My 2020 Annual Report

11 min readJan 7, 2021

Introduction • Highlights • Coaching Results • Clients & Revenues • Lifetime Stats • Continuing Education • Charitable Giving • And Personally

Introduction

You don’t need me to remind you that 2020 was one hell of a year. The COVID-19 pandemic, a global stock market crash, the crushing of the global supply chain, work from home, virtual school, policy brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, the rise of authoritarian populism and white supremacy, the U.S. elections and the general assault on democracy (and decency), Brexit, devastating wildfires around the world, swathes of restaurant and shop closures, shocking celebrity deaths, Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing, locusts and murder hornets, and the Pentagon finally acknowledged UFOs. It’s impossible to process it all.

My primary role this year was to provide my clients with stability, ease, perspective, and hope as they and their teams moved to work-from-home — all while maintaining productivity, financial solvency, strong physical and mental health, and progress toward long-term goals. Some clients fell victim to mass layoffs while others were asked to take on more responsibility than ever. Some struggled to balance work with full-time childcare while others struggled with the loneliness of living alone. Some clients contracted COVID and slowly recovered while others had loved ones who tragically lost the fight. Every single person was in some form of pain, whether low-grade distress or the hardest times of their lives. And I was right there with them going through it too.

I think of my coaching practice like a hanging mobile: every day some people are up, some people are down, some people are sideways, but the whole ecosystem is in balance. I consider myself the wire. It’s my job to be strong and steady yet flexible and light, and hold it all together. But this year…the hits just kept coming. And I had nowhere to hide.

I had to rely on my personal practices more than ever before. Yoga, journaling, walks in nature, romance novels, feel-good TV, nourishing foods, weekly therapy, tender tending to our houseplants. I did anything I could to stay grounded and settle my nerves. There were breakdowns and crying jags, and I let them come. Fredrick’s willingness to be a witness to my pain allowed the emotional waves to crest and break away.

I also had to confront truths about my white privilege and complacency and gross lack of self-awareness about my role in the oppression and mass murder of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. I’ve always proclaimed myself to be a Grade A progressive who cares deeply about social issues and works tirelessly to make the world a better place. But 2020 taught me that, frankly, I have very little skin in the game. I personally benefit from white supremacy on a daily basis, and I have sacrificed almost nothing to dismantle the systems that were designed to cause harm to black and brown people in this country and around the world. I don’t want to use anti-racism as yet another opportunity for white-woman self-development and self-congratulation, so I won’t. Just know that I have made a vow to be an anti-racist and to decolonizing myself, and explicitly commit to using my advantages, platform, voice, resources, and unearned rights to stop the violence that I myself have perpetuated.

When lockdowns started in mid-March, I was convinced the floor was going to fall out from under me. Coaches aren’t essential workers. I started making lists of my wartime skills for when the world turned sepia-toned and I had to start working in a factory (I can be melodramatic). But somehow, despite all the turmoil, I managed to have a great year of business. It was my most profitable year ever, I had my highest-grossing month ever, and we doubled the amount of our charitable contributions from last year. Yep, yet another sign of my absurd privilege — which I will never take for granted again.

Here is the story of my 2020. Thank you for reading.

Highlights

I celebrated 15 years in business, and got an overwhelming response on social media from friends, colleagues, clients, and fabulous folks I’ve met along the way.
I completed Phase 6 of a massive, multi-year organizational design and culture change initiative with an institutional client I’ve been supporting since 2016. I’ve now coached 18 of their senior leaders in 6-month one-on-one coaching engagements — some of whom are now on their 4th engagement. At year-end, the team was recognized in a widely distributed report for being the most profitable and innovative area of the institution, even in the pandemic.
I held dozens of pro bono coaching sessions with undersupported BIPOC in design and tech, and people affected by layoffs.
I presented my talk “Empathy is an Inside Job” at virtual company off-sites and design team meetings.
I received a PPP loan to cover my payroll for 8 weeks, and supported other small businesses in how/whether to pursue it themselves.

Results, Outcomes & Impact

All of my client engagements are 100% confidential, so I won’t give specifics about what big dreams they held, what issues they faced, what steps they took, and how beautifully they navigated to a new way of being — during a year of so much upheaval and anxiety and loss. Some share in their own words about their personal coaching experience in my Testimonials. Sometimes I vague-tweet when I can’t help but celebrate my clients’ wins. Below is a selection of the major themes that emerged in 2020.

New jobs found in a pandemic
Promotions & raises earned and celebrated
More delegation and focus
Boundaries established and maintained
Conflicts addressed, resolved or accepted
Many résumés, portfolios, interviews fine-tuned
Speaking gigs moved online — and nailed!
New cities, new homes
Paid relocations across the country and the globe
Two permanent residencies finally granted
Volunteering efforts increased tenfold
Certifications completed, new degrees embarked upon
Professional networks expanded & cultivated
Layoffs endured & new, better jobs attained
New relationships flourished
Unhealthy relationships concluded
Painful losses mourned
Illnesses endured, healed, managed
Identities & views publicly voiced — louder than ever
Nature soaked up, bodies cared for, resilience gained
Self-respect & self-love abound

Clients, Time & Revenue

I am so SO grateful to my clients for your trust and vulnerability and courage and passion and commitment and self-respect and love. I am in awe of each and every one of you, and I consider it the ultimate privilege to get to walk alongside you on your journey and witness your tremendous growth and development. Thank you for inviting me in. Deepest bow to you.

I had 36 total clients in 2020, including:

27 private clients with 6–12-month coaching programs
4 employer-sponsored clients with 6–12-month coaching programs
5 organizational clients with 6-month engagements

My time in 2020 was primarily spent:

Holding 311 coaching sessions (~375 coaching hours)
Crafting 20 custom coaching programs
Investing just 24 hours with prospects who didn’t become clients (because of their choice or mine — fit is everything)
Offering 75+ hours coaching to pro bono clients

As for revenue streams, 53.03% of my 2020 revenue came from private clients (up from 30% in 2019), 9.63% from employer-sponsored clients (was 10% in 2019), and 37.34% from organizational clients (down from 60% in 2019).

I finished 2020 with 9.4% year-over-year increase in gross revenue compared to 2019. Notably, June 2020 marked my highest grossing month in 15 years of business. Meanwhile, net income (profit) increased by 10.4% over 2019, making 2020 my most profitable year in business, both in total profit and profit margin (5.8% greater than in 2018, my highest-grossing year ever). A silver lining to being stuck at home?

Lifetime Stats

I’ve now had 144* total lifetime individual coaching clients since 2014:

64% (92) with at least 6 months of coaching
54% (50) re-ups for more coaching
11% (10) clients who’ve re-upped their coaching packages 3 or more times

(*this number represents clients with explicit coaching engagements, and does not include one-off sessions)

I offer 3 package options to my private clients, allowing them to choose the duration of coaching and additional services. Since I started offering packages in 2016, 33.33% of clients have bought the lowest package, 40.74% bought the middle package, and 20.37% bought the highest package. That ratio has been fairly consistent each year.

I’ve accrued 2900 total coaching hours. That’s actual hours in coaching sessions with clients. ::head asplode::
I have coaching clients in 15 countries across 6 continents (none in Antarctica yet), and in 64 cities around the world. We make it work with time zone differences, and my conference line has local dial-in numbers for almost everywhere.
88% of my clients come from referral — whether by one of my clients, a current or former colleague, social media, a family member, or someone who has seen me speak at a conference. I’m indebted to the great people who send other great people my way. In addition, 1 in 10 clients find me through organic search — googling for “design leadership coaching,” “UX leadership coaching,” “empathy leadership coach” or some variation thereof.
Across the board, 72% of my coaching clients are women*; 30% of my clients are non-white*; 10% of my clients are LGBTQI+*; and 11% of my clients are over the age of 50. I am eager to support even more leaders who are underrepresented and underestimated in tech and business.

Other Projects

Podcast Appearances

TEN7 Podcast with Ivan Stegic
Episode #103
November 11, 2020
Whitney Hess: Putting Humanity Back Into Business

REVITA5 with Jessica Corbin
Episode #7
May 6, 2020
Empathy + Culture + Leadership

Sustain OSS with Richard Littauer, Justin Dorfman, and Eric Berry
Episode #31
April 10, 2020
Practicing Self-Empathy with Whitney Hess

Industry Volunteering

I conducted a dozen admissions interviews for Carnegie Mellon University’s Master’s in HCI (I’m a 2004 grad), and offered mentoring and career coaching sessions at the IA Conference (both with groups and individuals).

Continuing Education

Listening to Bodies Long Distance (6-Week Training) — with Suzanne Zeman, Institute for Generative Leadership, Virtual
ICF Business Development Series (On-Demand) — Various Speakers, International Coaching Federation, Virtual
Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration with Stacey Abrams (1-Day Event) — with Dr. Theodore R. Johnson, University of New England, Portland, Maine
The Information Architecture Conference 2020 (On-Demand) — Various Speakers, Virtual
Nonviolent Communication Virtual Intensive Training (10-Day Intensive) — with Roxy Manning, Sarah Peyton, Kathy Simon, and Kathleen Macferran, Center for Nonviolent Communication, Virtual
Integral Team Coaching (10-Week Training) — with Sahar Azarabadi and Cynthia Luna, New Ventures West, Virtual
The Million Dollar Focus Retreat (3-Day Conference) — with Rachel Rodgers and Various Speakers, Hello Seven (We Should All Be Millionaires), Virtual
2020 Dignity Conference: Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict (3-Day Conference) — Various Speakers, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, Virtual

Charitable Giving

When we became a Certified B Corp in June 2018, and changed our legal status to a Public Benefit Corporation, we made a commitment to donate a sizable portion of our revenue to 501(c)(3) nonprofits whose missions we feel personally and professionally align with ours.

In 2020, we made contributions totaling more than $10,000 to the following organizations:

Local

National

Regional

International

If there are other organizations you think we should be supporting, please let me know.

And Personally

Fredrick and I remain debt free. We have built an 8-month emergency fund, are contributing to our tax savings accounts with every paycheck, and began saving for a house. ::fingers crossed for 2021!:: We’re on month 15 of using the Every Dollar app to create and stick to a monthly budget (both for personal and for business, two separate budgets), with room for charitable giving and the occasional splurge. The freedom that being debt free gives you cannot be overstated — it has changed our lives.
Like many of you, I’m sure, we spent countless hours on Zoom for birthday parties, holiday gatherings, reunions, book clubs, writing groups, a baby shower, a funeral, and happy hours with old friends.
We attended synagogue services online for Passover Seder, the High Holy Days, Chanukah, and some Shabbats.
We lost my Uncle Davey and Aunt Barbara within 5 weeks of each other. Fredrick and I attended Dave’s funeral in Los Angeles the week before the shutdowns started in March (we wore masks because we saw what was already happening), but then only immediate family was allowed at Barbara’s interment. May they rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing to us all.
I was able to rejoin my NVC practice empathy group from NYC when biweekly sessions were moved to Zoom. I love these ladies!
I maintained weekly talk therapy via phone, and in September was able to resume monthly polarity therapy (energy/bodywork) sessions following strict CDC guidelines.
I maintained a regular yoga practice (2–3 times weekly) with teachers at local studios via Zoom, as well as some classes with my favorite teachers in San Diego, San Francisco, and Chicago. In addition, the daylong yoga fundraiser for Sea Change Yoga moved online so I was able to spend the day practicing at home and even recorded a session on time-lapse.
We continued weekly trailwalking and forest bathing, and walked in a “virtual” 10K for charity.
I hit my reading goal for the year (36 books) by August.
Fredrick and I are coming up on two years in Maine. We’ve spent days at the beach and in the woods, blueberry picking, apple picking, Saturday farmers markets (all with physical distancing and smart precautions). Follow me on Instagram for pics of our adventures.

Thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions or want to dig into anything more, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m happy to share anything that may benefit you or your business in any way.

I hope our paths cross in the coming year. Wishing you and your loved ones good health, emotional and financial wellbeing, renewed hope, and lots of love in 2021.

All my love,
Whitney xo

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Originally published at https://whitneyhess.com on January 4, 2021.