We photographed our first wedding in 2015. In that one night, I went from the girl whose mantra was: “I will never ever ever photograph a wedding ever” to declaring to Alex during a water break: “We can totally do this!” In those days, before we were even engaged, we couldn’t have anticipated what starting our own wedding photography business would do for our relationship and for our life together. But here we are – 5 years later, married, with a baby and our very own fixer-upper, and a photography business that allowed me to quit my teaching job.

Of course, while we’re “self-taught” we certainly didn’t do it alone. And we were (and still are) appropriately brought through the varying levels of competence (always a good reminder to honor the season you’re in…and to trust the process).

We made plenty of investments in our photography education, both on the business side and the artistic side, but here are the three most GAME CHANGING investments that absolutely changed our wedding photography business.

What’s in this blog post:

• The Youngren’s ALL NEW Thrive Business Intensive
• Mike Michalowicz’s Profit First
• Justin and Mary’s Lighting Course (Use code BEETANDBLOSSOM to get $300 off!)
• BONUS: Photography Facebook Groups We Love

*FYI: This blog post contains some affiliate links, which means I may get a small commission if you purchase through the link (at no cost to you, of course!).*

The Thrive Business Intensive

This one is hot off the presses, friends! The Thrive Business Intensive is opening its doors for the very first time to the public this week only from July 28th-August 4th.

TIME SENSITIVE ANNOUNCEMENT!

My friend Erin is currently hosting a FREE live training! She’s walking through 3 extremely powerful methods to actually clear that mental clutter and move your business forward. FUN FACT: What’s inside this training is also part of the system that I just went through with the Thrive Business
Intensive with The Youngrens! It’s what’s helped me NOT feel overwhelmed during a season of business that could easily feel like crazy-town! It’s been a GAME CHANGER for me – so I really don’t want you to miss this!

I’ve taken a lot of online courses in my day – name someone in the online space and I’ve probably taken their course. But you guys…none of them have caused me to take action and kicked my business into gear like the Youngren’s Thrive Business Intensive. 

(Who are the Youngrens you ask? Jeff and Erin are a husband and wife team in California that run multiple photo studios, host a kickass photo podcast, teach photographers about all things business, and photograph weddings for couples who are all about savoring.)

Here’s the truth, fellow wedding photographers: We’re photographers. But we’re also business owners. Business OWNERS. Think about that for a sec.

We went against all odds and started something from nothing. And people trust us. And give us money for our services! We’re more than just artists with a camera. We’re CEOs of our businesses, so let’s start acting like the Elon Musks that we are. And let’s let the Youngrens help us get there!

What is the course like?

The Thrive Business Intensive is an 8 week course designed to transform your business from the inside out. 

You’ll have weekly video lessons with lots of deep diving homework. The most important part of the course though, is the weekly CEO Check-Ins and the Office Hours where we could ask the Youngrens anything. There was never any question too small or too big that the Youngrens didn’t graciously tackle. They held nothing back and it was amazing to watch my own and my industry peers’ businesses transform right before our eyes.

What I love about this course is that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all model. Your business is unique and the Youngrens get that. They’re not there to loom over you as the “know it all experts” and tell you that this is how you should run your business and these are the decisions you have to make. NO – instead, they give you the tools, strategies, and the framework to become the CEO your business deserves. A CEO that makes badass boss decisions and takes ownership of your business, beyond just the 8 weeks of the course.

Here’s the deal though: you gotta do the work! This isn’t the type of course that you can passively watch a few of the lessons and get the gist. You can’t just peter out until you forget you invested in it and it disappears from your browser history. You have to be an active participant. You’re going to WANT to be an active participant. There is ZERO FLUFF and this is REAL WORK (with really amazing spreadsheets along the way).

Why should I take it?

Since graduating from the Thrive Business Intensive, I no longer feel like I’m in survival mode (having a baby and going through a pandemic within one year will do that to a girl). I had wanted a system where I could focus on my family AND take care of our business and serve our couples well without worry. Plus, I wanted to have a clear path for growth and start making real headway towards my long term goals.

I can say that I have all of that now!

My business is now humming at a sustainable rhythm and I know exactly what I need to do each day to reach my quarterly and yearly goals. This has literally never been the case. I’m no longer lollygagging around my to-do list and am actually getting ISH done (and celebrating all my accomplishments, per the Youngrens direction).

How do I get in?

The doors are going to open soon, so you’re going to want to get on the waitlist so you’re the first to know. Space is limited and I hear there are some Early Bird Specials you’re gonna want!

In the meantime, you can also pick up some of their freebies like their Time Management Guide to give you a peek at one way you’ll tackle your business.

Mike Michalowicz’s Profit First

I first heard about Mike Michalowicz and his Profit First system on the Being Boss podcast and I was LIT UP. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about money, kinda like Alexander Hamilton when he gets assigned to the Treasury (let’s go!). In fact, I’ll sometimes go back and re-listen to that podcast to give me a motivational money boost.

How does it work?

Basically, Profit First is like the cash envelope system, but for your business. 

I have four different bank accounts for my business: Operating Expenses, Taxes, Profit, and Owner’s Pay. Every dollar I earn gets split up by a specific percentage and divvied up into each bank account like so:

• Operating Expenses: 30%
• Taxes: 15%
• Profit: 5%
• Owner’s Pay: 50%

You can learn a whole lot more about what each of these bank accounts is used for in the podcast and the book. But let me just say that it’s so so sweet to treat yourself like the CEO you are and give yourself a quarterly profit distribution (hello paying off debt and remodeling our house!). Hence, the Profit First name.

Why should I use the Profit First system?

The timing was absolutely divine as I had just quit my teaching job to take our business full time. Cue the money-making sweats. Fortunately, with Profit First, I was able to kick my finances into gear right from the beginning. I can look at my bank account any day of the week and know the health of my business.

I know exactly how long (and how much) I can pay myself without booking another wedding.

Since implementing Profit First back in 2017, we haven’t missed a paycheck. This includes maternity leave, consistently taking July and Sundays off, AND Covid-19!

Even better, the Youngrens are huge Profit First fanatics too! The quarterly Profit Distributions you get to give yourself work perfectly with the Youngren’s quarterly CEO rhythm! Both of these systems: Profit First and the Thrive Business Intensive work really well together to put yourself in that CEO mindset!

The book is not a prerequisite for the Thrive Business Intensive, but I would definitely consider it required reading so grab yourself a copy so you can nerd out together and kick your business finances into gear!

Justin and Mary’s Lighting Course

If you’re a wedding photographer, you HAVE to know how to use your flash. Have to have to have to. We spent the first year of our wedding career calling ourselves “Natural Light Photographers”. Why? It wasn’t a style choice, that’s for sure. Instead, we had no idea how to use our flash. And we were scared! And had no clue where to start!

And you know what – we got lucky that first year. All our couples had lovely weather and well-lit receptions. We got away with being “natural light photographers.”

Until…we got hired for a wedding. In December. In Connecticut. On a gray day. With a ceremony at sunset (which is like 4:00 in the winter) and no first look. We told our couple that they wouldn’t get the bright and sunny photos that they were used to seeing from us. They were fine with it, but we struggled through shooting with only the available light and spent hours upon hours fixing them in post.

Something had to change.

So we took a big leap and invested in Justin + Mary’s Lighting Course. It took us, a couple of newbies who only owned one or two on-camera flashes (that were never used), to professionals who are fully competent in using off-camera flash for every part of the wedding day.

What was the course like?

Just like the Thrive Business Intensive, you have to do the work. This isn’t a course that you can just passively watch and hope to absorb some information.

You gotta buy the gear (they give you lists in all budgets!), learn how to operate it (don’t worry – they give you tutorials for that!), and practice practice practice (there are lots of homework assignments to guide you!). 

Before you even dive into the gear and blast off those flashes, the course starts by taking you step by step and teaching the basics of light. It seems so obvious that we as photographers (literally: those who draw with light) would understand how to use light, but it’s amazing how much we didn’t know. The language and the concepts that we learned in even those first few weeks changed how we approach natural light, before we even picked up a flash!

We were absolutely terrified to dive into off camera flash, but Justin and Mary really scaffold their student’s learning by taking them step by step. Plus, they make sure you can master the one-light system (which we use 99% of the time!) before layering on more flashes

The Facebook Lives and Facebook Group were so handy in answering all our questions along the way. Plus, it was the perfect venue to celebrate with each other and show off all of our game-changing well-lit photos!

Why should I take it?

We can confidently say that we can now handle ANYTHING that comes our way on a wedding day. From windowless hotel rooms to massive cathedrals, from gray and cloudy ceremonies to high noon portraits, we’re able to create beautiful images.

In fact, the very next wedding we shot after we finished the course was during the Connecticut equivalent of a monsoon. It literally did not. stop. raining ALL DAY. What was supposed to be a colorful spring garden party turned into an indoor celebration inside a dark inn. No problem! We just whipped out all our off camera flash gear and used everything Justin and Mary taught us.

Since then, these once “Natural Light” photographers have become known for their nighttime portraits. What!?

How do I get in?

Click here! You can enroll at anytime. And even more, I’m happy to offer you $300 off the course! Just type in BEETANDBLOSSOM at checkout.

(If you can’t find the spot for the promo code, keep going through checkout until you can see “Order Summary.” Click on that and a box should appear where you can put the code in)

BONUS: Photography Facebook Groups We Love

Photography Facebook Groups. Major eyeroll, amiright?

Just like you, I’ve probably joined just about all of them. And have unfollowed almost all of them for one reason or another at some time. That is, except for these few who still take up that precious space on my newsfeed:

• Steel And Flint Society: Wedding Photography Education-Esteban Gil: Run by Connecticut’s own Esteban Gil, this is the one photo group that I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of. It’s filled with awesome people. Zero jerks. Only support. We haven’t had the chance to take one of Esteben’s workshops yet, but he’s a big proponent of the one-light philosophy. It’s a great place for education, community, and inspiration! One of these days we’ll win one of the challenges, we swear!
• Creative Rising Community by the Youngrens: Hosted by the Youngrens! This is a great place of community where you can share your weekly wins and your goals – perfect support for those in the Thrive Business community and lovers of the podcast!
• Lovers of Photography + The Office: Must be a photographer. Must love the Office. Just picture the Office Memes but for photographers. There are a couple folks in there who are just always spot on and have a SERIOUS talent. Good for some laughter and not taking yourself too seriously.
• Wedding Photographers: Pregnant, Planning, or With Kids: This was so so so helpful when we had gotten pregnant. Just knowing that there’s a support group to help you figure out how to plan maternity leave, how to pump at a wedding, all the things you’re dying to know about how to do this job with a baby.
• Crap Wildlife Photography: Horrible wildlife photography. Hours of laughs. The only place on the internet that isn’t political or hateful and is full of pure entertainment and joy. The only place that makes you want to take crappy enough photos worthy of the admins’ acceptance.