As the calendar turns to a new year, many people set resolutions – often ambitious, sometimes daunting, and frequently abandoned in a few short weeks. Resolutions often focus on some part of one’s lifestyle that they want to drastically revamp, and changing fundamental habits is difficult. Pushing oneself through these new, grueling routines leads to burnout, and ultimately failure. That’s why we at Catalina like to look at the new year not as a time to change what we are doing, but as a time for reflection, re-evaluation, and reaffirmation of what matters.

Before we look to the future, we must look back to assess what we’ve accomplished, and what we’ve learned. 2024 was a big year for Catalina as a business. We faced agency budget cuts that affected one of our teams, but we also won our first prime contract. Our team initially shrunk, but ultimately grew. We navigated taking on subcontracting companies and refined our business development process. These two major events positioned us to be more prepared for what lies ahead in 2025, and led us to evaluate our internal operations, the impact we are making, and our efficiency and creativity.

While our strategies evolved this year, we also believe the new year is a good time to remind ourselves of and reaffirm our core values, which remain central to our business. This is an opportunity to recommit to these principles:

• Professionalism: Upholding the highest standards in our work and client interactions.
• Respect: Valuing diverse perspectives, fostering collaboration, and treating everyone with dignity.
• Performance: Striving for excellence and measurable results in all that we do.
• Creativity: Bringing fresh ideas and innovative solutions to complex challenges.
• Inclusion and Diversity: Embracing different backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints to create a richer and more effective work environment.
• Integrity: Acting with honesty, transparency, and accountability in every decision.

Taking into account our lessons learned in 2024, and reminding ourselves of our core values, we look towards what 2025 will bring. While it is not our intention to set rigid goals for ourselves, we have entered the new year with a mindset of adaptability, continuing to learn, and continuing to grow, both as people and as a company. In addition to our prime contract win in 2024, we were also an awardee of the Oasis+ IDIQ, which we hope to see growth from in the coming months. And when it comes, we will be ready.