Two years ago, we had no idea what we were stepping into.
Chasing Red Flags started on a long drive, talking about the messy parts of being human. The heartbreaks. The anxiety. The way you can feel lonely in a room full of people, the masks we wear to look like we have it together. We didn’t have investors, a business roadmap, or a master plan. We just had a shared mission: to help people feel seen, heard, and understood.
What began as a conversation became a brand. And somewhere along the way, that brand became a community. A movement. A place where people could breathe for a minute and say, “Me too.”
When we created Let’s Get Real, we thought we were designing a journal to help people reflect. But the truth is, we were helping ourselves too. Every prompt, every chapter, and every reflection brought up feelings we hadn’t named, patterns we hadn’t recognized, and moments we hadn’t actually allowed ourselves to process.
We’ve learned that getting real isn’t a one-time thing; it’s a lifelong practice.
Every January, we are bombarded with the idea of “New Year, New Me.” Start over. Start fresh. Leave everything behind. Reinvent yourself.
But here is what we now know: Growth does not mean becoming someone new. It means accepting and embracing who we really are.
We need to start listening to the one who has been there all along.
The version that has been tired of pretending.
The version who is learning how to set boundaries.
The version who is healing at her own pace.
The version that keeps showing up, even when it is hard.
That’s what Let’s Get Real is about: finding yourself, not fixing yourself. We do not grow by abandoning our past selves. We grow by honoring them. The red flags we once avoided become our roadmap home.
This past year has been a mix of incredible highs and humbling lows. We celebrated milestone moments that felt like dreams coming to life. We shared vulnerable stories on our podcast and in the media, hoping to make even one person feel less alone. We met people who told us that journaling helped them reconnect with themselves in ways they never thought possible, and those conversations stayed with us.
But we also had nights where we questioned everything. We experienced burnout, doubt, fear, and the kind of emotional exhaustion that forces you to sit with yourself and ask, “Are we strong enough to keep going?” We faced situations that tested our boundaries and our resilience. We had to remind ourselves that building something meaningful isn’t supposed to be easy, and that the hard moments are part of the work too.
And it was in those quiet, uncomfortable moments, we returned to our why. To the belief that real connection doesn’t come from pretending to be perfect, it comes from being honest about all of it: the joy, the heartbreak, the progress, and the setbacks.
Because getting real is not just what we ask of others. It’s what we ask of ourselves.
So as we step into a new year, we are not chasing a polished or “better” version of ourselves. We are honoring the real one. The one who is still learning, still growing, still evolving, without throwing away all the versions that brought us here.
Here is to the messy middles.
Here is to honest conversations.
Here is to the courage to keep showing up as we are.
Because maybe the goal was never to become someone new, but to stay true to who we are and trust the growth that happens along the way.
❤️
Teri and Ella
Co-Founders, Chasing Red Flags