Recap of 2022

| Personal 2022 Yearly Recap 20223

Recap of 2022

It’s always fun to look back at the year that was, and put things into perspective. Overall, 2022 was full of some ups and downs. The one constant in my life, and my rock, was my wife Samantha. I wouldn’t want anyone else next to me, and I appreciate your support more than you could ever know.

House Renovations

The year started off bone-chilling cold here in Portland, and our house renovation was in full-swing. In September 2021, we began a massive renovation project on our 1840s townhouse, and if you worked with me, or spoke with me this past year, you heard about it more than once. It was our “Covid project”, but came to be so much more than that. We were building our first home, and it was a thrilling and stressful project.

Surprises? We had a few, but all-in-all, we got very lucky that nothing major was hiding out of sight. We knew our builder loved old houses, and his team worked hard to save the old (like our stairs, pine floors, plaster walls) while incorporating the new (kitchen, windows, tile, adding bathrooms). On top of that, our architect and his team did a fantastic job designing the space and helped us pull the interior decorating together. We made a few bold choices, like a 2-tone, dark green dining room and a dark blue staircase. Truth be told, I wish we made more.

I spent the better part of 3 months from April-July working to make sure we got the house put together. From assembling our kitchen, different Ikea parts, and taking literal tons of bricks to the dump, I worked hard and I’m happy to have blood and sweat in the project.

Like projects do, our timeline slipped a bit, but we pushed very hard and moved in at the very tail end of May, in time to host our pre-planned open house for friends and family in early June. Even though we didn’t have all the finishing touches done, it was amazing to call our new house our home.

Still to come: Outdoor landscaping and a new fence. I really want to dig out our half-dirt basement and put in a gym… we’ll see, dirt is extremely heavy afterall.

Personal

Exercise was a key factor for me this year. I really enjoyed plunging into the house work, and it was fantastic exercise. We continued our 3x weekly workouts with Sal, he’s our trainer from Brooklyn who we see on Zoom. In 2023, I’m going to do at least 3 months of cross-fit at a local gym, which I hope kicks training into a new gear and increases my social circles.

I would say that I’m very proud of my overall level of activity this year, as measured by steps per day via my Apple Watch. steps 1 steps 2

When the house work was done, the reality of the crazy job market and being unemployed hit me, very hard. I had kept up with my therapist, but added a few things to the regime to combat some major depressive episodes. I really owe it to my wife who helped push me towards better mental health. In 2023 I’m going to try my first Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy session, which I’m excited for.

Photography

For the first time in ~15 years, I picked up my Nikon FE, a manual film camera. I was shocked to learn that a roll of film is now about $10, and development services run $12, but it was a joy well worth the expenses. It helped me slow down, focus on something I love doing, and really engage with my surroundings.

What did I shoot? Well, part of the process is scanning, and I’m still sorting that out. I tried to use my dad’s 20+ year old scanner, but I couldn’t find/figure out the right SCSI to USB connector. I’ll most likely purchase a Nikon v600 scanner, which can also scan old prints. Once I do, I’ll share some shots.

Reading

Best fiction book: Stephen King’s Fairy Tale. It was one of those books that you can’t put down, and actually wake up early to read. Totally sucked me in, like reading Harry Potter for the first time.

Best Non-Fiction: Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. Ok, so I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s had a profound impact on me, and I’m slowly working my way through the challenges that he lays out in the book.

One more: It’s Not Always Depression by Hilary Jacobs Hendel. This book has taught me about my defenses to feeling feelings and ways to recognize my defenses, which has had a profound impact on my relationships in the past few months.

Family

The year ahead is the start of our 4th year in Maine, which is wild to think about, and as each season comes we’re becoming more enamored with my home state. We’re working through IVF, and we’ve very excited for some scientific success soon! It’s a strange process, so if you want to talk about it, I’m available. One thing that I would say is that once you begin to talk about fertility, you’ll find many others in a similar situation.

Work

I’m happy that work is last on my list. For many years, work has taken center stage, and while it is still extremely important to me, there’s a different balance as we begin 2023. Also, work wasn’t such a big part of my life this year, as I ended my last role in April. I look back on it, it was a mis-match between my values in how I want to operate and grow a team, and how the business was operated.

CX Consulting to Kick Off 2023

I’m really excited to be kicking off January with a month’s long consulting project for a YC-W21 company called Measured. I’ll be doing a number of things to help improve their Customer Experience quality and capacity as their company’s growth continues to accelerate. A few highlights include:

If you have anyone in your network looking for improve their CX team or processes, I’d love to get in touch with them. I’m open to full-time, or part-time consulting engagements.

That’s a wrap!

With love and gratitude, Zach