Celebrated my first work anniversary at cThru! As I write this, I’m celebrating my second work anniversary so time really does fly.
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- Attending Adobe MAX in Los Angeles while working on a campaign marked a professional milestone for me. It felt great to apply what I learned at the conference to my work right away and have that campaign perform so well.
- Attending Adobe MAX in Los Angeles while working on a campaign marked a professional milestone for me. It felt great to apply what I learned at the conference to my work right away and have that campaign perform so well.
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- Traveled to Korea in the spring and Japan in the winter. Visiting both countries was a big bucket list item of mine and I even met one of our amazing clients while in Tokyo! I want to go again soon so I’ll have to brush up on my Korean and Japanese alongside everyone’s Spanish.
- Traveled to Korea in the spring and Japan in the winter. Visiting both countries was a big bucket list item of mine and I even met one of our amazing clients while in Tokyo! I want to go again soon so I’ll have to brush up on my Korean and Japanese alongside everyone’s Spanish.
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- I visited Kansas City’s famous Cafe Cà Phê, where I got to see some of my branding artwork in person for the first time.
What I’m looking forward to in 2024:
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- Seeing how design trends evolve (and if I agree with them or not)
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- Adobe Max 2024 – will I see some familiar faces there? 🫣
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- Growing cThru’s network of creatives
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- More video + animation projects
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- Hatching even more client butterflies 🦋
- Hatching even more client butterflies 🦋
Gary (Digital Media Specialist):
Looking back over 2023, some of the highlights are:
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- Our ability to meet our client’s audience at the place, at the right time, with the right message. This has resulted in cThru’s higher click-through rates and social engagement. 📈
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- Traveling to Vienna, Austria to do a personal project with the U.N. 🤝 (Yes, that U.N.)
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- Getting to share the stage with my good friend Stephanie Garcia at our Time Well Spent Event.
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- Taking my family to Disneyland 🐭 during Christmas 🎄.
As for 2024, what I’m excited about is:
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- Continuing to work on our current momentum in the coming year to position our clients as a premier brand in their spaces.
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- Taking part in the rise of user-generated videos 📹 on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and strategizing ways to partner with micro-influencers to assist our clients in telling better stories.
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- Travel ✈️ and keynotes on more stages 🎤
What are your highlights of 2023 and goals for 2024? Do we share similar ambitions? Are we missing a trend you think is on the rise? Let us know what you think (and keep us accountable 🤞).
