E86: The Christmas Eve CEO Reset: Clarity, Connection & a Fresh Start for 2026

In this special Christmas Eve episode of Dream Business Dream Life, we step away from the noise, hustle, and pressure of the online business world and take a grounded, honest look back at 2025.

This year was not the neatly wrapped, Instagram-ready success story many hoped for but it was rich with growth, resilience, clarity, and deep lessons that will shape a stronger 2026.

Inside this reflective episode, we explore:

✨ What 2025 Really Looked Like for Business Owners

• Why sales cycles were slower and buyers more cautious
• The emotional weight many entrepreneurs carried
• The pressure to “try harder” even when pushing wasn’t the answer
• The quiet resilience it took to simply keep going

✨ The Power of Slowing Down

Emma shares how intentionally slowing down brought more clarity than ever:

• Grounded growth vs. loud growth
• Building supportive systems and structure
• Launching her mastermind & the upcoming Dream Retreat (Sept 2026)
• Growth that felt steady, sustainable, and aligned

✨ Why 2026 Will Be All About Connection

We dive into the biggest theme emerging for next year...real, human connection.
Not polished. Not performative. But honest conversations, meaningful relationships, and genuine trust.

✨ Your Gentle Invitation to Reflect on Your Year

You’ll be guided through powerful, honest year-in-review questions:

• What worked?
• What drained you?
• What lit you up?
• What do you want to leave behind in 2025?
• What foundations do you want to build for 2026?

This episode is your permission slip to pause, breathe, and recognise how much you’ve grown...even if it didn’t look perfect on the outside.

✨ A Message to Every Business Owner Who Felt Stretched This Year

You didn’t just survive 2025.
You grew through it.
You built resilience, clarity, and strength...the kind that lasts.
And you’re walking into 2026 more grounded and self-aware than ever.

Want to connect? Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamemmahine

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-hine

Website: https://www.emmahine.co.uk

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmmaHineStrategy

Transcript

Hello & Welcome to today’s special Christmas Eve episode of Dream Business Dream Life.

For me there’s something about Christmas…the slower pace, the quieter energy that makes it feel like the perfect moment to take a breath and look back with honesty.

So I want to press pause for a moment and to spend some time reflecting on the year we’ve all just lived through.

And in the spirit of the classic roy al Christmas speech I thought, been as I did it last year,  we could do it again. A little less formal, a little more grounded, and absolutely no grand surroundings but a moment to speak heart-to-heart about 2025.

Because this year has been…well, let’s just say it didn’t come wrapped in a neat bow.

Many business owners have felt the weight of the market shifting. Sales took longer. Buyers were more cautious. And I know for many of you listening, it sometimes felt like you were working harder than ever just to stand still. You weren’t doing anything “wrong.” It was simply a year that asked a lot from you. More patience. More resilience. More emotional energy than anyone would openly admit.

And when that happens, it’s so easy to slip back into old habits. The pushing. The grinding. The “I’ll just try harder” mode. That instinct to hustle your way out of uncertainty even though deep down you know it’s the very thing that drains you.

But if there’s one thing I want you to take from this conversation today, it’s that you got through it. And that alone is worth acknowledging.

This year challenged almost everyone I work with and everyone I have spoken with. Consistent sales felt harder. Clarity felt harder. Keeping your head above water felt harder. And yet, you kept going. You showed up. You served. You cared. You did the best you could with the information, energy, and capacity you had in the moment. And that is something to be proud of.

For many of you, 2025 felt like the latest reminder that “winging it” will only get you so far. Because when the market slows, when your audience feels cautious, and when your calendar is full but your revenue isn’t you realise how much you crave structure. Not complicated systems. Not heavy tech. Just calm, clear foundations that support you instead of draining you.

And funnily enough, that has been the theme of my own year too but perhaps in a more intentional way.

This year, I made a decision to slow down. Not because things were falling apart, but because I wanted to build my business in a way that genuinely felt good on the inside. I grounded myself. I created space. I gave myself permission to go at a steady pace instead of sprinting. It wasn’t the kind of year where I rushed from one thing to the next. It was the kind of year where I said, “Let’s do this properly.”

And in that calm, I found so much clarity.

Slowing down didn’t hold me back.
 It actually helped me see the bigger picture more clearly than ever before.

From that steady place, I launched my mastermind, something I’ve been dreaming about for a while and the people in there have achieved so much. 

I also launched my first ever retreat, The Dream Retreat, and despite it not happening until September 2026, spaces remaining are already very limited.

I hosted two growth events that still make me smile when I think about the people in the room. I surrounded myself with people who genuinely lift me up. And even at a slow and steady pace, my revenue grew year on year.

It wasn’t loud growth.
 It was grounded growth.

Growth built on structure and systems
 And that is the kind of growth that lasts.

But more than anything, this year gave me the foundations I need for 2026 and beyond and I think many of you are craving that same feeling. Not the next big tactic. Not the “secret” strategy. Just more clarity. Stability. And a business that actually supports the life you want.

And as I look toward next year, there’s one theme that keeps coming up again and again, both in my work and in the conversations I’ve had with business owners across the board.

Connection.

Real, human connection is going to matter more in 2026 than ever before.
 Not the performative, curated, slightly artificial version of it we often see online bbut genuine connection. Conversations that mean something. Relationships that matter. Being someone your audience can actually trust not because you shout the loudest, but because you show up with honesty, integrity, and warmth.

People are tired of noise.
 They’re tired of hype.
 They’re tired of being sold dreams without substance.

What they want…what you want, and what your clients want is real connection. Real care and real support.

 And next year, the businesses that prioritise that will be the ones that thrive.

But before we think too much about what’s next, I want to invite you to do something that many business owners skip… even though it’s the very thing that creates clarity…I want you to review your year.

Not from a place of judgement.
 Not with a list of shoulds.
 Not with frustration.

But with honesty and curiosity.

What worked?
 What didn’t?
 What drained you?
 What lit you up?
 Where did you grow?
 Where held you back?
 What are you proud of…even if it’s something only you would notice?

Because reflecting on your year isn’t just about picking apart what went wrong.
 It’s about understanding what you want to take with you into 2026…and what you’re finally ready to leave behind.

I know there’s things I am leaving in 2025, there’s people I am leaving in 2025, there’s offers I’m changing in 2026 and that is a powerful place to start your year.

This is how we grow with intention.
 This is how we step into the CEO role with confidence, not chaos.
 This is how we build businesses that feel spacious, aligned, and sustainable.

And if, through that reflection, you realise that you want support next year…support that is grounded, honest, strategic, and truly aligned with who you are you’re always welcome to explore my spaces. 

So as we wrap up this Christmas Eve episode, I’d love you to take a moment just a quiet one to recognise something you might not have given yourself credit for this year.

You didn’t just get through 2025.
 You grew through it.

Every time you kept going when it felt easier to pull back…
 every time you chose integrity over shortcuts…
 every time you trusted yourself even when the results were taking their time…
 every time you looked for meaning instead of noise…

you were building something far more valuable than momentum.

You were building resilience.
 You were building self-belief.
 You were building the foundations of a business that will not crumble the moment the market wobbles.

And if this year stretched you it’s because you were expanding.
 If it frustrated you it’s because you care.
 If it felt heavier than you expected it’s because you were carrying more wisdom, more experience, and more self-awareness than ever before.

Nothing about this year was wasted.
 Not the slow months.
 Not the doubts.
 Not the lessons you didn’t want, but needed anyway.
 All of it has shaped you with such intention.

You’re walking into 2026 with clearer eyes, stronger boundaries, deeper self-knowledge, and a fiercer commitment to the kind of business, and life, you actually want. And that matters so much more than whether every goal on your list got a tidy tick next to it.

So as you sit here today, maybe by the tree, maybe in the quiet of a house that finally feels still I hope you give yourself permission to feel proud. Not because everything was perfect,
 but because you showed up with heart, with courage, and with the quiet determination that so few people ever see…yet it’s the very thing that will carry you forward.

Take this moment to rest.
 To breathe.
 To be a human, not just “the business owner.”
 To remember why you started.
 And to reconnect with the version of you who believed, all those years ago, that you could build something meaningful.

Because you still can.
 And you still are.
 And next year, you’re doing it with far more clarity than you’ve ever had before.

I truly hope this Christmas brings you peace, connection, and a long, gentle exhale.
 And when you’re ready, in your own time, take a look back at your year.
 Not to judge it, but to learn from it.
 Not to rush into change, but to step into 2026 with intention.

I’m proud of the work you’ve done this year.
 And I’m excited for the work you haven’t even imagined yet.

Merry Christmas, and here’s to a new year built with clarity, connection, and the kind of confidence that only comes from knowing who you are and where you’re going.

Thank you for listening, I’ll see you next year.