We were in the middle of a branding photoshoot and I could feel the emotions coming on. My senses were in overdrive, I was so overstimulated, and felt like I was barely clinging on to some sense of professionalism. I can’t let her see how much I’m struggling right now, was all I could think.

The minute Lyndon & I hopped in our car to go grab lunch, I completely broke down. Huge sobs escaping, my lungs gasping for air as my body began to release so much of the pressure I’d been carrying.

As the tears fell onto my Jersey Mikes sandwich, I could barely understand what this meant for me and our business but I knew I’d hit a breaking point.

A few hours later we wrapped up the photoshoot and drove back to our stay. Our client never suspected a thing (she would later message us to thank us profusely for helping her feel so beautiful and confident in who she was, saying these were the first photos she’d had that she really loved of herself).

I drew a bath and cried some more. Let it all out into the open and had a very real heart-to-heart with God about where I was at with photography.

“I can’t do this anymore, God. I can’t keep doing photography. Please. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Words I never thought I’d say out loud, an honest confession finally escaping my lips.

In hindsight I can see how much of a toll things had started to take on me.

There were a variety of things that had led to this point.

• Clients that weren’t a great fit.

• Multiple requests for custom edits (when one reason people hire us is for our unique editing style).

• Scope creep that left me feeling taken advantage of and exhausted beyond belief (aka: a lack of boundaries in our business and with our clients).

• Clients who still expected to pay close to their original rates, when what we were now delivering was well beyond that & yet, I felt this sense of loyalty — like I had to keep those rates for them (but didn’t feel like they truly valued the work & effort we were putting in for them)

The irony is that during this “breakthrough week”, we worked with clients who were some of the best-fit clients we’d had a chance to work with in awhile. I felt so incredibly loved and appreciated, something I’d not really been feeling. But so much of it was overshadowed by my emotional exhaustion and “death by a thousand cuts” (ie: all these little instances that had all finally caught up to me).

And honestly, it was a huge wake-up call.

In that moment I thought I wanted to quit photography (we would end up scaling back big-time on photography for the next 6 months).

But what I didn’t know was I actually needed a reset.

There were so many leaks in our business that I didn’t see. Leaks I’d tried to patch up with scotch tape, thinking that would be enough to fix them. And it took one giant meltdown for me to see they needed a full-on repair job.

In time, I began to see that it wasn’t quitting photography that was the answer.

It was recalibrating how we approached photography, being clear on who we worked with best (and not being afraid to turn unideal-fit clients away), and having clear boundaries in place that supported both me and our clients.

The difference has been night and day. The way we operate our business today is vastly different from how it looked a year ago.

And I’m happy to say, I actually love photography again. 🥹

And I’m so darn grateful for that.

Here are some things we changed that have been wildly supportive for me in the photography side of our business:

• Restructured our photo packages (you can see them here)

• Started using ImagenAI to edit our client photos (editing was such a big pain point for me because it would take hours! But this software has been a literal game changer for me; it knows our editing style and it nails it every time. I just let out a huge sigh of relief even thinking about it!)

• Began turning down clients who weren’t a good fit — this one has been huge, honestly. We now have a system in place that allows us to vet clients before working with them (which benefits both us and them!)

Those are just a few key changes we’ve made in the past year that have greatly impacted my mental & emotional health in business and allowed me to show up more creatively and excited in work again.

Gosh, there’s so many stories and tools I could tell you about. That I’m excited to tell you about!

Earlier this year we realized that part of our story is educating photographers about what we’ve learned over the years. Pouring into them and showing them what they’re capable of. When we made that decision, it felt like all of a sudden a dried up tap started gushing out gallons of water. There was suddenly so much to tell you about.

There’s two ways you can get access to the wealth of information we want to pour out for you:

1. You can join our “Close Friends” list on Instagram — consider this a backstage pass with bonus content about what we’ve learned in business. You get all the tea. If you’d like to be added to our Close Friends list, simply reply to this email and let us know. We’ll get you added.

2. Today we’re officially opening cart (this week only!) for our next round of Capturing Luxury: our 4-week group program for photographers who want to learn more about how to elevate their branding packages and experience. You can see all the details here (or keep scrolling to get the vibe for this round).

No matter where you are in your business, let this be your reminder that there is always more available for you. More alignment. More beauty. More joy. More fulfillment. More abundance. It’s all within reach — sometimes all you have to do is be willing to release, surrender, and receive. ✨

A lot can change in a year. If you’d told me a year ago that I’d not only be doing photography still, but I’d also be educating photographers…I’d probably be speechless. I wasn’t ready to hear that yet. But now? I wouldn’t have it any other way. God is so good.

Your story’s not over yet. It’s just beginning.

xo,

Jo

So you want to be a (better/in-demand/confident) branding photographer…📸✨

Introducing: Capturing Luxury

This one’s for the girlies (and boys) who want to feel more confident in their branding photography business. Here’s the thing — I don’t want you getting hung up on the word luxury here, okay? That can look like many different things. It may look like working with more high-profile clients, OR it could look like elevating your business practices so that you’re operating in alignment. For us, it looks like getting paid what we’re worth (something that will look different for all of us — spoiler alert: we have a week dedicated to pricing and packaging) and working with clients who truly value us and the content we create for them.

WHAT TO KNOW FOR THIS ROUND:

• We’ll officially kick off our first call next Tuesday, August 6 — we’ll have group calls every Tuesday at 4pm EDT. You can see a full breakdown of what topics we’ll cover in each week here.

• NEW: We’ll be hosting “Office Hours” every Thursday at 4 pm EDT for the duration of this round. This is a chance for you to get our feedback & insight on what you’ve implemented so far from that week’s call.

• Cart is open for this week only.

• There is a payment plan option available — simply click “Payment Plan” at checkout to pay 3 monthly payments of $350!

If you have any questions at all, hit reply to this email and we’ll give you a proper answer! 💬