If you’re a marketer like myself, stepping into 2025 may have felt less like a smooth stride and more like running on ice. The fast pace and endless to-do lists that come with the new year can be overwhelming, but I’m determined to channel all that momentum into fresh opportunities, bold strategies, and a high-energy approach to the new year.

Whether you’re looking to level up professionally, shake up your creative process, or expand your horizons, 2025 is brimming with potential. Here are ten bold, exciting, and maybe even questionable ways I plan to make the most of the year ahead. You’re invited to join me on this adventure of breaking routines, sparking creativity, and finding growth in unconventional places!

Send a Cold DM to Someone You Admire

Leena Nair, Chanel’s Global CEO, recently gave a fascinating interview at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she shared how bold, intentional networking helped to shape her career. In the early days, she would reach out to inspiring people she read about—across industries, not just fashion—and ask for advice. Her biggest takeaway was that curiosity and humility open doors that credentials alone can’t.

She credits this approach with helping her gain insights, build unexpected connections, and even land key opportunities that propelled her forward. You don’t have to wait for formal introductions, sometimes a well-crafted LinkedIn DM or email can spark mentorship, collaboration, or even a career shift. Not everyone will respond, but the ones who do could change everything. If you take the leap and reach out to those who’ve paved the way, you might just find your own path too.

A/B Test Your Personal Brand

Think of your LinkedIn or portfolio website like a campaign. As marketers, we’re always A/B testing the best approaches for our ads and content, and your personal brand shouldn’t be the exception. You’re never going to find a better “product” to experiment with than yourself! 

Test different types of content, visuals, or tones to see what resonates best with your audience. Your personal brand should evolve with you, but tasks like these often end up on the backburner. Track your engagement and adapt—if you’re a marketer, you should know how to market yourself!

Study Viral Flops (and What Went Right Anyway)

Remember when Pepsi’s 2017 Kendall Jenner ad tried to position the brand as a unifying force in social justice protests…and completely flopped? The ad showed Jenner handing a police officer a Pepsi to seemingly solve tensions at a protest, and was widely criticized for trivializing real activism. It became an instant case study in how not to engage with social movements.  Ultimately, intentions mean nothing if the execution is tone-deaf.

Studying viral flops (like this marketing-focused example) isn’t just about pointing out failures, it’s about understanding why they went wrong and what lessons you can take. Look at what triggered the backlash, how the brand responded (or didn’t), and what the long-term impact was. Did they apologize? Did they learn from it, or did they double down? Was the original idea actually solid, but just poorly executed? Viral failures often have valuable takeaways, so you shouldn’t just study successes; you should study what not to do.

Get Niche with Your Newsletters

Do you ever feel like every marketing newsletter you’re subscribed to is pushing the exact same content? It’s great to stay updated with your industry’s news, but it’s time for a little variety, don’t you think? One option is to ditch the mainstream marketing publications to focus on niche social media accounts and newsletters. 

After a while, you don’t need to read the same repackaged generic marketing advice over and over. It’s time to dig deep into our specific demographics, industries, and markets. Hyper-focused sources can provide offbeat perspectives that challenge your usual thinking. Be picky. Your attention is valuable, so only select accounts and publications that excite you. 

Some of my recent favorites are the Weekly Tech Roundup from Quantious (A shameless plug here, I run this newsletter!), Data But Make it Fashion, After School by Casey Lewis, and Link in Bio by Rachel Karten, but I’m always looking for my next fixation. Share your favorite, off-the-beaten-path examples in the comments!

Say “No” More Often

In 2025, we are prioritizing our wellness, and that includes setting boundaries. For many of us, this means embracing the power of “no” when opportunities don’t align with our goals. Always saying “yes” might feel like a path to growth, but it typically just leads to burnout, resentment, and spreading yourself too thin on things that don’t actually serve you.

When you commit to something that drains your energy or adds unnecessary stress, you’re saying “no” to things that truly matter, whether that’s personal time, creative space, or meaningful opportunities. Protecting your time isn’t selfish; it’s strategic. 

Stop defaulting to “yes” out of obligation or FOMO. Ask yourself: Does this align with my goals? Will this bring value to my life? Do I actually want to do this? If the answer isn’t a resounding yes, you have permission to walk away. 

Plan a Reverse Vision Board

It’s time to let go of toxic positivity. Much like the power of “no,” it’s okay to clearly identify what’s not serving you. Instead of mapping out everything you want to achieve, try flipping the script: create a collage or list of things you absolutely don’t want in your life. It’s a little funny, but a surprisingly effective way to set boundaries and clarify your priorities.

Here’s what I’m staying away from in 2025: 

• Corporate jargon: I want my messages to be clear and sharp. When was the last time it was necessary to say “low-hanging fruit”? No more “boiling the ocean”, “herding cats”, “jumping the shark”, or “trimming the fat”. If anyone tells me we need to “level-set” before we “touch base,” I’m muting the conversation. Did I miss any jargon that you despise? Let’s absolutely circle back to this in the comments…
• Uber Eats: Did you know that only 33% of Gen Z’ers consider themselves skilled cooks? I refuse to fall victim to that statistic. This year, I’m dusting off my cookbook collection, rediscovering family recipes from my childhood, and vowing to only eat takeout if I’m seated at a restaurant surrounded by good company. When life gets busy, it’s easy to say that there isn’t enough time in the day to cook a great meal. I am now making the time, and making this a priority! No more stress-eating takeout. The app is deleted.
• Organizational bins: I recently heard someone say, “You don’t need more storage, you need less stuff”, and honestly, it hit me. It’s easy to think the solution to clutter is more bins, shelves, or containers, but in reality, no amount of storage can fix an excess of things you don’t actually need. This has changed my approach, focusing on editing down before storing. That said, I live in a small NYC apartment, and minimalism can only take me so far. Smart storage is just as important as decluttering. I love clear bins for easy visibility and stackable containers to maximize vertical space. Organization should make your life easier, not just hide the mess.

Write a “Spite Goal”

Set an audacious goal in response to a past failure or a comment that stuck with you. Sometimes, the best motivation comes from proving yourself wrong, or proving someone else wrong in a (mostly) healthy way.

For me, it was attempting to order a check at a restaurant in France and getting immediately criticized by my waitress. Let’s be clear—I have nearly 10 years of French lessons under my belt—I know how to ask for the bill. Instead of letting it discourage me, I signed up for French classes again, and am determined to hold my own next time I’m in Cannes.

So, maybe you were told you didn’t have the right skills for a job you wanted. Maybe someone dismissed your creative idea as unrealistic. Maybe a throwaway comment about your abilities still lingers in your head. Take that one piece of feedback you can’t forget and turn that doubt into motivation. Let the doubt fuel you, but let the success be yours.

Revisit Your Cringiest Work

We all have an old project we’d rather not see again—the one that makes us instinctively cringe when we stumble across it. But instead of burying it forever, dig it up, reflect on your progress, and identify ways to apply that growth to your current work.

I used to dread looking back at my old work. Whether it was an awkwardly worded press release (I had a lot of those) or a design choice that now feels embarrassing, my first instinct was always to delete and pretend it never happened. But when I actually take a second to compare my past work to where I am now, I see proof of real progress.

We’re always so caught up in the areas we need to improve that it’s easy to lose track of how much we’ve already grown. Instead of beating yourself up over the quality of your past work, focus on how much easier things feel now, how your instincts have sharpened, and how mistakes that once seemed impossible to avoid are now lessons. What once felt like a masterpiece might now feel amateur, and honestly, that’s exactly the point. 

If I didn’t post the MOST INSANE tweets when I was 12, I would not be nearly as skilled at social media copywriting today. Like I said in one of my many Twitter rants back in the day, “once a blogger, always a blogger.” If you’re cringing, you’re growing. 

Befriend an AI (or Two)

If you’re not using AI in your work and daily life yet, you’re making things harder than they need to be. AI isn’t here to replace you—it’s here to make you faster, sharper, and more creative. Think of it like a super-efficient coworker who’s always down to help.

Are you struggling with a tough email? Let ChatGPT draft a version to tweak. Designing something? Canva’s AI tools are so helpful in getting a headstart. Need a quick visual? MidJourney can bring your ideas to life in just a few seconds. 

The trick is learning how to prompt AI to think like you. The more you play around, the better it gets. Learn how to use it to work smarter, not harder. Why pass up an opportunity to make your life a little easier?
 

Learn About a Different Field

Your best ideas rarely come from inside your comfort zone. Branching out beyond your usual expertise can unlock fresh insights, creative solutions, and unexpected career advantages. Take a course on something outside your daily work, attend a conference in an unfamiliar industry, or explore a webinar on a topic you’ve never considered before.

Not sure where to start? Let’s say you’re an email marketer—why not explore influencer marketing to understand how social collaborations drive engagement? Meltwater’s Influencer Marketing Certification is a great way to dive in. Or, if you’ve never worked on the agency side, their Agency Certification offers insights into PR and marketing from a new perspective. Expanding your knowledge outside your core skill set doesn’t just make you more versatile—it makes you more valuable.

As we navigate 2025, we’re not just thinking outside the box—we’re reimagining it entirely. This year isn’t just another lap around the sun; it has the potential to be a turning point in your personal or professional life, but only if you’re open to change. 

Starting the year with this mindset matters because staying comfortable won’t get you anywhere new. The best opportunities often come from trying something unexpected, pushing past hesitation, and saying “yes” to things that scare you a little. Maybe that means finally launching that project, testing a new approach at work, or stepping into a space that feels unfamiliar. The possibilities are endless, but action is what turns them into something real.

So, what’s your first move? The opportunity to make 2025 extraordinary is already in front of you. Now it’s just a matter of going for it.