Did regret or relief follow the decision to quit her photography business?

Ever caught your self wondering what it would be like to set your own hours, schedule and be the one making the calls?  Wondering how and if you could walk away from a job you were not in control of?  How could you monetize what you were truly passionate about, heck even turn those passions into a profitable (let’s say 6 figure business??) lifestyle you enjoyed?  In this mini series I’m walking you through my own journey of mistakes, confusion, and accomplishment.   So that you can not only learn from what I did wrong but also from what I’ve done right.  Make sure you start at the beginning right here to hear the whole story and find your inspiration for a “leap” of your own.  If I, a little school teacher from Texas could start my own 6 figure business from home…why can’t you?

 

(Says a narrator man with a dramatic flare)

Earlier on “The Life Journey” “School Teacher” made the choice that life with 2 full time jobs was just too much so she turned off her website, said, “no” to requests and never looked back.

 

That is, until she did.  (Look back I mean) Teaching, although it had been a passion was different in this new town.  Having seen what entrepreneur life could look like and feeling a void she began to wonder if she was walking the wrong path.  But how to get out now?

 

The Story Continues…

About a month into the school year I found myself slipping into a dark place.  Back in college I had a pretty terrible car accident and wound up with some life altering effects in my life.  One of those was a drastic onset of depression. With counseling, medication and a LOT of effort I got the depression under control.  But moving to a new town, working long hours in a classroom, feelings of isolation and hopelessness came creeping in.

 

I was saying no, left and right to referral photography clients from my hometown.  My new teaching job was quickly becoming a burden, it was becoming work.  After another month of complaints and frustrations I was expressing to my husband he looked me straight in the face and said, “just quit, you can do it”!

 

I sat there thinking, “I have NEVER quit anything in my life.  I persevered, I kept on keeping on, quitting wasn’t something I did!  And then he reminded me, that I had in fact just technically quit photography…ugh. Gut punch of reality.  Could it have been the wrong thing to quit? Was it just the easy thing to quit?  The “safest” option was to continue with security and teaching, something I knew and felt comfortable in.

 

But as I imagined life as a FULL time entrepreneur I started to fall in love with the idea.  However, I was now faced with a million ‘what IF’s’ …  What IF I couldn’t make enough money, book enough clients, afford insurance, get sued?  Leave the security of my job to try and make it in a business with no real lines to stay within, yikes!  But like the rational minded man he is, my husband recounted my life only months before that I had already done it once WHILE I WAS WORKING ANOTHER JOB. Imagine what I could do with full focus.  How much faster I could build, the time I could spend learning and developing a business that I wanted and that succeeded.

 

So with some planning and a very (VERY) strategic financial plan, I resigned from “school teacher” at Christmas and …. began to look forward.  I structured my days, blocked my time, went to business after hours meetings, meet ups and started introducing myself as, “full time photographer”, aka – self employed!

 

I may have appeared like I had it all together, maybe my planner was full and my bank account was steadily climbing but…I could not shake the fears of:

• Imposter!
• What am I doing?
• Does anyone actually believe in me?
• What if I can’t…?

 

As time crept on new ideas came, growth came and I had soon created a 6 figure business working the same time I would have if I was teaching (even a little less). I was going to Paris, Ireland, New York, California and more.  I had built a team of 6 “employees” and was experimenting with different business models.  Sure I made a few wrong turns but I learned from them and they brought me to new heights, new websites, new clients and more.  I was killing it. 

 

For years we had struggled to grow our family.  We had gone to millions of appointments, undergone procedures and were never able to get pregnant.  When we gave up and started looking into other options…we got pregnant.  We were overjoyed to say the LEAST (and pretty surprised!).  The first time we heard that little heart beat on the ultra sound our lives would never be the same.

 

Tune in next time to see how a new heart beat changed this “Photographers” life journey.