2014 ended on a better note than it started on for us. Vernon and I have both started “the dream” as corny as that sounds. He and two others got Virginia High Performance off the ground and running (literally, they are running at this point). CAP got started. I let go of my insecurities of what people would think. “Oh look, another mom with a DSLR that is starting a photography business.” Yea, I’m over that. Starting two businesses at the EXACT same time was crazy stressful. But being so excited about CAP only gets sweeter as I get to watch Vernon get so pumped about VHP. We are quickly approaching our 10 year wedding anniversary in March. Our lives may not be where we thought they would be when we started this journey, but I’m pretty damn proud of where we are right now. We both have the BEST clients turned friends and I couldn’t be happier about it. Chandler will never fully understand our journey, only through stories. Carson lived it right there with us, and while it was a struggle, I kinda love it now. She watched me work retail, wait tables, and graduate from college. She watched Vernon serve in the military, work two jobs, and graduate from college. Now she watches us start our own businesses and finally start doing what we WANT to do….while sometimes still doing things we have to do of course. I know she doesn’t put it all together right now, but she will one day.

I’d like to say she’s a mini me or a mini Vernon, but she is so not. She is outgrowing her copy cat ways and really turning into her own person. Makes me happy for her and so sad at the same time. She is hell bent on going to the University of Florida to be a gator. She plans on playing for their softball team. I know her decisions will probably change over time, but for now I’m just going to enjoy her ambitions. I also know that if she does end up going away for college, there is no way Vernon is letting her go alone. So we will all be moving back to Florida (mama is just fine with that!)

Slow season is a funny thing for photographers. For me it’s filled with watching umpteen thousand youtube videos, reading blogs and tutorials. Everything. It’s also filled with fears of failing and doubt. “Will I ever be busy again?” runs through my brain about ten times a day. Then I think about the fact that it was 19 degrees out yesterday…..who wants to go do pictures in that? Yea, not me. So then I take a breathe, make my third pot of coffee and get back to my videos and tutorials.

Oh and ’tis the season of workshops! I have signed up for three so far, with hopes of adding one more when it opens next week. I’m using 2015 to not only better my technical skill, but to also figure out which direction I want to go in. So far I’ve signed up for the following workshops:

Justin & Mary Marantz’ Lighting Intensive Workshop

Julie Paisley’s Click & Chat in DC (during the cherry blossoms peak!)

Katelyn James’ 2 Day Workshop outside of Richmond (after years of following her and watching workshops pass by, I am SO pumped about this!)

Hope Taylor’s Senior Workshop (Haven’t technically signed up for this one yet, registration opens next week!)

I absolutely LOVE these photographers and I can’t wait to just soak up every little thing! Their work is where I want to be in the next year or two. Speaking of inspiration…..I pull it from everywhere. Vernon and I watch Shark Tank religiously. The drive that the people on that show have is the most motivating thing ever. It’s what I do for my business. Sometimes I get stuck, like right now in the “slow” season. I came across an article this week that quoted Mark Cuban, it went a little something like this:

“Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it away from you.”

“It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing.”

“Doesn’t matter if the glass is half-empty or half-full. All that matters is that you are the one pouring the water.”

“Wherever I see people doing something the way it’s always been done, the way it’s “supposed” to be done, following the same old trends, well, that’s just a big red flag to me to go look somewhere else.”

“Every no gets me closer to a yes.”

Every single one of those quotes applies to me right now. I know that one day my business will be where I want it to be. So right now I just need to keep fighting the fight to get there. I used to be stuck in the dreaming, now I am in the doing. I would love for every month to be how October and November were. I could shoot every other day and be totally fine with it. I love it. I love going out, meeting new people and giving them great memories…not only with the session itself, but with the photos they now have forever. My glass may be venturing towards the half-empty phase as I come down from the high that was October, but I control that glass. I’ve used this down time to watch countless videos, online tutorials, read more blogs than I can imagine, to keep CAP going. To me, that’s pouring water in the glass. Doing something that is different from the norm. I see photographers sign up for workshops when they have about a year under their belt. A lot of the time, they have better gear than when they started and are looking for the next step up. I totally get it. But for me, I thought why not start by learning from the best right in the beginning? I want to start this business off on the right foot. So I did it a little differently, and some are probably rolling their eyes. That’s ok. This is the path that I feel is right for me. I’ve already had a few “no’s” handed to me. Some were a flat out “no, I can’t help you.” Some were the “Oh I can’t help you unless you have this $323984723984 item and this $2384739847 item, etc.” Not a big deal. Those no’s came before my awesome first month of business. I’ll keep truckin’ along. =]  Cheers from my coffee mug to yours, here’s to a GREAT 2015 for all of us!

be silly. be honest. be kind.