Back to Basics: Choosing Simple During a Busy Season (Episode 44)
It’s the final full week of the year—and maybe, like me, you’re feeling both reflective and ready for some real rest. In this more personal episode, I’m sharing how choosing presence over performance has shaped my holiday season, my home, and my business.
If you’ve felt pressure to do more in your marketing (especially during the holidays), I invite you to consider a different approach. One that’s rooted in simplicity, intention, and a foundation that actually supports the business—and life—you want to build.
You won’t find any complicated strategies here. Just a warm reflection on what it looks like to step back, strip away the extras, and focus on what matters most.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ Why more marketing “twinkle lights” won’t fix a practice built on shaky foundations
2️⃣ How I created more joy this season by saying no—and what that might look like in your own business
3️⃣ The difference between marketing as performance vs. marketing from a place of trust and clarity
-
Hey everyone. Here we are. The week of Christmas, the final, full week of the year. Hmm, isn't that crazy? This episode isn't gonna be anything super tactical. We're not getting deep into strategy here, but I hope to offer perhaps a few reflections you can take into your holiday. To take into 2026 and to just be marinating on, as we say around my team as you head into the new year.
Now if you're like me, the week between Christmas and New Year's is. Mostly about sitting around eating more cheese than I probably need to, trying to find ways to get outta the house 'cause I get a little bit stir crazy. But it's also a really beautiful time if you let it be right.
A time that is reflective, a time that offers you a bit of a natural pause in your rhythm. And I think in the past I haven't appreciated that enough, but the fact is that the holidays fly by Hanukkah's already over, if you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas is about to become and gone. New Year's is basically upon us and it feels like just yesterday we were celebrating Thanksgiving.
Right? It's just a handful of weeks every year. For me this year has thankfully felt a lot different. Different in a good way, intentionally different in both my personal and my professional life. This holiday season, I have chosen presence, literal presence with a CE over performance and simplifying our life, our schedule, instead of adding to it in this time.
And I love what it's done for myself, for my family, for my team as a result of those decisions. Now, I've mentioned previously that our family lives in Colorado and we're here in Nashville, Tennessee, and this is a year we don't travel for Christmas. It's going to be the first year that my kids get to wake up at home in the new home we purchased in 2024.
So it's our first Christmas here and the idea of not having to go anywhere. I mentioned to my husband as I was getting ready this morning how glad I was that we didn't have to be packing up to go somewhere right now. Knowing that we just get to be has really allowed me to kind of sink into this season in a way I often don't get to.
I've also been really intentional about our space and creating a home that feels just special to be in. I'm sitting here recording this podcast episode in my office and I have a little Christmas tree whose lights are on? They're on throughout my entire workday. And this window looks out at the street and coming home, even when it's dark out and seeing this little Christmas tree lit up.
It's those little things, right? And it's not for the sake of Instagram. No one in Instagram knows this Christmas tree exists, but it does something for me and creating this environment. We put on Christmas music every night while we make dinner. It creates something for me. It creates something for my family, and it's not flashy.
It's not overdone, but just focused on being, I think there's a lot of pressure on moms, so if you're a mom listening, you know this to create Christmas magic for your family and for your kids. And this year I just kind of trusted that that magic didn't have to be anything big. We tried to do something Christmasy each weekend as a family, even if that's just driving around and looking at lights or baking some cookies or something like that.
And for me, I have felt more aware. This holiday season has gone slower for me than in any year I can remember ever since I was a kid. When you're a kid, Christmas seems to last forever, but in my adult life, this is truly the first season that I've soaked it up and I think it has been a result of making these decisions.
Not adding more, not doing more things or adding more magic, but just choosing what mattered and letting that be enough.
I mentioned that this shift has occurred for me both personally and professionally this year and back in January , I decided we were going to close between Christmas and New Year's for the very first time, Walker Strategy Co. Our offices would actually close, and here we are on the cusp of that.
Today, the day that this episode is going live is our final day in the office until the new year. I've owned Walker Strategy Co for six and a half years. For about three of those years, it was just me. And then since then, I have grown an incredible team of women who support me in those six and a half years.
I have never closed for longer than a long weekend. I've never taken this much time off. Even when I was on maternity leave, I was available to my team. That's a big deal for me, and I'm equal parts excited and a little bit nervous about this. I also have to make clear that this isn't just happening In the same way that I made some intentional decisions about our home life this holiday season, I also had to make some serious decisions.
About the business. So we've had a lot of planning. There are some systems in place, and at the end of the day, there's just gotta be some trust in the foundation of what we've built. Things are gonna be okay and nothing's gonna break. The business will be fine. And now I get to gift myself and my team rest like true.
Rest,
An opportunity to recharge and to come back refreshed. And there's some sacrifices certainly that go into this. We've had to turn down a couple of projects and move some things around, but it's in service to our wellbeing as a team. And we're only able to do that because of the strength of the foundation we've built.
Stepping Away doesn't feel as risky, although, like I mentioned, I am a little bit nervous. It feels earned and supported instead of anxious here. And that's a really cool feeling. So that's why as I reflect on this holiday season, I think I've been able to be more present and enjoy it more.
Is because I got back to basics. I got back to basics. Personally, I am getting back to basics professionally. I wonder if there's something in there for you to reflect on in your own life or in your own practice. I see a lot of you wanting to add more Christmasy things to your marketing, right? You're wanting more decoration, more twinkle lights.
Another platform, another post, another strategy. I was just talking to a clinician earlier this week who talked about how early in her practice she felt like she had to do literally everything. She had her hands in every possible strategy you could imagine,
but just like getting back to basics at home, there's an opportunity here for you to get back to basics too. Because if your foundation of your practice isn't solid, then it all starts to feel really cluttered and it starts to feel overwhelming instead of joyful. What if your practice could be joyful?
And sometimes it can feel like more of a performance than it is a presence in something that you are creating and you should feel proud of like you're putting on a show or a facade. Instead of building something truly authentic and sustainable for you,
you and I both know that decorations don't matter if the house doesn't feel good to be in. Does your practice feel good to be in? Do you trust the bones and the foundation, the basics of what you've created? Or have you just been trying to string twinkle lights around something that you don't actually enjoy twinkle, like they can't fix a shaky foundation. In my experience, most therapists don't need more marketing ideas. They don't need more Christmas-y things. They know what they should probably do, and fundamentally, they need that foundation that actually holds everything together. Often, that's your website. It's what gives your marketing a solid place to land for your clients, for your strategy. A place that you can trust.
Your website is where trust is built. It's where clarity either happens or doesn't for your clients and even for you. We know that when that is clear. When you get back to basics and the basics perform well for you, that your marketing feels simpler, that you don't have to perform as much, that you can enjoy what you've built far, far more.
And when it's not, everything feels loud, everything feels urgent, and you keep adding those decorations, hoping it will help.
I heard from a confident copy student. Just this morning, who said you honestly saved my practice with that program? I was feeling defeated, not enjoying what I was doing, and feared. I made the biggest mistake of my life going into private practice. I learned I was marketing myself wrong, taking the wrong clients for me, and that when you get it right, everything about running your practice doesn't feel so hard.
She was building a house she didn't enjoy living in, but once she changed that, everything else changed too. It got easier. She started to enjoy the clients that she was working with and she started to get more of them. I don't know, I just can't help but think that there's a lesson here.
Do you like the house you're building? And if not, how can we change that? How can you become more present in this business you're creating in 2026, and resist that urge for more decorations when maybe the foundation is what needs attention.
In the same way that we've said no to a couple of gatherings or partings this year, in order to just be together and decorate some cookies at home. What could you be saying no to and how might that ultimately serve the end goal of what it is that you're building?
I've mentioned that our confident copy wait list is open, and as part of reopening confident copy, we always put on an incredible, if I do say so myself, workshop. So we're bringing back clear website, full caseload, which is one of our. Most popular workshops we've ever done, and as part of that, I get to bring in our state of the industry data.
We've had over 500 therapists take our state of the industry survey. If you haven't, you can still jump over there, walker strategy co.com/survey through the end of the month. But after the year wraps my first. Project when I get back into the office is going to be analyzing that state of the industry data so that I can bring to you the trends, the data, what we're actually seeing for 2026.
And that is going to be shared in that clear website, full caseload workshop. So in addition to showing you how to build that foundation for your practice, I also get to share with you the actual numbers of what we're seeing, the trends, what's changed, what hasn't, and what you need to know about marketing in 2026, about building a house you like to be in.
It'll be a great opportunity for a January reset and to really just strip things back to the basics in order to make sure that those are performing well for you before you go and add more twinkle lights. And of course, if you are interested in joining the wait list for the reopening of Confident Copy next month, which will follow our Clear website, full caseload workshop, please do that. You secure early access and an extra discount on top of what we're already offering publicly. You can hop on there walker strategy code.com/waitlist.
A bit of a shorter episode here today, but hopefully, like I said, you get something here. It has your gears turning in one direction or another. Maybe it's on the personal side of things. Maybe there's an invitation here to slow down on that side of your life and maybe it does relate to your practice. I hope that whatever it is that you're thinking about and in whatever direction your gears are turning in right now, that it encourages you to choose what really matters, and to let simple be enough
Enjoyment and fulfillment so often come from getting back to the basics, from stripping away what isn't working so that you can truly enjoy what it is that you've created. You're building a business, something that should serve you, your family, your goals, not just now, but for years to come.
And in order to do that, often getting back to what you know works, making sure that foundation is sturdy, that is the best place to start.
I do have an episode coming out right before the new year next week , so this is not my final episode here in 2025, but pretty close. Thank you for being here. If you told me a year ago that I had launched a podcast, I wouldn't believe you. This is not where I expected to be, but man, this podcast has been such a gift to me. So thank you for being here, for listening.
I hope it's useful for you that it offers even just a little bit of encouragement or comfort, that you're not alone, that you're seen, that you're valued for the work that you do. And I hope you're giving yourself some permission to rest here in these next couple of weeks. Like I said, I'll be back for one final episode here in 2025, but if you celebrate Christmas, a Merry Christmas to you, a happy holidays, and I'll talk to you next week.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Join the Confident Copy waitlist for early access and an extra discount: walkerstrategyco.com/waitlist
Take the 2025 State of the Industry Survey (open through Dec 31): walkerstrategyco.com/survey
The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com
Connect + Subscribe
Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe so you never miss an episode—and feel free to share it with a fellow therapist who’s building their private practice.
Explore more marketing support for therapists: The Walker Strategy Co website
About Marketing Therapy
Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker—marketing coach, strategist, and founder of Walker Strategy Co—each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.
Rate & Review
If you’re enjoying Marketing Therapy, please consider leaving us a rating or review. This helps more therapists find the podcast (& avoid the marketing spiral).
