Where do I start? Hmmm This year has been filled with interrogation, waiting, and remunerating on many of its aspects that I don't where to begin. I started off 2019 with a strong determination, an idea where I wanted to change my life and the lives of those who are very close to me. We know where we all ended but it wasn't an easy path to cross. I am Francois from hottopbest and this is my year in review.
Right now, I am writing this article on a DB bus who departed from Munich, Germany and making its way to Zurich, Switzerland. Our new home country. Who knew that one day this Canadian will be celebrating his first European Holiday in the beautiful city of Munich. My family and I have spent the last 8 days in Germany to learn more about their culture through their famous Christmas Markets, food and of course beer.
I was never the 'nomad type' of a person when I grew up, I was raised by a single mother who worked the hardest to raise her three boys to be respectable men in society. Raising three boys and having a steady job was the part where my mom had the most difficulty with, it's obviously hard to do it all at once and distributed on a schedule. So one of the reasons why we would never travel as a family. It was simply too expensive to support each other. I never had a real sense of traveling nor 'getting out of my comfort zone' until the age of 15 where I took my first airplane ride from Vancouver to Montreal. It was quite a monumental moment for me.
So how the hell have I got here? Let's just say that the first 6 months of 2019 have been 'looking myself in the mirror and asking myself'. What's next? But that's what most of us do right? We are always wondering 'What would be the next step?' 'What's the next side-project?' 'What should I be learning next?' For me (the least), I think I really needed a change in my life and where I was with my career. For me, I needed to get out of my 'comfort zone' which was my home country for the last 30+ years. I wrote an article about the 'why' titled: 'Reflecting on my move to Switzerland ??. Next year, I am planning a series of articles that will be a continuation of 'my experience living abroad' and more. Watch out for those!
Osore Lightroom Presets
A side-hustle that has seen its creation back at the end of 2018 right during the holiday time. It started as an idea that would take such a proportion that I would have never expected. Seriously. I shared a 'year in review' on my personal Instagram of some of my most popular 'posts' as you can see it below.
As mentioned on my Instagram post, I wanted to share some stats on the past year for Osore. Have in mind these stats based on little ads investment from my end. I will be honest, the past 4-5 months have been less spent on developing, building and yielding but I think it's cool to reflect on these numbers. It's opening doors to new concepts in the works.
- 15K online store visits
- 350+ orders filled
- 11K online store visits have been direct
- 7% social referrer like Instagram
- Osore Sararīman Presets is the best seller set
- 'osore lightroom presets download free' made it to the 'Google Search' hah!
Highlight hottopbest moment
For me, I think my greatest moment in 2019 has been hottopbest covering the Shanghai Auto Show' 19. I was delightfully invited by Geely / Lynk & Co team. It was my first time flying in China and it has been such a thrilling experience. It's definitely one of the highlights of my year as well. Being on the other side of the World and seeing its fast-paced life. It's something to live for and somehow I keep going back to that feeling.
Voilà! For those who didn't know, Abduzeedo has celebrated its 13 years since its creation by Fabio Sasso. It's huge for us and let's not forget its foundations. It's something we have been wanting and wishing to do more. In the meantime, Fabio shared something that reminds us of 'Stay Inspired'. Happy New Year. ⚡
