Entrepreneurs Share Their Words of the Year

I recently wrote a blog about my own word of the year for 2023 (emerge) and the reasons behind it. This exercise has helped me so much over the last few years that I thought it would be interesting to ask other entrepreneurs to share their own words of the year with us! As I reviewed the words submitted, three categories emerged – networking, business, and possibilities.

Founder of JoyLet, Alli Cavasino’s word for 2023 is connection. Alli says, “After years of being physically separated during the pandemic and spending more time consuming polarizing and negative content from the news and social media, I’m craving more connection. I’m ready to focus more on our similarities, spend more time with friends and family, and build a business with soul and empathy for my customers.”

Debbie Denyer echoed similar thoughts with her word of the year, collaboration. “Running your own business can be lonely. I believe that we can achieve more together. We each bring a unique set of strengths, values, perspectives, and experiences. When we collaborate, the magic happens! We spark ideas, build connections and create new opportunities.”

Matt Benton from NoDig has chosen intersectionality for his word of the year. He says, “I believe that in order to create a more inclusive world, we need to be able to see things from multiple perspectives. The idea of intersectionality is that we see people as having many different identities and that those identities can overlap in ways that are not mutually exclusive.”

The second category that emerged from entrepreneurs’ words of the year was very business-oriented. Alexis Haselberger, a time management and productivity coach selected asset as her word of the year.  Alexis says, “After 5 years in business, with significant growth each year, I’ve realized that the best way for me to increase revenue while decreasing hours worked is to continue to build my library of assets that do the work for me (online course, guides). Also, by this word I mean that I will continue to be an asset to everyone that I work with.”

Entrepreneurs are Preparing for Uncertainty

Unpredictability about this year was clear in some of the responses. Jay Levy, the co-founder of Zelkova Ventures, says uncertainty is his word of the year.  “There are many balls up in the air right now, from the macro environment in the US driven by uncertainty around the economic climate…Predicting where things will be at the end of 2023 is incredibly hard.”

Yoav Morder from Sonary responded with resilience as their word of the year, saying, “Resilience will keep me motivated to achieve my goals and handle anything unexpected. It will also save me from getting burnt out and will help keep me on track.”

Whitney Knight’s word of the year is best. Whitney, the founder of The Ask Method, says, “For 2023, my word of the year is “best.” Not as in “best in class,” but rather as in “a personal best. This lens will help me celebrate the little wins and incremental growth rather than comparing myself to others.”

A New One for Me

Jordan Cullen’s word of the year, lab-grown, is one I have not yet heard. In their case, it’s focused on their business. I also think we’ll see more lab-grown progress in most industries, from agriculture to AI. As the founder of Cullen Jewellery, Jordan says this word was chosen, “Because of the increasing popularity and prevalence of lab-grown diamonds, moissanite, and other materials. The use of lab-grown gemstones such as diamonds and moissanite has increased in recent years due to their affordability and the advances in technology that have made it possible to produce high-quality lab-grown versions of these materials.”

The final category of words of the year from business owners is full of a hopeful future. Olivia Howell, CEO of Fresh Starts Registry, jumped right into 2023 with magic as her word of the year. Olivia says, “I picked magic because when you are a founder, you have to have such a strong sense of belief in yourself, your product, and your journey – that sometimes, you need to surrender to the universe and remember that magic does exist, and it’s that magic that helps your creativity, your determination, and your motivation.” I, too, believe in magic and am thankful Olivia was willing to share this with us!

Taylor Kovar, CEO of TheMoneyCouple.com, said her word of the year is legacy, has been on her. “I have been thinking a lot lately about what kind of legacy I am building. Is it one of building people up or tearing them down? Am I serving my family and community or just taking? In 2023, I want to be sure that everything I do is done with the purpose of leaving a lasting legacy.” It’s also been on my mind quite a bit, too. 

Finally, Jordan McAuley of Contact Any Celebrity is flat-out excited, and that is their word of the year. Jordan said, “Advances in AI like ChatGPT and Dall-E have me all excited for 2023. This is just the beginning of how artificial intelligence will make our work lives easier.”

I’m thankful the business owners above were willing to share their words of the year with us. If you have a word of the year for 2023, for your life or business, I would love to hear it.

If you’d like to discuss this further, please get in touch with me.  I’m an engaging public speaker on this topic and may be a good fit for your next event. Finally, if you have not yet signed up for the BEE Awesome Brief (a weekly email from me), please do so.