"Have you ever worked with Justin Bieber?"-{My middle school career fair experience}

A few months ago, a staff member at the middle school I attended back in the day, asked me if I would like to be a guest at the career day they were having(The event was on Friday).

My Response: "Yes!"

This type of thing is so up my alley. First of all...I love to talk. And it's even cooler when I can talk about something I'm passionate about, like my business. Second...I love pushing people to follow their dreams. Too many people push away their true desires and settle into something "comfortable" and spend too much time regretting it. It makes me sad.

I knew that this whole career day experience would be SO worth it, If I could put the belief in even just one student that they can do what they want to. School doesn't tell them that, Society doesn't tell them that. I wanted to tell them.

Because let's be real....I started with NOTHING. Nada, zip, zero. No experience, No camera, No connections, No clue. This is not to say I am ANYWHERE near where I hope to be in the future, but I'm definitely miles ahead of the place I started. I wanted to tell them what I tell everyone..."If I can do it, you certainly can". Seriously.

After hearing about Celeste and her styling, the staff invited her along to have a booth of her own too. And the day wouldn't be complete without me bringing along Ty to help me answer all of the questions coming our way.

And oh boy did we get questions....

It was truly an eventful day and a one of a kind experience. I got to talk one-on-one with some of the students already showing a huge interest in photography who could very well be the prodigies of the industry for their generation. I also met many future vets, actresses, marine biologists, and surgeons!

I got a lot of serious questions, "What does it take to become a photographer?", "How much money do you make?", "How did you get started?"....

But we also got some questions that were totally unexpected and made us giggle, like these:

"Have you ever worked with Justin Bieber?"

"Can you take my picture? Right now?"

"Are you still gonna be in business when I get married?"

"Is that a real wedding? Are you sure, it looks fake"

Here is Ty and I at our table. I love the sign they made me and definitely kept it!

The lovely Celeste and I.

xoxo

DO. IT. NOW.

How many time's have you told yourself "I'll get to it later...." or "Later on when I have time, I'd like to...." ?
If you're anything like me, you probably do it A LOT. I always seem to find a ton of things I would love to do, but can never find the time to do them. You see, these things I really "want" to do always seem to get overshadowed by the things I "have" to do or "should" do...you feel me?
Why is it that the list of things we want to do is neverending, but the time to do them, goes unfound?
The answer is simple: That's how life is.
The time is just going to keep ticking away no matter how hard we fight it. That time you are searching for, is passing you by.
I see the pattern in myself allllll the time. The book I could't wait to get, still sitting there months later without a page turned...the old hobby I'm DEFINITELY gonna take up again once I get past wedding season...the good friend whom I haven't seen in ages, that I'm FOR SURE gonna hang out with after I get a few more things checked off my to-do list...
Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.
If it's not one thing, it's gonna be another. If I'm busy today, chances are I'll be busy tomorrow...and next week...and next year!!! Especially as I take on new opportunities, my life just gets busier and busier and busier....
So I challenge you to take today to commit a little time to that special thing you've been wanting to do. (Unless you're planning on waiting till retirement!)
Do it TODAY.
This post isn't meant to be some profound message or eye-opening statement. It's simply something we've all known from the start...today is as good a day as any :)

Well...it's kind of WAY off topic, but since I refuse to blog without a photo...I thought I'd share these photos I took of Rocko yesterday, in my great-grandmother's old wig. Poor poor Rocko. He looks like a cross between an elderly woman and a disco dancer. Enjoy! ;)

Different Perspectives.

A few weeks ago, I came across an inevitable bump in the road. I'm finding that running a business independently is all about risks, gains, losses, failures, successes and a million other complete opposites. But really, no matter HOW MANY times you hear about life lessons and dealing with hard situations you can never fully understand until you deal with it first hand....
Several weeks ago, I found myself at a consultation with a bride and her mother. The bride was very young and her mom was there to oversee the booking and make the payment. Everything was going well, your average consultation....we talked about the wedding, life, the photography itself, and even had a few laughs. Nothing out of the ordinary. By the time I left, I had a signed contract and a $500 check for the retainer fee in hand, to reserve their day. The bride even followed up a few hours after, letting me know that she was so excited to have me locked in as her photographer. Things were lookin good!
So it's safe to say I was pretty surprised when I checked my phone later that night and found a missed call from an unfamiliar number and a pretty angry voicemail. It turned out to be from the bride's father, saying that himself and the groom were both "furious" about the cost of my services and that they weren't even getting an album. He said they wanted a refund, and we would need to get this "taken care of" within 24 hours. I sat in a daze, wondering if I had really just heard what I thought I had...how could something great turn bad in just mere hours??? I had no idea how to handle this situation.
The first thing I decided is that I would not call her father back. I would not discuss terms of the contract with someone who had no part in the booking. But the big question was how was I going to deal with their demand for a refund when the contract clearly stated that the retainer is NON-REFUNDABLE. Obviously I would keep it right? Cause I'm fully entitled to the money of course....I'll just tell them "Sorry, you already signed...either pay the rest or lose the money you already put down". Because it is MY money isn't it??? That's the obvious answer right????
Much to all of your surprise....and still to my own...I went the other route.... That money didn't feel like mine. That check sat heavy in my wallet, un-cashed. A name signed on it that already felt like it was no longer part of my plan. Just an ugly reminder of a fit that wasn't right....
I contacted the bride the next morning asking her to have her mother give me a call. Upon talking to her mother I let her know that I would return the money only because it was such quick notice and out of the kindness of my heart. I made sure she understood that I was giving her a refund she was not entitled to merely because I am a kind person and at this time, I felt it was the right thing to do.
We had a very brief meeting at the same place we had booked just the day before. I had her sign a cancellation form that I typed up specifically for this case, she returned the contract, and I returned the check. We drove away and it was done.
As soon as I put my car in drive, I already felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. The slate was wiped clean....I had nothing left to attach me to this bad experience. But I certainly would not forget it. I knew something had to come from it....a learning experience.(and this super lengthy blogpost. ha!) But truthfully, I HATED the whole situation. I hated the roller coaster of emotions...excitement, fear, anger, rationality, remorse...I REALLY hated the insult I felt, listening to the voicemail from her father, making me question my worth...I also hated losing the bride, I really liked her and I know she had NOTHING to do with this whole situation, I feel bad that she got caught up in all of it(unnamed bride, if you are reading this...I hope you have a beautiful wedding day and please know I hold nothing against you!!!).
But from it all I learned a major unexpected lesson, something to do completely with being reasonable and open to diversity. That lesson is that we all look at the world from different angles and we must recognize that everyone has a different perspective. So maybe it was wrong of her parents to break the contract...and I certainly didn't appreciate the way they went about it, but I realized that her dad is certainly not WRONG for thinking my services weren't worth that amount of money. He just puts value on different things. And wouldn't it be more WRONG to expect every person in the world to value the same things? That would be no fun. I dealt with one bad situation...someone who would not spend what I charge. But in the 2 weeks prior to that, I booked 3 brides who were more than happy to pay those prices and see the worth in what I will give them. I also returned weddings discs to 2 previous brides who loved their images and I'm sure would spend the money all over again if they had the chance...
So I guess the lesson here is, don't take it personal. When you're so committed and closely tied in with your business....it's hard to separate it from yourself sometimes. But you've got to realize that things will happen and you've just gotta roll with the punches. If someone cuts down your prices or something of the sort, it doesn't say anything about YOUR worth, but rather, it speaks of THEIR own perspective. In short, clients are like boyfriends...you can't fully appreciate the right one until you've dealt with a couple of the wrong ones hahahaha.

"You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note"-Doug Floyd

P.S. SOOOOOOOOOO excited that my awesome sister snagged me a copy of this little gem below, for my birthday. (which is October 11th in case you didn't know, but i'm sure you've had it on your calendar all year right?!?! hahaha). I've heard amazing things about this book from other photographers and I'm already loving it after one chapter!

Growing Together.

Owning your own business. Well there's really nothing quite like it. It is probably one of the most rewarding/frustrating/time-consuming/fun/scary/adventurous things you can ever do(besides having children! and that's a whole different story!). I was just talking to a friend and fellow business owner about it and I explained to her my take on the business "climb" and it really got me thinking about my beliefs on helping others on their climb.
For me, starting and establishing my business has been exactly like climbing a ladder. When I first started I knew there would be a lot of steps, knew there would be struggles, knew it wasn't going to be easy, yeah, yeah, yeah...I knew it all. HA! The ladder I saw at the beginning of my career was more like a step stool compared to what the real business ladder turned out to be. So many expenses, projects, and steps I had never even thought about. OUCH.
The crazy thing is when you are on this ladder, making your way up, and you look around there are SOOOOO many people making the same climb you are. Some may be a few steps ahead, some a few steps behind, others are exactly where you are. Some will be lending a hand, trying to help you get to the top...others will be pulling at your ankles trying to bring you down. My goal is to ALWAYS be the one helping others up. For me there is nothing better than having friends in the same business who you support 100% and who do the same for you. With every person you help, that is one more person rooting for you to get to the top.
Where would I be without the other amazing photographers who have helped me in my climb?? Probably still over in the sidelines trying to conquer my step stool. Hahahaha....but really. I am so grateful for the help I have received and I would love to give just as much help back to anyone who needs it. It is so frustrating to find business owners who see everyone else as competitors and only wish success for themselves. How sad. Of course we are all competitors, but what a lot of people don't realize is there are millions of people getting married, tons of babies who need their first pictures done, hundreds of families looking for Christmas card photos. There's enough work for everyone(this goes for all businesses, not just photography!). And if you run a business that represents yourself(as you should be!!) then you are eventually going to attract the perfect client that wants to book you because of who YOU are and if the client is sold on who YOU are, then who else is going to be able to compete with that?! There's only one you!!
The moral to the story is....if someone needs help and looks to you for it, give them a hand. If you are helping other people get to the top of the ladder, that can only mean you are moving in the upward direction too. If you are constantly trying to knock other people down, you might just fall down with them. Think about it....what can be more rewarding than helping someone achieve success? Besides, if you are only helping contribute to other people's failures, then what does that make you?

So for all photographers...if you ever have any questions about anything or need any help, feel free to contact me at kristen@kristenbooth.net :)

I will close this post with a photo of the new little friend I made the other day :)

Looks like I'm a proud parent...

Yesterday, I went out to coffee with a friend from high school whom I hadn't seen in a long time. So long, that I hadn't yet met her 9 month old daughter, Zoey. As we sipped our drinks and gushed over how adorable Zoey is(oh and she really is the cutest thing EVER), we began talking about how busy we both are. As I told her about everything I do and she talked about all of the responsibilities of being a new mommy, I came to a conclusion....starting a business is a lot like having a baby.

Here are the reasons I found that a new business is similar to a baby....

1. It takes up A LOT of your time.
2. It takes up A LOT of your money.
3. You need to raise it and care for it.
4. It starts to be all people talk to you about. (This is an interesting one...have you ever noticed right after someone has a child, their friends and family being to ask more and more about the child and less and less about the parent? Well out of boredom I was browsing through my wall posts on my personal facebook page and I noticed that about 80% of my posts were photography related. Keep in mind this is my PERSONAL page, not my business page. I guess my friends are forgetting that I still exist without a camera in my hand. Thanks guys...Just Kidding! I love when you guys ask me about my "bundle of joy" :)
5. The more time and dedication you put into it, the better it "grows up" to be.
6. It can bring a lot of happiness but can sometimes cause you trouble too!

So can you see what I mean? When I started my business I guess I didn't realize what I was bringing into this world! I give MAJOR props to all of you business mommies and daddies who have human children as well. I don't know how you do it, but you're awesome!

Keep an eye on my blog if you wish to watch as my "little one" grows and matures with every passing day. Hahahhaha...

I will leave you with this picture that I quickly snapped of Zoey while she listened in on me and her mommy's conversation :)