One pivotal day, I sat in my windowless, basement office surrounded by cinder block walls and watched a video with Will Smith (yes, the FRESH PRINCE of BEL AIR himself!) and he said a phrase that I will never forget, “There is no reason to have a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A.” I burst into tears at the moment he said the words because I knew I was living my Plan B life. I knew everything about my life was default, it was the easier path, it was what I was doing because I didn’t actually believe I could do what I really wanted. What did my life even look like if I was living my Plan A?
I got major clarity. I saw my Plan A.
After that pivotal moment in my office, I decided to change my career to that of a destination wedding photographer and to get the training to become my own boss. To do this, I played full out. I faced all my money fears. I had nothing more to lose after the lost years I had already experienced living my Plan B. I invested over $30,000 IN ONE YEAR going marketing seminars, business courses, online sales courses, and learning everything I could about running a successful business.
Ten years ago, I was living a completely different life.
One of the best investments I made has been hiring personal business coaches and attending leadership, marketing, and online branding workshops so I could arm myself with every tool of success. Through mentors, education, making lots of my own mistakes, and a lot of ambition, I became successful in a way I never imagined I could..all through photography.
Being a photographer is one of my greatest passions and joys, but I have realized it is not everything I am supposed to be and do. I have an urgency to make the world a better place. I have a desire to help people achieve the freedom and success that I have achieved. I have a deep belief that the only way the world will be at its best is if WE are at our best. And we are at our best ONLY when we wake up every day and love who we are and what we are doing. I am fiercely committed to my own success and to the success of each business owner I coach, mentor, and teach. While I am known for my thriving photography business, I am here to coach and mentor creatives to reach levels of success they have never even imagined.
I was stuck in a career that felt suffocating. I hated waking up in the mornings, lacked energy, and wondered what my great purpose in life was supposed to be. I watched the clock each day waiting for end of the day to just be here. I was in a romantic relationship that was going nowhere, stuck forever in a government job that would never pay me more than $50,000 per year and wondered if this was all my life was going to be.
MY FIRST FULL TIME YEAR AS A PHOTOGRAPHER I MADE OVER $120,000. IN MY FIRST YEAR (INSERT “SCREAMING FACE” EMOJI). I DOUBLED MY SALARY CONSISTENTLY EACH YEAR AND CREATED THREE 6 FIGURE BUSINESSES WITHIN 4 YEARS OF LEAVING MY “SAFE”, SALARIED DAY JOB.