My last newsletter of the year is usually a recap of the milestones of the past 12 months. While we’ve had an eventful year here at Trillium, I’d like to take this time to give you a behind the scenes look at my personal year and thank the people who made it possible.
Many of you have been around for a while and you were here when I shared that I was finally hiring some help back in 2021. Well, the help made a huge difference in my workload and ability to address old projects that had been languishing on the back burner for years. But it took about 15 months of systematically handing things over until I finally reached a stage this summer when I could turn my attention to myself.
Getting Reacquainted With My Brain
I have been dealing with brain fog and cognitive decline for a couple of decades (yes, decades) and a few years ago it felt like it went over a cliff. From memory issues, to language processing, to sensory overload, my brain has been an addled mess for a very long time. If you’ve ever wondered why I don’t do live webinars or speak at conferences or show up in social media comments or take consulting clients, this is why.
Y’all, I finally had the wherewithal to get the right tests done and learned one of the major contributing factors… it’s a darn gluten sensitivity!
Apparently gluten has been causing inflammation 👏 in 👏 my 👏 brain👏 … what?!
So anyway, with a major diet overhaul and freeing up lots of time, I’m finally starting to see glimmers of my old brain again.
This has led to an extremely productive season for me personally. I was able to indulge my geekiness for all things productivity and do some massive mental and digital decluttering, overhaul my personal knowledge management system, and create new strategies for how to regulate my attention. I’ve got charts lol! And apparently I taught myself how to do CBT without realizing it.
All of this, combined with the removal of gluten, has been a game changer. In a matter of 3 months, it has eliminated my background anxiety completely, I’ve devoured lots of audiobooks (and book summaries ) and even completed the AMS Reading Certificate course (which was a major time commitment by the way.)
Does this mean you can expect a whole lot of new stuff from Trillium next year? I don’t know yet. At the moment my priority is to enjoy this stage of healing and see what emerges on the other side. I’m hoping that 2023 will finally be the year of Rest and Rhythm for me and Trillium… and naps, even more naps .
The People Who Make it Possible
I don’t think I can quite express the level of my gratitude for the wonderful folks who take care of so much of what you see from Trillium. It’s because of them that I’m getting my brain back without having to sacrifice this little company. In addition to the talented Montessori experts who create courses for Trillium, these are the people who actually make Trillium possible:
The Content Team
Our content team takes care of the mountain of writing that happens behind the scenes. Between 3 weekly newsletters, podcasts, blog articles, social media posts, course details and more, they handle it all!
Charlotte Peck is my right hand and oversees all of our newsletters, social media, course listings, promotions etc. etc.
Madeline Walk works on our Elementary newsletter, reviews the podcast, and writes many of our promotional emails.
Holly Earnest has been doing all the work on our Primary and Leadership newsletters… finding additional resources for you and writing all the descriptions!
Leanne Gray has been the gal behind the scenes for creating printables for the past few years. If you’re a member of HOKA you will have seen most of her work! (We will eventually get them up in the Trillium Shop too!)
Kelly Johnson helps us with any last minute video review and editing we may need to do for our courses.
Letty Rising, as you know, creates all of our elementary blog posts and hosts the Trillium Talks podcast
The Operations Team
Our operations team handles all the customer service queries that come in and make sure that all our tech and systems are running smoothly. I am reminded daily that Trillium is not as simple an operation as my brain likes to pretend it is. I did a recent audit of our tech stack and… um, we use over 30 tools to keep things running ’round here!
Candace Barnard knows the ins and outs of the questions you ask and the policies we have and makes sure we have efficient workflows for managing things.
Bianca Woodberry handles the majority of the emails that come in and makes sure you get a resolution to all your questions!
Brooke Wall, our newest team member, helps Bianca manage the inbox and various other tasks behind the scenes.
I love the fact that between all of us, we put in the equivalent of 2 full time people to keep Trillium running. Isn’t that cool? This means we all get to work on something meaningful and have time for other parts of our lives.
My Montessori Family
And I have to include my Montessori mentors and friends who regularly hold space for me to process my ideas, offer support and advice, collaborate on projects, and just make life fun: Tammy Oesting, Letty Rising, Jana Morgan Herman, Andy Lulka, Yuliya Fruman, Katherine Kabral, Ashley Speed, and Simone Davies 💜
And You…
I’d also like to thank all of you, for your kind support, your passion for Montessori, and being a treasured part of my journey. Without you, Trillium might not exist at all.
Coming up: I’ll be celebrating Trillium’s 10th blogiversary in January and will share some fun milestones with you then!
Until then, I hope you get to wrap up 2022 in cozy comfort with optimism for the year ahead.
Warmly,
Seemi
Seemi holds a Master's degree in education, and an AMS Early Childhood credential. She has twenty years of experience in Montessori as a teacher, school administrator, and school owner. Seemi is the founder of TrilliumMontessori.org.