#196 – April 2026 Income Report

Shannon Mattern (00:01.528)

Well, hello there and welcome to the Profitable Web Designer podcast. And today I am bringing you my April 2026 income report. So I do these income reports every single month to break down how much the business spent, how much we made, and all of the lessons learned along the way. And even though I'm not running a freelance web design business anymore, I always say like how we think about money and

spending and pricing and all of those things really influences a lot of how our business runs and whether we create wanted or unwanted results. And so that's why I do these income reports every single month. One for myself so that I have a reason to really take a look at what happened the past month and reflect on it and learn from it so I don't continue repeating the same mistakes.

but also to like help you start, you know, learning different and new ways to think about money and pricing and spending and inflow and outflow in your business so that you can create the results that you want. So normally I am joined for these episodes by Erica Nash, our client success coordinator at the web designer Academy. This month she is offline on the day that I am recording this. So I'm running solo today.

And I did not pre-write this. So I normally will take time if I'm doing a solo episode to pre-write a script, just because I seem to like think better through writing and I'm less, let's say, thinking out loud and kind of rambly. But guess what? If this episode is me thinking out loud and kind of rambly, you're kind of getting my real time processing of what happened

in April, so just bear with me and I'm going to just kind of give you the, real time thoughts as I am breaking down inflow for April outflow and all of the lessons learned along the way. And I laugh because I learned a big fat lesson in April that had been knocking on my door for a long time. And I kept.

Shannon Mattern (02:28.158)

ignoring it until it became unignorable. And I will tell you all about that in this month's income report. if you have been a longtime listener of the podcast, before I dive into this, I would love for you to leave me a rating and review anywhere you listen to this, whether it's Apple podcasts, Spotify, those are the top two places people listen, it really helps.

other people to discover this show and see if it's worth pressing play on one of the episodes. So your rating and reviews would mean the world to me as if you've been listening to this podcast and you've gotten any value out of it. I've had the pleasure recently of meeting several listeners who have just told me the most wonderful things about

their experience listening to the podcast and how much it helps them. And it's truly so meaningful to me to know that it's having an impact and to like see that you are an actual human and not just a download number. So thank you so much for taking the time to leave a rating and review. So let's go ahead and dive into the April numbers. So our inflow in April was

Shannon Mattern (03:56.426)

$22,809.76. And that inflow came from Web Designer Academy payment plans, Next Level Mastermind payment plans, Web Designer Academy and Next Level Mastermind renewal payment plans. So, you know, a chunk of that is recurring revenue that I can count on every single month because when people join on a payment plan, then I project out

in the future, like, okay, so I'm committed to receive this much money in these future months because this person joined on a payment plan. And then I'm able to plan out my budget and my spending and all of those things based on future committed revenue. So because Web Designer Academy is not a membership.

It is a one-year program, same for next levels. They're both one-year programs and I offer incentives to people who decide to make a single payment. But I also know that that's not possible for everybody. So I offer pay as you go options and payment plans, but it's not like a membership that people can dip in and dip out of, which makes it great for me because then I'm able to project future revenue and look to future months to see

Okay, how much is already committed to come in in future months? And what's the gap between what I call my minimum baseline revenue is? And, you know, what's the gap between what's already been committed to us and what I need to cover expenses, which is my salary, Erica's salary.

all the tools that we use to run the business and operate the business, like web hosting, all of the subscriptions, all of the things, which I'll talk about more in Outflow. Like taxes, setting aside money for taxes, insurance, like all business insurance, payroll taxes, all of the things that it requires to run the business. so that's the first thing that I look at every month when I'm planning out my budget.

Shannon Mattern (06:04.725)

is what's already committed to come in from students who chose to enroll on the payment plan. So I like that future recurring revenue through payment plans because it really helps me plan out my year. And then we also had two new web designer academy students and one new next level mastermind student join in April, which I used to think I have this, I'll talk more about this in a little bit, but I have,

this hangover from COVID times where we had high enrollments in like January, February, March in like 2021 and 2022. And I keep expecting that to happen. But the truth is 2023, 2024 and 2025, Q1 has been our lowest enrollments of the year.

And so 2026, when I looked back at Q1 and I was like, had zero new enrollments. Oh, sorry. We had one new enrollment in Q1 of 2021. I think on like March 31st, the last day of the quarter, I look back at that and I'm like, red alert, red alert, there's a problem here. But it's because my brain keeps looking back to a period of time.

That no longer exists. The circumstances of that time period no longer exists. so truly data is your best friend when you're looking at revenue to identify like seasonal patterns and different things. And I really have to pull those two years out and stop trying to recreate those two years because the circumstances of the world are just so different. So, that's what I.

continue to remind myself. And so when I look at, you know, April's new enrollments, I'm like, okay, like that's what an actual year looks like for us. So, an actual quarter like April looks like for us, right? Is like people who came to the summit in March and just heard about us for the first time are people who are finding the podcast because it's being distributed more widely are starting to say,

Shannon Mattern (08:28.447)

Okay. Yeah. Now I'm ready to move forward and get some support. So, you know, it's one of those things where you plant seeds and they grow when they grow and you have to water them and nurture them. And you just don't know when they're going to, sprout, but you have to believe that they will sprout and not all of them will, but that's okay. You still keep putting the, effort and energy into it. So.

Inflow in April, $22,809.76, Web Designer Academy payment plans, new enrollments, I think some affiliate commissions for things that I participated in, but it's a pretty standard month in terms of inflow. And our minimum baseline revenue that we need to bring in to run the Web Designer Academy, to pay myself, to pay Erica,

to set aside money for taxes, to pay all of our operating expenses for tools and all of those things is about $20,000 a month. So about 10,000 of that is mine and Erica's salary plus taxes and stuff like that. The other 10,000 gets broken down between marketing expenses. So what I pay to produce this podcast, what I pay for help with.

strategy and conversion rate optimization and like those types of things and expanding our reach and getting more in front of the people that we want to get in front of. I invest a significant amount of resources into marketing operations, paying my accountant, paying my financial strategist, paying business insurance, like all of those things. And then the tools that I use to operate the business, like our tech stack is probably around 2000.

a month for all of the little pieces and parts that we use to run the business. But I think of those as like kind of another employee, right? Because there are so many things that TechStack does for us and automates and all of those things. So our outflow every month, just planned outflow before any money comes in the door.

Shannon Mattern (10:47.221)

is about $20,000 a month to operate this business. And that includes paying myself a salary because this is my job. Right. This is I'm a W2 employee of the company and it's Erica's job. She's a W2 employee of the company. She also has a side business, not a side business. She has a business on the side of her work with the web designer Academy, but she's a, she gets a paycheck every

twice a month, just like I do. So we have to bring in 20,000, about 20,000 a month to cover all of those things. So our inflow in April 22, 809.76 did exceed our normal outflow, but in April, our actual outflow was $26,314.90.

And I pulled 3,505.5 our reserves to pay a big fat tax bill in April to the IRS. We actually owed money this year and I expected it. It was not unexpected, but what I didn't expect was how much stress my nervous system was going to feel paying that money. So,

I talked to you guys last month in my March income report where I was like, yeah, we hosted a summit this month and I started a new podcast. for, for any kind of freelancer it's called, anchor high, and you can find it on any podcast, anywhere you listen to wherever you're listening to this podcast, just search anchor high Shannon modern, and you'll find it. But I also started a tick tock and.

The whole point of starting the TikTok was like, what other things can I do for the web designer academy to generate awareness, like top of funnel awareness. So when you think about marketing, mass marketing, traffic marketing, which is what I do for this business, which is completely different, by the way, than what you need to do as a service provider.

Shannon Mattern (13:05.367)

for your web design business. You do not need to do traffic marketing strategies to grow your web design business, by the way. So when you hear me talk about this, please know that like I still stand by the pillar of our Web Designer Academy marketing strategy that you do not need social media or other traffic marketing strategies to get clients and market your web design business. So please hear me when I say this.

And when I share with you like how much time and money and things that I invest in marketing and strategies and tactics, I try it's not because you need to go try those yourself. My business model is different. I am running a, a program that fits best for one to many marketing, one podcast, many ears, one speaking engagement, many people, one piece of content online.

many people read that one tick tock, many people see it. So, it's a different, I have a different business model. So just know that. And, know, what we teach inside of the web designer Academy is one to one marketing, and not waiting on referrals, being proactive and building relationships, adding value to those relationships. asking.

in the appropriate place in the relationship when you've built the trust, which can happen faster than you think, especially in this world of artificial everything, a real human to human builds trust way faster than it can be built online through content and portfolio and all of this stuff. So little tangent there, but back to my tax bill. The last TikTok I recorded

In April was me talking about the tax bill that I had just paid. And it was like 11,600 and something something dollars. And I remember when our CPA was like, Shannon and Floyd, your taxes are complete. Here's a video of me going over everything. You do owe the federal government 11,600 and whatever, whatever dollars. And I was like,

Shannon Mattern (15:31.47)

clutching my pearls basically. Because I was just like, oh my God, what did I do wrong? Right? What did I do wrong? Now, I had expected because I had a profit in the fourth quarter of 2025, and that my business actually made money last year for the first time in a couple years, I had a bad 2023, a better 2024. And in 2025, like I think I had a loss in 23 broke even in 24.

and actually profited in 25. And I didn't pay quarterly estimated taxes in 2025 because I was like, I think I'm going to break even again. I didn't end up breaking even again. I ended up with a profit. I could have chosen to make one quarterly estimated payment in 2025. I didn't have to. I chose to keep the cash for cash flows sake. And I knew when it was going to come time to

do taxes that I was going to owe. I was going to owe because of that profit. And I figured it was going to be about $5,000. And I had the money. But then when we, had it like sitting aside, set aside. But then when it came back as $11,000, I immediately was like, my gosh, what did I do wrong? I must have done something wrong. I must have made a mistake. I should have.

I should have known better. Like I immediately started thinking that I made a mistake. I had done something wrong that Floyd was just going to be like, Shannon, you're completely incompetent running this business. Like my mind just went to, I did something wrong. People are going to be mad at me. and I don't like, where's this money going to come from? And so I'm in like a kind of a panic mode.

when we found out and we found out in like, in early March that, we were going to owe this money. So it wasn't like I found out that in April, I knew, and then we get that to the end of the video and Nick Chandra's like Nick Chandra Moran of exceptional tax services is my CPA. was like, so Shannon, part of this is because you had a profit in the business. And then the other part is that Floyd isn't having enough taxes taken out of his.

Shannon Mattern (17:57.303)

paycheck, so have him check with his HR department and make sure that his, W four, which is the form here in the U S that you fill out for your employer to have like your taxes taken out of your paycheck, make sure that that's like, filled out properly. And then he should have more coming out of his paycheck to cover that. And I was just like, so I didn't mess up. I didn't mess anything up because I was just like,

I don't know. It's a thing that I do. I take responsibility for way too much and I try to prevent people being mad at me or upset with me. So as soon as I heard that number, was like, Floyd, it's okay. The business can cover it. I was just thinking that he was going to think that I didn't know how to run a business. I've been running this business for 10 years.

Well, 12 years now, I started this business in 2014. I have been, uh, I quit my day job in 2018 to run this business full time. And the business has been an S corp and I've been an employee of it since 2020. Um, I think I know how to run a business. I think I know how to operate it. I think I know how to do all of the things properly yet. still question myself and I still have this.

thing in the back of my mind that I'm somehow harming our family because I don't have a that I'm not employed by someone else who's handling all those things. And I'm just like, it is time to let go of that. Most days I don't even think that I would believe that I didn't know how to run a business, right? Most days, I'm so confident that of course I know how to run a business. But what my brain makes

an unexpected outcome mean? Like my brain likes to make an unexpected outcome mean that I don't know how to run a business. When I do know how to run a business, unexpected things happen and I just deal with unexpected things and I don't make it mean that I don't know what I'm doing. And in fact, that unexpected thing literally had nothing to do with me whatsoever. Like actually what I thought was going to happen, happened exactly how it was supposed to happen.

Shannon Mattern (20:25.652)

And so what we did was we paid the part of our taxes that he, you know, that we owed like because of his paycheck configuration out of our personal savings. And then we paid the other part out of the business that I had earmarked for that. But to just back up a little bit, January, February, and March, because I had this

I don't know. probably have seasonal affective disorder, by the way. Like I probably do. I haven't been diagnosed. I haven't talked to my doctor or my therapist about it, but I live in Ohio. It gets really cold here in the winter. Ohio is basically like gray and gloomy all winter long. We don't get a whole lot of sun. And I would swear to you that I don't have.

Seasonal affective disorder. Ask me January through March. I'm gonna tell you I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. That's like my Motto is that I'm fine But my good friend Alicia st. Germain has pointed out to me several years now since she's known me that in that season I go through something she was like you are

you're really hard on yourself. You work way extra too hard. You're running a summit during that time. So you're overworking like crazy. She's like, you're probably not getting enough vitamin D, you're not sleeping well. But because your nervous system fear responses fight, you just power through it like

It's normal to work that much. She's like, it's not normal. what you're going through is not normal. And she's like, your personality changes, but it happens. She's like, and you don't even realize it. And I'm like, upon reflection, I have to have like, when I'm in it, I don't know I'm in it. I would swear to you that I'm not in it. And I would tell you that I'm fine. Once I'm out of it.

Shannon Mattern (22:48.554)

and I have a little space and some hindsight, I'm like, I was totally in it. Like I was absolutely in it. I couldn't see that I was in it. I can see why I would have sworn that I wasn't in it. And I, and I was, I was like in a hyper overwork mode from probably December through.

the last day that I posted a TikTok on my account because what happened on that day, I think it was like April 17th. So I paid the tax bill on April 15th and then I looked at my reserves. So I always talk to you guys about how, you know, my inflow is this, my outflow is this, and I either added money to my reserves or I removed money from my reserves. And I like to keep that reserve.

Um, at about $30,000. Um, that's, I wish it was about 60. It used to be 60 in the good old days. Um, trying to build it back up to there where it's like, three months of runway for the business, but for about the past, um, two or three years, my reserves hover at about 30,000 where I'm like, okay, I've got like about a month and a half of, um, runway for.

making sure that I have enough to cover operating expenses and that runway stresses me out. Like the way I shouldn't say the runway stresses me out. The way I think about that runway creates the unwanted result of creates the feeling of stress, which creates an unwanted result for me. When I feel stressed, the unwanted result is I work harder to try to close the gap.

to try to make as much money as fast as I can to make that, to put more in the reserves so that the runway is longer so that I don't feel like it could all fall apart tomorrow. Well, guess what? That is actually creating the outcome of a shorter runway. Our thoughts are so powerful. They, they're there. I can't tell you how much your thoughts influence.

Shannon Mattern (25:15.948)

your results. I cannot emphasize it enough. And when you believe everything you think, and you operate from those thoughts,

you're going to create wanted or unwanted results. And I was creating some unwanted results by being in fight or flight. And I was just basically like working twice as hard and creating the same outcome and result. And what does that lead to? That leads to burnout guys, that leads to burnout. and so like I said, when I'm in it, I don't see it.

I won't even listen to my colleagues who are trying to tell me to slow down or who are trying to ask me if I'm okay. People will be like, are you still seeing your therapist? And I'm like, no, I'm good. Like the clue to me that I'm not good should be when people are like, are you still seeing your therapist? That means I'm not okay.

But I don't believe that I'm not okay. I think that I have unlimited capacity to run a summit, start a micro podcast, which has a couple episodes a week, start a TikTok, take back writing all of my newsletters, take on a bunch of private coaching clients, and still run the whole web designer Academy business as usual. Well, guess what? The last day that I posted the TikTok, that TikTok on my account, it was about five o'clock.

In my office, I was like, I don't even know what I was doing, but I like picked up a box from under my desk and I felt very like slightly lightheaded for a second. And then my heart rate just like, like my heart started pounding and going pounding really, really, really, really fast. And I looked down at my Apple watch and it's at like 220 beats permanent.

Shannon Mattern (27:25.996)

And I'm like, I know what this is because back in Jan or back in November, probably like October, November, I had started experiencing this, like these arrhythmias, right? And I had gone to my doctor and I saw my, I saw a cardiologist, I wore a heart rate monitor. And it happened at the next level mastermind retreat in Destin, Florida, like on the last day that my heart just went from normal.

like 60 beats per minute to like 180 and just wouldn't come down on its own. But I have family members that have experienced that. I was not worried. I was just like, I'm just going to wait it out if it doesn't. And I hear myself now, by the way. Just know, I hear myself. But I was like, I'll just wait it out. It'll be fine. If it's not fine tomorrow, I'll go to an urgent care. But it was. It was fine the next day.

But I promised that when I got back, I would go see my doctor and I did. And they set me up with a heart rate monitor, which I wore for a couple of weeks. saw a cardiologist. was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, which both my parents have like family members have had. They had it treated, had like procedures to correct it. So I was like, no big deal. I know what this is very mild, in terms of how bad it could be. And.

I talked to my doctor and, know, it was just like, we're just going to like watch this monitor it. and like, if you have any more episodes that aren't corrected by like a couple of like things that you could do to like reset your, like breathing exercises and just certain things you can do to try to like, get it to reset up on its own.

If that happens again, then you need to go to the emergency room. So fast forward to April. That week, I think I had just recorded the March income report with Erica. I just paid the taxes. I'm looking at my reserves. We had not had, it had been like people hadn't enrolled in the Web Designer Academy.

Shannon Mattern (29:45.507)

for April yet, those, those two new web designer Academy students and one new next level people, don't think that they had enrolled yet. And I'm just kind of looking at things with a very not good mindset, feeling very, very stressed. feeling like this runway that I have is going to like run out fast. I don't know what, like just very not hopeful, very not optimistic thoughts that are not going to create.

Wanted results, thoughts that are going to create unwanted results and really just the unwanted result for me is like powering through and not asking for help and putting it all on my shoulders and thinking that my shoulders can hold it. And it's kind of like, I, I relate it to that, story of the frog in the pot of boiling water, right? You put the frog in the water. That's like matches its body temperature.

And as the water heats up, the frogs body temperature heats up and the frog doesn't realize that it's boiling. I would say that that was me. Q one halfway through, through April. So I'm in my office. I stand up, my heart rate jumps and I'm looking at it it's like 220. And I'm like, that's pretty high. Um, that's not 180. That's significantly higher than 180. That's pretty high. My husband's out of town. I'm going to call my sister.

and just tell her what's up and you know, so I call her and she was like, you need to go to the emergency room. And I was like, it'll probably come back down. I hear myself by the way. But I didn't have any shortness of breath or chest pain or anything other than this like super fast heart rate. And so I was like, well, let me call. She was like, call my friends that live just 10 minutes away.

who have told me if you ever need anything when your husband's out of town, we got you, we'll take care of it. So I call them and they're like, we are coming right away. We'll be there in five minutes or 10 minutes. So I was like, thank you guys. I, you know, I don't want to bother you. I'm sure it's nothing, but the doctor told me that if this ever happened again, I need to go to the ER so that they can, you know, treat it or whatever.

Shannon Mattern (32:12.444)

And so they get here and I get in the car and I'm still checking on my Apple watch and my Apple watch has like a ECG function, which will like actually like measure how it's beating and stuff. so I get in the truck and I was like, thank you guys. I'm so sorry. I don't want to bother you. they're like, where do you want to go? And I'm like, Ohio state downtown. you know, because it's one of like the best cardiac.

Shannon Mattern (32:51.08)

I kind of outside of Columbus. And so the whole time, heart rate's above 220. And I'm just checking it and I'm like, guys, it's going to, it's going to flip back to normal by the time we get there. So if it's normal by the time we get there, is it okay if you guys just take me home?

And they are both looking at me like, you're insane. So my friend tells me later, she was like, you're acting like we're going to let you not go in. And she's like, and you were just being so normal. Like nothing was wrong. And you kept apologizing to us for inconveniencing us. And I was like, well, yeah, I felt like I was inconveniencing you. And she's just like, do you hear yourself? And I'm like, oh, OK.

But I didn't hear myself at the time, right? So I was so in it. So anyway, I go in, they triage me, check my heart rate. And then they're like, okay, yeah, we're gonna admit you, or we're gonna move forward to the next step, which is the waiting room. And so I can just look back and I'm laughing at how much denial I was in.

that anything was even wrong with me. I'm like, I know what this is. It's fine. it'll just go back to what it was and business as usual, and I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. and I'm sure that's probably like partly me being in denial, partly your brain protecting you because it doesn't want you to think anything's like wrong. So I'm sitting in the ER and I overhear some people talking about how they've been there for like seven hours. So I tell my friends, I was like, listen,

I don't want you guys to have to wait here for forever. I'm fine. And why don't you guys just go and get dinner? by the time they call me back or anything, my husband will be, he's flying home tonight. He'll be here. He can come and pick me up and take me home. And they're just like.

Shannon Mattern (35:02.56)

whatever. So they, they're like, fine, we'll go, we'll go get some food, but you call us if anything changes. So I expect to be sitting there for hours and I'm just still checking my heart rate. expect to be sitting there for hours and then they call me back and like put me in a room. And then the nurse is like, here, this aspirin and whatever. And I, that's the moment where I was just like, this actually might be serious.

This actually might be serious that I'm like not still sitting in the ER and that she's asking me to chew aspirin. And then I looked at her and I was like, am I having a heart attack? And she's like, well, that's what we're trying to figure out, honey. So just chew this aspirin. I'm going to give you some magnesium. We're going to do this. We're going to do that. They took a bunch of ran a bunch of tests and I was not having a heart attack.

but I was having tachycardia and like the blood tests came back that my levels of this one enzyme or protein or something was, were high and they want to, when that's rising, you're having like an active quote unquote cardiac event. And I was just like, wait a minute, what the F?

I'm having an active cardiac, like what is happening here? And so, you know, they're asking me all the questions. Do you have chest pain? Do this, do that? I'm hooked up to like a thousand wires. I'm like, well, I wouldn't call it pain. I was like, I feel a sensation here, but what I call it pain, probably not pain. it pressure? I don't know, but I feel something. And yeah, like in my left shoulders, like it's kind of, is it pain? wouldn't like, I'm just dismissing every.

single sign that something is wrong with me. And so they're hooked up to, I'm hooked up to all the EKG wires and like the IV and all the things. And, know, they're taking a bunch of blood and all the stuff. And the nurse is like, have one rule. She was like, you have to call me if you need to get up to go to the bathroom. She was like, you're hooked up to all these wires. I don't need you ripping wires out. I don't need you tripping. She was like, push this button. If you need to get up and go to the restroom.

Shannon Mattern (37:30.667)

I was like, got it. can, such a good rule follower. can follow rules. So I'm laying there and they're like coming in, taking blood, coming in, checking on me, like coming in, whatever. And I'm hearing like all this other stuff going on in the ER because I'm in like a love, like a trauma center, right? Like a downtown Columbus. People are coming in like with, from house fires and car wrecks and all of this stuff. And you can hear like over the speaker, like prepare, like

It's like watching the pit or watching whatever, like prepare for like this person being like flighted in or whatever. And so I'm laying there and I'm like, I have to pee so bad, but I'm not hitting this button because there are like more important things going on here. Like as if they couldn't prioritize their own workload. Like as if I press that button and they're going to like leave a burn patient and come running to like,

I was just like, didn't want to inconvenience anyone. didn't want to burden anyone. didn't want to be a nuisance, like whatever. And I was reflecting on it after getting out of the hospital and just being like, that is problematic. That I wouldn't even like push the call button to ask for what I needed because I was just diminishing the fact that like my needs were important at all. And that I couldn't let.

the person whose job it was to decide how to prioritize people's needs make their own decisions.

My husband lands. He comes to see me. Doctors come in and are explaining like, think it's this SVT condition. We need to run some more tests. We're going to keep her because that one level is high and it's every time we test it, it's still going higher. And we want to make sure that it levels off and starts going lower before we're going to, before we know what we're going to do next.

Shannon Mattern (39:38.076)

And so we're going to go ahead and admit you. We won't have a bed for you until tomorrow or whatever. And I'm like, really? Like you have to admit me? And my husband just looks at me like, yes, you are going to admit her. And she's not leaving until we figure all of this out. Just like, upon reflection, I'm like, my God, what was wrong with like, what was?

wrong with my mind, thinking that like, nothing was wrong. And so I spend the night in the ER. I have like, I sleep, I slept so good. I know that sounds crazy. There's all kinds of commotion going on. I slept really good because I think I just needed the rest. I think I finally just like acquiesced, right? I surrendered, I submitted.

And I woke up the next day. They admitted me to a room. my husband like went home to take care of the dog. He came back later and he was just like, he was like, you didn't want to leave the hospital. And I was like, yeah, he was like, they, told you they were gonna, release you and you didn't want to leave. And I was like, I know he was like, but the first thing you asked the doctors was.

I have a conference to go to tomorrow. I'm speaking at, can I still go to that? And I have a trip planned to go with my team to Atlanta next week. Can I still do that? And the doctor was looking at you like, that's your concern here? Like to just go back to business as usual? And the doctor said, you need to keep your stress levels low. And I said,

And I, again, I asked, cause like a bunch of cardiologists had come in, after I'd been like transferred from the ER to being admitted, like a team of four cardiologists came in and like was explaining to me like what was going on. And I just woken up from a nap and I was like, did I have a heart attack? They're like, cause they had said cardiac event again. And I was like, is that a, and they're like, no, you didn't have a heart attack, but here's what's going on. And trying to explain to me like what the follow-up.

Shannon Mattern (42:02.283)

process was and what needed to happen next, which I need to have. Basically I have, the layman's way of explaining is like, have some wires crossed in my heart that flip it into an arrhythmia. And there's a procedure that I can have to cauterize a nerve that is causing this and it won't happen anymore. and so like that's what the outcome is supposed to be.

And so they're explaining all of this to me and I'm just like, well, can I still keep doing all of the things that I'm doing? And she's like, you need to keep your stress levels down and we're going to start you on beta blockers. And I'm just like, okay, but I can travel, right? And like, I think about this now and I'm just like, what in the world, Shannon? Like, hello, you, your health, you can't do anything if you don't have your health.

But at the time I was just like, well, I have commitments that I've made. I have things that I said I would do and you know, I have a business to run and people are depending on me and I have paychecks to pay and I have all of this stuff and not really realizing that like, well, if I'm not here to do that, it all falls apart anyway. Right. So I laugh, I laugh like because of the ridiculousness of how I was thinking, but like,

That's what happens when you're in like a nervous system, responsive fear. And I have been in that because of how I have been thinking for the past few months, at least upon reflection and overworking to try to like work my way out of the problem instead of looking at my thinking and really examining.

what am I thinking? What am I believing? Is it creating wanted or unwanted results for me? what else could I, what, what are the results that I want and what do I need to think to create those wanted results? so I get released. I go to the conference the next day. I woke up, I told myself, if I wake up feeling.

Shannon Mattern (44:25.791)

bad, I won't go, but if I wake up feeling good, I'm gonna go. I woke up feeling amazing. And I took my new medication. I went to the conference. was Josh Hall's Web Designer Pro Conference. It was so good. I'm glad I went. In hindsight, should I have gone? I don't know. It was a super low key day, but like, this is the part of me that is talking that like...

overworks and probably doesn't take as good of care of myself as I should. but it was awesome. Josh puts on an incredible event. His community is amazing. I got to talk to some podcast listeners. Hi. and I just had a fantastic day. I got to like speak on the panel. It was just a really good day. And then on Monday I went.

I got on an airplane and I'm laughing again. like, I felt good you guys though. I felt rested. I felt like ready to do that. And that trip, that trip was with Erica, client success coordinator and Lee Scott who does our conversion rate optimization. And the point of that was for us to sit down and talk about like,

web designer academy in the future and what are we doing and is it working and what do we want to change and really just also have like a really relaxed downtime and get out of our day to day grind. So I really wanted to do that trip and I'm so glad I did because Lee and Erica basically had an intervention with me on that trip. They saw me putting the weight of the world on my shoulders. They saw me over the months.

not letting them help me. They saw me closed off to new ideas out of like fear and worry. And then when I was like, by the way, I'm in the hospital and I hope I'm gonna get clearance from my doctor to still come to on this trip. They were like, okay, like something, something's got to change. And so they had an intervention with me and they were like,

Shannon Mattern (46:47.593)

look, these are the things that we want to take off of your plate. These are some theories we have about like what we can try to make things easier. And we need you to like, let us do these things for you and not try to meddle or take them back over or whatever when, when you feel out of control or

I'm worried that they're not going to work. You need to trust us and let us help you. And that's kind of the whole theme of everything that I learned throughout this is that I refuse to let people help me to my own detriment. I think most exemplified by the fact that I wouldn't even push a call button to have a nurse come and hook me so I could go pee.

But also just in being like closed off to people's advice and suggestions when they could help me not allowing my team to step in and do things that I feel like, well, no, it's my business. It's my responsibility to do those things. I don't want to put that on you. And carrying like way too much of a load that's not mine.

not always all mine to carry and not letting other people help me. I, when they made the suggestions to me of what they wanted to help with, I literally started just bawling. Like, I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, that I didn't even know I was there. The suggestions that they had made were things that I had never even considered before.

and it just like unlocked this, like this part that I'll still be exploring over the next several months of like, how I have been doing things is what's keeping me hustling and stuck. And it's, and that's driven by my thoughts, how I've been thinking about things drives my feelings, creates my actions, determines.

Shannon Mattern (49:15.165)

my results and my result has been.

the same result, regardless of how much effort I'm putting in. And then feeling tired and burnt out and sometimes resentful for how hard I'm working and thinking like, no matter what I do, nothing's working and getting like really defeatist, which I don't like telling you guys that because it makes me feel guilty because I feel like, I'm so ungrateful.

But I'm not ungrateful. was just hurting. Like I was just in a bad place and I didn't know it. And then like when I'm in that bad place, then I'm like, well, you shouldn't, you should be grateful instead of being like, no, you need help. And, I just couldn't see it. So I couldn't see it. And it took an ER visit and a, and a, and a forced break to which that forced break. Yeah. It wasn't that long, but.

I needed to go to Atlanta for a week and let people help me and tell me how they were going to help me and not let me say no and like experience what that that feels like. So that's everything that happened in April. It's been a few weeks since then. I am taking the beta blocker every day. It's really interesting. I feel like

I know sometimes that they're prescribed for anxiety or people have told me that like, yeah, I've tried that for anxiety. Everything just feels less urgent now. I think it's like partially circumstantial, partially medication, partially wake up call. Partially I go through this cycle every so often, but I kind of feel like less.

Shannon Mattern (51:20.435)

Like everything's on fire. and like there's hope again, like all I was looking at is like the runway is getting shorter. Worst case scenario is going to happen. I'm not going to make enough. I'm going to lose everything. I'm going to have to fire my whole entire team. I'm going to have to shut the business. Like that's where my mind's going. My mind is not going. Shannon, you've been running this business for 10 years.

You had a way worse year in 2023 and you still survived. You have access to resources to help you weather times. You could ask for help. Like there's so many other options on the table than shutting things down or things shutting down without your...

willingness for that to happen. There's so many other ways this could go, but you could only see the one. And then you're in like stress mode and then that culminates in, stress creates the environment for this arrhythmia that I was experiencing to happen. It's like the perfect storm, for the switch to flip, so to speak into that, into that heart rhythm. And so,

I'm grateful that it happened. have an excellent, like I have a plan going forward. I'm going to meet with the electrophysiology people, start the process for whatever this procedure is to correct it. But also, I'm not opening up my laptop the moment I wake up. I'm not like so urgently working and

trying to do all the things. And so, you know, when I reflect back on like, of course this happened. Of course, I was super exhausted and burnt out and just still powering through, which is the thing that I do. Of course I couldn't see or wouldn't allow myself to see that I was not well. And

Shannon Mattern (53:42.379)

Upon reflection, it's very clear. Like in hindsight, it's really clear. I always say like, I'm a stove toucher. I touched the stove pretty good in Q1 of 2026. But I'm hoping to learn from it. I'm really hoping to learn from it. And...

I have enrolled help to help me learn from it with like my team and my friends and whatever. And my sister said to me, she was like, it was kind of, you remind me of like that episode of friends when they're in an alternate universe and Phoebe is like a high powered stockbroker and she's in the hospital, like on her cell phone smoking a cigarette, like after having a heart attack, she was like, that's what you remind me of. And I'm like, I promise I will not be Phoebe in the hospital.

doing that. yeah, I'm allowing people to help me making some changes. Part of staying accountable to that is like telling you guys publicly on the podcast. And I've decided and I think I sent an email about this is just like, you know, for all of the all of the things that I could do to market this business and get in front of web designers, like I have to lighten my load and

not do things that I hate. So farewell TikTok. I hated the... I just don't like the... I don't like the format. I don't consume content there. It's really hard for me to stay within the time limit to format how I talk, to be how the algorithm and people who consume content there like to consume it. I'm like, if I'm going to do things to...

market this business. I want to do things that feel fun and easy and light to me. I'm willing to work hard clearly, but I'm not willing to put myself at risk like that. So that was a big thing that happened in April. I think that will be a pivotal moment of 2026 and just even thinking like,

Shannon Mattern (56:04.22)

You know, my first question wasn't like, I did ask the doctors, I did ask, did I damage my heart? But I think before I asked that, I asked if I could still go to the conference and go to Atlanta. And I realized like, well, my priorities are so way out of whack. So I didn't do any permanent damage to my heart. And like, it's so interesting that I'm like, did I damage my heart? Like I caused this condition.

I didn't cause this condition. sure. I exacerbated the circumstances to have it happen. by feeling stressed, but like, didn't cause that to happen. So I'm like, I already could see that I'm just, I was just like already setting myself up to be like, I caused this. It's my fault. Just like the tax bill. And it's like those subtle little thoughts are like death by a thousand cuts.

So I just, I'm just paying attention to that now. So things, things get to change. Things get to change. How I spend my Q1 gets to change. How I nourish my body in Q1 gets to change. Things get to change. And I've been thinking about this for a while. I'll tell you more about what the changes are going to be as we move forward through this, but I'm just so grateful for the people around me.

who are willing to say the hard thing to me and are willing to step in and help when I enforce the help when I won't allow the help and who are willing to just.

I don't know who loved me enough to tell me when I'm harming myself in this way. thank you to everybody who has been, you've all been so, so supportive and I appreciate it. So yeah, I think that's it for the April, 2026.

Shannon Mattern (58:17.49)

income report, Erica should be back here with me in May, and maybe she can tell her side of the story in terms of like what she was seeing over the months and you know, how she's, how she stepped in and decided to step in and, some patterns that she can, share with me to help me not do that in the future. and.

The whole point of becoming aware of the patterns is so that you, it's not to prevent it from ever happening again, but it's so that you notice it faster and get out of it sooner. And so that's my goal is to notice those thoughts and behaviors sooner so that I don't drop into that pattern of fight and stay in there so long that then I have, like I physically burn myself out. So that's the goal.

So yeah, that was April and I will be back here in May to just kind of share more. We'll talk more about what unfolded by the waterfall during our trip to Atlanta with Lee and we'll share more about that and just what's next for us here at the Web Designer Academy because we're not going anywhere. I'm just changing.

the internal workings of how I've been doing things and how I've been thinking so that, so that it's sustainable for me. So that's all I got for you this week. And I'll see you back here next week. All right. Bye everyone.