A Look Back - A Look Ahead - 2020 Edition - RD242

<h2>A look back at 2020 and a look ahead to 2021.</h2> <p>[sc name="pod_ad"]Thank you for your continued interest in Resourceful Designer. You have no idea how much I appreciate you. There are so many great resources available for learning and growing as a designer, and I'm humbled that you choose to spend a bit of your valuable time with me.</p> <p class="p1">I'm continuing the tradition of making the final podcast episode of the year a form of a retrospective where I look back a the year that's coming to an end and look forward to the year ahead. I bring you <em>A Look back, A Look Ahead 2020 Edition.</em></p> <h3>A Look Back at my 2020 goals.</h3> <p>At the end of 2018, I set these goals for myself.</p> <p><strong>ACCOMPLISHED: T</strong>alk at more conferences in 2020. Surprisingly, although not as many as I expected, the two conferences I talked at in 2020 were more than I did in 2019, so mission accomplished.</p> <p><strong>FAIL:</strong> Grow the Resourceful Designer audience. The 2020 pandemic took a big toll on podcast listenership, and Resourceful Designer was not immune. With fewer people commuting to work, I saw my download numbers dip during COVID lockdowns. The end of the year saw a rise in downloads but not enough to view it as a growth from the previous year.</p> <p><strong>ACCOMPLISHED: </strong>Grow the Resourceful Designer Community. The Community has quickly become a place where friendships form and help is freely given. It's even more wonderful than I anticipated.</p> <p><strong>ACCOMPLISHED: </strong>Grow Podcast Branding. My niche design business focusing on the podcast industry saw huge growth in 2020. With so many people stuck at home, many decided to start a podcast and needed visuals to go with it.</p> <h3>Some of my numbers from 2020</h3> <h4>Resourceful Designer</h4> <ul> <li>Released 47 podcast episodes</li> <li>Reached over 550k total episode downloads in 2020 (Over 125k of which were in 2020)</li> <li>Resourceful Designer released on Gaana and Amazon Music.</li> </ul> <h4>My design