My 2019 Goals and Word of the Year!

Wow, I cannot believe that 2019 is upon us.

What an amazing year it has been and I can’t wait to reflect on the wins and losses and the plans for this year. 2018 brought a lot of new adventures. I started my business, I shot my first two weddings, I’ve shot countless other mini sessions and portrait sessions and I couldn’t be happier with the path that I have chosen.  I want to dive into my 2019 goals with you and give a little insight into my business.

It took a lot of soul-searching and thought to get to where I am today. Hell, to even decide to pursue photography as my full-time job. But what I’ve gained out of all of the soul-searching and thought and meditation is that photography and building a business that I love is probably the most important thing that I will do. I cannot wait to see what this new year brings me. But without reflecting on the past year we can’t really move forward into this year. So let’s dive into 2018 what worked and what didn’t.

2018 was a lot of things.  I started on my entrepreneurial journey after listening to Jenna Kutcher‘s Goal Digger podcast. And it set me on an unexpected path towards entrepreneurship. I didn’t know what format it would take or how I would get there but I knew it was something that I wanted. I threw around a lot of ideas such as social media consulting, virtual assistant work, and graphic design. But none of that really fired me up like the thought of living on the other side of a camera.

I’ve always loved taking photos but most photographers will tell you that. What I didn’t know was that I can make a career out of it. Not just holding a camera and being really good at taking photos which is only half the job. But also making my clients and the people around comfortable and have fun. My 12+ years of working in the hospitality industry definitely prepared me for this even though I may not have known at the time. My innate ability to communicate and make people happy and put a smile on their faces is one of my best qualities and something that I really love about myself. And I didn’t realize that all those skills would be crucial in launching my business in the client service sector of entrepreneurship.

Working with my first two brides ever in my first year of business was such a valuable learning experience. It brought up a lot of things that I didn’t expect. My last bride of 2018 raved about how I made them feel comfortable, but also their guests! And it wasn’t until that moment that I realized how far-reaching your interactions with your client’s are. That each interaction that you had with a guest at the event had an impression, and I know that I made future clients – at least three – from that wedding alone. And it taught me a valuable lesson about my business. It’s not just about taking photos but it’s about showing up in the world in an impactful and powerful way. Taking the knowledge and using it to focus my business in 2019 is going to be crucial in my success, and I can’t wait to share this with you.

Now that we’ve talked about what did work let’s talk about what didn’t work. Especially in the last three months, I felt like I needed to begin consulting in order to create a successful business. But what Christina Scalera taught me is that you need to be able to teach others in your niche from experience, which is something I don’t have yet. Now as someone that succeeds in everything I do, or at least I try to, it’s really hard to swallow the pill of not being ready to teach yet. It is difficult to know that I can’t give value to other photographers unless I walk the walk and talk the talk.

Also, my shop has been something that isn’t as successful as I want it to be. But I also know why. I’m not creating content for my ideal client, I’m creating content for my peers. And while I am a firm believer in the community over competition, again I’m not ready to serve that group of people yet, although I definitely want to in the future.

Let’s look ahead to 2019.

My biggest focus in 2019 with all of the knowledge and experience that I gained over this past year is to attract more of my ideal clients and serve them well. My shop will be more focused on brides and providing them with tools that they need to plan a successful wedding and marriage. I am going to stop trying to market to my peers because I can’t teach them from a place of experience. I want to continue to provide extraordinary value to the clients that I do serve. I know a lot of that is continuing to show up in the way that my clients need me to. Being a resource for them as they travel down this journey. And being able to relate to them as I plan my own wedding. I’m so excited to really drill down into my business and create a super successful year. And with that being said I want to talk about my word of the year:

Growth.

My word of the year which is something that I’ve seen a lot of entrepreneurs do in this first week of January is going to be growth. Growth in my business. Growth in my personal life. Growth in my wellness journey. Growth in my relationships.

I want to make 2019 amazing in as many ways as I possibly can. I know that growing and constantly learning is going to create the experience for those that I serve. Service is always going to be the name of the game for me and I can’t wait to change the world.

Thank you so much for allowing me to speak my goals into existence and sharing a little bit of behind the scenes with you guys. I would love to hear about your goals in the comments below and let’s have a great 2019!

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