It was lovely looking back over 2025. It’s been a tragic and beautiful year. And, surprisingly, many of the events I cherished had to do with being a part of the testing community.
In 2025 I:
Spent time with Joe Colantonio talking about Building a Career in QA
Helped initiate and facilitate the Women in Testing Newsletter
Co-hosted This Week in Quality for the first time!
Submitted my first talk to Automation Guild 2026 (and got accepted!)
Those were the highlights. There were a thousand celebrations and sorrows along the way, but we made it.
In 2025, my themes were:
Stop: Being half-hearted
Continue: Bringing things together
Start: Get in the driver’s seat
I think I did that. I risked. It was scary. In the end, I looked back, and I was proud of myself. I’d accomplished things I’d never done before. We’ll see where those decisions take me.
Looking to the year ahead, I love using Mel Robbins’ Best Year Ever format. Yeah, it takes a solid morning to complete, but it’s the best 2 hours spent: scrolling through my year, laughing, crying, evaluating what’s working (and what’s not), and considering what makes sense to continue in the coming year. I can’t do everything, nor do I want to. If I can narrow my focus and stick to my themes, I think I’ll be okay.
My themes set for 2026:
Stop: Taking on what I don’t need to
Start: Showing Up
Continue: Creating everyday magic
Let’s break this down a little bit further…
Stop: Taking on what I don’t need to
I’m in an interesting season in life. This means I need to be really thoughtful about what I do accept. I tend to take on too much. Going into this year, I think I need to be really careful about what I say “yes” to. I believe it’s important to follow through. I’d rather under-commit and over-produce.
Start: Showing Up
There are some things that I’ve always wanted to do that I’ve never done. It’s time to stop looking longingly and heaving deep sighs about what I want and just do it. I need to show up if I want to do what’s been on my mind.
Continue: Creating everyday magic
This has nothing to do with testing, but one thing I loved seeing on my camera roll are the number of times I just chose to enjoy an event. Whether it was a plateful of breakfast or ice cream in a mug, if it was something I wanted to do, I went for it. Did not regret any of it. This year, I want to continue acting on those feelings, and hopefully, I can spread that magic beyond just myself. Things are possible. They really are. Even when everything feels scary or we feel weird, we can do what sounds fun or makes sense and see what happens. I want to take that spirit into 2026.
And, the goals?
Yeah, I have goals. But, I have a personal philosophy not to share goals publicly until they are complete. If I really want to share them, then I can talk about them when I’m finished. It’s a great way to add the incentive at the end, and it pushes me to get the thing done, dang it. That way, it’s not on my mind anymore.
I can’t promise that this will be our best year ever. But, I can say that I’ll be here, as much as I’m able, sharing what I know. Lord knows what will happen, but we can get through it together.
Get your snacks ready.
Welcome to 2026. ☕
Till next time…
P.S. Okay, I broke my rule a little bit. While working through STEC, I did make a couple of SMART goals. I added those as a memory over at MoT. Feel free to check it out.
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Written with it could all be so simple playing in the background.
