Hey, big dreamer!
I see you over there, working your butt off as you move from one busy season into another. The months flow seamlessly one into the next, a blur of shooting, editing, marketing, sales appointments, and emails. You feel like you blinked and summer was over, and you’re not even sure where it disappeared to.
Those sunny summer evenings were filled with portrait sessions, and your days were spent in front of the computer working. Now you’re in that fall rush trying to get everyone’s holiday card portraits done before the beautiful foliage is gone. There’s just a few weeks left, and the pressure is on!
You decided to start your own business because you were passionate about photography, passionate about capturing these moments and documenting the joy of childhood. You wanted more flexibility in your day-to-day, and you wanted to be your own boss. But somehow you’re working more hours than you ever did in your 9-5, and maybe you even forget to schedule days off. Remember when you used to get two days off a week, and Saturday & Sunday were just glorious? You miss that sometimes, don’t you?
We’re business owners trying to make these big dreams a reality.
I see you over there, because I’ve been there, too. Half the time, I AM STILL RIGHT THERE BESIDE YOU. The other half, I’m trying to figure out how to catch my breath in between all of the work that keeps piling up.
The truth? I have no idea what happened to August. The entire month slipped by unnoticed as I edited, delivered, blogged, printed, packaged, and shared our summer beach sessions. My business has been experiencing a baby boom since mid-July, and with so many newborns mixed in with family sessions, there hasn’t been a moment to rest.
Normally I try to balance my busy periods by packing a bunch of sessions into one week, and then taking the next week to slow down and edit those sessions, schedule the gallery reveals, and finalize orders. This tends to work really well for me — a busy period filled with client shoots, followed by a slower period to catch up, edit, and work on client orders and marketing. But unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way.
Want to hear about the mistake I made this summer? Because I am just like you, and we all have an "oops!" every now and then.
I filled the second half of July with countless family and baby sessions, and then I looked at August and I filled that up, too. Turning the page on the calendar, it’s like I forgot that one month followed the other and that there was absolutely no rest in there for a solid month. Summer is my absolute favorite time of year, and I didn’t schedule in a single day off to enjoy it.
Somehow I fit 20 sessions into that month, plus the hours upon hours of work that accompany each session before & after the actual shoot. Honestly? It really was a lot of fun getting to spend my evenings on the beach and my mornings with the cutest little babies. I love all of the shoots that we had this summer, and I truly enjoyed the artwork that came with them, even if it was exhausting.
Miraculously, I ordered all of the prints & products for 20 different sessions, packaged them up, and delivered them without one single mix-up. I was truly worried that I was going to mess up at least one order with so many things going on at once, and time and time again I kept asking myself why I didn’t plan ahead and hire an assistant to help me with order fulfillment. (By the way, I do have an assistant for other things, and I’ll be sharing more about my experience with her later on the blog, plus the ways that hiring her has allowed my business to grow this year!)
But why am I telling you this?
Because I learned an important lesson from this busy period,
and I want you to learn it, too.
BALANCE. In the creative industry world of small business owners, everyone always tosses this word around and talks about this all-too-elusive concept. We talk about the hustle all the time — working hard, giving your clients 110%, creating, brainstorming, sharing with the community, and doing bold things in your business.
But we rarely talk about slowing down. We rarely talk about how as a business owner, as a creative, and as a human being you truly need moments of hustle and moments of calm. You can’t work-work-work with no break because you will burn out, you won’t give your best to your clients, and you will run your business into the ground. If it’s all hustle and no rest, you’re doing a disservice to your clients and to yourself.
So how do we balance the two? Very intentionally.
Moving forward, I’m being more intentional with my time. I’m scheduling busy weeks filled with hustle, filled with excitement and creativity and so much productivity. And then I follow that up with a slower week, a week at my computer where my days are a little more relaxed, when I can take a walk around my neighborhood midday if I need a break, or start my morning slowly with a warm mug of chai tea on my back porch. Days where I don’t need to log into my email at 7:30am and get going right away.
I’ve found that I can get so much done on those “slower weeks,” and some weeks I happily cross the very last item off of my to-do list on Wednesday afternoon, proud for a moment that I accomplished everything on the list… before adding ten more things that I should be working on next!
I’m in the Northeast, and winter will be here soon. It’s naturally a slower season for portrait photographers, and I will embrace that chance to rest, look at my business, and make some big changes for the new year. Some portrait photographer dread “the slow season,” but I’m looking forward to it! I love being able to take on more creative projects in January and February, and I love how refreshed that always makes me feel.
This is my challenge for you. In the busy fall season we’re in, schedule some time off.
Plan a lunch date with a business owner friend.
Bake an apple pie.
Take a walk around your neighborhood.
Spend the afternoon jumping in leaves with your kids.
Aimlessly wander the aisles at Target.
Or just take ten minutes and sip a cup of coffee at your quiet kitchen table without any screens nearby to distract you.
Whatever you do, take a moment to slow down and intentionally schedule this into your day. You’ll finish feeling so refreshed and ready to take on the world — or at least ready to take on the next seven sessions you need to edit, the mountain of emails in your inbox, and get that client newsletter prepped to send out next week!
You’ve got this!
Comment below and let us know how YOU plan to intentionally slow down and find balance this fall. Can’t wait to hear about it!
Have you read our other open letters to newbie photographers? They're not really for newbies, but any photographer! Check them out here: