How To Uplevel Your Photography Business

On this episode of She's Crafted to Thrive, our guest is Angie McPherson. She is a wedding and branding photographer, and I'm so excited to have her on the show. Ladies, she shares her own personal journey of starting a photography business as well as upleveling it along the way. 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.

I'm so excited to have Angie McPherson on. She's Crafted to Thrive. I've been following her for a minute. She is a photographer and just, I feel I don't even know her that well, but I feel like she's just an overall fun person and I'm so excited to have her on the show.

Yeah.

Well, thank you so much for having me.

Yes. I'm so glad you said yes. Like, I think every time someone says yes to me on for the podcast, I'm just like doing like a happy dance, like, for a week.

Well, I'm super honored and like flattered that you asked, so I'm doing a happy dance with you.

So, um, as always, I always like to ask everybody to tell my audience a little bit about who they are, what they do, where they're located, because that's a big important piece, especially when you're a photographer. So just let us know all that jazz.

Yes, so I am a photographer. I'm a wedding and branding photographer in Virginia. And, um, I have been running this business for just over 6 years and I'm obsessed with business and marketing and branding and entrepreneurship and helping other people, you know, that are interested in pursuing this, you know, passionate, creative, you know, entrepreneurial lifestyle. I'm interested in helping them, you know, get better and, and take things to the next level. So I just absolutely love what I do.

That's awesome. So how long have you been doing it?

Um, just over 6 years.

Wow.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Yeah. I started, um, I was working full-time, um, in marketing at a concert venue and I got to a point where my day-to-day was a little bit, um, routine and I was like, man, I want to try something new, do something creative on the side. And so I, you know, brought my dad's camera and went out and, you know, shot the beach and shot, you know, my dog and my husband and just And then you get a camera, people are like, "Hey, can you photograph, you know, I'm pregnant, you know, my baby." So I just started photographing everything. And then I just found this community in my local, you know, area. You know, once you pick up a camera or any type of, you know, passion, you just start to Google and like connect with people. 'Cause it was just like me shooting and posting and not being able to talk to anybody about it, you know, except for my husband, but he didn't really understand. And so I just found this community and this wedding community and I was like, "Oh, well shoot, let me start shooting weddings and, you know, second shooting with these people." this turned into this brand new lifestyle of, you know, being in community and helping each other out and second shooting for each other. And then eventually I was like, I don't want to work anymore. I want to do this, you know, full time. My husband's like, what? And so I told him, you know what, let's make some goals. Like, let me save up, you know, 3 months of, you know, salary, you know, just in case something happens. And let me have a goal of like, you know, 15 weddings for the next year coming up. And And so I had like those two things and I, you know, I, this was August, this was on my birthday. And I said, I've got to do it by like January, February. Cause I want to start the next year, you know, full time. And I hustled my butt off for the next 4 to 6 months. I, you know, hustled hard on social media and really just like rebranded my website and really started putting myself out there. And the weddings came and the awesome clients came and I was able to save and I just stepped out and, you know, on faith and quit my job. And my boss was actually like, "Good for you, you know, you inspired me to do something, you know, creative." And I just never looked back. And that was, gosh, what year is it? That was 3 years ago. And every year has just been better and better. And I've just been meeting the most amazing people and having the most amazing experiences. So like I said, I'm just so obsessed with this business.

That's awesome. That is so cool that, okay, so you've been photographing for 6 years, but it took you 3 years to kind of get to, hey, I'm like, this is a real life business.

Yeah. And honestly, I don't think I would have gotten there without community, honestly, and without seeing other people do it first. Because even though I had this drive to shoot weddings and make money and live this lifestyle, if I would have never seen people doing it or heard of people talking about it, like, that's when I started listening to podcasts at that 3-year mark. I started listening to podcasts and hearing these people talk about, you know, my morning routine. I'm like, my morning routine is getting in the car and getting to work and hopefully I can eat a bowl of cereal before. And these people talking about waking up, you know, a slow morning and reading and, you know, just like envisioning their day. And I'm like, is that real life? Do people live like that? Okay. Like, I want it, you know, like, let's do this. And so I love listening to podcasts. Even now, I love listening to like what people at the next level are doing. I'm always wanting to get to the next level. So I love that you have a podcast that you share this so much. Like your listeners, like this is making an impact, you know, podcast impact, showing up on social media and talking about your life and your business makes an impact. Like all of these things help people to take it to the next level.

Yeah. You said something really powerful and it's something that I've always known that And that's kind of, you know, outside of my own selfish reasons of doing a podcast, which was so that it had content and I could talk to people versus blogging. I mean, that's a whole nother story. But you said something that you could reach somewhere that you could see someone had already done it, like you could reach up. And I think when we're first starting out, we sometimes like start focusing on everyone that's doing exactly the same thing that we're doing, thinking You know, we're all going to help each other go up to the next level, which is right to some degree that we can help each other get there. But you have to look ahead of you. Yes, that's right.

Yes, absolutely. And you have to— I love that you have to look ahead and you have to look outside of what you're doing as well, because so many people will want to emulate the same lifestyle and same business model as the person a couple of years ahead of them. I'm like, you're missing out on so many different ideas on, on different industries, you know, because as photographers, we all look kind of to the same people and are impacted by the same people. But once you look elsewhere, you're starting to switch up the game. You're starting to do things that people in your league have not seen before, and that your ideal clients have not seen before. And that's, that's going to push you a little bit more ahead of the game. That's kind of what I started to do with, with branding and branding myself is that I would go to these feeds of photographers and it's all photos of their clients. It's all photos of their products and services. But me being like an entertainment celebrity TV junkie, started following these celebrities and TV people and influencers. I'm like, man, they're posting a lot of photos. My girl is Tamera Mowry from Sister, Sister. Obsessed with her, obsessed. I watch her on her talk show. I go to her website and I'm on her Instagram and I could just connect with her because it's always photos of herself, her family, what she's eating, what she's doing., and I'm like, I need to show up like that because I want people to come and see me and not always just my portfolio work because everyone can take great photos. Everyone can, everyone can, you know, provide these great experiences, but people book us, people book people. They don't book things. They don't book, you know, experience. They book people. And so— Tracy's over here with the hands up like, yes, I see it all the time. Preach it. Yes. And so when you show up in that way, it's hard to turn those people away who like your style, who like what you're talking about. You know, like I said, this year I've been, well, past 18 months, showing more photos of myself, showing more of myself on Instagram stories, showing up on Instagram Live weekly, and people are just putting me in a different bracket compared to other branding photographers, other wedding photographers, and I love it, and I didn't get that by looking up and looking at what other wedding photographers were doing, because they're all doing the same thing, is showing their work and showing pretty rings and bouquets, which are great, But like, we have, we have to sell ourselves basically. We have to show up, you know, that's, and that's how we get the clients that appreciate us and don't just appreciate, oh, she's this price. She provides this type of help, this album. It's so much better for you and your client when you show up that way. Cause they already halfway know you before they even inquire with you.

Exactly. Oh my gosh. I preach that all the time. Like I have, I have, I come from a world where networking is how I pretty, pretty much have done my whole life of business, anything I've ever done.

And so, right, we—

there's so much competition, there's so much everybody doing the same thing. So the only thing that really makes you stand out or be the person that someone wants to work with is yourself. So like, you've got to be that person. But if you don't know who that person is, I hate I know you know what I'm talking about. When you go to a photographer's Instagram page and you can't find a picture of them or you don't know who they are, you just know that they take pretty pictures. You have no idea about what they look like. Do they have a family?

Exactly.

Yeah, it's a disconnect to serving who you want to serve. It's a disconnect. And I love that you just said that. Yes. Preach. Yay! I love it. So I want to go back to something you said earlier, which was because a lot of people in my audience are kind of in that middle of like transitioning from doing their daily grind to wanting to pursue their full-time creative business, or they are in their creative business full-time, but they have life going on like they're a mother, they're a wife. All these things. How did you find that place to grow?

It took some time, girl. It gets me in my feels just thinking about how much I just poured into this business and did nothing else for so long. Like, it took me some time. And my husband's like, hello, like, you come home and you are editing and then you go to bed. Like, you know, and so it took a wake-up call for me to even get to a point of, okay, I need to have balance. I need to do this for my family. I need to do this for me. And so I got to a point where I was like thinking, you know, I need to start running my business like I ran, you know, day to day my full-time job. I had a start time. I had a break in the middle of the day and I had a time to go home. And I didn't just come to work and say, okay, what am I going to work on today? It was envisioned for the week. All right. What needs to be done? How can I get there? How can I maximize my time. And so now I run my business the same way on usually Monday mornings or even Sunday nights. If I have nothing else to do after my son's asleep, my husband's watching football, I'll sit down and, you know, just kind of think, okay, what's my agenda for the week? You know, especially social media planning. Social media planning can take up your time and so can, um, just showing up and trying to post something on social media. That's even more time than actual planning in advance. So now I take Now I take a look at my week and say, what's on the agenda for the week? Do I have any shoots I need to edit? Do I have any shoots I need to vlog? Do I have a topic for my email list? And I just sit and have planning time. Okay, these are what I'm going to post on social media Monday through Friday. I have Planoly, which is an Instagram scheduler, so I'll get my photos, I'll even write my captions at that time. I just take 1 to 2 hours and completely plan out the content for my week. And so that Facebook automatically, I schedule it, it goes out without a push of a button Monday through Friday. And then Instagram will have Planly send me a notification and I'll send it on through. So that handles the content. So I'm not spending time in my week— back in the day, I would spend so much time on Instagram coming up with a post, choosing a photo, writing the caption. It could take so long for someone like me who loves to be on the Gram, honestly. And so now I get it done at the beginning of the week. So the only time I'm in Instagram during the week is to actually post it and spend maybe 10 to 15 minutes engaging with my commenters, or I'll put on a hashtag and connect with other people instead of doing all the brain work there. So that takes so much of my time off of my plate as it relates to content planning. And then of course the actual balance of doing the work, which is photo shoots and editing and things like that. Now I come to a point where I'm like, okay, I'm only going to shoot one thing a week. I'm not going to have these Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday engagement sessions because that's going to eat up the rest of my month when it comes to editing and emailing. And all that stuff. So I do what works best for me and my schedule. And for me, that's kind of like spreading out the shoots. You know, I do a lot of outsourcing, you know, I outsource my grocery shopping to Instacart. Yeah. You know, any business in life, whatever I can pay someone else to do for cheap, you know, cause you have to think what your time is worth. You know, if you can, so I have a virtual assistant that I pay, Um, I started her at $10 an hour. Now she's at $15 because she's a beast. And so I'm like, do I want to be spending my time pinning on Pinterest or, you know, doing these little jobs for $15 an hour? My time is worth way more than $15 an hour. I need to be spending my time on the $100 an hour jobs instead of the $15 an hour job. So I always tell people, think of what you can outsource, and it doesn't have to be somebody you're paying somebody $15 multiple times a week. Like, is there something that you can remove off your plate that takes you an hour or two a week where you can pay someone $5, $10, $15 to do it and you can spend that hour or two hours doing something that's like revenue generating? You know, like I launched a shop and I outsource the little things. So like I would come up with a concept, write all the content of the ebook and I send it to her because I don't need to be sitting in Canva or Photoshop designing things and moving things around. So whatever things like that that you can push off to somebody, push off to a college intern, push off to a cousin who needs some money, you know, push off to your nephew who's a beast on Instagram and really focus on— and I'm talking high level here. So I'm talking to people who are really trying to uplevel and balance and focus on making more money instead of doing the same things over and over, having the same year over and over, making the same amount of money over and over. I'm talking to people who are trying to really uplevel and are like, forget this, I'm ready to move up. Outsource, outsource, outsource as much as you can.

Yeah, that is— that's so important. I mean, we can't do everything like we like to think we can do everything, but reality is that's not true. So I love how you said that because a lot of people will feel like, you know, they hold that money like it's the, you know, like they can't let it go, but it's going to be the death of them if they don't because they try to do everything right.

And that was me for so long. I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't want to pay someone because I can do it. You know, I have time. Like, sure, I have time, but how do I want to be spending that time? You know, sometimes I'll, you know, just outsource things because I want to go to Busch Gardens with my family. You know, like, that's worth, that's worth, you know, paying somebody for 2 hours to do something. That's 2 hours with my family. That's way worth more than $15 an hour. You know, it all starts with creating those procedures where it makes it easy because a lot of My issue was, one, I didn't want to give up the money, which I've gotten over, and two, I'm a control freak, and so I'm like, well, I don't want to give this up to somebody because they're going to ruin it or they're not going to do it how I would do it, and that's when I had to sit down and make those step-by-step documents. Here's how you do this. Here, you know, if she's creating ebook for me, here are my branding colors, here are my shapes. If, you know, she's editing something, I need to make sure that she's good with, you know, Grammarly and stuff. So whoever you're hiring, make sure you're doing your part and leading them so that they can do something exactly how you would do it, or even better. Hire someone who's better than you.

Okay. Yes, I agree with that. So I love that you have kind of found that, that place where it's like you got to let some things go in order to grow. Like, you got to do it, right? So what inspired you to make that mind that change? Like, what shifted for you in your mind that said, okay, because we can talk all day long about, you know, oh, now I decided to do this and I'm doing it, but something mentally had to change for you to finally make that decision. Look, I got to pay someone to do this stuff or I'm just not going to make it. What changed?

What changed for me was the stress of— I got to the point in my business where I fell to my full-time job of doing the same thing over and over. And I'm like, whoa, that's not what I signed up for. You know, I just signed up. I signed up for this creative entrepreneurial journey where I could have Fridays off and go to the movies or, you know, plan a trip. I don't want to do this Monday through Friday, you know, sitting at a computer from 8 AM to 5 PM doing the same things over and over and over. I want to know what else my mind can think of when I have the time. Cause I just, I didn't have the mental space. All I was doing was stressing about editing and posting on social media and delivering galleries like that. That was my day to day. That's literally like the same thing every day. It reminded me of my old time, my old job. And I'm like, no, I want to shoot outside of my state. I want to create ebooks and courses. I want to have Fridays off. And so I got to this point where I was like, okay, if I don't, push these small things to the side, I can't come up with ideas. I can't come up with new strategies. I can't come up with more ways to make money. And so that's when I had the turning point there is when I just was looking at the same things, the same emails, the same every single day. I was like, I'm done. All right, it's time to make a move. Time to up level here.

Yeah, yeah. You know, yeah, you get tired. As my mom would say, you will change when you get tired. Like, things will change when you get sick and tired of something. You realize, okay, this is not working, right?

Exactly. Exactly.

So I wanted to ask you a question because I know that we were talking— you were talking about, you know, you love to travel and do photography and things like that. I know because I follow you on your Instagram, you travel a lot doing photography. Like, I think, first of all, like, That's like serious big girl goals, like for any photographer to like get out of their location and like build a crew of people who are like, yes, come photography me in California or New York or Virginia. Like, I think that's awesome. So how did you put that into your business? Because I think that's a really interesting thing because not everyone can do that. How did you bring that about?

Yeah. So I love this question because it might be different. Um, I know who you ask, but for me, I like to travel, you know, just, you know, for my business as far as like going to workshops and, um, going to like retreats and things like that. And so I started to think, you know what, when I go places, I need to just put out a call and say, hey, I'm going to be in California. Does anybody want to book me for a shoot? So I started doing that a year or two ago and it just works so well. And so it might look like, hey, I booked the session and I'm flying I'm going to take a trip to a workshop or I just feel like visiting Maryland or New Orleans or something and I work around it. For example, I'm going to Miami in April with my sisters for a sister's trip so I put a call out there like, "Hey, anybody in Miami want to do a shoot?" And when you just take these photos and you— It might seem like I travel so often. I probably travel maybe 4 or 5 times a year but it looks like I travel so often because I have these great images. From when I go. So the next, you know, I did 3 shoots in New Orleans back to back to back.

I know, they were amazing.

Thanks. So I actually had someone reach out to me. So it wasn't like I was, for that one, I wasn't going to New Orleans already. I had someone reach out and I was like, all right, who else can I shoot in New Orleans while I'm there, you know? And so, you know, I post these throughout the year because I have these great photos and people see me and they're like, oh, well, she travels for shoots, you know, will you come to Texas? Will you come to Tennessee, and I'm like, sure. You know, so that's what, with any business, when you're trying to do something, so if you're trying to shoot more weddings, you're trying to shoot more branding sessions, or you're trying to travel, fit it in your portfolio any way that you can, and then use those images to market yourself as such, you know? So, you know, I've shot in California, I've shot in North Carolina and New Orleans and Maryland, and so those are always in my rotation. So some people I'll post, like the other day I posted a photo in California and someone's like, oh hey, are you in California? I was like, not right now, but I can be if you're trying to book something. And so just keeping that in your rotation.

That's awesome. That's great tips. Work it in, sprinkle it in. I love that. It doesn't have to be like an extra step, right?

Right. Right. It doesn't have to be like, oh, make a Facebook ad saying you're going, you know, you're now taking photo shoots in California and blah, blah, blah. You know, you can just go to the next state over. You got a really fun state a couple hours across the state line, you know, make a little road trip. It doesn't have to be this big deal. Somehow reach out, put into your portfolio and shoot a ton of behind the scenes while you're there, because that is what's really gonna last, having those Instagram stories. And I do like a little vlog from New Orleans and just like really taking people on the journey while you're there. So don't just go shoot and come home. Hey, I'm on the plane, I'm headed to California to do a branding shoot, or, you know, I'm walking down the French Quarter. You know, this is what we're doing at night while I'm taking a break from shooting. Like, really taking people on the journey.

Yeah, I love that. The journey is so important now when it comes to like marketing anything. Like nobody just wants to see the end. They want to see like the whole, from the beginning, middle, the good, the ugly, the not so pretty, everything. And then they want to see it. And that really helps people connect to us. Like for real, it makes us people like, oh, you're a real person. You didn't just like one day wake up and it was like beautiful. Exactly.

And you know what I just thought of? When I was in New Orleans, I was posting so many videos and stories. I had people who found me through like a hashtag or like a location. You do your stories and you put, you know, I'm in the French Quarter, and someone who taps on the French Quarter— I've had people found me. They found me while I was in New Orleans like, hey, how long are you here? Can I have a session while you're here? So like I said, keep these people on the journey from the minute you hop in your car, on a train, or on a plane to the the minute that you come home.

That's awesome. That is so cool. I mean, you can't help but love Instagram for that kind of stuff. Like, it's just awesome.

Obsessed.

So this is a question I always ask, and I think it's one of the bigger ones that most people are like, how did you get to where you were despite dealing with all the negative Nellies in your own head and maybe what other people have told you, because you said you were doing something, you were working full-time, and when you decided that you weren't going to do that, your husband was even like, uh, what you talking about? Like, tell us a little bit more about that kind of journey.

Yeah.

So before I could convince him, I had to convince myself. And so it really starts with that self-confidence and putting those fears to the side. Like, yes, we're all going to be afraid to do something. We're all going to be afraid to for what people might think. We all have different fears. I went to a conference this past year and James Wedmore, I love him. He said something about, of course we're going to have these fears, but we can make up new stories that can overpower the fears. The fears might not go away, but we can always come up with new stories. And so I love that because that's what I did years ago when I was trying to quit my job. I could have listened to, oh, you're not going to be successful. You're not going to book enough weddings or You know, you're just not going to be able to pay your bills. Or I could listen, instead of like working from the fear, I can work from the possibility instead. And so I worked on, oh, I could shoot double the weddings that I am trying to get and I can meet so many more people to collaborate with. Instead of focusing on the scary parts of not making it in this business, I focused on what could be done and listening to that and really living in that. Really helped me to move to the next level and not be so scared to take the leap.

Yeah. So now that you've taken that leap, you're doing this full time and you're loving it. What are some new things that you're like afraid of or challenges that you're like, I've had to, you know?

Right, right.

Yes.

There's this phrase called new level, new devil that I heard this last year. It is just so funny to think about because yeah, back in the day, oh my gosh, you know, I mentor people and, you know, I mentor people who are on the come up and I listen to their fears and I'm like, yeah, I had those same fears and now that doesn't even faze me anymore, but I have these new fears that faze me. And I'm sure people who are way beyond me had the fears that I'm having now. And so I always have to think there's always going to be something that I'm fearful about, but I can always come up with that new possibility. That new optimistic opportunity that's going to help me move past those fears. So right now, you know, now that I'm at this next level compared to where I was in the beginning, you know, my fears are, you know, can I, can I sustain this? Can I come up with new ideas? How long can I shoot weddings before the next new 25-year-old wedding photographer comes in? You know, there's all these like new, there's all these new fears and how I battle that is new possibilities. Okay, I can do more courses and help these people. Move along. I can branch into branding where, you know, I love marketing and I love branding and I love helping entrepreneurs. So instead of working from those fears, I'm working from the possibilities.

I love that, working from the possibilities. That will be a quotable, working from the possibilities.

I guess so.

Now that you are doing— I mean, you're a photographer and now you're really focusing on were doing weddings and other things, but now you're really focusing on branding, which that is such a new world for— I shouldn't say it's really new. To me, it's just changed faces. Like, the world of branding photography has just changed faces to more of a photographer thing versus an influencer thing. For you, how are you marrying that into what you're doing now? Because let me tell you, it looks awesome from what you're doing, but how did you shift, like, oh, I want to do branding photography and now I want to do a course and now I want to do freebies on this. And now I think you have like a course course where people can work with you. Tell us a little bit more how you even branched into that world.

Yeah. So my, like I said, my background is in marketing and PR and advertising. I went to school for communication relations and then I worked 8 years in marketing. So Though the one thing I missed about working full-time was like the marketing aspect. And even though I did that, you know, we do that as business owners. I got really intentional in my, in my business with marketing and advertising and PR and all that great stuff. And so the way I got into branding was, you know, when, like I said, when I was looking at all these influencers and posting photos, I started doing it for myself and, you know, my friend and I would swap and I would, you know, come up with these great captions to go along.. And I was like, whoa, my engagement, the amount of inquiries I'm getting, like people are really like, it was up-leveling my business to have these wedding photos. And at this time I was already teaching marketing courses. I was already, you know, doing one-on-one mentoring with photographers, other creative entrepreneurs. I was already providing education, but I was like, I can marry my love of photography. I could marry my love of photography and my love for marketing and create this new niche. In my business, which is branding photography. It's the best of both worlds. Yes. I love talking to entrepreneurs. I love talking business. I love helping people come up with ways to grow their business, and I love photography. So the fact that I can create this package where I'm providing photos to grow your business and put yourself out there just like I did, just like, you know, it's helping me grow my business. It's just like the dream job, really.

Yeah. You created your own dream job. Basically, you're just like, I don't want that job, and I love this one, and I kind of want that job again, but let's just mix it, right?

Look, a little Venn diagram, basically.

Yeah, exactly. I love it. So if you were to give advice to anyone that is— and I say anyone, really, it's my audience— is creative women, whether they're a photographer, a maker, an artisan of some sort, who's like looking at this road and like terrified, like where to start, what to do, what would you give them? What would you tell them?

I would say show up for your audience as you, and that's what in your photos, in your captions, in your resources that you provide, be the authority in whatever you are doing. You know, like I said, there's going to be 1,000 other photographers and wedding planners and hairstylists or whatever, hundreds of thousands, millions of them out there. But what sets you apart is you. So capitalize on that. Tell your own story. Don't let people come up with ideas about your story by the amount of pictures of bouquets they see on your Instagram. That's not your story. What is your story? How can you help these people? How can you serve these people? So show up as you. And like I said, that can be anything. That can be your captions, the way you write emails, what you blog about, your photos. Just be the authority as yourself.

I love that. I love— yeah, there is no better authority on what you do than you.

We all have, you know, these backgrounds and these experiences and these highs and lows and just share it. You know, you can help so many people. You can help your clients, you can help, you know, colleagues, you know, and so people say, oh, I don't like following other photographers, you know, competition. Forget all that. I mean, come on now. Like we have our own. I just, I can't deal with people that, and I'm like, get real. Like you're not the only photographer out there. You don't want to be because then you'll never have a life because you'll be shooting everything. Like the more you build up your network, the more referrals that you can give each other, the more you can lift each other up and have a biz bestie. My biz bestie is also a photographer. You know, I was just talking to her yesterday. I was like, we both go through these highs and lows where I'm high and she's low, or I'm really low and she's high. And thank God we have each other because imagine if we were just running this race by ourselves and, you know, had nobody to talk to. Like, we need people who do similar things as us, who do different things as us. We need, we need a circle, you know, a couple, 2 to 3 or 4 people in our circle that can help us, you know, um, deal with the hard times and celebrate the great times. Like, Don't be afraid to have a little community. Stop being so scared of somebody stealing your ideas or stealing your clients. Just choose the right people and you won't have to worry about that.

Exactly. So true. True. What is it? Choose your tribe.

Yes, I love that.

Choose it. I mean, we have— we can invite— we can't have our own. We can't choose who our family is, but we can choose who our tribe is for sure.

Right.

So what kind of advice was given to you that completely changed something in your life or in your business?

Yeah, my advice always comes from podcasts. So people can tell me things all day, but if I'm in my car and I hear a little nugget, oh man, that just changed my life. And it's something James Whitmore says. He says, what got you here won't get you there.. And I love that because I feel that I received that. Like I said, I did the same things over and over and over and it got me nowhere. But you know, what got you to this point was great, but it's not going to get you to the next level. It's going to keep you where you are. So if you want to move to the next level, you have to try something new, try something different, a different strategy, a different way of thinking, you know? So So much of entrepreneurship starts with the mindset. You know, people who live in the scarcity mindset versus who live in the abundance mindset, like live in abundance. You don't be so nervous that you don't have enough weddings or money or, or any of the type of thing that you do. Just focus on, like I said, the possibility and that abundance is coming to you. It's not going to come to you if you're pinching pennies and you're worried about the next paycheck and invoice, all that stuff. Live You know, and this is a part of that, that same advice. It was like, live, you know, from the vision, like from where you want to be. Don't live from what you're scared of, what you're nervous about. You know, if you want to be this 6-figure earner per year, what do those 6-figure earners do every day? Do they sit on Instagram for 5 hours? No. They have morning routines and they're going out for walks and letting their mind open up. So So work from the vision of where you want to be instead of where you were, because what got you here will not get you there.

I love it. Yeah, I love all of that. I love it. Such great advice. So of course I want to know tools. I want to know tools that you're using in your business now or that you first started, because as a photographer and for me, it's like way back when, when I did photography, there are a lot of tools and they can kind of, you know, drive you a little crazy. What tools have you found that work amazing for you and your photography business?

Yeah, I'll just go with my main tools that I use every day. Number one is 17hats. So it's just a client management system. So some people might use HoneyBook, Dubsado, other things. Just make sure you have a client management system that can send out invoices, collect payments, you know, have contracts signed. You know, use one, one of these. Back in the day, I was like printing out a contract and mailing it to my client and waiting.

Oh my gosh.

I'm like, oh my gosh, was this the '90s? What in the world? That was only 6 years ago. And so just make sure you have an online content, you know, customer, what is it? CRM, customer relationship.

Yep. Management system. CRM.

So that's my number one tool is to have one of those. Like you said, 17hats is a great one. And then having something that allows you to schedules. So Planoly, you know, it's great for Pinterest— excuse me, Planoly is great for Instagram. Tailwind is great for Pinterest. Facebook, you can just schedule right in the platform. You know, if you use your blog WordPress, you can schedule there. Everything, give it a chance to be automated. That's my, you know, so same with 17Hats, automate your invoice reminders and your questionnaires and Planoly and Pinterest, all that stuff you can automate. So Having a CRM, having scheduling tools. And then the third one, my calendar. Oh my gosh. Just having a good calendar, writing things down, putting them in my Google Calendar that syncs to my phone. And just, you know, I've, I've known so many people who have like, oh my gosh, I'm fully double booked. I'm like, how do you do that? You need to have a calendar. So, you know, get your stuff together, people, get your stuff together.

Yeah. How do you double book? I think the same thing now. I don't understand double booking, especially with calendars, Calendly, which you can set it and forget it. Like it should never happen. I love Calendly. It's like amazing.

Yeah.

Well, thank you so much for being here and telling us a little bit about your story. It's like there's so many good gems in here. I'm just so excited that you, you came on.

Well, I'm so, so happy that you had me. This was so fun. I just love talking business to other powerful female entrepreneurs. I'm just like so flattered that you had me.

Well, you're awesome. So of course. So tell me, tell me and everyone else where they can find you, what you have coming up, what's new, what's happening for you in your business. Just give me the spiel. Yeah.

Yeah.

So you can find me at angiemcpherson.com. I have some helpful blogs.

I have some helpful videos.

I even have a shop with a bunch of low-priced products to help you grow your social media and actually plan a personal branding photo shoot. That's been like my highest seller. It's like a 14-page ebook telling you how to choose locations and props and outfits and all that good stuff. And then you can also find me on Instagram. I love to talk on Instagram. I love to DM. I'll send you a voice memo half the time. So you can find me there at Angie Janine. Alright ladies, thank you for listening and I hope this conversation inspired you.

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