You might’ve clicked this link because the title sounds weird…Channeling Jackie O and a Journey to Self Discovery…It seems random and sort of silly I know, but if you bare with me hopefully it will make sense as you go! This post is about coming into my own as a photographer and figuring out what works for me as a business owner…

This year has been crazy for me to say the least..it’s been a huge year of growth and learning and I’m so thankful for it…I’m half way through my first full wedding season (and the only one that will ever be THIS full) — 14 weddings down. 13 more to go. And I feel like I’ve learned more about myself through running this little business of mine that I’ve poured my heart and soul into, than anything else. Learning how to take pretty pictures was just the beginning…Building a business that works for you and the way you work is a whole different story.

It takes so much more to run a truly successful business…and I’m not talking about all of the numbers or the business side of things…those things are undoubtedly important to building a business, but what I’m talking about here is building a business to be proud of…one that represents what success means to you. It’s taken me over a year to learn what it means to me and I think this is just the beginning. Other than honoring the Lord with my business and resources and having enough time for rest, success to me is working with brides that I really connect with who are planning weddings that reflect a style that I really mesh with. The result is beautiful images and a better experience for everyone!

Now your probably thinking: So how does Jackie O play into this? Dont worry, I’m getting there! For one of my Public Relations classes in college, I had to study a historical figure and their interpersonal skills and then give a report on how they would respond to certain modern day situations. I didn’t know much about her beforehand, but Jackie O has always been one of my favorite style icons, so I chose to study her. In my opinion, one of the best things I learned from studying her life was the importance of being authentic. Jackie O was always true to herself in the way that she carried herself, how she spoke, how she dressed, and in the various jobs that she held throughout her life…and she was under enormous pressure to fit a certain mold as the First Lady but she refused to give in.

For me, the journey to authenticity has been mostly about refining my business so that I’m not just copying someone else..namely, an amazing person named Katelyn James. As a photographer, I think it’s really easy to get caught up in the trends and to think that in order to be successful you have to do things the way other successful people are doing them. Especially if it’s the person that got you excited about something in the first place! But I’m learning that it’s really important to create your own path! To be perfectly honest, for the longest time I tried to emulate Katelyn as best I could to find success as a photographer and I think it did help me book a lot of brides! Let me be perfectly clear in saying that I have more respect for her as a person and photographer than anyone else in this industry, which is obviously why I wanted to follow her example! She tried to tell me to be myself and that creating mini Katelyn James’ was never her intent because her way of doing things wouldnt work for everyone…it just took a really long time for that to sink in! It hit me all at once one day when I was completely burnt out from trying to run my business like Katelyn runs hers..I was meeting with a potential bride (that I didn’t end up booking) and she told me that she wanted to hire me because I was a “cheaper version of Katelyn James”. It was a very nice compliment, but after that meeting  it finally hit me that I needed to make some changes. I want to be the very best version of myself that I can! Something that Katelyn tried to tell me all along:). I want brides to hire me because they mesh with me, my style and the way I do things!

This journey of self discovery has not only been focused on discovering my style, but on the way I run my business. For a lot of photographers, their blog is the heartbeat of their business. That is an amazing thing! They are so faithful to blog every day at the same time and because of that they have a lot of loyal readers. I tried to mimic that model of doing things for a long time, but I just kept feeling like a fraud — I would blog things every day and post them at a certain time just because that’s what other photographers that I admire did. It brought me so much stress…and I started to dread reading other people’s blogs for fear that I would accidentally post something similar. Most photographers are learning similar things so it just makes sense that sometimes posts would be similar! But I definitely wasnt feeling authentic.

I actually LOVE blogging and sharing my heart, but hated feeling like it needed to be a carefully planned out thing in order for it to benefit my business…and then I started researching photographers who are extremely successful and who DONT blog consistently every day and it hit me that I CAN have a successful business without feeling bad that I dont blog every day. SWEET RELIEF. It was a huge turning point for me. It’s so fun to be able to blog when I have something extra to share on top of the normal weddings and engagements…something inspiring, something thats been on my heart, personal pictures I really want to share, inspiration for my home, etc….It’s made my blog a more organic thing that’s fun and adds to my business vs. being the center of my business.

This just translates well for me and my business. And it’s been amazing to watch my blog stats and see that even more people are reading my blog now than when I was posting less quality posts every day! So this is just a solid reminder to make sure your finding what works for you in life or business vs. blindly following others and expecting it to bring you success or happiness!

This speaks to the second thing I learned from Jackie O. Sometimes less is more. I mostly learned this from her awesome fashion sense. She was a style icon for wearing sophisticated, well made pieces with few accessories.  This is the way I want my business and work to be..quality and well made! I still have a very hard time parring down my pictures for blog posts when sharing weddings and engagements, but I think it’s true for my blog. Fewer more quality posts are better for me than posting a bunch of filler posts!

On top of the deeper meaning, Jackie O’s progressive style in general really speaks to me. It was timeless, glamorous and sophisticated, with a twist. I’m pretty confident that stores like J. Crew and Kate Spade still get inspired by her seemingly effortless look. She paired classic and clean lines with something fun and unexpected – a big bow, a fun pop of color, oversized sunglasses, big buttons. It’s really exciting for me to have realized as I rebranded and shot more and more weddings this year, that this also reflects the types of weddings I want to be shooting! I’m not necessarily planning to specialize in any one type of wedding, but I get so excited about working with brides who share the love of a sophisticated and chic look! Next year I’ll be shooting a much smaller number of weddings to ensure that I can offer a high quality product and service to my brides.

I’m excited to continue to refine myself as a photographer…both my work and my brand are heading in a direction that I really love. The changes will be subtle and will come slowly, since right now I’m just focusing on getting all caught up with editing…I’m definitely not talking about making any major changes…but I’m simplifying things a little and it feels so good to be heading in a direction with my business that really works for me and that’s focused less on me and more on creating beautiful wedding photos for my brides to cherish! I hope you will continue to follow me and my blog as I continue to build my business into one that reflects my definition of success.

And here’s a few choices of dresses for new headshots that will not only be for my site, but also for a fun project in the works! Which one do you like best? Stay tuned! Exciting things are happening slowly but surely!

Happy Tuesday and thanks for reading!!