How To Pivot In Your Creative Business with Julie Paisley

Welcome back to the She's Crafted to Thrive show. Ladies, I first want to say I am so sorry I was not here with a live new episode for you guys on Friday. We had a tropical storm Zeta come through Georgia and it took out our power and left some branches and trees and things like that down around our neighborhood and in our area. We're thankfully okay, and so is our family. But I know there are a lot of people that did not have that fortune and a lot of people who are still without power. So I am definitely keeping you guys in my thoughts and my prayers because this storm for me was a little bit scary. We ended up in our crawl space because I was— we were both kind of like, my husband and I and Zoe our dog, we were kind of freaked out. Um, it was just like the highest windstorm. Like, it was a wind, rain, it was just bad, you guys. So anyway, the point is I am here with a new episode, and I'm thankful that you guys still come back and listen to the show. But I am so excited to have Miss Julie Paisley on the show, you guys. She is a world-known destination photographer and educator. She has been featured in Martha Stewart, Southern Weddings, Green Wedding Shoes, Style Me Pretty, Ruffled Blog, The Knot, The People magazine. She's been all over the place. She is— she's been at the top of her game, and she's been in the photography industry for over 10 years. If you were to say, like, if you knew somebody who's at the top 2 or 3% of an industry that you're in, Julie has definitely graced those lines. But what I absolutely love about this conversation is that sometimes all we hear about those people that get to that top line is the hustle and all the work that it takes. And there is a a lot of work. But Julie is super honest about her feelings and reflecting back on that journey and where she is now and how she's taking the time now with COVID-19 to pivot and repurpose and really get back to her purpose, which is what she loves to do even more than, um, photography. And she's sharing all of that on the show. So if you are stuck in hustle mode and you're wondering if it's worth it, then this episode is definitely one that you want to tune into, and I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it. So stay tuned. Welcome to She's Crafted to Thrive. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, and this show is for all the ladies who are making and creating things that they love. You will hear conversations about the real everyday struggles of juggling life and business while trying to maintain passion and harmony. As women, we have the skill of getting things done, but sometimes we get in our own way. It's here where you'll see that you're not alone. You'll discover that success does not mean perfection. Fear and negative thoughts and challenges are all a part of the journey. And on this podcast, you'll find the inspiration and tools you need to have a life and business that thrives. Ladies, so excited to have Ms. Julie Paisley on the show. You probably heard the intro, but she's an amazing photographer. I'm so excited to have her here. Welcome, welcome.

Thank you. I am so happy to be here. You have become one of my favorite people.

Oh my gosh, what?

Seriously, I just love following you. You're just always so upbeat and happy and you're just a breath of fresh air. So thank you so much for having me on.

Oh, you're so sweet. You are too. That's one of the things besides your amazing work, obviously, is that you're so bubbly and real and I love your red hair. I love your eyeglasses. Like, I love like your style. Like, I just love, I just love following you. I love catching up. And now that we like have chatted like a couple of times now, I feel like, dang, I got a friend. This lady I was following for a while. Now she my friend. This is so cool.

Exactly, I love it. I just love the internet. You know, there's parts of Instagram, of course, and social media that we're just like, loathe. But it has honestly, it's like, yes, there's bad parts, but there's so much good that's also come out of this as well. And I'm just so thankful for new friends that I've even met over the last few months, you know, going through COVID and all the other things. And it's just, I think it's just amazing. It's just amazing. And we feel like we're friends. That's the thing. It's like, we've never met in person, but I totally feel like we have. Yeah, exactly. Already been hanging out for years now. And I just think that's just so cool how this community can bring people together like that.

Yeah, that is the beautiful thing about social media when you use it like social media.

It's supposed to be used in the first place.

Exactly. Exactly. So for everyone that's tuning in, please tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do and where you're headed because Things have shifted now that COVID has happened.

Oh my gosh, okay, I'm like the poster child for pivoting. And that's why I teach it, because literally I have pivoted so many times in my business. But first of all, just way backstory, is that I never ever intended to be a photographer. I have a degree in education, I was a teacher, I was so happy being a teacher. I was gifted a camera, And just started shooting for fun. I kind of just thought that it would just be, you know, something that I would do when I was off for the summer, or, you know, just fun. It just gave me like, I've always loved taking pictures. I'm very much art-oriented in my brain. I have my degrees in music and drama, so definitely that side of the brain. And, you know, I can't do math, but I can see beautiful things, you know what I'm saying? So I've always been type that, artist type anyway. And so photography just kind of opened that up for me. And so I really just started taking pictures of just friends and family. And then all of a sudden strangers started asking me to take their pictures. And this was back in 2009. So Facebook was pretty much king back then. Like, yeah, it was posted, everybody saw it. And you know, we didn't have Instagram. Yes, I started my business before Instagram. There was no Instagram. And we really just got all of our contacts and all of our work came from there. So it went really fast though. Unfortunately, we weren't prepared for that because I thought that this was just going to be like a little summer gig. It grew really fast. We made a lot of mistakes, but we've learned along the way. And just because of my teacher background, honestly, since I don't even know if I was a full year into business, I was already teaching people because it just came naturally for me. And so I was like, okay, I don't know all the things, but this is stuff that we've done that didn't work, or this is this is something that we did and it worked, so I can help you. So I started teaching workshops like from day one. It was really crazy, and the workshops just grew and grew and grew over the years. So first started out family, then I went into heavy newborns, like all the pose newborns, the studios, all the props, everything like that. And then I started getting asked to shoot weddings, and I'm like, I am not a wedding photographer, I cannot do weddings, I do not wanna do weddings, but you know me, I'm a people pleaser, and I'm a yes ma'am, and all that kinda stuff, so I did. And I fell in love with weddings, and I knew that this is what I was wanting to do. So I quit shooting newborns, I would still shoot families here and there, like maybe mini sessions, but I wasn't like pursuing that, and I was full-blown into weddings. So we went full-blown into weddings, it exploded, I was doing 30 to 40 weddings a year, woo! Prices, I kept like raising them because I thought they'll quit booking me, and they wouldn't quit booking me, they just kept booking me. So, I mean, at one point we literally tripled our prices in a year. Oh my gosh, because I was doing the whole Jasmine Starr thing, you know. At first she taught us, when she, back when she was a photographer, and she was like, every, every 3 times that you book your highest package, you need to change your prices. And so I was like, okay, cool. I kept changing the prices over and over, and it was amazing. I loved it. I loved the challenge. I loved the busyness. I started traveling for all of my weddings, and yeah, it was insane. But then it all came kind of crashing down. Like 2012, just a few years into my business, I was so overwhelmed. I didn't know what to do. That's so— we again, we changed everything. We raised the prices. Um, I traveled to Europe, got exposed to Europe, got exposed to film, started shooting film. Everything just went crazy again. And then 2017, another complete burnout.

Wow.

And I was I can't do this anymore. I'm also older too, so I started my business when I was 37. I'm 39 now, no, 49, sorry. I've been in business a lot longer than that. I am almost 50, and I always said I would never be the 50-year-old wedding photographer, so I'm getting up on there. So we started making some changes in like 2018, really started heavily concentrating on coaching and teaching. We created courses and things like that, and then I just started slowing down the weddings. So 2018, I think I did like, 26 weddings, 27 weddings.

And that's slowing down.

No, but we just literally the year before we did 41. So 2017 I did 41 weddings. I also had a team shooting weddings at that time. It was insane. Like yeah, it was the best year of our business ever, but it literally like, that's when I learned that it's not worth it. That hustle, that drive, that crazy schedule, that pushing myself beyond my limits, I have time health issues and I just wanted to ignore all those health issues. I didn't take care of myself. I didn't take care of my body. I neglected my friends, my family. It was, it was the best year financially, but the worst year at the same time. And so I knew I needed to make a change. So 18, 2018, I joined a mastermind. And that was just so transformative for me. And then I also cut back on my weddings to 27. I said 25, but ended up taking 27. And then I still knew at the end of 2018 I was still too stressed, because not only was I just shooting all these weddings, I was also speaking at conferences, I'm teaching workshops all over the world, I'm still hosting my own workshops here in the United States, and it was still too much. So last year I shot 17 weddings, which again, you know, it was—

Yes, you're like halving it every year, like halving it back down.

Really like focused in on education and it just brought me so much joy because ultimately where I'm at is that I love to help people. I love people, I wanna see people succeed and that is just, that's just where the root of my business is. It's always been about the people. Even when I was serving all of these clients, it was always about them, it was about serving them. But I realized too that you cannot be everything for everyone Mm-hmm. And you can be good at everything, but you can't be great at everything. Yeah, really like hard lessons that I had to learn. And I knew that if I really wanted to go back to my roots, to where I was really giving people that one-on-one, that, that attention that they needed— because you cannot serve 41 brides well, you just can't. You can say you can, and you can have systems, which we did, but it just, it wasn't where I wanted my business to be. I never wanted my business to be like this huge volume business. I would rather be like more boutique specialty type of business. And so when I started cutting back on those weddings, I really started seeing that, hey, that's where I wanna be. So 2018, I was feeling pretty good, but I went into, or '19, but then I went into 2020 with only 5 weddings and that was it, 5 weddings.

Wow.

You're absolutely out of your mind. How are you gonna survive? How are you gonna keep this up? Down. We had made out a schedule. I knew exactly how many courses I needed to sell and launches and all these things. And then March happened.

Yeah.

And everything went poof. Like, poof, it was gone. You know, all the weddings got moved. I had to cancel 6 Voyager retreats, which are my, my travel retreats in Europe, had to cancel those, move those to next year. Everything just went crazy. But I will tell you, it's been the hardest months but it's also been the best for me personally. I've really just concentrated on me. And, and, you know, for so many years, I think I was just taught that if you, if you put yourself first, you were selfish and you're not. You're not. And I had to learn that the hard way. My health just really took over and basically made me stop. And that's kind of where I'm at right now. And I love it. And now we're thinking about this crazy thing of going on the road for a year. That's— if you would have asked me this time last year, Like, it's nothing. My vision board. Yeah, that's nothing like it looks right now.

Yeah.

And but it's just been, it's just been so amazing because I've had time to, to settle down and spend time with our family. I mean, we've pretty much been locked up here since March, you know. Yeah, I had to come home from college and it was amazing to have him here. And we've learned so much about ourselves and how we get along and I'm just grateful for it. I really am. I'm truly grateful. So where I'm at right now as far as business goes is that I really transitioned into being a pivot coach. So what that means is that I help people pivot into education because I'm good at it. I just really am. I've pivoted a lot in my business and I feel like right now you can't just be a photographer.

Yes.

I have to find your genius and you need to put it out there to the world. And that's what I do. So I have boot camps, I actually have one that will be coming up in August, so we still have some availability for that. I do boot camps and then once they go through my boot camp they can be in a 3-month mastermind where I lead them through creating their courses, going through their beta testing, building their sales pages, all of that. And I have just truly found so much joy in that, I love it. And then another thing that I've still been able to use my photography is all of my travel images. You know, for you. I just held on to all of these and I finally introduced them to the world and it's really what's kept us going. And I'm just so grateful for those little things and how God has just like set all this up for us. And he knew what was going to happen. And I look at my friends who had like 20, 30, 40 weddings and they've had to reschedule and then reschedule and then they've had cancellations. And I'm just so grateful that God knew how to set us up for this. And we had downsized this year to just save money. Again, it was just another way of God looking out for us. So it's just been incredible. It's been an incredible experience. And I'm grateful for it, to be honest with you. Yeah, grateful for it.

I can tell, I can tell, you know, it's, it's interesting. A lot of people that I talked to, they haven't gotten to where you are or have been where they've done, been in business for over a decade and have seen so many different faces and facets of that business and of who they became during those processes. And then get to a point when they're like, you know what, let me pick and choose those different points of view of me that I really enjoy. And let me make those things be the thing that I really take my time in. And I think that's kind of what you're saying is that you've been, because of this time, because of COVID-19, kind of slowing down has allowed you to really reflect on like, all the things that you've done and been and things you've enjoyed and how those things have colored where you want to go and what you wanna do now and why those things are even more important to you.

Absolutely, I think I've learned too, you know, if any of you guys are listening out there and you're photographers, you kinda know how the industry goes and it's like, once you get to certain levels, like there's certain expectations of you, you know, it's like once you get— your weddings are over, you know, your price is over $10,000 or what, you have to have this, you have to show these images and show these pictures and work with these planners and do all that, and I've just realized that I can just be me, and this is the first time that I've ever embraced that, and we're going through a whole new rebrand where it is just me. It is, I am not trying to have this look of this certain luxury look, like, this is me, I love, okay, I can totally, I do love me some name-brand designers, I'm not gonna lie. I mean, we do love some purses. At the same time, I can buy from Goodwill and I can buy from Target. Do you know what I mean? It's just like, it's like you get this certain personality that everybody thinks like, okay, once you're in this luxury, you're in the luxury business and you have to drive these cars, you have to have this look and you have to do all that. And I'm just like, I'm here to beat down those doors and just say, no, you don't. You know, you can love Target and love Gucci at the same time. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Exactly.

And you can go barefoot and you can, you know, there's just, I don't know, it's just like I'm just me. I am like this happy unicorn of a person where, where I just, I love pastel colors and rainbows and glitter and girly, you know, but I love Paris and I love some high-end stuff, but then I also love my tulle skirts that I got off Amazon that I paid $11 for.

Yeah.

So I just wanna push that, that you can be whatever you wanna be and you can build your business however you wanna build your business and you can make it a reflection of you and people will still buy.

Yes.

They'll still come to you and they will still follow you. You don't have to have this perfect feed. You don't have to have, you know, this perfect website with, you know, the calligraphy monogram and all of that. You don't have to put yourself in these boxes. Stop putting yourself in these boxes. And one of the things that I really try to stress to women that I coach coach and I talk to is that find your own success. Yes, your success. Your success may be only booking $2,500 weddings a year because you want to stay in your little tiny town and you want to sleep in your own bed every night. Yes, but you're successful. And just because you're looking at somebody else that's charging $10,000, $15,000 to shoot a wedding, that doesn't mean that you're lower than them. No, find your own success. And that has just really— I think in all these months where I've had time to be quiet and to sit, and it's like, for so So many years I taught people how to be me, and I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to do that. I want to teach you—

Oh, you just said that and I got goosies.

That's what we need to teach. Teach people how to be them.

Yeah. Hey ladies, real quick, I just wanted to interrupt this conversation to invite you to our brand new online digital cafe for Crafted to Fame. Thrive. It's a place where you can find tools and resources designed to help you, the female creative or the female entrepreneur living with chronic illness, build a thriving business. You'll find tools and resources along with a new membership. It's a coaching subscription with one-on-one support. It's designed to help you in your life and business to embrace abundance, go from stuck to crystal clear, embrace your authentic stories so that you can grow in confidence and create impact in your business. You can find us online at sheescraftedinsider.com, and you can use the coupon code PODCAST to get 15% off. Again, that's www.sheescraftedinsider.com. Now back to the convo. Yeah, I totally I totally agree with you. Um, that is, there needs to be more Julie people speaking this into the world. Like I, I, in, in, in the sense of business and growing your business and doing all these things, you know, I always tell people you can be inspired by someone else's journey, but you can, and you have, and you have every right to chart your own path to what that inspiration leads you to. It doesn't mean that it has to lead you to what they're doing. Whatever that looks like for them, but what it leads you to do. And you know, so many people are afraid of starting because they're worried about the success of whatever they picture in front of them or whatever guru or whatever person they're following. And they're like, I don't know if I want to be that person. That's too much. I feel so much. And that's okay. And I think we need more people saying, hey, if you don't want to be, you know, traveling all over the world and doing 40 weddings, you know, all those different things. That's okay. If your dream is like what you were saying, you know, you want to make $2,500, it's okay. And I think there needs to be more of those kinds of conversations, honestly, especially in the creative entrepreneur industry, because it's like crazy, crazy.

There's so many unrealistic expectations that will never ever be met. Yeah, you know, and it's me, you know, I feel as a Christian, I feel I'm morally obligated to, to let people know about that as well. You know, I see so many people teaching, be like me, you know, you're gonna make a million, you're gonna make a million dollars off this course you're gonna launch. No, most of the people will not ever, like, 1% make a million dollars. And you're telling these lies.— I know a lot of people that do this, I know they're coming from their heart because I know I did it too. I did believe in my heart and I still do believe that you can do whatever you want to do.

I agree.

I do have a hard time with telling everybody they have to be in this box.

Yeah.

Shoot this certain way and use this color palette and work with these people. When the people who learn from us and we're telling them all of this and then they can't make that happen, then they don't think they're good enough. Yeah, it's not true. Yeah, and that's what— like, I'm, I'm taking down one of my courses that I have taught for years, and it was basically my workshop that I taught for years, and we're retiring it and taking it out of my lineup because I'm like, I don't, I don't align with that teaching anymore. Now, have a lot of people taken this course and done amazing things? Absolutely. But I feel like the majority, it just sets them up for— they feel like they're a failure because they're never going to get into that 2% of photographers that charge over $10,000 for a wedding.

Yeah, there is, um, one of the classes that I've taken to be, you know, to educate and be a better coach. Um, one of the things she teaches is like, we have these things, these expectations, and we get these expectation hangovers. And I feel like In a lot of ways, we, we look at where we want to be and what everyone else is saying is going to happen and must happen. And when it doesn't happen to us, we get stuck in the hangover of that expectation where we get stuck in feeling like, well, I must not be doing it right. And I must not be good enough. I must not be enough, basically, is where we end up with. I'm not enough to get to wherever it is that you want to go. And that's not a true statement. That's not a true belief. Because it just means that you haven't gotten to where you need to go yet. It's not like the end. It's not the end. And maybe you aren't meant to go where you think you want to go.

I'm just saying, like, I mean, I thought that, you know, shooting celebrity weddings and charging $20,000 to shoot a wedding and shooting these like big huge events with 1,000 people there, I thought that's what I wanted until I did it. And then I realized Yeah, no, I don't want this. I really don't want this. And that's not success. And I had built in my head that that was success. And once I got there, I'd be successful. And then there, and you're just like, okay, what now?

Yeah, yeah. Jasmine Star says that in one of her— I don't remember, it's one podcast I was listening to— and she basically said, she's like, I was getting to the point where it's like, now I've made it to what the world considers success. And it's like, do I want to live the rest of my life at this level of constant going and going and going? And so she pivoted into that education model as well. And so I do think, um, it's just important. I think for everyone, I, as you mentioned, and I believe in the principle where the Bible says to keep a simple life, doesn't mean that your simple life has to be like, you know, I'm living in a 450-square-foot apartment and I'm not doing anything, but keeping it simple means that you, you look at things with a different perspective of trying to be all the things. And I think sometimes in an entrepreneur journey, when you first starting, especially when you're first starting, if you don't actually have like a plan of where you want to go, you're just going with whatever comes at you and you're like, oh yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. And then you get to all the yeses and you're like, why did I say yes? Right. And if we had just slowed down a little bit and just started to think about, is this going to keep me living a simple life where I can enjoy the things that I truly want to enjoy and the people I want to enjoy and the things I want to do, then we might have, you know, not have dealt with some of the heartache and the pain and physical pain and the mental pain. And I think that's a good thing to remember. And I love that for you, Julie, that you're sharing that part of your journey with people who are trying to pivot out of whatever place they are. And right now so many people are pivoting because they're realizing, well, one, what I was doing, it doesn't really work in this world right now. And two, I'm not really happy with what I was doing because now that I've slowed down and recognized, I'm like, I wasn't really happy doing that.

Isn't it crazy? It's just crazy how perspective has changed so much in just this, you know, few short months. Yeah, that's what— for me, you know, I thought that I was doing everything that I was supposed to do and it was amazing. And, you know, I fed myself the lie that I was happy and I was balanced and all this stuff, and I was so far from that. Like, literally, like, Julie, I can't believe you told yourself this lie for so many years, you know. And now that I've had a taste of, um, you know, what it could really be like, and I'm not focused on, like, I'm not focused on the awards or the being known or the money, like, none of that anymore, you know. It's like we've learned what we need to survive on.

Yeah.

And we've learned what we need. And it's, you know, a lot of these things were just like in excess. And, you know, sometimes it turns you into a person that you just don't want to be. I feel like I missed out on so much for all those years doing the hustle. And, you know, I'm all about working and reaching your goals and stuff, but I'm not a big— I'm not a big fan of hustle.

Yeah, yeah, that concept, especially in the way that people talk about hustle, like it's a, it's a, it's a sacrifice of All of the things that you've, you know, all of the things that actually makes life happy, it's a sacrifice. And I, you know, that's a common misconception. I believe that entrepreneurs hear when they hear hustle and I, yes, you have to work hard. Yes, you have to be industrious. Yes. But it doesn't have to come at the expense of your happiness and your, and your balance and your joy and your faith and your family. It doesn't have to come at an expense of that unless you choose to, you know, that's, it's a choice, but it doesn't have to be. Um, what are some things that have like really inspired your journey? Like now that you've had time to think about it? Cause I know you were mentioning like at the root, you've always been teaching and at the root you've always liked creativity. So what kind of things like really inspire where you're planning to go now?

People inspire me, you know, I love like digging deep into seeing where people are and Pivot Bootcamp and And the Pivot Mastermind totally came from COVID I had kind of secretly been helping people do this, but I'd never like put it out there like, this is what I'm doing. And being able to sit down with somebody and help them find their genius and finding out how amazing they are and then to help them develop that, like that has brought me so much joy. It brings me so much joy, more joy than shooting this celebrity and being on the page of People Magazine. Because honestly, what is that? That gives you a temporary pat on the back and then it's over. But when you're helping people change their lives, that lasts forever.

Yeah. Yeah.

So I am so inspired by the women and the people out there, and I am very passionate. And a lot of people are like, oh, okay. But I'm passionate about teaching women. I don't care what anybody says. They can call me feminist, they can do whatever they want to do, but I am passionate about teaching women, and that's where my soul is. And occasionally I'll get some guys that will show up, but for the most part, we're all girls, you know. And it is just like, I don't know, and it's not that I'm being prejudiced towards genders or anything like that. It's nothing like that. It's just like, I just have a heart for women, and I know how they feel, and I know how they work. And especially being, you know, for my almost 50 years on this earth, I can just, you know, I have had experiences that a lot of people in the industry don't have. Yeah, I've had life experiences that they haven't gone through. And I'm always— I've been called in a lot of circles, I'm the mama bear, I'm the mom of photography, or You know, and things like that. And at first I was just like, I don't want to be like the old person, but now I'm like, okay with that. I'm really okay with that. So that inspires me. Life inspires me. Just wanting to make the world a better place inspires me. Opening up doors for people who may not have had that open before inspires me.

Yeah.

Giving people my platform and letting other people learn about them. I always wondered and I always would question God, like, why would you choose a 37-year-old? Okay. To start a new whole life and a new whole vocation in life, give her a platform that she never asked for and never wanted. Why would you do that? And I feel like I keep coming back, you know, I love Esther and For Such a Time as This, you know, and it's just like, I feel like all of these years of going through all this was building me up for now. Mm-hmm. Where I can empower women and I can help women and I can help people be successful. And mostly the biggest thing is, like I just said, helping them find their own success. Yeah, I want to make a trend. I want to make a difference in this industry that I love and that I have been through with and watched it grow and watched it come from, you know, basically when you started— when I started in 2009, I mean, photography was just like, it was still Sears and JCPenney's. And yeah, you know, it really wasn't what it is today. And I've grown up through that and I've been able to watch that and I've watched the good and I've watched the bad. And I just feel like I have been given this platform to make a difference and this is my time and I'm ready to do it. The next 10 years, I hope to retire in 10 years, this is my project. This is what I'm going for for the next 10 years. And it's all about them and it's not about me.

I love, I love that that's what inspires you and motivates you. I think another thing that a lot of people think about when they're trying to find their zone of genius or their, their space in the world is a fear that holds them back. Have there been any fears that have kind of been a part of your journey that you've kind of been like, I should be over this by now, but I'm not?

Literally, it's every day. I mean, just even making this big change, you know, as we're— it's taken me a whole year and it's still not ready. To get my new brand out there because I'm terrified because it's me. It's not— it's— I've always hid behind my pretty pictures, you know, I've always hid behind my success and my accomplishments and I never just let me just let it show. And I always, you know, ingrained in my head and I ingrained in my students for so many years that you have to be a certain way to have the success. You have to shoot this certain thing and do all this and I don't believe in that anymore. I just don't believe in that. So it's been freeing, but it's also terrifying to let that go because, you know, this is the way we support our family. My husband works with me, and it's not like we have something to fall back on if I can't make money this way. But I've learned to step out on faith and to go, and I feel like this is just— I know without a doubt that this is where God's leading me, and I know he's not gonna fail me. But it's scary. It's scary every single day.

Yeah.

I don't know that you will ever totally get rid of that. Right. We have to overcome it and we just have to do what feels right in our heart.

Yeah. I mean, there is, um, there's always fear in almost anything you are that's unknown, right? There's always that aspect of fear, but I mean, do we not get in the car? Do we not take airplanes? I mean, we have to live our life. And so, um, just taking the tiny steps. I had an amazing therapist on the show last week, and she was saying, if you just take tiny steps and they can build on each other, even in spite of fear, you can, you can see what kind of mountains you can climb. And I was just like, that's a really good point, because, you know, a lot of, even with my clients, they're like, well, how can, how come I can't get over this fear? I'm like, I don't think you know necessarily will get over this fear, but you do need to move over it. Like, you need to step on it and keep stepping on it until almost it feels like it's gone, but you still have to keep moving. And, you know, I think that's— I love that that's what you've been doing, is just keep going. It's like, yeah, scary, but I gotta do it.

And it's like, it's just always gonna be there. And another thing too is like this, something that I always say, is that you can't wait until it's perfect. If you think everything is perfect, well, first of all, nothing is ever going to be perfect. Never, ever, ever. So get that out of your head, okay? There's no such thing as perfection. Done. Off my soapbox. Okay, on to the next thing. No, but I mean, it's just, you have to just go with it. And that's what I'm teaching these girls right now, you know, like we're in the midst of— so we did the boot camp where they get all the information, and now we're in the— where we're just making it all happen, you know, in the mastermind. And so I'm working with these girls and I'm just like, you've just got to put it out out there. You can't just hold back and say, oh, but I have to be this and it has to be that and it has to be this. No, just done is better than perfect.

Yes.

Put it out there, learn from your mistakes, and then make it better. So I'm like a big, I'm a big component of beta groups. Mm-hmm. I wish I would have done this a long time ago, but I'm all about putting something together that's not quite perfect yet, getting a beta behind it and getting feedback. You know, you can't be scared of negative feedback. Yeah, again, and it's a whole— I think it's a mind game that we as creative entrepreneurs just tell ourselves, like, it has to be perfect. If someone says it's not, then it's the end of the world and we're dead in the water. It's like those things that we just constantly tell ourselves, you know, website has to be perfect, the colors have to be perfect, your Instagram has to be perfect, everything needs to match. So what? Do you know how hard it was for me to post? And this This is crazy. Like I'm saying, we still go through this every day. I have to preach to myself just as much as I preach to everybody else that I teach and mentor and coach. But like today I got that challenge, you know, where you're supposed to post a black and white picture of yourself. And I was just like, I can't do that. I'm like, seriously, nobody cares, Julie. Nobody cares. And I posted it.

And it's an awesome picture, blurry and all. I didn't even notice the blurry. Until I read the caption.

I love it. I love it.

I was going—

because we were doing, we were just doing some fun pictures where I was dancing around, I was shaking my head, you know, just having fun, just trying to catch that. And this one caught because I was moving pretty fast and it's blurry. And when I was going through and editing the images, I'm like, I love that image of me. And I never like black and white images of me. I love that image because it just felt like, it felt supreme. Imperfect, and I'm just all about that these days. And so I was like, I'm gonna post it, I don't care, you know. That's what we have to get over. I think that we've just— especially in the whole fine art industry world, which is what I'm in, you know, as film shooters— and they can't let go of the perfection. Like, they just can't let it go, and you're not gonna move forward unless you do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What is the biggest piece of advice you've been given that has kind of stuck with you?

Ooh, wow. Um, honestly, you know what's kind of really stuck with me and through all of my life and changes in my business, everything is that is the Maya Angelou quote that says, um, what's the one that people will forget what you say, people will forget what you do, but people never ever forget how you made them feel. Yeah, and I think that has been like— that has been my inspiration and my advice, although she didn't give it directly to me. I'm gonna pretend like she did. Oprah together, and she came out and said, Julie, I wrote this for you, you know. But anyway, it's just— it's something that's just always stayed in. It's like, you know, it's gonna fade off. All your— everything that you do, you know, you're gonna go— there's always the next best thing.

I mean, look at it.

Look at anybody in this world, look at actors, okay? So they're hot this year and then the next year you're like, who are they?

Yeah, yeah.

It's like that in the photography world too, you know? It's fortunate, I mean, the only reason why, and I tell this to people all the time, I think about the people that started when I was starting, was like big when I started, and now it's like nobody even knows who they are. And people ask me like, well, how have you been able to stay, you know, in the industry where people still wanna follow you? 'Cause I mean, you're like the age of their moms, you know? All these photographers, I look at them, I'm like, oh my God, you could be my child. But I think it is because it's like I've always concentrated on the people and then how you make people feel. Now, have I always been the best at that? Nope. I've definitely dropped the ball. I've made mistakes. You know, I'm imperfect. We're gonna do that. But for the most part, that has always been like— that's the biggest advice that I feel like, as anybody I've ever read or in a book or anything that's been given to me, is people always remember how you make them feel. About your accomplishments and your successes. But if you made them feel seen and worthy, they're going to stick around.

Yeah, I love that quote. And as I feel the same way, I definitely— we're humans. I mean, I mean, that's literally what— like, that's how we're made. We want to be— we want to be seen. We want to be heard. We want to be respected. We want to be loved. We want to be cared for. That's literally how we're we were made to want those things and thrive from those things. So it makes sense that, you know, people remember that.

I want to put the human back into this industry, the creative industry. Um, I think so many times, you know, and I'm sure you've gotten it, and I know a lot of people have— I've gotten it— where people just, they forget that you're a human and they think of you as just like Oh, you know, oh, they're just like a company or whatever, and they just say terrible things and do terrible things, and they forget there's, there's a human person that's attached to that. Yeah, that's like one of the things that I want to bring back into the creative industry is like, they're these— we're all people. We are all first, not just, oh, look at their images, or look what they've done, or look how much money they make. Like, forget about that. They're people.

Yeah, exactly. Well, this was like, like one of the best conversations on the show. This was so much fun and I just love how open and real you are and just sharing like so much good stuff. Like I just love it. I really appreciate it.

You are so welcome. I am honored to be here. So thank you so much for asking me.

Yeah. So please tell us how they can, how everyone can find you. What you have coming up. I know you have your Pivot Bootcamp coming up soon, so tell us a little bit about that and we'll wrap up with that.

Yeah, definitely. So if anybody is interested in going into, you know, pivoting, finding a way to pivot into education or pivot into something, you know, even if it's just passive income, like a lot of times I'm helping people like create products and go into passive income and things like that just because I'm so passionate about that because that is how we have survived. I've lived through COVID is passive income and having all these things. So if you go to, if you go to my Instagram, that's pretty much where you're going to find everything right now. I'm really heavy on Instagram. I answer my own messages, my DMs, please reach out to me. It's @JuliePaisley, super easy to find. And then for the pivoting, if you specifically want information on that, we also have that link in bio. It's pivoting.juliepazley.com. So that's really easy to find there, and you can fill out the application if you want to be a part. We— I think the applications— trying to think what date it is, don't quote me, but I think it's the 19th is when we'll stop taking applications. So, or maybe the 9th, somewhere in August. So I know it's coming up here soon, so I have to go look on that and figure that out. But I would love— I'm gonna be opening up the boot camp again, and then what we do is we select a few from the bootcamp to carry on into the mastermind. And so it's exciting. And I, I just went through a whole, you know, first pivot bootcamp, and then we're in the middle of finishing up the first mastermind. And it's just been so rewarding. So I'd love to have anybody come join me.

Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Julie.

You're so welcome. Have a wonderful day and everybody else too.

Alright ladies, that's a wrap for this episode of She's Crafted to Thrive. Thank you so much for joining me Please share with your friends and be sure to like and subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. In the meantime, check us out at sheescrafted.com to check out the show notes for all the goodies and things that we talked about, and there'll be links there for you guys. So in the meantime, just remember, you are crafted to thrive.