I’m sitting here sipping coffee and re-reading the EIGHTEEN pages of notes I took at the What’s Next conference hosted by Justin and Mary in DC last week for about the twentieth time just trying to soak it all in and process the things I learned…

…and then yesterday I got to meet with my wonderful friend Katelyn for a followup to the coaching session that I did with her last May (if you’ve done a coaching session and HAVNT scheduled a checkup session yet DO IT NOW! It was so helpful to evaluate how far I’ve come and to give me the push I needed to keep moving forward!)….I basically word vomited all over her because my brain was so full and was still processing a lot of what Mary said last week…She of course did her thang and was super helpful and encouraging as I thought out loud about my insecurities and my place in this industry…

I got to mingle with dozens of my favorite photographers and good friends last week at the conference (see some of them below! I love you guys!)…and I got to thinking about how so many of us want the same things…I often ask myself who am I to get to follow my dreams and shoot weddings and write a blog and have people care what I have to say on it?..when there are so many other photographers who are more talented..more personable…better at blogging…more knowledgeable…or who just want to follow this dream MORE…who are willing to fight harder than me to make their dreams come true?

And then I realized that there needs to be a shift in focus…As I was re-reading some of the things that Mary talked about last week, it really sunk in that it’s not really about me and that I am my own worst critic…that focusing too much on what other people are doing or what they think about me and my work is holding me back…Instead I need to focus on the fact that being a part of this industry is about telling stories…I want to tell stories for my brides and grooms through photography…stories that their children can look back on and feel like they were there and like they get to be a part of that story through pictures. Stories that will last a lifetime. I want to help make each couple’s wedding day the best day of their lives by being a friend and support system for them…by serving them, loving them, instilling a confidence in them, and by giving them beautiful pictures to help their story be remembered by future generations…

I want to help leave a legacy with this business and that gives me such greater purpose in running it! I think it’s still important for me to tell my story too..but I want the MAIN focus of my business to be on my brides and grooms and telling their stories well. Like Mary said, “I want to give pictures to brides and grooms that will be on their mantel for years to come”. Thank you Justin and Mary for reminding people that this job matters so much because helping people leave a legacy behind is so important. It’s really about the love behind the pictures. And I think the photography industry is really about the relationships behind the scenes…I wouldn’t have been able to grow and move forward  in the first place if it weren’t for my friends and clients who trust me and all of the incredible photographers who invested in me  by encouraging me and loving me and just by being my friend. You guys are the best.

Aaand part of me wants to type out the rest of my twenty pages of notes because I think that so much of what Mary had to say was so valuable…but that would probably just turn into a VERY long and boring blog post..so instead I’ll just say thank you Justin and Mary and Katelyn for teaching me to change my focus, for giving me confidence, for reminding me that sometimes you have to ASK for the things you want, that sometimes you’ll get rejected but the “no’s” won’t kill you, and that my security is in the Lord and not in how well my business does or in what other people think of me…that it’s okay to fail because failure pushes you to be better…and that sometimes the path to “what’s next” is a bunch of little steps and not just one big change.

Of course I had to get some shots of the cafe…I really want a coffee bar like this in my house…how cute are these stir sticks?

I also learned that someone needs to teach me to do a better hair poof (is that what it’s called? Mine is always flat and goes off to one side…ugh..)

love these girls!