2025: A Year of Pressure, Pattern, and Foundation
An annual reflection on leadership, experimentation, and sustainability.
2025 was a year I approached with intention, not moderation.
I applied pressure on systems, on ideas, and on myself. Not because intensity was the goal, but because clarity was. I wanted to understand what actually moves institutions forward, where momentum compounds, and where effort simply hides fragility. In many ways, I treated the year as a test of assumptions across leadership, partnerships, visibility, and growth.
What emerged was not just progress. It was pattern.
Much of this work took place within Classical KING, one of the Pacific Northwest’s oldest broadcasters, navigating a relatively new chapter as a public radio organization alongside rapid digital and audience change.
Using Pressure as a Tool
Throughout 2025, I pushed on several areas at once. Institutional change inside a long standing organization. Cross sector partnerships beyond traditional boundaries. New forms of visibility. Deeper leadership development.
There was a period of real hustle. I will name it once and move on. It was not a badge of honor. It was a deliberate phase of learning.
The goal was never to sustain that pace indefinitely. The goal was to learn quickly and honestly what held, what scaled, and what needed to be redesigned. That distinction shaped everything that followed.
Institutional Transformation: Learning What to Measure Before Deciding What to Build
At the start of 2025, data was not driving direction. Part of the work was discovering what data we could actually access, what it could tell us with confidence, and where the gaps were.
As we experimented with building digital audiences, particularly through digital ad campaigns, we had to test more than creative ideas. We had to test measurement itself. Which signals reflected real listener growth and which reflected short term attention. What was worth optimizing. What was noise. And how to tell when an experiment deserved continued investment or when it was time to stop.
Rather than assuming answers, we built feedback loops. We launched campaigns, studied results, adjusted inputs, and learned in real time. Over time, patterns emerged. Some approaches began to compound. Others revealed diminishing returns.
Through this process, I developed a clearer understanding of the digital infrastructure beneath our work and why it matters. But the most lasting lesson was not technical. It was strategic. Direction follows discovery. Sustainable growth depends on leaders being willing to experiment long enough to learn what should actually be measured.
Partnerships as a Growth Strategy
Another central focus of 2025 was partnership. Not as sponsorship or activation, but as shared platform and shared purpose.
Across collaborations in the arts, sports, public media, and civic spaces, the same pattern kept appearing. Momentum scaled fastest when I acted as a translator rather than an owner. Partnerships worked best when they were built on trust, mutual visibility, and audience alignment, rather than control.
The strongest collaborations did not begin with the question, “What can we promote?” They began with, “What can we build together that neither of us could sustain alone?”
That shift changed how I think about partnership entirely. It moved collaboration from a tactic to a strategy rooted in meaning and reach.
Visibility as a Leadership Practice
2025 reshaped my relationship to visibility. Not as self promotion, but as responsibility.
Through on camera work, storytelling, teaching, and public facing leadership, I experienced both the leverage and the limits of being visible. The cost was real. Visibility fatigue and mental bandwidth were the clearest constraints I encountered all year.
The return, however, was clarity. When used intentionally, visibility accelerated alignment, opened doors for others, and created shared language across teams and sectors.
I no longer see visibility as optional in leadership. I see it as a tool. One that requires boundaries, purpose, and care.
Learning at the Right Altitude
Alongside the work itself, I invested deeply in leadership development. Executive level intensives at INSEAD and Harvard sharpened my ability to see systems rather than symptoms. Mentorship and participation through the International Women’s Forum, including joining IWF Washington, expanded my peer network and challenged me to think beyond role or title.
What changed most was not what I know. It was how I evaluate complexity. I became more comfortable sitting with ambiguity. More decisive about where to intervene. More intentional about designing structures that can carry progress without constant effort.
From Hustle to Architecture
By the end of 2025, the through line was unmistakable. Effort creates movement. Structure creates durability.
The work ahead is no longer about how much can be carried. It is about what should be designed. Fewer initiatives. Clearer lanes. Partnerships that compound. Systems that reduce cognitive load. Work that continues even when one person steps back.
That shift, from intensity to architecture, is the most meaningful outcome of the year.
Choosing the Right Moment
Toward the end of 2025, as our current leader shared plans to retire in 2026, I spent time seriously considering whether to apply for the CEO role. Mentors and trusted colleagues encouraged me to explore that possibility, and I took that encouragement seriously. I paid close attention to what the organization would need next, and to where my leadership would be most effective in the years immediately ahead.
Ultimately, I decided not to pursue the role and instead to put my support behind our Chief Advancement Officer, who I believe is well-positioned for the organization’s next phase. With fundraising and long-term financial stability taking on increased importance, supporting a leader with deep advancement focus allows the organization to move forward with clarity and continuity at a moment of transition.
For me, this decision brought focus. It affirmed that my strongest contribution right now is shaping vision, staying close to mission and programming, and building partnerships that expand access to music and strengthen relationships across the community. By aligning around complementary leadership, we preserve momentum for the work already underway and avoid unnecessary division at a critical point.
This choice was not about closing doors. It was about exercising judgment, honoring timing, and committing to the role where I can contribute most meaningfully to the organization’s long-term health.
Looking Ahead
I am entering the next phase of my work focused on refinement rather than acceleration. On building what lasts. On elevating others into shared ownership. On choosing impact that grows through connection rather than constant motion.
2025 provided evidence. The foundation is set.
The work now is designing what lasts.
Michelle Maestas Simonsen
Chief Engagement and Content Officer at Classical KING
I work at the intersection of public media, culture, and growth, helping institutions adapt with clarity, purpose, and long term impact.