245 - Welcome back to the latest episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast!
Ever had one of those moments where you think, “Is this actually happening?”.
I had one of those moments early in my photography business that I’ll never forget.
Picture this: I'm standing in the bank, clutching my first check for $105 and change, ready to open my shiny new business account.
The minimum to open was $100, and I was ready to bootstrap my little business to profitability.
That was until the bank employee went to deposit my check, showed his colleague the check and laughed. 😳
Now, for some people, that might have been the end of the road.
But for me? It was just the beginning.
I walked out of that bank more determined than ever to make my business a success.
Because, honestly, the thought of going back to a 9-to-5 was way more terrifying than any snickering bank teller.
In the latest episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast, I sit down with Heather Lahtinen, our resident mindset ninja, and we dive into the power of belief and perseverance. We share some of our own cringeworthy early business moments and how we used those experiences to fuel our drive.
JOIN THE PARTY:
245 - Welcome back to the latest episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast!
Ever had one of those moments where you think, “Is this actually happening?”.
I had one of those moments early in my photography business that I’ll never forget.
Picture this: I'm standing in the bank, clutching my first check for $105 and change, ready to open my shiny new business account.
The minimum to open was $100, and I was ready to bootstrap my little business to profitability.
That was until the bank employee went to deposit my check, showed his colleague the check and laughed. 😳
Now, for some people, that might have been the end of the road.
But for me? It was just the beginning.
I walked out of that bank more determined than ever to make my business a success.
Because, honestly, the thought of going back to a 9-to-5 was way more terrifying than any snickering bank teller.
In the latest episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast, I sit down with Heather Lahtinen, our resident mindset ninja, and we dive into the power of belief and perseverance. We share some of our own cringeworthy early business moments and how we used those experiences to fuel our drive.
JOIN THE PARTY:
I am Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer, turned pet and family photographer back in 2010. I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses.
I believe that achieving two to $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six figure businesses that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion, or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place with over 350,000 downloads.
With welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography podcast. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography podcast. I am your host, Nicole Begley, and we are back with Mindset Ninja. Heather Lain once again on the podcast. Hey Heather, how are you? I am fantastic, actually. Better than ID. Deserve, or what did your grandma used to say?
I am doing, I'm doing exceptionally well. That's It. That's me. Excellent. I love it. So we just wrapped up an awesome call with our Progress Lab Progressors. We need a name for them. Yeah. So yeah, we had our Progress lab, oh gosh, I guess it's been about exactly a month ago. And we had five incredible ladies come together,
and it was just an incredible experience. Have we talked about that yet on the podcast? I don't think we've done a full recap of that. No, But we're planning on it. I think we were, we're getting ready for that to do that. Yeah, we should do that. This is so good. Yeah, it Was really, really good.
Truly, you guys, I've taught a lot of retreats and workshops in my years, you know, this, but the Progress Lab one is like a whole new level, new level of transformation that's just really just an honor to be part of. So yeah, we were doing a call with them and I just love hearing what they're up to. And you know,
you leave, here's what happens a lot of times for these workshops, or you go to a conference or you do anything. Like you go and you're there and you're in it, and then you get back to life. And then life is just like slaps you in the face. Like, oh, you think you're gonna change Uhuh sucker Life Is like,
sit back down and shut up. Exactly. So this call was to like, see how they were doing after that experience and get right back in the, the proper lane that they need to be in. And they actually did a really good job. They were all like the, the insights that they've had since the Progress Lab to realize when they start to veer off track and to those old habits in old ways is,
I mean, just proof of, of what is possible. And like that's the stuff, the, the compound effect that we'll carry on. Okay. That's actually a really important point to note is that we teach something we call self-coaching. So we teach them how to coach themselves. We, we work with them while we're with them, obviously in person,
but I don't think that's enough. So we've developed this process of teaching them how to self-coach. So when we were on this call, they were saying things like, and I realize what I'm doing, you know, and I can see how, and then they're working on changing their thoughts or their beliefs to shift their action. And if you think about it,
like if I taught you how to make a hundred thousand dollars a year and you knew that you could take that information and make a hundred thousand dollars or more per year for the rest of your life because it compounds over time, you know, would that be worth like one retreat to you or whatever the retreat costs? Yeah, I think so. And this is the same thing,
except I think it's priceless because if we can teach you to shift your thinking, to keep moving forward, to make more progress and it compounds over the over time and you get better, better at coaching yourself, working through your crap moving forward, getting stuck, getting unstuck, and that lasts you forever, what, what, what is that worth to you Besides the fact that you get to eat some really good food,
stay in a really fun house and, and hang out with a whole bunch of really amazing people for a couple days. Like in, In addition. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, this is not about the Progress Lab. Just wanted to kind of share you guys what we got we're doing earlier this morning, but we are planning another progress lab in the panhandle area of Florida,
like a Rosemary Beach 30 a like beautiful, gorgeous home, likely next May, May, 2025. So mark the calendars, if you wanna be on our super short list, send an email to support at hair of the dog academy.com. Let us know because yeah, we're, we're starting to collect like our super short list people that are interested because we've had quite a few people that have wanted to come to one in the past too,
but just didn't work out for dates or whatnot. So we're gonna try to get those locked down somewhat soon so that people can make plans. So anyway, what are we talking about today? So we were talking about when we started, I actually, this whole podcast episode started because I was doing some random banking things. Like I was getting a new checking account for Lauren because,
you know, she needs like an actual real one. She had like a kid one before and then like Colin needed a different savings account for just different, like random little things. So I was doing some banking, like doing adulting things and I had a, a memory that popped into my mind and that was when I went to the bank to open my very first business checking account.
When I started my business back in 2010. It was like June, 2010. So gosh, 14 years ago, just about on the dot, I walked into the bank and I started my business, Heather, without any of my own money, meaning I didn't go out and get a loan, meaning like, I already had, I bought the camera and stuff and I had a computer.
It was a crappy laptop, but like, I had a canon, I think I had a Cannon rebel at the time. Maybe. You know what, no, I might have invested in like a five DI don't know. It was like a medium level camera. It wasn't like the high end, it wasn't a one DX or anything. Anyway, but after that initial investment of the gear and not all the gear,
I had like two lenses. I had a long lens and a more wide, like a 70, the 24 to 70 and a 7,200. And that was it. Then I went down and I did my first mini session before I had a bank account, or my first session might have been a mini session. I don't know, it was $105 and change.
'cause my session was $9. And then so it had sales tax. And so I took that one little itty bitty check down there to open my bank account because I, I wasn't, why was I gonna put my own money? I'm gonna go photograph people and earn money for my business to open my bank account. The minimum to open a business checking was a hundred dollars.
And I vividly remember the person I was working with. You know how they take your check over to like deposit it, takes my check over, goes to deposit it, showing it to whoever they were depositing it and laughing What They laughed, which I would like to know where they are right now in their life. Yeah, because you're laughing all the way to the bank.
Another one, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. And I just remember just being like, I mean, I think even then it didn't let me, I, I didn't let that, like, I, I know some people it would've wrecked, you know, they've just like, they may have, might have, well have possibly like hung up their like for,
you know, forgotten about starting a business anyway. 'cause maybe they already had doubts and things like that. All I knew was like, I, I, I'm going to make this work because the other option is to go back and work for somebody else. And that's not happening. So I didn't let it affect me, but it still obviously did affect me since I had a random memory of it 14 years later.
And I was like, man, crazy. Can You take me back to that moment? And you're standing there and they're, you know, giggling at you is what I feel like, like look, look at her. You know? And what, what were you feeling? I think I was kind of shocked. You know how people say and do things that are like,
you are like, is this actually happening? Mm. I think that's kind of where I was. Then I went home and I was like more kind of just like, screw you. Like I was like mad. Mm. It fueled you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think for a lot of people there would be some embarrassment or shame. Oh,
a hundred percent that that could be, I think that could go in multiple ways. There's either the like, screw you, whatever. Like I don't care what you think, watch me. Or it can be like, maybe this isn't the right move. Oh my gosh, they don't believe in me, so how the heck am I ever gonna get this to work?
Because some random guy working like an hourly job at the bank doesn't believe in you. Yeah. Unbelievable. I think what's interesting is, I hear this is I feel like I'm divided. I feel like this would be these, both of these things would happen to be, there's something in me that's like, watch me and it drives me and fuels me.
And I love that. But there, I'm also pretty sensitive. So there's a part of me, I'm thinking if that would've happened to me that early on, that it might have thwarted my growth because I would've been so embarrassed and ashamed. Like, oh my gosh, they're laughing at me. Like, what is this high school? You know? It's ridiculous.
But it would've, I think it would've impacted me more, well, you know, 20 years ago than it certainly than it would now. And it probably would've impacted me more than it did you than I feel like you were stronger back then than I was, but, Well, I think we had different things that we were learning to cope with. Hmm.
So for that particular one, I do think it would've affected you more 'cause you were more concerned about what people thought way back. Yes. Old Heather. Heather 2010 Heather, yes. Where my main issues have always been like time scarcity. Mm. And then, you know, there's always been a little bit of a imposter syndrome type thing that I've always kind of overcome as well.
You know, I think that's a super common one. But I, I didn't have a lot of the, the need for the, like the people pleasing or the people to like me. That's never been something that I've been kind of hung up on as one of my things that need to work on. There definitely is still some though, you know,
because I don't like conflict, you know? So who knows? We're digging into, we're burying all of our soul for you guys on the podcast today. We're getting deep. Yeah. I think. But the point here is like, this will happen to most of us, some story when you're starting your business or maybe even when you've been in it a few years,
where someone will say something or do something or something will happen that will cause you to doubt and you'll, and, and the only reason you would feel doubt is if you believed what they were saying, or at least a little bit some component of that. And I think that you were able to work through that really quickly because you believed more in the fact that you would figure this out and make this happen than you did in the doubt.
Even if there was a little bit there. So for me back then, I would've been impacted more by that doubt. Because here's the thing, if I use this example all the time, please forgive me. But if you walked in there and he said to you, Hey, I hate your purple teeth, you would've been like, what are you talking about?
I don't have purple teeth. Like you would've laughed. It would've not impacted you in the least. Mm. The only reason reason things impact us is because there's a component we believe. Yeah. 'cause if you didn't believe it, Yeah. We fear that could be true. Correct. Like, there's a little crack in the, the armor of like,
oh wait, are they right? Yeah. Crack in the veneer of the purple teeth for sure. But if you just look like I use that now because, and actually one of our elevators said something to me, the other, oh, she texted me and she was like, purple teeth. And we, you know, like, and that was our way of saying something happened that I'm just not willing to receive because I don't believe it on any planet that,
I just don't believe that that's true. But if you have the tiniest shred of doubt and somebody fuels that, that's when we have trouble. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. Heather, do you have any stories you remember from, gosh, way back early weddings by Heather days? My gosh, vintage Heather. Let me think. There were a few things that happened,
but actually this one stands out in my mind and it was almost 20 years ago. So the fact that I remember it just like you was like, there was something there. So I was invited to this exclusive group of photographers. They were having dinner and I had a friend that was in this group. She'd been in the business a long time. She took me under her wing,
she was great. She invited me into this group, they let me in. It was like a really, really big deal. They had all, they were all veteran photographers. I was young and new and you know, wide-eyed and all of the things. And I, I went to this, right? It was in downtown Pittsburgh. And I,
they were asking me what I was up to and I said, you guys, I found the most amazing thing. So this was late 2004, early 2005. I said, Google just released this app called Blogger where you could create. And they're like, what's a blog? So blogs did not exist on websites. Right. Period. And they were like,
what's a blog? And I'm like, it's a web blog. What they call it? A blog for sure. And so you could like post a couple of photos from every session you took and it would get people more engaged with your website. Oh my gosh. Please know, at this time this was such futuristic thinking. I might as well have said,
we're getting a rocket ship to be on the Jetsons. Like this was just not heard of. And they, they all scoffed at me. They were like, what? What does that even mean? That's never going to work. It's never going to take off. Who in the world would commit to upstate up updating their website every week? Like I update my website Every,
well, yeah, because actually websites then were not easy to Update. No. Right? Yeah. It was, you had, you either had somebody or you had to get into code and whatever. Yeah. It was very complex. And they're like, nobody's gonna do that. Nobody updates their website more than once per year. And even then, you know,
so I was like, oh man. I was like really deflated by that. But I, I don't know. I left there and I was like, 'cause I wanted them to accept me and I had this people pleasing thing. I want them to like me. So I was really felt kind of bummed about it. So my thought was, well,
I'll prove it to them. And this was not in like a watch me kind of way. This is like, I actually wanna help them because I wanna be part of This group. Lemme show them how this actually works. Correct. Yeah. So I had taken my camera to that dinner and we were standing around and I was like snapping some photos.
So I created a blog post and I said, I got to meet some new photographer friends in Pittsburgh. I'm so excited. Like, I mean, just nothing but kindness and love and, and I posted the blog. And by the way, because it wasn't a thing, you know, it was like my mom and my aunt Nancy were looking at it.
Right. I mean, it wasn't, nobody knew it existed. So I sent it to them an email and I was like, here's a link to a, this is called a blog post. And I wrote, oh, I wish I could find it. I wrote all these things and I like mentioned them and like, he's awesome and she's awesome.
So complimentary. I looked up to them so much and I didn't hear anything right away. And I, I was maybe a week later and I get to my computer and it was like, I had an email from every single one of them like that came through at the same time. Oh. And I was like, well that's kind of unusual. They meditated and I opened the first one and it was scathing.
I mean they were, they were so upset and mad at me that they had a meeting to talk about me. They told me this. We came together as a group to talk about you. And they, each one of them sent me an email about why this was a problem. And I was ruining the industry and I was an issue. And this was,
I mean, just attacked me from all angles. And they all sent the email at the same time with different words. Wow. They all wrote their own emails. They had a, oh my gosh, can you say mortified? I mean it was like, yeah, Especially these are your peers in your market. I looked up to them. I looked up to them.
It's like the veterans like, and I really desperately wanted them to accept me. So as I'm reading these emails, I mean I'm just like falling into my chair and I mean crying. Yeah. Crying like so, so upset because I was actually trying to help. I thought I was doing something good by like promoting them. Yeah. And showing. And every email was some paragraphs,
every single one of them sent me paragraphs of like, this is a problem. We will no longer be accepting you in our group basically. And here's why you made us look bad. And, and one of us had that bag in our hand and it looked like we were drinking alcohol on the side of the street. And if your goal was to defame us,
then you succeed. I mean what? Wow. And I actually hung onto these emails for a while and then one day Craig said, why do you go back and look at that? Just delete them. So I deleted them. It was devastating isn't even the wor word for how that impacted me. Because I thought, not only do they hate me and I now have no connections or no friends in the industry,
they're going to talk about me. They had a meeting about me like how mortifying could that be? It was, and this is the very beginning of my career. The onset. Wow. And so you had A choice to make. What's that? You Had a choice to make. I had a choice to make. I didn't know this at the time,
I didn't know that that's what I was doing. But looking back, you're right. It was like, do I crawl into under my covers and hide for the rest of my life, which is what I felt like doing. Or do I use this as fuel? Do I just pursue it anyway? Oh. And also at that same time, I had said to them,
they asked me what my goal was and I'm like, I just wanna be one of the best wedding photographers in Pittsburgh. I wanna charge 5,000. They felt $5,000 for a wedding. And they're like, that will never happen. Like why would you even That's ridiculous. Nobody's did. So a high paid wedding photographer in that at that time was maybe 2,500.
Yeah. I got married in 2002 in Pittsburgh. Oh. What did you pay? Do you remember? I think it was about like 2,500. Yeah. You hired a good photographer Then? Yeah. Oh yeah. It was, I hired, like, I was only considering the best. Oh my gosh. I wonder if I hired someone that was in that.
Did You hire someone that was mean to me? Nicole? I dunno. We'll Talk about that after this. It's like actually very possible. There was only a handful of them at the time, so That's so funny. So yeah, I decided, well I wanted, I wanted this so badly that I was just gonna move forward. Even though they said to me basically,
we hate you. You're ostracized and you'll never get, you'll never Figure out you were actually physically kicked out of the tribe. Yeah. Physically, which is the last thing your brain wants Actually happened. You were kicked outta The tribe. Yeah. Yeah. Be eaten by a bear. Yeah. And it was, it's your brain's worst fear. And it was actually Heather's worst fear.
Wow. I created that blog post. So they would like me. And it had the opposite effect. And with the intent to help them, like with a, a servant's heart to, to like, Hey, I, I wanna bring something to the table of value for you. A hundred percent. So it was very demoralizing, you know, and I,
I really, and I believed them for a minute. I believed that I was the problem and I had done something so wrong. I, so I took the blog post down. Meanwhile, I'm gonna guess that the only people who ever saw that post were them because it just wasn't a thing. I know it was your First one, so it's not even like you had a blog following or anybody signed up for your RSS feed.
Right. Just was not a thing. Oh my gosh. So yeah, that was a really, really hard thing to have happen so early on in your career. Yeah. But now, like if current Heather, if this happened to current Heather, this wouldn't phase me in the least because I would be like, that's about their issues, not me.
That's not about me. That speaks more Yeah. That's their Thoughts, right. To them. Now the friend that I had, the lady friend that brought me into this group was still very kind to me. Yeah. She ha she was playing both ends of this. And she said to me, well I'm sure you can see their point. Like she was trying to defend them,
but then she was also saying to me like, you have to go do your own. So she was encouraging. Yeah. But she was trying to keep, but she was Like, I'm not gonna burn my bridge with these people. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. Okay. So here we are almost, if not 20 years later. Okay. I just wanna say,
not that I'm being petty. I am but not a single one of them is still in the business. They've all left and completely diversified to different things. Not that that's a problem. Certainly you can shift. I I would love to call a meeting. I wanna call a meeting and we're gonna talk about where we are and what we're achieving. No,
it's fine. It, it probably did at some point fuel me. Yeah. Where I was like, like you said, I love to say watch me, just watch me create this. But the point is I sure wish current Heather could go back and just whisper and pass Heather's ear and say like, it all works out. It's fine. Just drop into your own belief about who you are.
Yes. Yeah. So here's the thing, and I believe this wholeheartedly, and I know you do too, that if we have the desire to do something to explore something, like there's a reason we would not have the desire to have a profitable photography business if we didn't have the ability to make it happen. Now that doesn't mean it's gonna be smooth sailing.
There's gonna be things like this that are going to like test you. How much do you want it that those choices are gonna be laid in front of you? Do I quit or do I keep going? You know? And, and so those are decision points that you have to make. But I think it's really important to have that faith and that belief that if I wanna do this,
I can make this happen. Like that this success exists somewhere in this vacuum of a timeline of whatever reality actually is. Are we in the matrix? I don't know, whatever. But it's there. It feels that way. Yeah. Yeah. Like it exists in some point there. So like you can get there but you have to do the work.
And we started to talk about this when we were talking to our progress led people. And you pointed out something really funny 'cause it was, what was it? It was like one piece of advice as we were wrapping up the call for everyone. Yes. And I said from my piece of advice that the most important thing that we can do is to have the unwavering belief that success is around the corner.
That like we can do this. Like even if it's not around the corner, my it was, I really just said we have to have unwavering belief that at some point on your timeline you are going to get this outcome that you desire. But we don't know. And maybe how we don't know when that timing is, but like if you have the desire,
it is done. But you have to believe it. 'cause if you don't believe it, everything you do, like all the action in the world is not gonna lead you to the success that you want. Yeah. Nothing will work As action. Girl, That was the, that was the point I made on the call. You said this and you were like so intense and you were like,
you have to believe and I, and you finished. And I said, and I want you guys to pay attention to something here that's coming from Action Girl. Okay. Even action girl knows that you have to alter your thinking and you have to drop into the belief that it is done so that you can gain that momentum and that energy to just make it happen.
And it is around the corner. We just don't know that timely timeline. And this, you actually wrote this down, you said this, this is from you. This is a quote, it says somewhere on my timeline, this is happening period. Action girl. And to if you, I love it. Really believed that, that you're committing to the process.
You're on this journey and somewhere on my timeline this is happening. I just wonder if that, if you believe that, if it wouldn't just help you relax a little bit, like you could ease into it. And the funny thing about that is if you relax and you ease into it, you it's probably gonna happen faster. Oh a hundred percent. And when you're able to kind of drop into that,
I know this is happening and like the, the kind of supporting thought that goes along with that is like, hey, everything I do is an opportunity to get closer. So whether it works, whether it doesn't work, like what if all these things had to happen to get that the final result. So like what if you had to get kicked out of the group?
What if I had to get laughed at at the bank? Like you know, it's that part of the process and maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But if we're gonna sit there and just ruminate on the fact that somebody laughed at us or somebody didn't see the value in what you were sharing and just like acted just rudely, you know, like we could sit and ruminate on that and not move forward with our business.
That's a choice. We have free will. We don't have to follow what we wanna do. But like what do you really want? Like fast forward 20 years, are you gonna be happy with that decision? Oh my gosh, I love that. It's like you will never regret trying, but you will always regret not trying. So you have to think of the future version of yourself.
And I did not have all of these tools back then, but I think almost innately this has just been like in me to push through for the something that I want to create regardless of the circumstances around me. I just decide that I'm going to be the best wedding photographer in Pittsburgh. I just decided I'm going to be the most expensive, the most sought after and I'm just going to make it happen.
Them laughing at me absolutely needed to happen to fuel that fire. Even if at the time it was devastating, it needed to happen. Everything that's happened happening that's causing you to feel like this is terrible, nothing is working it, it actually has to be happening to get you to the next level. I was working with one of our mutual friends, she's a one-on-one client and she was struggling with something and I said,
but you wanna take your business to the next level, right? And she's like, oh absolutely. And I said, okay then what if this needed to happen to get you to the next level? 'cause it, it, it gives, it's giving you the skillset to get there. And she's like, oh my gosh, I never thought of it that way.
Totally reframed her thinking about something that felt kind of negative and now she's like, boom. Going after let's go. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I have two thoughts here. Number one, and I say this a lot is like, you know, photographers are starting out and they're like, I want a six figure business. Like if you went from week one,
like if I went from that bank and went back home and had a six figure business, I would burn it to the ground 'cause I didn't know how to run it. You know, like you actually have to kind of learn the lessons in order to get the success that you want so that you can maintain the success that you want. So that's number one.
The other thing is I think there's a difference and people need to like, 'cause I can see people listening to what we were saying before, like you just gotta push through and they're like, well can I never change my mind about what I want? Mm. So I wanna talk about this for a minute because there's changing your mind because you're being pulled to something else and there's changing your mind because you don't wanna push through whatever roadblock you feel is in the way.
So can you get real clear as to why you're changing your mind? Why are you saying, okay, maybe I don't want this photography business anymore. If it's because you have something else on the horizon that you're more excited about, great. I am thrilled for you. Go for it. If you are saying, I don't think I want this photography business anymore.
'cause you're feeling you're not cut out for it, Uhuh totally different. Yeah. My coach always says, I, I don't care what you do, but you better love your reasons and and get very clear on that. So if you say, right, I wanna move on to something different 'cause I don't wanna do this anymore, it just doesn't appeal to me and this thing over here does just be really clear that you love that reason.
But if you're saying, I'm not gonna do this because it isn't working and I'm afraid and I don't know how to do it, I just wouldn't love those reasons for myself. Those reasons will lead to regret five or 10 years later. Correct. Correct. So you have to, I think some people, they try to like delude the, what am I looking for?
They're delusional. They try to like trick themselves. They do these mental gymnastics to say, no, this just isn't one I want anymore. E even if on small they're Rationalizing. Correct. It's their conscious brain rationalizing their decision to be like, see look, you made the right decision. Yeah. Yeah. Especially even with things like pricing, they're like,
I'm going to this model because I want to, and this makes more sense for me. Okay, are you, or is it just because you couldn't figure out the other one? Or you're scared of the other one. Right. You're scared of what people are gonna think of you if you're charging, you know, $3,000, $4,000, $5,000. And again,
there's nothing wrong with having a more high volume business at a thousand dollars a sale. Like as long as the numbers work and you're making what you wanna be making, you're selling what you wanna be selling. This is my own personal soapbox and pet peeve is when anyone tells anyone that there's one best only way to price your work. Right? Or one best,
only way to run your business because it can literally be anything under the sun. But you need to know what your goal is and what business works for you, period. Yeah, right. You know what this reminds me of is people who say, well I don't like flash. I'm a natural light photographer and I don't wanna learn it. And they have this kind of like bad attitude.
I'm better. Yeah. It's like I'm better than you 'cause I don't need flash. Yeah. I don't need flash. I think sometimes I'm like, well is that be, is that true or is it because you don't know how and it scares you? Okay. And there's a difference. So I had a friend, a local senior photographer who used to say that I'm a natural light photographer,
but she would tell me, she's like, Heather, I don't, I don't know flash. And it scares me and I'm, she's really good. You know, so she's like, I feel like I don't need to. And I said, but what if you just explored it? Like how do you know that for certain that you don't like flash?
'cause right now you are assuming you don't like it because you don't know it. How could you know for certain? So she decided to spend some time really learning off-camera flash. She did several sessions, we worked through it and she got pretty good at it. And then she was like, we came back, it was like a year later. So she,
she really invested some time in this and she said, I do not like flash. I'm a natural light photographer. And I said, I can accept that because you know how to do it and you tried to do it and you love your reasons. Previously she did not love her reasons because the reason was I don't know what I'm doing. Oh my gosh,
that's great. That is a, a great example. And I just wanna jump on this little tale of that too for a second. That I think a lot of people feel like they have to be defined by things like that in their business or their style. You know, I, I shoot with natural light 90% of the time, 95% of the time.
But when I use my flash 5% of the time, 10% of the time I love it. And I'm using it that point because it's a tool, you know, that it's just like, hey, we're shooting at this place at this time and it's two o'clock on a sunny January day with snow. Yeah. I'm gonna need something. Yeah, yeah.
You need it. What? It's because I use it as a tool. So Yeah. Yeah. Like you don't have to define yourself whether it's flash or your pricing or business. Like I feel like a lot of people will try to define things about them and their business and then just turn off any other possibility because they're like, well no, I'm defined here where there could be something to learn from these other things and explore.
And like you said, you could explore and test it and be like, hmm, no I really just don't prefer that. That's cool. Oh my gosh, now that you say that, I realize I was one of these people, oh my gosh. So early on in my wedding career, like very early on, like the first time I got a flash,
like a big girl flash. Yeah. Put it in my hot shoe thinking I was a boss, you know, and I shop many weddings, several with just one flash on camera and people would talk about off-camera flash at weddings and it was like, I don't need that man. I know I'm a master of this on-camera flash, I can shoot away.
And And the photos were good. Yeah. And then I thought maybe there's something here. So I started to experiment and I was like holy smokes. For the rest of my career I used off-camera flash. I would have one on-camera and two off camera and I just didn't know what I was missing. Yeah. Because I didn't know, I never tried it because I was too full of my own ego thinking I know how to do this.
Why would I, why would I manage all of that if I could do it with one? Right. Okay, here's why. 'cause the photos look better of a reception with multiple lights. So yeah, I did it and then I loved it. Yep. I love it. Awesome. All right, well let's wrap this one up and I wanna wrap this up with the main point of this episode is how critical belief in the fact that you can be successful is.
So Heather, walk us through how someone that maybe can't say that, like the litmus test for me is I look at what I want and I like basically scale one to 10, how much do I believe that this is in my future? That this is somewhere in my future? It is happening. It is not a 10. How do we make it a 10?
Okay. I love that. I love that. Let's talk about the belief ladder a little bit. So let's say you want to believe that you can build a six figure business, but there is no planet on what you believe that because you just started and you just had your first $150 sale and you're, you know, whatever. You're just working your way there.
So you can't believe that in fact, what would someone's current belief be in that situation? It would be, I can't, I can't see myself as a six-figure photographer. I can't, I Don't know if fits in I would like it to be, but who knows? I don't know. Okay. And then all the doubts of like, I don't know that I'll work in my market.
You know, like all those normal like little, little thoughts on your career. No, let's go with that one. Let's go with you have this, your current belief is that won't work in my market. Then what I would say next, you can just sort of shift that to keep thinking that this won't work in my market. And I don't know if we talked about it on the podcast before.
I mean we definitely talked about it at Progress lab and in Elevate, but what that does is it separates you from the thought. So when you say this won't work in my market, it's almost as if you're reporting the news or you think you are, it's cloudy to good day with a chance of rain. You know, you're just saying it like you're Subconscious thinks that it's fact.
It does not absolutely understand. Which is why we like react to a dream when you wake up and you're like, you know, your heart is racing, you had a stressful dream. Your subconscious and your body does not know the difference between what your thoughts are and what is actually happening. Your brain and body believe that to be true as if it's news.
So you say that I don't think or that won't be supported in my market. You could just shift that to, I keep thinking. So if you put the phrase, I keep thinking in front of it, it all of a sudden gives you the possibility of like, well maybe, I dunno if my thinking is accurate. You know, maybe there could be something different.
So I keep thinking my market won't support that is the next like ladder up on that belief and the next one might be, well it could be possible that my market supports that. And then you could play around with that thought for a little While. Would, would you look for evidence of somebody else doing that? Which might bring up another thought of,
oh it's possible for them and not for me. Which you would have to then ladder that one. Yeah, You exactly, exactly. You, you'd have a lot of ladders all over. It's like construction in your brain And ladders. Here we go. Yes. Yeah. So you're thinking that might be a possibility in my market. And then you could look for evidence and say,
that is a possibility in my market because I see someone else doing it and this could be a possibility, some version of that till you get to the point where my market can support this. I can become a six figure photographer in my market and I listen, I don't blame people. There is zero judgment if you're not there yet. That's why we have the belief ladder.
You just have to take it to keep thinking. I keep thinking my market won't support this. Maybe it's possible and you just like work your way up to develop that new neural pathway over time until you can get to the point, listen, listen, if somebody said to me two years ago you can have a million dollar business, that is hilarious to me.
There's like no planet on which that could happen for me. This is me two years ago. Like what are you talking about? And so in my mind it's like, that is not possible for me. But then I started thinking, I, I said, I keep thinking that's not possible for me. And then it's like, well that could be possible for me while other people are doing it.
Maybe that is on my timeline. Maybe in the future I could create that. And then it's like, how could you create that? Why not me? You know, you just work your way up that ladder until you try on your belief. I, I always picture it as like try on clothes. When you first try it on, you throw it off so quickly 'cause you're like,
that doesn't fit. But if you work your way up that belief ladder, at some point you put that, you know that sweater, that blazer on and you're like, okay, maybe yeah, maybe this. And then you just practice trying it on. It's like the first time I listened to the new Taylor Swift album, first time I heard it,
I'm like, I mean, alright, it's good. I like it. It's okay. I dunno if it's one of my favorites. I have barely listened to anything else since, since April 19th. Heather, I know I was in the car with you. We listened to it over and over and pretty loudly to You. Everyone coming to Iceland. My car will be the Taylor Swift car.
I don't even know when this happened 'cause I was never swifty until the fall. I think what happened is I watched them as Americana documentary on Netflix, which I'm like, man, this girl is talented and works her ass off. Yes. Expected the hustle and the motivation and the business savvy of her. And then she released 1989, which was one of my favorite albums of her anyway.
And then I started digging into all the vault tracks and then like my one friend at the barn is also swifty and pulled me in and I'm just like, I'm all in all Thing, you know? Yeah. Yep. So there's my belief ladder in action. Oh my gosh, that's actually a good point. But listen, I think all of us had to work through our own versions of a belief ladder to get to a six figure business.
Maybe we didn't realize we were doing it, but it and And there's some new ones that pop up. Like I, I can guarantee that there's still some other things that are thoughts that are preventing me from getting to whatever, like goals that are set. 'cause otherwise I'd be there. That's right. So there has to be, so there has To be,
there's still something, there's still the governor on like my emergency break is still on a little bit as I'm driving the car. Have you Ever done that? That's for real. I actually happened to me not too long ago. I had the emergency brake on and I think I was in Craig's car 'cause his is an automatic, mine's a manual, but I was like,
put it in reverse. And I'm like, why is the car not going Brake on my car's too bougie? I think. I don't think it'll go if you have the emergency brake on. Oh, it'll Probably tell you Miss Nicole, you have the emergency break on. Could you please remove? It's the Subaru, but it is, it is the nice Subaru.
It is, it is great. Oh man, I love it. Oh my gosh. All right. So belief ladder guys. Like I I I find at least for me, the easiest way is like, all right, what am I thinking? What do I wanna think? And then figuring out those different levels in between like maybe as many as five of like,
like okay. And then you have the separate, I keep thinking, which allows us to separate ourselves from the thought and then moving up to something neutral and then moving into something fairly good to something that you really want. So, And just FYII have an in-depth training on the leaf ladder. Guess where Nicole In Elevate Inside of Elevate. Oh my God.
Yeah. I love it. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Actually when this gets released, it's now May 22nd we're recording this. Oh no, it won't be quite yet. But you guys, if you waiting, something's coming up to get into Elevate. We are actually, I mean the doors are always open, but we are going to be opening the doors with without the little $200 setup fee.
So special Bonus, Yeah. You can save $200 to get in and there's some special bonuses and if you want in now, just shoot an email to support at hair of the dog academy.com. We'll get you in early. But we're gonna be doing that on June 10th. And then Heather and and I are gonna host a, a fun bonus training on June 12th.
So more details to that to come. I'll just go to hair of the dog academy.com/progress or always reach out to support at hair of the dog academy.com if you want a little You said Slash progress did you mean Elevate? Thank you. Yes. Progress Lab is the progress slash elevate hair of the dog academy.com/elevate. Do all of the things though, Do they're,
they're just come, They're so good. Life changing, changing the thoughts is life changing, seeing connection from I it for the people that we've Deeply in that yes. It's life changing. Yes. Yeah, a hundred percent. All right. Awesome. Well, I hope you guys found this enjoyable and entertaining, at least lamenting about our early embarrassing laughed at experiences.
And yeah, we will see you again soon. Bye everybody.