Looking Back & Moving Forward

I was recently asked the question,

“If you were to draw a trend line for your life since the middle of March, what would it look like?”

I initially pictured the high and low spikes of a seismogram — an initial shock followed by moments of calm and then aftershock. Between Covid and the pressures of the social, political climate, 2020 certainly presented its challenges — for some, much greater than others. And now, in 2021 we’re presented a whole new set of challenges.

Professionally, 2020 was anything but “business as usual.” For BitterSweet Creative, this looked like moving out of the office indefinitely and embracing work from home. Fortunately, we were in a position to make this transition without much disruption. While some work disappeared, other work seemed to take its place. As a business, we have a lot to be grateful for, and I want to humbly extend my thanks and gratitude to our team members, supporters, and clients alike.

As we look ahead in the new year, I’d like to take a moment and reflect back on some of the moments we’re most proud of from 2020.

• The BitterSweet “family” went through a rebrand. If you’re a process person like me, you’ll enjoy this journal entry called “Maturation as Rebrand.”
• As part of the rebrand, we launched two new websites including both bittersweetcreative.com and bittersweetmonthly.com.
• Our team at BitterSweet Monthly pivoted our typical editorial approach (due to little to no travel) and chose to release a film series we had been sitting on for a couple years called “Contemplations” featuring world-renowned theologian Walter Brueggemann. I encourage you to check it out.
• Our BitterSweet Monthly team also did some reflecting on past stories in our first, six-episode, podcast mini-series called “Reflections”. Give it a listen and hear from a number of BitterSweet contributors including writers, Anne Snyder and Jessica Mancari, filmmakers Steve Jeter and Brandon Bray, and photographers David Johnson and Erica Baker. Stay tuned for more in the podcast realm this year.
• As a creative agency, we’re proud of our many collaborations with clients. From launching new websites, designing numerous publications, producing photoshoots, providing production and design support for virtual conferences, producing remote-live action and 2D animated videos, to an adventure children’s novel, and so much more.

Now, as we enter 2021, we have some new and exciting happenings in our virtual office — one of which released this week. On MLK Day, a day of rest and remembrance, we were excited to launch the newest expression of BitterSweet: Ordinary Story, a podcast about the exceptional in the mundane. It is an attempt to capture just a bit of the ordinary and every day. A roadmap for meeting people right where they are, living stories that may never make headlines, but do make us feel deeper for and nearer to our neighbors.

Once a month, BitterSweet will bring you a beautifully Ordinary Story. Episode 1 is now live! Huge shout out to the whole podcast team including Obi Okolo, Robert Winship, Kate Schmidgall, and our hosts Angela Wu and Carolina Soto.

Again, I want to end with another wholehearted thanks to BitterSweet’s clients, team members, and supporters. We look forward to doing so much more with you in 2021.