Dec. 29, 2025

That Solo Life Looks Back at 2025

That Solo Life Looks Back at 2025
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That Solo Life Looks Back at 2025
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That Solo Life, Episode 327: That Solo Life Looks Back at 2025Episode Summary

As 2025 comes to a close, it's the perfect time to reflect on the trends, challenges, and bright spots that defined the year for communications professionals. In this special year-end episode, hosts Karen Swim and Michelle Kane look back at their favorite moments from the podcast and the industry. They discuss the rapid evolution of AI from a shiny new object to a practical tool, highlighting the returning emphasis on the human element in communications. The conversation also addresses the rise of new social platforms like Threads, the power of community in overcoming adversity, and the growing trend of PR pros sharing their knowledge and experience more openly. Join them for a thoughtful recap of the year's key lessons and a hopeful look forward to what 2026 may bring for solo practitioners.

Episode Highlights
  • [02:18] The Evolution of AI: How perceptions of AI have shifted from a job replacement threat to a valuable tool that requires human intelligence and creativity.
  • [04:24] Favorite Guest Moments: Remembering standout conversations with guests like Melissa Vela-Williamson on branding and bravery, and Jess Sato on finding your "big idea."
  • [06:47] The Rise of Threads: Why Threads became a refreshing and rebellious bright spot in the social media landscape for communicators this year.
  • [09:31] The Power of Community: A discussion on how challenges in 2025 strengthened professional and personal communities, leading to more connection and mutual support.
  • [12:10] A Shift Towards Analog?: Observing a growing desire for in-person connection and tangible experiences in a digital world.
  • [13:17] PR Pros on LinkedIn: Celebrating the trend of practitioners opening up, sharing processes, failures, and wins to help the entire industry learn and grow.
  • [15:20] A Look Ahead to 2026: Carrying the lessons of connection and transparency into the new year.
Related Episodes & Additional Information

In this episode, Karen and Michelle mention several past guests who provided valuable insights throughout the year:

Host & Show Info

That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, founder of Words For Hire and President of Solo PR, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and advice for solo PR pros navigating today’s dynamic professional landscape.

Thank you for listening to our final episode of 2025! If you found value in our conversations this year, please help us grow by sharing this episode with a colleague. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform. We'll be back in 2026 with more great guests and insights to help you thrive. Happy New Year

That Solo Life, Episode 327: That Solo Life Looks Back at 2025

Michelle Kane (00:11):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros, marketers, and all kinds of communicators. Just like me, Michelle Kane, with Voice Matters. And my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey Karen, how are you?
Karen Swim (00:28):
Hello, Michelle. I am at this point ready to just have a little downtime and not have to do all of the things, so I'm great. How are you doing?
Michelle Kane (00:41):
Loving that. Absolutely, absolutely. For our listeners, this is the last episode of 2025. I did not queue up a sound this time. Sorry. Sorry, I was, but it is that time of year when you are allowed to let that one thing drop off the list. I always find myself looking at those last things to get on board, and it always happens that you're like, yeah, okay. We're just going to push that into 2026. But while we're doing that, we're going to take a little look back at 2025, chat about some of our great guests who took their valuable time to join us, and share all of their great knowledge with you. Some of the topics, the trends, and yeah, just have a little look back just like all the other shows are doing as their people are off. But we're here
Karen Swim (01:39):
And this won't be a you’re this life age, sorry, good on you, Spotify for getting everybody talking this year, but we will not be doing that. We will just be sharing our favorite moments, not only from the show, but just some of our favorite moments or things that made us think this year, or just things that we still remember because a year is packed with a lot of activity and we forget a lot of what happened. Sometimes I'll read stuff and I'm like, wow, that happened this year too.
Michelle Kane (02:17):
How true is that? Well, I think one of my favorite things is that AI's not going anywhere, but I am really excited about the perception evolution of it, because even some CEOs are regretting laying off people due to AI, and now they're saying, oh, we need people. And it seems like we're getting closer to people acknowledging it's a tool that we need humans to use intelligently, creatively. And in fact, I did see a news report last week that said even universities are now, rather than going, Oh, oh AI they're kind of like we saw them do with entrepreneurship, now they're crafting curriculum around it because they realize we can't hide from it, as we've been saying on this podcast for years. Can't hide from it, need to master it, know how to use it, know how to make your days better. And when I don't say days better, I just mean make us better comms pros.
Karen Swim (03:26):
So
Michelle Kane (03:26):
That's exciting.
Karen Swim (03:28):
I think that we predicted on this podcast, I'll have to go back and look, but I'm pretty sure that we said, and this was based on a lot of other smart people, really predicting the same thing that we were in the new and shiny phase where it was like AI, AI, AI and people made early decisions like, oh, we can just use AI We can get rid of people. But we always knew that it was going to flip, and eventually there was going to be this balance of humans and AI. I will say that it happened faster than I thought that it would, and I don't think that we have fully reached maturity yet, but we're there. And so that is a good moment to remember that how quickly, first of all, AI popped up and was used everywhere, but then just as quickly how we're figuring out where humans are in the equation. So that is exciting.
Michelle Kane (04:22):
Yeah,
Karen Swim (04:24):
Definitely.
Michelle Kane (04:25):
Definitely.
Karen Swim (04:25):
One of my favorite moments this year were all of the great people, as you said, that have joined us. So I can remember Melissa Vela Williamson coming on and talking about branding and bravery. That episode still resonates with me and just her giving such good advice. I've quoted things from that episode to other colleagues and talked about how branding is part of our service and how when we show up and we use our voices, we actually are opening the door for those behind us. So her advice was so spot on and she's so smart and doing so many wonderful things. So that was a favorite moment for me.
Michelle Kane (05:11):
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I mean, we've had so many wonderful guests join us, and it's so humbling and exciting that really you want to be on that great. I mean, I think of Jess Sato, who is the big idea, and just kind of taking that time to think about, oh yeah, what am I doing? How's that going? Checking in with yourself and maybe reevaluate, fine tune, change your course. It doesn't matter, but just super smart. That was definitely among the high points for me. I think all our guests have been incredible, and so shout out to all of you. Thank you for joining us and sharing your wisdom and insights with us and all of our listeners.
Karen Swim (05:59):
Yeah, shameless plug, we have some great guests kicking off the year in 2026, so please stay subscribed and stay tuned because we're excited about that. I think Jess was one of my favorites too, and again, that was an episode that completely resonated that I've thought about, gone back to listen to really, because her approach was so beautiful, and even sharing her story and the evolution of her own business and getting there was just phenomenal. So I really liked that as well. We had Nicole Lauren on as well, and she talked about social media and social media audits, and I think one of my favorite things in the social media spaces here has been threads.
Michelle Kane (06:52):
Yeah,
Karen Swim (06:52):
Surprising. Definitely. It's been different enough that it's a refreshing little toll that I feel like the content that you share there is completely different than what you share in other places. So threats has been a little bright spot. It's almost been a way to just be a little rebellious, to be a little loud, to share things that don't quite fit on other platforms. So shout out to Threads. Yeah,
Michelle Kane (07:21):
It's
Karen Swim (07:21):
Meta, but it's so different from their other properties.
Michelle Kane (07:25):
Yeah, they're very true. Very true. And hopefully they don't catch onto that and ruin it. But yeah, I mean, it's kind of become my go-to before that other place. That was great, before it wasn't and went away where you're thinking, okay, news is happening. Who's going to have the latest dish?
(07:44):
And half the time it's the journalists and subject matter experts who are hanging out on threads, which is fantastic. So it's nice to have that kind of a resource as well. It was interesting to see as the year went on of the horse race of Blue Sky and Mastodon and all the others, which was going to really take hold. I do find myself hitting up blue sky sometimes, maybe solely for my general hospital, it scoops, but hashtag gh, oh, what's going to happen? Sorry, that's my brain candy. But anyway, yes, I agree about threats. Yeah.
(08:28):
Oh my goodness. And I've been pleasantly surprised, although it's definitely been an up and down year, right? There's been a lot of loss amongst us, personal, professional. The client scape is as unpredictable as the business scape, but we do both kind of see hope coming through, cracking through, and so we're expecting the opportunity to remain. We just might have to look for it a little harder, maybe a little differently, but just got to keep our collective chins up and keep doing what we do because as we have seen for the many snafus that have happened throughout the year that I, of course don't come to mind directly. People still need people who know how to communicate well and effectively. They just might not realize it at first.
Karen Swim (09:27):
Yeah,
Michelle Kane (09:28):
Yeah,
Karen Swim (09:30):
That's so true.
Michelle Kane (09:31):
I
Karen Swim (09:31):
I think another favorite moment for me this year was the pressure and challenges. Adversity definitely strengthens you. Grapes don't produce oil unless, or olives don't produce oil, sorry, unless they're crushed. When you press them, that's when the oil comes. And it's been one of those years and I've seen people be strengthened by other people and really commit to people in a way that's really different. So
(10:04):
I'm seeing communities really like link hands and get things done and understand that need. And so that's really been beautiful. It's just the amount of calls that I had this year just for touching base, just for staying connected, just for, Hey, what do you need? How can I help? It has just been, it's been a light in what's been a really challenging year, and I'm seeing that more and more, and I love that. I love that we are helping one another and that we're there for one another and we're showing up in our physical communities as well as our industry community. So that's been a favorite moment out of challenge. People are still good, and we still do, there's still a contingent of us who care for others, and we're finding each other and we're being supportive.
Michelle Kane (11:01):
Yeah, it's so true. I see it all around on a professional level. It's so heartening to know that because we're sharing these wacky experiences of the ups and downs of this year, we can just touch base and go, Hey, what do you need? How can we help each other grow? And even just across our communities, and even that, these wild times I think are causing us to want that face-to-face in person, or I might've scrolled by a year or two ago, but no, I'm going to message that person. I've seen it so much in my local community groups on social media. It's just you learn of a person in need, you reach out. The community solves the problem. Oh, hey, I have size two toddler clothing. What do you need? You're welcome to it just all around. And it does, it helps you realize, okay, humans, I think we're going to be okay.
(12:10):
It's just sometimes maybe we just need a little shakeup to realize that we need to take things from screen to in person, and if these alleged 20, 26 trends are true, that things are going more analog, we'll see. In fact, I saw an ad for an analog market coming up in January somewhere in my region where it's only going to have things that are tangible for sale. I'm like, okay. But yeah, and I think in general, just looking back, it's wonderful to have so many good things to look back on because let's face it, at the start of this year, we just did not know, and we still don't know, but I think along the way, we have all developed a way to focus on connecting. And as a wonderful relative of mine always says, you do the best you can with what you got. And
Karen Swim (13:11):
I
Michelle Kane (13:12):
I think no one excels at that more than people in the PR profession.
Karen Swim (13:16):
I agree.
Michelle Kane (13:18):
And
Karen Swim (13:19):
I've noticed this year, another favorite moment is seeing how many PR people are active on LinkedIn and really opening up the curtain. For a long time, I felt like we kept things close to the vest. I never did. And I think solos tended not to do that because we landed in a community that was open and generous, and we came to understand that ideas can be shared and knowledge can be shared, but it didn't work its way across our whole landscape because of our beginnings. But I love that. I love people sharing how they practice, what they're doing, analysis of campaigns because we learn from one another, but we're also inspired by one another and motivated by one another. So that's been a favorite moment of seeing how many people are being more vocal and are sharing their processes and their failures, their challenges, and their wins on LinkedIn specifically, where I really see it the most.
Michelle Kane (14:18):
Yeah, yeah. No, that's phenomenal. In fact, in my local chamber, we just started a cohort of sorts. We're meeting quarterly all marketing pros from the region who were members and just talking shop. We had one meeting so far, and it was great because it was part learning and part, Oh, yeah, I know. They think we can do all these things at this. It was just fabulous. It was part therapy, part inspiration, and it is good because really it's trite, but we are all in all this together, so why not from each other? There's enough for everybody to go around. I've always believed that, and what's meant for you isn't meant for me, and so on and so on. And I know I have to fight my inner inclination to, I thin,k because we are so behind the scenes sometimes it's easy to keep ourselves there. No, no, no. Just behind the scenes, I just do the things quietly and cash the checks and it's fine. But no, we definitely do need to step out every now and again, so we could carry that into 2026. I think that would be phenomenal.
Karen Swim (15:26):
I could not agree with you more, and that's a great note to end on.
Michelle Kane (15:31):
I think so. Right. Well, hey, thanks for spending the year with us. We hope it's been worthwhile to you, and if it has, please share this around. Give us a rating. We love those five stars. I know I'm being needy. It's okay. I'm not normally. So let's do it on the last day, and please join us next year when we have a lot of great new info, great new guests in store for you. Happy New Year, happy holidays, and until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

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