One moment, you’re a child on the floor near the Christmas tree, surrounded by siblings, wrapped in the quiet certainty that someone older and steadier is holding everything together. Next, you’re grown—trying your best to recreate the magic, exhausted, determined, and hoping no one notices how tired you are because the moment matters more than you do.

If you spot a UPS truck racing against the holiday clock this month, there’s a chance Matt Abramowski is behind the wheel.

During the busiest season of the year, Matt pulls double duty—serving as a seasonal UPS driver while continuing his work at MARQUEE Creatives as our CRM and Data Systems Specialist. It’s a demanding schedule, but one that perfectly reflects Matt’s work ethic, reliability, and willingness to step up when things get hectic…qualities our nonprofit clients benefit from year-round.

As one year comes to a close and another begins, it’s natural to look back at the previous year to review your successes and, yes, your failures. For example, in 2025, I was able to stay fairly consistent in posting to my Substack, with over 40 published posts! Woohoo! That said, I only added 78 new subscribers, which is 4,922 short of my goal for the year. Oh, well. At least I learned a valuable lesson: I need to lower my expectations.

I’m excited to share one of my most enjoyable, creatively freeing projects: a landing page for the local tattoo shop Upper Level Tattoo. This project was a fun departure from my usual work, giving me the chance to break the mold and lean into something truly playful. I’ve been contemplating my first tattoo for years, and while I’m still deciding, I’m pretty sure I know where I’d go—the talent at Upper Level Tattoo is exceptional.

Well, it’s November. And you know what that means: TIME TO PANIC ABOUT CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!!

Relax. There’s still plenty of time to get everything on your list! (Unless, that is, you need something that’s made in China. Then you’re plumb out of luck.)

When you run a business—especially a small, community-rooted one—you don’t often stop to reflect. You’re moving, planning, responding, juggling, dreaming, managing, and delivering… sometimes all in the same hour. So when VoyageOhio reached out for an interview about my journey and the evolution of our firm, I did something I rarely do: I paused.