Ask A&A: How to Prep for Big Goals, Increase Your Pricing & Book Clients from TikTok

Welcome to The In Between Podcast, a show for women navigating the space between where they are and where they want to be.

This is your go-to holistic business podcast where we dive into strategies, mindset, habits, and of course, making a meaningful income so you can live your dream life.

I'm Astrid, a multi-six-figure luxury wedding photographer and a former corporate marketing girly.

And I'm Alexis with 10+ years in tech as a senior brand partnerships manager and business coach. Think of us as your business besties cheering you on as you level up. Let's get into it.

Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of The InBetween Podcast. This is one of your hosts, Astrid, and the other host, Alexis.

Thank you so much for joining us today. We're going to be talking through all of your questions. So we put up a couple of question boxes on our Instagram, went through the questions, and we love getting community questions. We get them in our DMs all the time, and we like to have these Ask ANA episodes Just to answer your questions rapid fire. So before we get into that, we do want to make a quick little update that we're taking a summer break. So you will see us back in your podcast player, back in your ears, LOL, the 1st of July. So we'll be back the 1st of July, and we are taking a little summer break through the month of June because We are going to be jet-setting. You know, we're going to be—we're going to be in different countries, different zip codes. Got a lot going on, and we wanted to keep the quality of the show high, keep the audio obviously high. And so we're just taking a little bit of a break. And because you guys are nosy—I mean, if you're nosy like me—I always want to know like what people are up to. So we thought we would give you guys a rundown of what we're going to be doing in the next couple of weeks, and then we'll get into our in-betweens and answer all of your burning questions. So do you want to go first? What are you up to over the next 4 weeks, you crazy girl?

All right, well, I am so excited for our Euro summer and our little summer break. Not so little, um, but yeah, I am taking off next week to Tuscany, uh, and Florence. So I'll be staying in Florence for about a week and then heading out to the countryside. I'm shooting a wedding towards the end of those 10 days out there, which I'm so excited for and praying this rain goes away because I've just checked the weather and it's rain every day. So we'll see how that goes. But primarily I want the sunny weather for the Tuscany weather. So the Tuscany wedding. Wow. Okay.

It's okay.

So I'll be in Italy for the first 10 days and then we're going to pop on over to Mallorca, Spain. To do a belated 30th birthday celebration for myself because why not? And, um, my girlfriend, our girlfriend Jansen's gonna be joining us and Riley as well. So it'll be the 4 of us on the island just living the island life and traveling all over and hanging out in Palma and beach clubs and all the good stuff. So excited for that. So we'll be there for a week. And then after that, we're going to go work remotely from the South of France. If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that Alexis and I did the South of France last year. We loved it so much that we said it's our new Florida and that's where we're meeting every year. And here's us making that happen. So we will be there. Riley will be coming along as well. And then we will be working some during that trip.

Yes.

So, um, yeah, so very excited for that, exploring all the new towns as well. And then after that, I will be going to the Dolomites back in Italy. I have a shoot from a couple that found me via TikTok, and they're based out of Toronto. Um, and we're just doing a couple sessions in Alpe di Siusi, which is like the highest valley mountain point, um, in Italy. And so very excited to go back to the Dolomites. My sister is gonna be flying in and joining me for this part of the trip.

Fun.

And yeah, we're gonna be road tripping around the Dolomites. We're gonna go up into Austria. My sister used to be an exchange student in Austria, so she's familiar with some of the areas and so excited to go back there.

Cool.

And then one of my St. Louis couples is going to be out in Switzerland. And long story short, they hired me to do their engagement session a few days after my Dolomite session.

Wow.

So we're going to be road tripping from the Dolomites over into Switzerland. And, uh, yeah, exploring a few different towns over there. So very excited. Have been doing all the Switzerland research. Apparently it's the most expensive country. Um, so it's been very interesting. The— okay, here's a fun fact. 2-night stay is as much as I'm paying for our whole week stay in Nice.

What?

Yeah. And that's like on the cheap front. What?

Yeah.

Oh my God. Yeah. But either way, very excited. She's gonna be there 4-ish days. Um, so, you know, picnics, going to the market. We're gonna balance off the expenses on that side of things.

Working.

Yeah. Yeah. So a little, a little work sandwich. What's that?

I said filling up your water bottle in the bathroom just to save some euro.

Yes, truly. Water is great quality there. Yes. Uh, but yeah, I'll have a little work sandwich. I'll start off with a wedding in Tuscany. I'll take some vacation And then I will wrap up with work. Um, so yeah, about close to 5 weeks that I'll be out there. So what about you? You are traveling all over as well. Share your plans.

Yeah, girl, I am stoked for, for all the content. And it's so cool to watch your photography business continue to grow because of TikTok. And I mean, so many of your, um, abroad clients and international clients are booking you from what you're posting on TikTok. So So shout out to you for continuing to pour into that platform because I know it's paid off in spades. So cool to watch you grow. Okay. On my end of things, the next couple of weeks are going to be crazy. Matthew and I are going to Cancun, Mexico to celebrate one of our friends. I just kind of realized back to back I'm celebrating 2 of my friends' 30th birthdays. But our good friend Justin, who's Matthew's best friend here in Houston, is turning 30 and he got a group of people together. like 9 or 10 of us and we're going to a 5-star all-inclusive in Cancun. I'm so excited. They are spoiling us and rented us a yacht, which is going to be crazy. I've never been on a yacht before, so I have no idea what kind of new character this is going to unlock in me. But I have been planning my outfits and Millie, who's one of my best friends here in Houston, Justin is her husband, and her and I use ChatGPT to plan out all the names and like themes of every day. So So every day has an outfit theme. I've always kind of wanted to do that. And this crew that we're going with is like so down for that. So it's going to be a lot of fun. Excited to kind of have some time with just Matthew and I. We just had vacation with my family, which was amazing, but I am excited to like just have some time, he and I, with our friends as well. And then I get back from Mexico on Memorial Day and I land at like 10 AM, and then that next day on Tuesday at 4 PM, I fly to London and I land in London Wednesday morning. And then Wednesday evening, I am moderating a really big panel for my job. So lots of, you know, whirlwind jet setting, but I'm really excited. Circle is sponsoring a— we're actually doing a back-to-back event sponsorship with an organization called Creator Leaders, and they're a community of of the top UK creators and entrepreneurs, and they're doing an event in partnership with VaynerMedia. And if you're familiar with Gary Vee, Gary Vaynerchuk, this is his company, his media company, and we're going to be hosting it at their headquarters in London. So super cool. And, um, also other partners that will be there are TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Meta Circle. So really big event for our brand, really excited to be there. And I'm moderating a panel of other community builders. And then that next day we're hosting an intimate, like private dinner at this fun restaurant for 25 UK entrepreneurs. So going to be really fun. And I love the energy in London and I love like their personalities and it's just so fun and so welcoming. So I'm really looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones. And then from there, I am meeting you in Mallorca. I'm so excited. I, I like think about it every single day. I can't wait to celebrate you and to be with Jansen and Riley. And just, we are each other's like comfort people. And there's nothing like being on a trip with people that you have like such a level of comfortability with that it really brings out your silly, goofy, weird side. And I feel like that's going to be us for like 7 days straight together. And I'm really looking forward to experiencing a new Part of Spain, and then as you already mentioned, I am going to Nice with you because I am a psycho and I cannot say no. And I was like, well, we're already going to be in Mallorca. Like we should just take the hour and a half flight to Nice and work remotely. So we got this gorgeous apartment with a really nice like community space for us to work, and then we've got some fun tricks up our sleeves as well for just ways to you know have some fun and live it up in our thirties and early thirties. So really excited. And then I'll be home for a little bit, but then I'm going to New York for a big film shoot. Oh, fun.

I didn't know about that.

Yeah, for Circle, right when I get home. And then we're going to my husband's best friend's wedding in Michigan. So then flying from New York to Michigan, and then I'm home here in Houston for 4 whole weeks. So for the 5 weeks I'm traveling, I'll be home for 4, and I'm very excited for that. So those are my travel plans. If you're in any of these places, And you want to hang out, you want to get coffee, you want to meet up, please let me know. That's one of my favorite things to do is to meet up with people, um, in different places. So let me know and I would love to treat you to coffee or, you know, have a Hugo Spritz with you.

Absolutely. Hugo Spritz is the drink of the summer. It like makes me come alive.

Me too. I can't wait.

I tried it last year in Italy and then ever since I hyperfixated on it.

You were the one that told me about it. You were like, you should get a Hugo Spritz whenever we were in Nice because I was stuck over in Aperol land. Which I was like, why? You know? And then you're like, you should try Hugo Spritz. I was like, whoa, okay, life-changing. Not really, but—

Shout out, shout out to the very nice waiter in the island of Ischia that was like, I think you would like an Hugo Spritz. And we've just been locked in on it. He changed our lives.

I love it. Okay, now that you're caught up on our summer plans, send us a DM about your summer plans. Like, what are you up to this summer? Are you traveling? Are you having a restorative summer? Let us know. I'm always curious and I'm so nosy. I'm like, what are you up to? You got a lot. Where are you going?

And also we're going to be wrapping up the summer with our mastermind retreat that I am so excited for. We're going to be in the 30A area with our girls. Our girls are having such amazing breakthroughs in the mastermind. I'm so excited to see where they're going to be by that point. But yeah, we booked the Airbnb this past week and it's beautiful. It's stunning. We're going to take photos. We're going to lay by the water, by the ocean. The ocean.

What is that big thing? It's the ocean.

No, but we're going to have a great time.

I am so excited for the In-Between Mastermind retreat. It's going to be so restorative and we've spent so much time with our girls. So I'm excited to get to have some IRL time. But Yeah. Okay. Now that we're caught up, you know, we're taking a little break. Let's get into in-betweens. We'll get into community questions. What are your in-betweens right now? Or one of them.

Okay. Okay. Well, one of my in-betweens is on the business side. And if you've tuned in since earlier this year, I have shared how I updated all of my workflows. I changed over my CRM system. I invested in someone that helped me like integrate all of them and automate all of them. And just, you know, business things that happen is, um, it's not quite working like I want it to work. The, the person that did it did an amazing job, but the software itself is going through certain upgrades and glitches that are completely out of her control. And at the same time, the old CRM I used to use is investing so much into their software and they're rolling out a lot of things and it's working so much better. So it's been a hard pill to swallow to be like, I spent all that money and all that time checking a big box in my to-do list, and now I'm probably going to have to do it again this summer and bring it back to the other platform and then redo everything. So I'm in between deciding, like, do I just buckle down in the summer and just do it myself based off of like how she did it and I've already had like one sunk cost, or is it worth it to invest in having her do it again but in this different platform? Because then that frees me up to do other things. So I think that's a question that I really can't answer until I'm back and I see what my workload looks like, what inquiries are flowing in as well. And if there's enough inquiries, then I probably will outsource it. But it's, it's been, um, it's been hard. It's not— it wasn't Like it was like $4,000 or $5,000 to do that. And that's like a whole wedding, um, and like a smaller wedding. And so anyway, we're very transparent with you guys. So just sharing the true struggles of a business owner and sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some.

Yeah, that can be really frustrating and the sunk cost piece is big, but I do think like it's a problem for you when you come back to figure out, you know, it's like you realized it and now maybe you do something else, but But you'll figure it out in 6 weeks.

Yeah. It's July Astrid's problem, not right now.

Not May Astrid problem.

What about you?

Okay. On my side, if you've been listening for the last couple of months, you know that one of my goals this year is to launch a newsletter. And I got— whenever I was in New York City with my best friend Jess, she is a stunning brand film photographer, and she gifted me a shoot whenever we were in New York, and I got all the photos back. I have never felt more like excited about a project. So I'm using all the photos from that shoot for the new brand of the newsletter, and I've been using my bestie ChatGPT to help me figure out a newsletter format and kind of the goal of it. And I want to start this as a newsletter and know that it will morph into more, but I'm giving myself grace to just focus on one step at a time. And all I need to focus on right now is just launching the newsletter. And then from there, you know, it can scale into whatever it looks like, but I'm really excited and feeling rejuvenated and energized by something. And I want it to be bigger than me. Like I don't want it to be the Alexis Teichmiller newsletter. I want it to be for the ambitious career woman who has kind of played the game, but they're winning at life. And I don't know, I'm still figuring out exactly who it's for and how to message it, but I'm really looking forward to refining it and doing some more research on it. And that's actually one of the things I want to work on. in my creative free time on these trips is just like let my brain kind of like roam. And I think that's where I do some of my best creative work and I'm looking forward to that. So that's what I'm in between right now, just continuing to refine the newsletter. And I think I'll probably launch it here soon. So we'll see.

I can't wait. Yeah. It's going to be amazing. One, I want to see these photos because I'm sure they're incredible. I remember seeing the outfits that you were mentioning you were going to wear, and I was like, this is incredible.

Matthew was so sweet. He saw— he like, we went through them together and he was like, he saw one of— there was like one in particular. He was like, this is like Vogue.

I was like, whoa. You're like, whoa, but yes, I'm your Vogue wife.

Yeah. You're a geologist and like your frame of reference for what Vogue photography is. But also like, that's Jess too. Like her, her eye for things is so editorial and it made me look so cool. So I can't wait for you guys to see it.

I love— I cannot wait. I cannot wait for this newsletter. And I just love the energy that you have around it. It's just fun to have seen in my brain. It almost pops up all the little clips of times that you've talked about a newsletter, and I feel like it's gone from cloudy to full-on sunshine, and you're just full sun right now about it. And I cannot wait to see What you create, what, um, like focus you end up having with the audience that you want to reach. And it's gonna be amazing. Everything you create is amazing.

Oh, thank you. I love you. I need you in my pocket every day. I was definitely having one of those mindset days where you're like, am I enough? Am I doing enough? And thank you for that. I appreciate you.

You're enough. You're doing, you're doing great, sweetie.

Okay, let's get into your questions. We've yapped enough. Do you want to go first?

Yes. So let me pull up the questions right here. So the first question that we got is how to keep adulting or running a business whenever something big happens in your life.

Yeah, that's a big one. I know we've both experienced heavy things, big things while running a business. I also know that there are several people in our lives and clients we've worked with that have also gone through this as well. I think that one of the places I would start is looking at what— I mean, depending on what it is, whether it's grief or whether it's something traumatic has happened or you're experiencing something with your mental or physical health, I would step back and acknowledge the amount of time and the amount of energy that that needs to take in order for you to find your way through it, heal from it, you know, whether it's, you know, you're trying to get physically better, like how much time do you actually need? And it's hard for us to measure that upfront, right? But I think it's just acknowledging I need space, I need time. Okay. Now that we've accepted that and we're not judging ourselves for it, we don't feel guilty about it. Then I think it would be looking at what is the minimum that I can do in my business for it to still run, for me to maintain my clients, for me to maintain my marketing, for me to kind of go into maintenance mode a little bit so that I can shift my energy to focus on this big thing that's unfolded in my life. So I would, I would start there accepting that you need space and then looking at where in your systems and in the way that you spend time in your business right now, can you go into bare minimum mode? And maybe if you have a nest egg built up, are there some certain things you can start to outsource or contract out for a month or two just so that you can focus on where you need to focus? Those are the first things that come to mind for me. What about you?

Absolutely. Those were The main things that I was thinking through as well. The only thing I would add to that is getting comfortable with asking for extensions if you need it, or whenever you're— if you're a service-based business, being able to extend your turnaround time or expectations with a client. So if you have someone that you just got a product for or service for, and your normal time is like, hey, I'll have this ready for you in 2 weeks. Just be like, oh, this will likely be between 3 to 4 weeks, but it may be sooner. I'll keep you posted. So how can you give yourself more runway? Because you don't know how much time you'll need, what days you may not be in full capacity for.

Yeah.

And at the same time, I think giving yourself grace during this time is huge too, because we tend to shame— understand that we need the time, but then sometimes simultaneously shame ourselves because we're not showing up in the way that we want in the business, or something's running late. Um, so communication is key. Don't avoid talking to your clients. The amount of times that I've had to reach out and be like, hey, something very big happened in my personal life, is it okay if I get this to you by next Saturday? And 10 out of 10 times they've been like, yes, absolutely, no problem. Some clients have even sent me like gift cards and like coffee and been like, hope you're doing better, like all those sweet things. So use it, um, to your, to your advantage during this time.

Yeah, agreed. And if you're experiencing something hard right now, I'm sending you a bunch of love and I'm sorry that you're going through that. Okay, our next question is, how do you balance spending and saving when you have side hustle income? That's not as quote unquote safe as your W-2. So do you want to take this one first?

Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So tapping back into the time where I had a W-2 and I also had, um, my business, what I did is I ran my entire personal life through my personal account. And ever since then I had a separate account for the business. And so during that time, what I did was What do I need to make sure is in the business account to cover any wild expenses that could happen? Um, so like almost an emergency and anything past that, I would then decide at the end of the month, like, okay, this is the percentage that I can pay myself. So that's how I did it. It worked really well for me. Um, I just used it basically as another savings account. I would just like dump a bunch of money and then when I needed to, That was how I was able to buy my house. I got money out of that account. So that's one way. Another way that I've seen is just overall being like, okay, I'm going to pay myself $1,000 every month. And you just make it work with your business. Like, what is the average from your business income that you could consistently pay yourself? And then start there, or maybe like a lower number around that. And then manage that number and manage that income based off of it. And so the average tends to really help when you already have that emergency fund established because things will ebb and flow. So those are my, my tips.

Love that. The only thing I would add is people have side hustles for a lot of different reasons. And sometimes people start a side hustle because they want it to become their full-time job. And leave their W-2. Sometimes people start a side hustle just for saving, like they they have a second job because they're saving everything for that. Some people have a second job just to fund their lifestyle. They're like, "I want more money for travel. I want more money to buy that thing." And so I think another aspect of you know Aster kind of processed a lot of the kind of processes and and how to line out the the finance side. I would also look at what is the intention of the side hustle and what are you wanting to do with that money? Do you want to save it? Do you want to spend it? Do you want to invest it? And I think getting clarity on that will then help you decide how you want to spend it and where you want to structure it financially.

I love that you brought that up because I actually do do that still right now. Where I'm like, okay, I'm going to Europe. I want X amount extra cash. And so I will book X amount of sessions and that will just go straight into my account, even though I pay myself every 2 weeks. So love that. I feel like there's so many different ways to handle the finances. Um, and that's a huge benefit of a side hustle. You get to decide where, where that goes. Yeah. So our next question is, how do you handle people asking about locations you use? When it's like a unique or not popular spot? So this is more in regards to photography and like photo spots. So I'll take this one. Um, on my end, um, honestly, I feel like I used to be like super protective of my spots when I first started. And I think now I just like don't care because I feel like everyone, even if it's the same spot, we're all going to shoot it different. The light's going to be different. The subject's going to be different. I actually have this one field that I really love to shoot at here in Effingham. And if someone asks for that very golden light, very effortless summer vibe, that's where I take them. And I've had people reach out to ask where it's at. And I've now started to run into other photographers in this random field. And so I'm like, okay, well, if you go and look at their photos, it just looks different because they edit different, they shoot different. Like, so to answer that, if you feel protective about a spot because you spend time and energy driving around and looking for it, fair. I feel like you can just respond to them and be like, hey, I actually like customize this for my clients and I will spend the time, like this is included in their packages. I will drive around and scout spots for them. Um, but here's like a general area that I would recommend to look for spots. Um, or 2, I would just encourage you to, um, maybe just be kind and just like pass it along and share that spot if you feel comfortable with it. But those are my 2 cents on that.

Yeah, you're so nice. Okay, next. Oh, oh yeah, I have the next question. Okay. When your goals finally happen, how do you confidently show up and not get nervous? Okay, so the most recent story I can share around this question is getting my biggest career keynote. So I spoke on a very big stage in a theater in Silicon Valley for Circle a couple of weeks ago at a conference called CMX. And there were hundreds of people in the audience. It was the biggest audience I've keynoted in front of on the biggest stage. And I knew that that was something I wanted. And it was a goal I had in my career was to start keynoting at that level and have that grandeur. You saw the photos. That is the kind of keynote speaker and the kind of events I want to be at. And I was very nervous. I was very, very nervous. My imposter syndrome was being triggered. And I knew that as soon as I booked it, I needed to hire a speech coach. So I actually used my professional development budget that I get at Circle and some of my budget for partnerships to help me to hire a speech coach. His name's Mike Pacchione. He's the best. I, he helped me craft my keynote and he helped me weave in stories and he really helped develop the content structure of the talk. And then he also really helped me on the confidence side. And I realized how much preparation is important when a goal finally does come to you. So how I didn't get nervous is that I had prepared for 2 and a half months. I prepared the keynote. I meticulously went through all the content, went through the case studies, did a lot of dry runs. And while I was nervous up there, the biggest thing that he told me was like, you belong here. Every decision and career highlight and experience you've had up to this point has prepared you for this. You belong there. So the moment that you start thinking, I don't belong here, Your brain starts to think, okay, I don't belong here. So your body posture gets smaller. You start to take more breaths because you're nervous. And you also are really starting to think about what does everybody else think of me? Like, do they think I'm smart? Do they think I'm articulate enough? And you really start to put so much power in everybody else's experience or vision or perception of you instead of standing in your power and saying, I belong here. I know that this is not going to go 100% perfect. I'm okay with that. But what is important for me is to give it my all in the moment. And that's all I can do. And I really channeled that day of. And afterwards, I remember walking off the stage and I'm a big, like, I like to rate things. And so I immediately was like, I would give that A 7.5 out of 10, which is like pretty good for me. First big keynote, I was like 7.5, that's a 75, it's passing. All right, C's get degrees. Um, but then I got audience feedback and about 20 people later that day came up to me with specific callouts from my keynote of like this case study. And I loved this and like wanted to talk to me about it. And then that bumped my rating up to an 8.5. I was like, I got so much good feedback. And also, if you go to a lot of conferences and events, if someone speaks and like they aren't necessarily the best, you're like, hey, great job, but you're not really going into a lot of detail. So I was like, okay, these people aren't going to come up and lie to me. So those are my tips on standing in your power and then also just being honest with yourself and knowing, hey, that goal came to you. It's not the first time that you're going Sorry, it's not the last time they're going to experience it. So let's say you get asked to be on your first podcast. There's more podcast episodes. Let's say you book your first client, first coaching client. There's more clients. You publish your first YouTube video. There's more YouTube videos. Like instead of putting so much pressure on one experience, I think looking at your career and your goals as a whole and saying, this is an important part of this bigger picture, but I'm not going to let this one experience define my future. And that was really helpful for me to get my mind in the right place.

I love that story and that specific walkthrough of how you navigated that, because I feel like sometimes whenever we get the opportunity to step into a big goal that we have and the nerves kick in, we tend to avoid it. And then we're like, okay, well, just like, yeah, I'll work on it later. And that is part of my answer as well, is like preparation is key. I also get very nervous as a creative, and I feel like being Type A prior to the day allows me to then be Type B in the moment and just be present with my couples. And that's like a big misconception in the creative space because You know, we have like, for example, your keynote, like that's something that you prepare for, you have specific notes and you have full control over how that goes. And then in the creative space, it's like this thing where people say like, oh no, well, like there's not really much I could prepare for. Like I just got to let the day like just ebb and flow. And yes, that's a big component of it. And I think a big part of it is a big part of why sometimes it doesn't go how you want it to go is because you didn't prepare for the day and those shots that you really wanted. Like, in my mind, I go into every wedding day and I'm like, bare minimum, here's what I'm for sure getting. Like, based off of the venue, based off of the couple, based off of the details. That's bare minimum. The rest, it's moments. And like, hmm, it's, it's very important to the gallery and it would never exist without it, but whenever you are able to prepare as a creative, it brings your work to a whole new level. And there's nothing worse than when you had like a really great opportunity, and I've, I've been there too, and then you walk off and you're like, shoot, I should have done this aspect of it, or like, I didn't put my settings correct for that, and now like all the details are blown out from, from my perspective.

Yeah.

So I think preparation is key. And then the other aspect, um, for me That we actually— I actually shared with the mastermind girls this week is how we're speaking to ourselves leading up to that moment. And I love that your coach walked you through that as well. And I know that you practice that as well. And for me, it's just a specific— every time that I'm going to step into something that makes me nervous, whether it's a shoot, a business opportunity, a conversation, I remind myself of who I am, why I'm in that space, and how I want to show up. And so if I'm feeling nervous and not qualified, I'll be like, Astrid, you are talented, you're creative, you are confident. You can say no if you need to. You don't have to be nice. Whatever the situation is, I will just remind myself of what that looks like. And that grounds me back into where I need to be and let go of those fears a little bit more. And then the last aspect that I'll say is fear isn't bad. It's exhilarating if you can channel it well. And that's what I've learned to do on wedding days is prepare enough to where I don't have that anxiety fear, but I still have a little bit of that stage fear. That just gives me that adrenaline rush and I'm just locked in for 10, 12 hours and I love it. I really, really do. So don't run away from it either.

Yeah. I had to remind myself, I love that you brought that up. I had to remind myself, you are not getting chased by a bear. Your body doesn't know the difference. And I'm like, this fear is good. You are not getting chased by a bear. And my Pilates instructor, Jacob, he's always like, but did you die?

No.

And I'm like, it always kind of hurts a little bit. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. I'm not dying right now. Like, I'm not dying. I know that that sounds so like oversimplified and maybe even dramatic, but I do think that when we do face scary things, it's like, okay, but did you die? No.

The body doesn't know the difference.

Yeah. Okay. Next question.

Okay. The next question is for you. So Alexis, Please tell me more about the Circle app. Are you the founder and how did it come to be? What is it?

I'm obsessed. I love that someone thought that I was the founder of Circle. That is very kind. And one day I will have founded a company, but I am not the founder. I am the senior brand partnerships manager and our founders, Sid, Andy, and Rudy started the company in 2020. And I've been with the company now for 3 and a half years. So I joined at the tail end of 2021, January 2022. So I've gotten to be there for a lot of the growth. For example, I was hire 40 and I was the first or second marketing hire, and now there's 190 employees. So it's grown a lot. And also, we were— when I joined, we had 3,000 customers and now we have 15,000 paying customers. So I've really been able to be there through so much of the scaling of the company. In terms of what Circle is, we are the complete community platform that brands, businesses, and creators use to run their whole business. So that's meaning memberships, courses, payments. Um, soon we'll be having a website builder. Um, we have gamification, AI agents. Like, it's really a one-stop shop for Anyone that's interested in running an online community, especially people that are looking to get off of big social and bring their members and community together so that they can hang out together. And we get to work with some massive brands, which is really cool. Like, let's see some brands that use Circle: Harvard, Jay Shetty, Notion, Webflow, lots of. Creators like Brendon Burchard. Let's see, Glow Atonmo. There's so many different people that use us. It's hard for me to even list a few off. But yeah, it's been amazing. I love my job. I run the partnerships program. So I oversee all brand partnerships and I get to do all of our virtual events, run all of our in-person events, and really just help grow Circle's brand. And I feel like I'm on a rocket ship right now. And it's It's such an amazing time to be at this company. And yeah, I don't see myself going anywhere. I think that as you've probably heard me grow and shift throughout the evolution of this podcast, I really do love my W-2 and I love my job and I love building a career. And so I think that's why having 2 perspectives of having the side hustle for me, doing coaching on the side and then having the W-2. There's so much fulfillment out of that as well. And also there's so much fulfillment in being a full-time entrepreneur. So yeah, that's what it is. Thank you so much for asking. And again, I'm honored that you thought I was the founder. That is amazing.

You do give founder energy. That's what she was picking up on.

Thank you. One day. One day.

Yes, absolutely. Well, shout out to Circle. Y'all are killing it. It's kind of wild to hear the numbers from When you started, yeah.

Since maybe this year we're on track to hit fifty million in ARR, so annual recurring revenue. It's nuts. I love that. Yeah.

Well, future founder Alexis will be there as well. Thank you. The next question is: I would love to hear about your origins slash evolution with photography and the growth within your business. So. I guess I'm trying to, I'm trying to see what specifics they might want to hear on this. But as far as like how I got started with photography, so I went to school for marketing, I got a marketing internship. And then in that marketing internship, they were giving me terrible photos. And I convinced my boss to buy me a Rebel camera, just so that we would be able to have better photos for social media. So I was never someone that like was shooting for fun or I picked up a camera forever. I literally just picked it up so that I could do my job better. And I practiced on my own time. They didn't pay me for that, but that's how I got started. So when I started to shoot on my own time, I started to fall in love with it. I started to have people model for me. I would post it to Instagram. And then slowly but surely people started reaching out like, hey, do you do sessions? And at the time I was I had some scholarships, but I was paying the remainder of college on my own as well. And so I found it to be a great side hustle. Speaking of purposes of why you might have a side hustle, the purpose back then was to pay for school. And so one, I loved it, but it was also just to pay for school. And so over time, over a year specifically from 2016 to 2017, to 2017, I fully fell in love with it where I could see myself doing that even more long-term, but not full-time. And so in 2017 of December, December of 2017, I officially launched the business and I was like, I want to do this more than just unofficially. And here we go. Right. And so, yeah, so I launched my business, I went very serious with it, and then within a— did a targeted Facebook and Instagram ad at the time because I knew like the type of clients that I wanted to work with. And so I targeted like St. Louis, Chicago, and Indianapolis area and specifically like people between like ages of 18, you know, like all the specifics of that with following. I still remember like they engage with the brands Free People, Anthropologie, like all those specifics. And it worked. And so that's how I got my first few clients along with a giveaway that I did. That's how I got my first destination wedding, which was in Arizona. It was like Antelope Canyon. And so they had a very beautiful celebration. And so between the mix of the couples that I got in the Midwest from that ad and then the giveaway that attracted that destination wedding, it just kind of took its own life and I kept getting more destination work and then I kept getting more of those types of clients. And so, yeah. And so because I was doing my job full-time and similar to Alexis, I loved it. I loved my marketing career. I never saw myself going anywhere. So I was not scared to raise my prices because I was getting a ton of inquiries And I could physically only shoot max 10 weddings a year. And so as demand went up, I raised my prices and then just kind of like kept going that way. I would get booked out, I want to say about a year and a half from, um, a wedding, like from my, uh, the following wedding year. And so that created in a sense like this like scarcity thing that I didn't mean for it to happen and then just create a lot more demand. And then over time, uh, the business outperformed like where I was at in my career. So I went full-time in 2022, 2021, 2022. Spring of 2022. Okay. Spring of 2022. And then, um, after a year of going full-time, I decided I wanted to bring on a team. And now I have had my team. This is going to be our second full year. So I've got 4 amazing women on the team. I wanted to build something greater than just me. I was turning down a lot of inquiries. And the big thing that I saw was I saw very talented women that weren't getting the types of inquiries that they wanted. And I was turning down a lot of those types of inquiries. So I'm just kind of like the crossover between those. And so I very intentionally chose them because of their talent and because of their personalities. So yeah, so I feel like that pretty much answers where I come from and the growth within the business. And then yeah, I'm very excited for where things are headed. We're shooting a lot more destination, a lot more in Europe. I just booked today another Dolomites wedding for next year. So that's But officially I will be back in Europe for next year. Oh my God. So very excited.

That's amazing. You're such an inspiration. It's so amazing to hear in its entirety, like in one sitting too, the arc of you as an entrepreneur and as a creative. And I'm just endlessly proud of you. You're just constantly upleveling, but doing it in your own way and with so much intentionality.

Thank you. Thank you. So our last question, we can both rapid fire through this one. But since we travel abroad, um, what are some of our top tips for both like the travel aspect of being in a really long flight abroad, and then once you're there, like top tips? Okay, take it away.

Yes, so for travel in general, I have become a bit of a carry-on queen. I know it's shocking, but I actually I overpack, and so I check a bag and I carry on a bag. Like, I'm gone for 3 weeks. I need a business wardrobe for 4 days in London— outfits, multiple dinners, multiple meetings. And then I'm going to be in Mallorca and in France, so that's a completely different, very different wardrobe for different reasons. Um, so yeah, I, I love a carry-on. I think packing your makeup in your carry-on and any sort of change of clothes is a big one. And if you do check a bag, If you can carry on in your backpack or your large tote, your makeup and a full change of clothes. I have lost luggage or luggage has been delayed, and that has saved me from spending lots of money at the department store slash like drugstore to get more makeup. And makeup's so expensive, as y'all know, to replace. So if you can fly with it, that's a big one. I also don't do as much skincare. I don't really like— people do their full skincare on the plane. That is not me. What I do do though is I like to use micellar water, which is like a kind of a cleanser water. And I will take 2 cotton pads and I'll squirt a bunch of micellar water on them here in like at home and I'll put them in a Ziploc baggie. And then I will do micellar water to wipe off the oils from the day and from travel. Oh, that's a good idea. But right before I go to sleep on a plane. So I'll do that right before I go to sleep. And sometimes I'll put on the Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask if I'm really dry. That's about the extent of it. And then sometimes I'll do eye patches, but I usually travel with traveling under-eye patches. I don't usually put them on on the flight unless I need to be ready right off the flight. And then yeah, I drink a ton of water. I don't drink. I try not to drink alcohol on a flight because my immune system's already being challenged with so many germs and the the pressure change and and all that. So and also that lack of sleep. So I try not to drink on flights. It just don't think it's worth it to my immune system. Um, and then yeah, I would say just traveling with some electrolytes. That's that's a big one for long travel trips. Those are my tips. What about you?

Okay. I love those. So such good ones. Okay. On my end, one, if you're a photographer, never, ever, ever check your gear. It goes with you. I don't care how much your back hurts, it will get lost. And it is a huge liability, especially if you're traveling for shooting. So that's one way to guarantee it. 2, compression socks. It really, really helps with your lymphatic system, with like not feeling as puffy when you land, like the next day. So I have been using those and that has helped a lot. Third, noise-canceling headphones.

Oh, 100%.

Yep. Yep. I had a bad experience on my flight back from Europe last year where I had like screaming babies next to me the entire time. And I landed and I have bought my noise-canceling headphones from like my AirPod Maxes and I know I'm going to sleep like a baby on that plane no matter what.

I had a similar flight situation on the way home from California. I had a baby on one side and another baby on the other side. I was surrounded with babies and they were under 1 and they were like, it was a 4.5-hour flight. So they were screaming and I had my headphones on. I was in my own world. Didn't even hear them.

I love that.

And when we landed, the parents were like, you did so good, to me. I was like, oh, I had my noise-canceling headphones on. I was in my own world. And they were like, That's amazing. So big. I mean, I think that's one of the biggest reasons to honestly buy them is for travel.

Yes. Worth absolutely every penny. The other one would be for sure hydration. So if you have a Waterboy or Element, that helps a lot. But if you're not wanting to have one of those, because sometimes they can have a lot of sugar, The Celtic salt, or Celtic salt, however you say that, has similar effects to it. So I just carry that salt with me and I'll grab a little pinch, put it under my tongue, and drink it, which I know sounds crazy to you. Also, make sure your hands are clean before you do that, especially if you're on a plane.

Yeah.

And then there was another one I was going to say, but I am— oh, yes. So if you are going somewhere where the time zone is vastly different, As soon as I get on the plane, I change the time zone on my phone to that one. And then, that really helps me mentally to start adjusting. And then, I wait after the first meal goes through to fall asleep.

Yeah, same. I also love melatonin. I have the Sleep Melatonin Gummies or just the organic melatonin dissolvables. I travel with melatonin. I take it. 2. If I have a 9-hour flight, I'll pop 2 melatonin, puts me out like a light. And then, because I'm obviously on Europe time, my body and my sleep clock is not adjusted yet the first couple days when I've landed in London, wherever. So, I'll also take a melatonin or 2 when I'm trying to go to sleep around 9:00 or 10:00. And, that helps me actually get to sleep because I used to not do that and I would stay up till 2 AM.

I was in Paris.

Yeah, literally. I'm just like up, like, why am I doing this to myself? And then your next day is kind of not ruined, but it's starting so much slower. And it's just, yeah. So I'm a big fan of melatonin or whatever you can do to put yourself to sleep.

I agree. A pro tip on that that I learned the hard way last year is make sure your plane takes off first before you take the melatonin. Because I— we were on our flight to Italy last year, and I took it while we were like about to board because I'm like, I'm gonna knock out. Like, I'm so tired. I shot a wedding the day before, and I was like, I'm just gonna roll into that plane and knock out. And they'll— this will take a, you know, like an hour to kick in maybe. So I took it, and we're, we're like so relaxed, all settled into our seats. And then the flight was taking forever to take off, and I started to get sleepy. And I was like, whatever, once we take off, we'll be fine. About 45 minutes later, they're like, actually, we have to deboard the plane. This plane has mechanical issues. So I was so sleepy trying to problem solve getting on a new flight because we had a wedding to shoot and we could not afford it. And I felt like I was tripping, literally.

Oh my gosh. Yes. Pro tip, wait until the the plane is off the ground to pop your melatonin. That would be so hard to like try to problem solve or really do anything whenever your melatonin are too deep.

Shout out to Riley. He did great. I remember this.

Oh my gosh. Well, I think that concludes all of our questions.

Yes. Yes.

Thank you all so much for sharing and submitting them. We love yapping. Thank you for listening and thanks for For being a part of this community, if you have any more questions or again you want to share your summer plans with us, you can send us a DM at theinbetweenpod.com. Not dot com. I'm dead. We're recording this at the end of the day and I'm like dee dee dee. Okay, you can send us a DM at theinbetween.pod on Instagram. Or you can connect with me personally @AlexisTeichmiller.

And you can connect with me @ashrajohannaphoto. Make sure to follow along. We're gonna be posting all of our travels. We hope that you guys have a great start to your summer and we'll talk to you in July.

See you in July.