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DEBUNKING THOUGHTS ABOUT OWNING A CREATIVE BUSINESS

Business, LATEST

5/17/21

I’m about to share some things that might feel like I’m complaining, but I’m not. The depths of the gratitude I have to wake up to a job that I love is beyond words. What I’m going to do is debunk a few thoughts about owning a creative business in photography and why my job might not always be what people believe it is and how I had to build good habits and mindsets to show up to make it work.

“YOU’RE SO LUCKY, YOU HAVE ALL THIS TIME TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.” I don’t blame people for believing that those who have a creative business, or a business in general get to do whatever they want with their own time. Heck! I thought that I would be able to do the same. Truth is…this business requires sooooo much time. I guess instead of saying that we own our time and get to do whatever we want ,the best way to look at it is that we get to SHIFT our time in however way we want. Example-I still have to work and put in a ton of hours, but I get to move my time around and work at whatever time of the day I carve for it. That’s both a positive and negative. It is up to me, entirely to clock in and out of work. No one is there telling me or keeping record for me and I had to build my own consistency. I had to create a system and a rhythm for my business because otherwise, I would fill my time with other things and then find myself falling behind or stressed. If you don’t respect your schedule and time for your business, no one will. Family and friends will ask you to go places and do things and it will create a terrible habit of not organizing your time and making your business efficient. It may be ok for a while, but if you want to really grow and expand…you’ll need to carve the time to make it work and to build concepts and ideas to grow your business. People believe that I have all the time in the world, and a ton of focused time to do it. Fact is…I just built a tight ship that makes every single minute count because I realized I don’t have a lot of time.
“YOU’RE SO CREATIVE AND TALENTED, I CAN NEVER BE AS CREATIVE OR TALENTED AS YOU.” Lie! Creativity is a muscle. It is something that you train. Although I have always loved the arts and it’s been in my bones, I believe anyone can grow in creativity. Creativity is a skill that we train to grow and I invest a lot of hours into this muscle. I’m always learning ways to expand it and broaden my understanding of it. Creating is actually really hard and doesn’t just “flow” like some people might believe. I love a teaching I heard once from Seth Godin where a viewer asked him, “how do I become a better writer?” I’m certain that he expect Seth Godin, an incredible writer, to give him so bizarre insight on how to be an inspired writer and instead he answered…” you have to write. Everyday. All of the time. As much as you can. You have to write bad pieces, ok pieces, to get to excellent pieces and then you will continue to write bad pieces, ok pieces, and excellent pieces.” [That’s me rephrasing it a bit]. But that’s what I believe about CREATING. The most powerful creatives understand that they won’t always create exceptional work, but that it’s important to create nonetheless. I encourage you to build the habit of doing what you do over and over and over again. I urge you to do it terribly, do it ok, do it exceptional, but always do it. It gets better and better and less terrible. The point is, strengthen the muscle.
“YOUR JOB IS SO FUN! I WISH I COULD DO THAT.” Ok, although I truly have a LOT of fun doing what I do. It’s also SO HARD. Unlike a regular job, this is my business. I don’t just get to take photos and walk away from a fun photoshoot and call it done. There’s SO MUCH work beforehand and after. Research, communications, financials, planning, concepts etc etc. Hours and hours of invested time for each photoshoot. The fun photoshoot side is only just a fraction of my job/career and a product of all the hard work to get there. I choose this, with all that it has involved in it. It may be hard to believe that sometimes, I’m tired. Sometimes I’m uninspired. But I give it my all regardless of my feelings. Why? My clients pay me to show up. I will do my best to give them my best every time. I may fall short and may not be 100% every time. But I try and I show up as big as I can. There are times where I leave my house and I’ll tell my husband “I really don’t want to leave home today, I just want to be home relaxing with you all.” But, I always press through because I have to and I should. And it never fails that I have the best time with my clients and leave grateful. You will not always FEEL at your best, but it doesn’t mean you can’t show up and give your best anyways.
“IT MUST BE SO AWESOME TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS.” Yes, I love being the owner of my life and choices, BUT….it’s always up to me. If work doesn’t get done, there isn’t anyone else to do it. It sits there until I do it. Although I’ve come to a place where I’m building a team and now delegating tasks…it’s still a lot. I still don’t ever get to turn work off. It’s always on. When you own your own business, you are RESPONSIBLE. If things don’t go right in a company you’re working at, you really don’t have to deal with the problems or the weight of the mistake. When it’s your business, it’s your name and. your reputation. The weight of how you treat people, the work you provide and the way you’re handling business and finances and taxes and all of that jazz….it’s a lot to handle and can literally break someone. I try to build habits of detaching! My husband kids help me to do this. Going outside and creating breaks to breath are vital. If I’m really overwhelmed, I have to leave one or any work environment that reminds me of work because if I don’t, I’ll gravitate back to working or stressing.
“YOU TRULY DO IT ALL! HOW?” I’m a mom of 3 kids, all of them in very different stages of life. I’m a mom that likes to stay connected and invested in my kids. I fear missing the mark in that area, I fear not seeing my kids needs and neglecting them when they need me most. So I’m constantly stressed about whether or not they feel my presence. I don’t do it all well. I do my best. There has been times in my career where those two worlds…being a mom and an entrepreneur have clashed with one another and it has felt impossible. Literally impossible. I’ve cried, I’ve wanted to quit and every day I would wake up and it would be one or the other…determined and excited to make it work, or defeated and wanting to quit. It was hard. It still is hard but I’ve managed to make it work. I chose this life. I chose to own my business and there’s a price I pay for it but the reward is grander. I don’t do it all, I just do MY ALL. I’m so many things outside of my business and I hold on to that so deeply and so tightly and this business/career means so much to me as well. So I built a lifestyle that honors them both. I’m grateful that I have a life doing what I love surrounded by the people that I love. If you own your business and have a family, I’m certain you know what I mean. You just make it work, don’t you? It’s mad crazy at times but somehow…we wouldn’t have it any other way.

The biggest things that changed my career were not my talent. It was my determination. It was my persistence. My choices and habits and mindset to make it work. I believe you can have all of the talent in the world-but if you’re not prepared to do the hard work that it takes to make that talent grow into a business that functions…talent won’t pay your bills. Hug a creative entrepreneur today.