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Maximalist Life
This is Maximalist Life, with Brianna Gamble and Tamika Stringfellow. This unfiltered podcast is your permission slip to chase after everything you damn well desire.
Join us as we dish out no-holds-barred conversations and invite you to step into a life filled with limitless possibilities. Forget fear and embrace the maximalist mentality with us every week.
Get ready to experience piss your pants laughter, cringe-worthy truths, and be inspired to break free from living a mediocre life.
Maximalist Life
Ep 24 - Confessions of a Million Dollar Studio
Episode Summary:
Brianna and Tamika dive into the unfiltered, hilarious, and sometimes wild moments of running their million-dollar photography studio, specializing in boudoir and branding photography. They’re sharing it all, from the challenges to the successes, and everything in between!
💰 More money = more responsibility. The stress of knowing your team's families are relying on your success.
🚫 Setting crucial boundaries, like cutting out family photography and saying no to certain difficult clients.
🔫 Wild client stories—like the one who brought a gun to their boudoir shoot and men who just didn’t get it.
💡 Industry "rules" worth breaking, like the myth that you can't make a profit just selling digital files.
🎯 The power of niching down and sticking to what you’re passionate about.
📊 The key factors that helped them hit seven figures: tracking the numbers, hiring early, and not worrying about the competition.
👩👩👧👧 Team dynamics in an all-female studio: keeping it professional and still having fun.
🤝 How to make clients of all body types feel confident and comfortable in front of the camera.
Stay Connected:
📲 Follow us on Instagram: @maximalistlifepodcast
🎙️ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify – it helps us so much!
This is how we always start. Brianna sings Do your thing, go, do it. No, now it's embarrassing, I know.
Speaker 2:Okay. Say it Come on, do you always feel weird starting and then we're like, yeah, see, yeah, okay, here we go, here we go. All right, welcome to Maximalist Life. I'm your host, brianna, and I'm Tamika, and, and today we're gonna talk to you about confessions of a million dollar studio fun and it's live. Yeah, yeah, we are recording live today in our studio with our audience of amazing female entrepreneurs for our women on top networking events. So they're all here listening to us and watching us as we embarrassingly record this.
Speaker 1:We're going to cringe our way through this.
Speaker 2:So this is the first time that we'll be able to take questions during a recording, so hopefully our audience will have some great questions popping in throughout. Okie, dokie, okay, okay. So mostly this outline like we typically have an outline for our podcast and stuff we want to talk about, and then sometimes it just goes kind of off the rails. And this time I just came up with some questions and we'll just kind of go from there and see what happens. What is something no one warned you about? Running a million dollar business? This is a question for you not me.
Speaker 2:I would say definitely more money, more problems. Yeah, that's a fact. Obviously, like the more clients that you have or the bigger team that you have, like there's a bigger stress of overhead. There's not really any room in your calendar for empty spaces. So it's hard to have times where you look in your calendar for empty spaces. So it's hard to have times where you look your calendar it's a little bit empty and it's hard to go like it'll work out, it'll be fine, because I definitely feel the stress of, like everyone, this isn't just my livelihood, it's our whole team's livelihood and their families and I'm like, oh, my god, yeah to get more naked ladies in the studio to take their photos and I, yeah, because you're the kind of a business owner that like kind of intimately knows all of your employees.
Speaker 1:So you're like, yeah, drew, which is my husband, is gonna be mad if Tamika doesn't bring home money yeah, yeah so like I think, because you know all that, or you know what we're doing like Bree's having a wedding next year, you know like or you know whatever, and then you're like shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's scary right. Yeah Well most people they like, don't think most people are like that. I mean in the corporate world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the CEOs don't give a shit. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, um in, you can't really. Although I feel like I am able to have a really flexible schedule because I have, like I said, outsourced a lot of stuff to most of my staff and I could take time off, it's like I'm never really fully off, which I feel like, like any business owner feels, like that I just went on a trip, a family vacation, to Hawaii and literally soon as I got there, we're like getting our rental car and Tamika calls me and she's like yeah, so both of our computers are broken and there's a client there right now and she can't view her photos, and one of our new photographers was like working that day. Of course it had to happen when she was working.
Speaker 2:And so she was kind of freaking out and like that day, of course, yeah, it had to happen when she was working, yeah and so she was kind of freaking out and like I feel like there's been so many times where I'm gone and they're like the power, the power went out in the middle of like a shoot or a viewing, or there's just always these things, which I will say that for the most part, I feel like my team knows like, unless the studio is on fire, probably just don't call me because just figure it out you know, just figure it out.
Speaker 1:I mean I call you and text you every second, I know so, but no one else does.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean vice versa. I text you all the time yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so I, and that's the thing, yeah, yeah, um. Also I would say, no one warned me is like um, how, like uh I don't know how to say this like, how still, like really fulfilling it can be. I think when you have your business in the beginning and you're like doing more of the fun stuff and you have, I don't know, it's like as your business changes, sometimes you feel like you lose touch with, like, the specialness of what you do. But I don't think, I don't feel that way. No, I think it's just different.
Speaker 2:It's just different now, yeah, that's that. Okay, any boundaries we should have set?
Speaker 1:sooner. Yeah, we shouldn't have done family photos, because those fucking suck, and well only if you have a toddler, they're so awful. They're like the worst thing ever in my whole life.
Speaker 2:I only like to take family photos if the children are like adults or like teenagers or something, or at least like 10.
Speaker 1:I don't want to take them at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So the funny part is you were the one who made us do family photos. So she came in and I was like I don't. You know I don't do family, but I do high school senior portraits. I did. We were doing starting boudoir and doing branding and she's like I just think it would be so cute if we did family photos. And I was like hell, no, it's not cute, it's not fun, it's the worst thing ever. And the husbands hate it so much, they're so mad at their wives to take these stupid photos and the kids are just like screaming and that's how 90% of family sessions go, at least that I've experienced. So maybe I'm just also I'm not good at family sessions.
Speaker 1:And we're not taking photos outside, so like we have, a small space to take photos in. It's not like we could just let these kids run around here and do whatever, and just dealing with that many people is kind of and I don't really want to take photos of men Ever. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Ever Sorry, ever yeah, ever sorry. Yeah, that's the other boundary. Is like really really niching down to like women's portraits specifically? Yeah, I really hate taking photos of guys move they're just really boring and like they for sure don't want their photos taken. No, like a lot of our women like female clients like, oh, like I hate taking my photos, but they're like fun oh yeah, some couples, boudoir and the guys have been pretty fun well, yeah, because it's a couple yeah cuz yeah yeah yeah, yeah, there's like in their boxers and seven their white laundry.
Speaker 2:Yes, and they get like boners, so they're happy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, spoon together. I don't want to see the boner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you're going early.
Speaker 1:Put together and then I'll take a photo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the only time that they're kind of fun. Yeah, they're fun, yeah, but if we have to take their headshots or something like that, or definitely family photos, I'm like I want to die, yeah, and they're kind of mean to us sometimes. Oh yeah, tell your story about the guy that was kind of mean to you. Which one? There was one guy by himself I took headshots and he was really mean to me and he wouldn't do. I would be like okay, like I guess I've taken a lot of your guys photos, so you know like I'll be like okay, just sit over here, and then I'll kind of like put you in the pose or whatever. And he'd be like I'm not doing that pose and I'm like okay, and so you're kind of like I never had anyone like talk back to me like that, and so I was like okay, no problem, yeah it's totally fine, like yeah it's so cheesy, I don't know, and so then I would like yeah, you get so embarrassed.
Speaker 2:I know I'm like oh my god, he just said that and then. I'm someone who has a really um, I really have to like simmer on things for a while, and so, in the moment when things are happening, it's really hard for me to like be a human I a while, and so, in the moment when things are happening, it's really hard for me to like be a human. I'm just like I don't know how to like function. Yeah, and.
Speaker 2:I've like had to think about it later, and then I want to call him later and tell him what I wanted to say yeah, you can't do that, but sorry.
Speaker 2:So that guy was mean. And then he, when I was, uh, editing his photos you know, I we do same day viewings and so so typically we'll be like, okay, wait out here, I'm going to get your photos ready and then I'll bring you back to look at your photos he went right back there and just stand hovering over me the whole time I'm editing the photos and I was like, oh yeah, like I'll have them ready in 15 minutes If you want to go, like have a seat. And he was just like I don't, like, like that, I don't, it's weird.
Speaker 1:I don't like it. I'm giving you your money back and just leave.
Speaker 2:I was so close. He made me retake his photos three times, I know, for a headshot yeah.
Speaker 3:You only get two photos. It's just the shoulders.
Speaker 1:Yeah what Smile.
Speaker 2:He didn't like oh, I should have ironed my shirt better. Yeah, you should have. Like that's my, not my problem. Yeah, so there's just so. That guy, I was very close and then I almost he got his photos. We sent them and we always ask everybody let us know if you have any edit requests. He sent 15 questions on one photo a full paragraph bullet point.
Speaker 1:I mean the like. It was, like one wrinkle on my collar, and then this, and I mean it was sir, I need you to do AI photos. This isn't working for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. And then the other guy that was really mean to me was actually a girl, lady's like husband.
Speaker 3:They came and did branding photos yeah.
Speaker 1:And she was really nice and I was like you, gotta ditch this guy.
Speaker 2:He's awful, like he was, so mean I mean to her too yeah, and just kind of talking to me, like I was, like I'm I don't even know you, why are you? I'm like trying to take good photos of you, and which is hard to do, by the way, like, and he was so mean, I'm like you know, I'm trying to do like he told you your prices were too high, like in front of you.
Speaker 1:So the well.
Speaker 2:So the wife didn't. Which they are, they are really high and it's like, yeah, they are. Like when people say that, like sometimes a lot of people on the phone when they're trying to book and they'll be like we go over the prices, and they're just like wow, that's expensive, and I'm like I know right, like yeah, it's worth it. You know, and the problem was the wife did not go over the pricing with him beforehand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is always tricky, so she made me the bad guy. So I was kind of mad at her too, but I got it. I was like, yeah your husband's really scary. Yeah, that's why she did it, so I had to take the brunt of him being pissed off the whole time huffing and puffing. He's cussing, he's walking around like he was so mad so that was that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, our industry is really fun, yeah I know.
Speaker 2:So family photos and men are the two boundaries we should have set sooner. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, what about the most wtf thing a client has said or done, besides, besides the chargeback fraud?
Speaker 1:that I mean I think clients tend to take advantage of anybody in any industry. I did hair before and so I think, and because I'm like older now and I did hair for, you know, 12 years, I feel like I'm a little more strict with clients. Because the thing is, clients I we used to say is like clients don't talk hair, they don't talk photography, they don't really know, and so they don't really know when they're coming in, like yeah, they see these contracts and all this stuff, but they just come in and they just think, well, this is how I'm going to do it, and like I'm like no the fuck, you're not. Like you're going to go upstairs and you're going to get your hair and makeup done and then you're going to pick your outfits out and then I'm going to take photos of you. You're not going to tell me how to take your photos. You're not going to spend 50 minutes picking out outfits.
Speaker 1:Like you know, I'm doing four girls a day, you know, and so, like you can't take advantage of my time, you know, and so I think that's really like I am probably, out of all of the photographers here, like the mean one because I have less time than everyone else. Yeah, I really mean, I have less time than everyone else to shoot. Like my day is completely full and I just hate when clients take advantage of us and so I'm really kind of strict on that. Like you're not going to do that to me, you're not going to do that to us, you're not going to say these things to us, you can leave, like we don't need your business. So I think you know I'm trying to think of specific things clients have said to us or done.
Speaker 2:So we had one boudoir client who showed up with a gun and uh but see, I don't know if this is such a shock thing.
Speaker 1:So for me, like you always bring this up, and yes, I know it's inappropriate, but I'm going to tell the story. So you always think that this is so shocking it is I just kind of go okay. Yeah, whatever she was taking photos of her boyfriend's, like you know his belt, she took his police belt, yeah, Without telling him that she was taking it, but first of all so first of all, I want to say this too this is not me like talking shit, I mean.
Speaker 1:I guess I am like just kind of confessing everything about clients and I you know.
Speaker 2:So this is kind of hard for us to talk about, because you guys are also all of our clients. I know so, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the thing is is that she is not very smart. So I think that she thought I'm going to take photos of his like belt, his vest, all his stuff. And I think she just grabbed all his shit and then just took it here, which that is what she did. So then she shows up and she's like okay, like I have his belt and then I have his vest or whatever, and I'm just like you just brought his gun and you were just like carrying it in your car. Like she was like, yeah, I just like brought it, and I was like she was like, yeah, I just like brought it, and I was like she was like he's gonna be surprised. And I go, yeah, the fuck, he is gonna be surprised. What I mean? Here's the thing the photos were pretty hot, yeah, but like probably shouldn't do that. Maybe, like I don't know if you should bring a gun in here, probably not right, probably not yeah or um the so recently again this poor one of our new photographers.
Speaker 1:Oh, she keeps getting all the weirdos I know poor angela. Yeah, yeah, poor angela.
Speaker 2:She's just so kind too and I'm just like you got to be a bitch sometimes so we had a client um, she wanted to, she was coming in for boudoir session and, uh, she reached out, she wanted to cancel. This is literally like a day or two before oh okay, we have really really strict cancellation and rescheduling fees, um, and policies.
Speaker 2:And so I I just was like hey, like unfortunately we and it was more like she just like didn't want to do it I think it wasn't like she had a family emergency or something and so she was just like, hey, can I just like not do it or like reschedule it. So she was just like hey, can I just like not do that or like reschedule it, like it was just like a casual. So anyway, told her she couldn't like tried to work it out. Then she didn't respond to anything. So I was like, hey, are you still coming? She said yeah. Then she showed up with her boyfriend and the boyfriend was like demanding to speak to me.
Speaker 1:Which I wasn't here.
Speaker 2:It's's a Saturday and he just like came in, was demanding to speak to somebody, like he wanted to talk to me, and then was kind of being like a dick to Angela and then was saying like our booking process is predatory and like saying all these were like just weird things, like we're like preying on women and taking advantage of them, and I was like the fuck, are you talking?
Speaker 2:about right and so like it's just a weird thing and I just told Angela because I wasn't here and so I was like no tell, like tell him to leave, get out. Like tell him also my thing is, you're not my client, uh, you're the client's boyfriend, so you're nothing to me yeah, we get weird stuff.
Speaker 1:Remember, sometimes some moms want to talk to us, or some grandmas want to talk to us about their and about their daughter's food work photos.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're like what and I won't do that because I'm like this, but I understand but at the same time, like this is something your daughter signed up for it. She signed a legal, binding contract, she spent money, she chose to come here to do that right didn't force her to do anything and I'm not going to talk to somebody's mom or boyfriend about their boudoir photos.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so weird.
Speaker 2:So that was like I just I don't know. Sometimes people do stuff and I'm like what is happening? One of the family photos one time you were taking family photos and the husband was just staring at her tits the whole time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the husband kept staring, husband. The husband was just staring at her tits. Yeah, the husband kept staring. So, yes, this is why, also, I don't want to take family photos. So we're taking these family photos upstairs and we're kind of in close, you know quarters or whatever, in the boho room, as most of you guys have seen, and he just keeps staring at my tits, right, and I'm just like what the hell? So I'm like taking photos and I keep seeing that he's staring at my boobs and literally when I'm like snapping photos, I go to like look at them later and his eyes are at my boobs and his wife is right next to him with his kids. So weird. And I'm like, no, we can't do family photos ever again.
Speaker 2:Fuck this no, that's so weird. No, yikes, um. And then there's just also like uh, this isn't like a WTF thing, it's just like kind of shocking. I guess, like we book quite a few boudoir clients that are either currently are or used to be like a dominatrix.
Speaker 1:I just I just talked to one last week which we're like they'll share their stories and it's like yeah, we had one girl she said that she used to work like in the east bay, like I think it was like Concord and Martinez or something, and so she said that she's working at a sex club out there, which I mean okay. So then she, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I picture this just like a strip mall and you can't like. You know, you're just like what is this place Right? Yeah. So she said that she would get all. I was like okay, so tell me your fucking stories, right. And so she would say like she said, uh, you know a lot of guys they want to be babies and with the bottle and the whole thing right. And then so she has to be the mom and like suck on her tits or whatever, right. So that's one.
Speaker 1:The other one that she told me which I was really surprised about, and I don't know what this means. She was like a lot of people, men in law enforcement, they want me to stomp on their balls with my stilettos. I was like what? And so she was like, yeah. And so then I did, and I was like okay, well, whatever your kink is, here's the thing. I don't kink shame. I love every kink, I'm for it. The craziest one, though, which I'm not for this one. Maybe there was a guy that came in there and he was like I want you to basically like shit all over me, yeah, yeah. And so the club was like well, here's the thing, this is what we have to do. If you're gonna do this, you have to pay for the cleaning fee before and after. We have to basically like plastic, wrap the whole area, and then she can shit on you and then you guys can leave. That's so fucking weird. I think she did it, so that's so weird yeah, I was like I can't, I can't.
Speaker 1:So I mean we hear a lot of good stories. I mean a lot of our clients are really amazing. So even though some of them treat us bad, it's okay just some, not that many yeah, very small percentage are mean to us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, usually it's just their husbands.
Speaker 1:Yeah or they just don't really know how it works and so they kind of like take up a little too much of our time.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, yeah, um something that we absolutely hate doing the business, but we still do it take photos no, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding, no no I you don't like to do anything on a computer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I wish I could just be like a creative director. I just want to like, pose people, pick their outfits out, you know, have fun with them. I don't want to have to upload, edit them, do any of the background stuff. Yeah, that's not fun. I know that stuff's all bullshit I know you hate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't really want to do. Uh. I don't want to do our social media ever like I just wish I don't want to ever do social media.
Speaker 1:Yeah social media is so hard. I don't know how people like have the energy to post every day in the stories constantly, all the time like. I don't know.
Speaker 2:I really want to like I may still do our ads, but like it's really annoying to do them and I really need to hire somebody to do it. But I just, yeah, I don't know, that's the worst thing. Is there like a popular industry trend, or like cool like, or like a rule, even like a rule that people follow. That we think is BS.
Speaker 1:I mean, we talk about this a lot. The cool girl thing is kind of out for me a little bit. I I mean a couple photos here, there, I think is okay, but if that's not your personality, like, I mean, what does it mean? When we're just taking a black and white photo with sunglasses on and we're serious, like who are we still? Like those are the kind of things that I want to know as your brand. Like I don't know who you are and yeah, it looks cool, but like I also want to see you laughing. I also want to see your. I mean I don't want to take family photos, but I want to see like your family in the background. I want to see, like who you really are. I want to see your style, I want to see your everyday thing. And when we get these photos where it's just like this you could just put any girl in here it means nothing to me. Me, I don't get it like I have and I think they're fun to take. I think they're really fun, you know.
Speaker 2:But I just don't know if they're a hundred percent good for our brand unless, like, your brand is really like that's you to a t and you don't leave that like mark yeah, I think I'm like, I think the like, like overly curated branding photos are kind of out for me, like, like you're saying, I kind of want so we have like one real estate agent. Well, I mean, I guess a few, but, like Jamie, like we do her photos, like we do them at her house and it's not like we're taking family photos, but she'll be like she is taking a picture. She's like watering our flowers and their sons, they're like eating a popsicle and like yeah, it was like that really is her.
Speaker 2:And it's not like we're just like sitting here posing, or so yeah, I think doing that um like your baby's crying in your arm. I love that.
Speaker 1:Like trying to be on the laptop and you're trying to like you know like I think that those are like real.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we, yeah, we had a or like doing something, doing some photos that kind of like speak more to your audience or will kind of stop them from scrolling. So, for example, we had a massage therapist that I photographed recently and she, when she came in, she was like I don't really know, like I think I just I'm going to wear my black like outfit that I wear when I'm doing massage and I'm going to just be like doing massage poses, like that was just like it wasn't anything super creative, and but then her brand is like very soft and the colors are kind of like like beachy tones, and so I'm like well, it doesn't make sense to wear black, like it doesn't have to be.
Speaker 2:So literal it's like everything being so literal is where I am over it and I so, and I hate saying stuff sometimes because I feel like maybe people in this room have done this and so I just never. We've probably done it. Yes, like I've taken photos of stuff, but it's like a okay, so like if you're a hairstylist, we don't have to do any more photos of you holding scissors right anymore, unless it's like a creative way, but like holding out the scissors like you're cutting your own hair like this because you're going crazy, yeah, yeah, um, or something like oh, sorry, and the massage therapist, sorry, skip back to that.
Speaker 2:So the color scheme, we change it up. But also, like she was catering to like really busy moms and she's like a mobile masseuse and so I was like why would we not have a photo of like a mom on the massage chair and you're giving me such? And then she, her kids, are just like crazy, like all over the place, like obviously it's probably not what's gonna happen. Literally, when you're doing the, hopefully she walks them out, you know, or something.
Speaker 2:But like yeah you know, but like that's what, like if you saw that and you were a busy mom and you would be like, oh my god, that's hilarious yeah, he would just draw you in more, and so it's like I want to do more stuff like that with clients, um, but I think that's partially my fault.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's like I don't want to overstep on the creative direction either and tell people like you shouldn't do this, or you should do this because it's their business yeah, and if that's a client like they want to attract a cool girl or whatever, then yeah, okay, do all the cool girl photos, it's fine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's okay yeah, um, also I think there's like industry rules or whatever that I think are bs. Like I was always told you can never be profitable unless you sell prints. You can't sell digitals and be profitable, which digitals don't have a cost. And so first that didn't even make sense to begin with. But I understood the mindset was there's all these photographers, it's oversaturated with photographers, everyone's just selling like I'll give you all these digitals for a hundred dollars or something. Um, so if you kind of get stuck in that little realm, you're gonna just not be profitable.
Speaker 2:Um, so you have to stand out by like selling wall art and selling albums and you're like giving a higher end service. So I think that was the idea behind it. Um, and we did that for a long time until I realized why can't we just make this experience and create these packages that our clients really want, because most of them just want digitals, and I mean especially for branding, where we're pricing it out based off of, like, the time that we're spending with them and all of that. Like a digital doesn't have to be cheap just because it doesn't have a cost like a literal cost for us, cost of goods type, you know if that makes sense yeah, and so I just think that that was something.
Speaker 2:It took me too long to like go the other way with what other photographers were doing yeah, and I think that that's just kind of how our world works.
Speaker 1:Everything is digital. Like you know, people just having like all this product and stuff, like you know, they don't like if you're just doing a boudoir shoot for yourself right now, you don't necessarily have to buy this album for yourself right now. Like, yeah, just, guys, get some digitals and when you want to use it for an anniversary or you want to print it or you want to have it for later, then do that later, yeah it's fine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure. Um business expense, this is. Was there a business expense that made you feel physically ill?
Speaker 3:it was worth it.
Speaker 2:So I'll tell you right now. Every first of the month, I feel physically ill when I write the rent. Check this place that is for sure, and every Thursday when I run payroll. But both things like are the biggest expenses by far in the business, but so worth it, such a huge return on both, especially the payroll Like week. I believe that we could operate out of such a smaller space, but I just don't really want to and so and I just really like our.
Speaker 2:I really really like our studio now, really like our studio now. But yeah, payroll Every week I'm like, oh my God, I have to pay these bitches again.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:God, you sure do, you sure do we show up every day, I know, and then I remember all the stuff that they do Uh-huh, okay fine. Yeah, yeah, uh, all the stuff that they do, okay fine.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 2:And I add up all the hours a week, I'd have to work like 200 hours a week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I can't, I can't Okay.
Speaker 2:I don't want to hear it from you. Okay, here's just a little spicier one. Okay, if there was a team or client's anonymous confessions page, what would it say? Yeah, tell us. What would it say? Team that's here, don't let Gabby talk, actually, don't let me talk, yeah.
Speaker 3:You don't know what's on your mind. Yes, I think you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think clients, we already know that clients would say that our rescheduling and cancellation policies are out of control and that our fees are too crazy, and that our rescheduling and cancellation policies are out of control and that our fees are too crazy and that our pricing is too expensive. And they probably say like I mean sometimes oh, they for sure say that yeah yeah yeah, yeah, probably yeah.
Speaker 2:But the thing is the reason that we have these really strict rescheduling and cancellation policies because that's just a, that's us creating a really, really strong boundary for ourselves. That, like if you're offering a service where you could fill, fill people in quick, like if you want to get your hair done, typically you want to get done now. You're like when's the soonest you can get me in? Or I gotta get my lashes done before I go on vacation. People don't want to do a boudoir shoot tomorrow. They're like no bitch, I gotta lose weight, I gotta get my tan.
Speaker 1:I can't be on my period. Like there is like any excuse.
Speaker 2:You can't just schedule people right away. So typically people are booking at least a month out for the most part, and even branding they're like I have to plan stuff, I have to pick out what outfits, I don't know what props, I don't even have like anything ready, and so it's really difficult. When someone uh canc and their session is, you know, four days away, it's like, well then, that spot is gone and I'm not willing to let, like other people's life situations determine my life situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because what happens then? You know we don't have anyone in there, so then part of your team isn't making as much money, and then you know, like that, that's what ends up happening, like we can't afford to have no, no one in these slots, right? On our calendar yeah, like that just can't work for us because of what we built here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it just doesn't work for me. And I understand that people have like emergencies and things that they that are unavoidable, and maybe this is gonna sound really harsh, but just because, like, let's say you get sick, let's say it literally like you're sick, I can't come to my, I'm physically sick. I understand that that's not your fault, but that doesn't make it my fault, you know. And so it's like it's an unfair situation where, like, the business is going to lose money. Like you said, I can't pay my team this and that because of like someone else's situation, and so we just have to have these um policies in place for that reason.
Speaker 1:But typically I will the thing is usually when people are nice to us, it's fine. It's always like a fine situation. It's when're like like they just don't call or they are mean to us the no-shows. The no-shows, like shit like that. Then it's like you're no-showing, we're charging you $500. Yeah, sorry.
Speaker 2:Well, and typically people have like an emergency situation, I will almost always let them apply their fee every scheduling fee, yeah to their order.
Speaker 2:so, yeah, and it's not even really a fee, it's like right yeah, I pay something today because of that spot, but then, like you, can put it towards your photos later or whatever and the thing is, when you're a business owner, the thing is you make the rules, and so you, I would rather have really strict rules that I have the ability to bend for certain clients then to have to create a rule in the moment.
Speaker 2:And so, like you said, if people come to us and they're like, hey, I have this situation and if it's something we can work around or whatever, then I'm willing to do that. But at least everyone knows upfront what to expect. And the too expensive thing I mean we're priced at what I think is fair for what we're offering and the amount that people are getting. And so, yeah, it is expensive, but that's because we're not. Um, I mean, when people come here, it's like there's a studio. You have a parent makeup. If you're doing boudoir, like we offer all the outfits, it's professional retouching, it's like you have this whole team doing this whole thing. You show up at the park and we'll take some photos and then give it to you, right then yeah, it's like a whole at the park like another photographer
Speaker 1:you know, I'm just gonna take their boob bar photos at the park. Yeah, yeah, uh, yeah, it's definitely like a luxury experience too. You don't have to do it, you know?
Speaker 2:yeah, that's my thing too when people are all mean to us on the phone at like about our prices, I'm like you don't have to book, you don't have to be mad about it, just don't book, you don't have to be pissed.
Speaker 1:Why are you mad? It's like they treat us bad because like they can't afford it.
Speaker 2:That's kind of, and my thing, too is it's kind of like why are people upset that business owners want to make money?
Speaker 1:yeah, I'm not doing. How dare you?
Speaker 2:make like and I just think, like you would never go to work for free, right? Or when you're going to work at your regular job, you're negotiating a higher pay or you're looking for higher paying jobs Like why is that not OK for me to make money?
Speaker 1:And I think people don't know, like this is a whole studio, like it's one thing to be like oh you know, you're just a photographer at the park. It's another thing to come in here and be like this is a whole facility upstairs, there's 11 people working here. Like it's a whole facility upstairs, there's 11 people working here. Like it's a whole different level, I think.
Speaker 2:and people don't get that until they come here yeah you know, yeah, because you know they live far away yeah, like if they just find us on instagram, it's hard to which most people do yeah from all of our ads that I hate doing. Um, also, I'm just gonna say this too I don't want to have cheap prices also because every client that has ever been cheap has been a pain in my ass. Yeah, they're always the worst.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the ones that are really like clasping onto their money, because I get it like you don't if you don't have a lot and then like you really think it needs to be like well spent.
Speaker 1:So you have this expectation. But it's crazy, the people that come in here and they're just here for a good time and then they spend, you know, five thousand dollars. And then the ones in that come in here and they're like brie, my eyebrow needs to be one centimeter one higher and like this curl needs to go this way and like I need to try on 30 outfits when they are only spending like 100. Yeah you're getting one photo, yeah what?
Speaker 2:what are we doing? What are we doing?
Speaker 1:I know, yeah, so it's like it's really tough to like cater and like you know you, of course you want your level of like, professionalism, and like you want to be nice to everyone and you I want to hype everyone up. But man, when they are just like so picky like that and they just like buy one photo, I'm just like I mean, come on, we could have done this in 20 minutes. Yeah what, I spend four hours here with you.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, so, yeah, I don't know. I think too like Julia, julie, julie, Julia mentioned like having making sure you have clients that are more aligned, which I think people are. If people are willing to spend more money and like invest with you, they're going to make sure that you do align with who they are.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. And so usually, usually those are like better clients yeah, only one I could think of that spent the most money out of any client ever, and she. Better clients yeah, only one I could think about spent the most money out of any client ever, and she was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she was off the hook, yeah, yeah, but I'd be like really liked her. I don't know why she. Really like it was so mean to her personal assistant and I was like what the hell yeah? Yeah, it was like watching a like like a like a reality show. Yeah, Like it didn't feel real.
Speaker 1:She had a team, but you couldn't. We don't really know what she did. I'm still confused.
Speaker 2:I don't really know what she does. We took so many photos and then she kind of got like $15,000.
Speaker 1:She kind of got ran out of this town. And then she had her assistant and she'd be like get the car, just go get the car, yeah. And I'm like, oh my god, it was just. And like we saw in san francisco at, this like porn apartment. No, it wasn't. Yeah, it was a porn. Yeah, it had like black leather shit. That was oh that one yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:The other one was a dental office. Yeah, what? Yeah, we found the weirdest airbnb or uh, studios, oh, peer spaces, the peer spaces, yeah and man, they were some weird. I think the first one people shot porn for sure yeah, yeah, it was and the doors were like locked, so you didn't know what kind of dominatrix stuff was going on back there. Your favorite? Yeah, maybe that's where they do the school. I want to go to dominatrix school. Yeah, she wants to go to dominatrix school so bad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I only want to go if it's a real school. Like I want a backpack and I want a uniform, let's go, yeah yeah, yeah, she wants.
Speaker 1:She wants it like a leather school girl uniform with the whip and the leather backpack, the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that'd be so fun. Yeah, okay, so if our team had an anonymous page?
Speaker 1:we would say that you're mean and that you stress this all out and you send texts that are unnecessarily long.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, that, no, that none of you read or respond. They're too long, we can't read all those. I know. Okay, good, good they're. So I know I long I do try to like I do over explain, I over communicate, uh and so then they feel like overwhelming.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, when you like go to open it and you're just like what the fuck is this bitch saying? Like you're scrolling, like you can't even believe. Sometimes my husband looks over my shoulder and he goes, uh-uh, put that phone away. Just like what the fuck is this bitch saying? Like you're scrolling, like you can't even believe. Sometimes my husband looks over my shoulder and he goes uh-uh, put that phone away don't even read that don't even talk to her later or something uh-uh yeah, but it's good.
Speaker 2:I think that my team would say those things and they would say that I'm like a little bit crazy, but you have to be. You have to be a little unhinged, you know.
Speaker 1:But you're fun too and silly, and you love to sing and dance and stuff.
Speaker 2:I mean I would hope that they would think that I actually care about them, like I'm not just like a bitch Sometimes. I mean I am sometimes but yeah, I mean, I just don't, I just have really high standards. I think is what it is, and and I have high expectations and sometimes it comes across a little abrasive.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I think, because that's an attractive client still having high standards.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Having high standard paying clients.
Speaker 2:Right, Like I just feel like it's so important to me that things are just like running a tight ship around here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because otherwise.
Speaker 2:Otherwise, this is so quickly can just go off the rails and I'm like, oh my god, I think people because there are so many of us too.
Speaker 1:People don't see the little things that this is so weird to say, like that's going on, the little mistakes that people are making, so then they also don't see the little things that are slipping through the cracks like a lot, and so then when you come out and you're just like, okay, we gotta like tighten up ship, it sometimes could feel like they're just getting, like, you know, reprimanded, but really it's like all these little things or it's gone on for so long, so like people don't see like that background of like being an owner, and so I think that that's kind of hard for people that is true.
Speaker 2:There's 10 other people who. I am like there's all these little things happening with everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Little tiny, and then so when I say something, maybe you haven't made a mistake- yeah, but you're just like what's so mean to us, right? Why are you saying this right now? I do such a good job, and it's like but I also never want to like call anyone out. Like if I'm gonna reprimand someone individually, I try to do it in private. Yeah, unless it's you, then.
Speaker 1:I just say whatever to everyone also. She's really mean to me, yeah yeah, yeah, so it's kind of I'm also really nice to you, yeah okay, yeah, we're both to each other a decision that hurt like hell, but change everything for the better.
Speaker 2:Tough, oh, I hate this one. Yeah, uh, there's two um. One was I, like I said, I uh shot high school senior portraits forever. That was like what I did for 12 years. 12 years, um. And I feel like the last couple years of it I started to feel like I was outgrowing, like I don't know if it's just because I was getting older and so the gap between me and like these 17 year olds was getting bigger and I was just like these girls just come in and talk to me like this and it's so crazy, like I can't handle it anymore, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're mean to me. They're so comfortable with you Like they call her Bree.
Speaker 2:Well, because I feel like they because the way that I treat them, I feel like they feel like.
Speaker 1:I'm like their bigger sister.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Or something like I'm their big sister.
Speaker 1:And so then they'll just kind say some stuff to me that I'm like you just talk to adults like that, yeah, but it's like my fault because I let them and I'm not yeah, because you're kind of like a nice mom too, like in life yeah like to your son. You're so nice where I'm just always like don't fucking talk to me like that, you're kids. Yeah, I'm really mean to my kids, but they're really good kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's like you know, you're like so nice and you just talk to everyone like this and except for your place, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have to get it out with you guys so I can be nice to my son. Yeah, uh, yeah. So I felt like I started to outgrow the senior genre. I guess you could say Um, I also felt like because, uh, boudoir was taking over kind of the business and that was something I felt could easily, I could scale that easier, I was able to train people easier. I don't know what it is about high school seniors it's like so hard to train someone to do.
Speaker 2:Well, there's just a lot more things going on the weather, outside styling, you know all that kind of stuff, and it's like it's almost like if you, you are, if anyone here works in like weddings and you have like a bride and a mom. It's kind of like that, like I have, the senior is the client, but then the mom is the client, and so it's like that's crazy.
Speaker 2:Sometimes, like most of them do not get along and so then, I'm trying to make the mom happy and I'm because she's the one paying but then if I don't make the senior happy, she'll'll just be a bitch the whole time and then her clothes will be really ugly. So it's just like it started to be this thing I started to feel like I wasn't excited anymore, like I wasn't like super excited to be on a senior session. I was just like all right, I got this other senior session.
Speaker 3:It was kind of like draining your energy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I felt like the brand was like it's like Victoriaoria's secret and pink. So pink was like our seniors and but really we were victoria's secret, like we were two adults at this point, like I feel, like the shit that we wear sometimes to work.
Speaker 2:I'm like, yeah, we can't wear this when there's this, because I might say like bring their boyfriends here. Or like the dad comes in and we have boudoir photos and I'm like this is just inappropriate, like we have to make a decision yeah, I can't wear this with those little boys around.
Speaker 2:So I felt like I just started to feel this pull and then it just came up like it wasn't even like I was consciously thinking about it. I think it was just like in the back, like these things would happen. And it started kind of like creating this thing in my head that I didn't even realize. And then we were on a Zoom call in the beginning of last year that I didn't even realize, and then we were on a Zoom call in the beginning of last year and I just was like I can't do it anymore.
Speaker 2:I can't shoot seniors anymore. I have to be done with it. And you guys were like, oh my God. And then it just was like this is it this last year? We're shooting seniors, we're done. We're like cutting it out. And that was really hard because I business. I know you were crying and stuff. Yeah, it was sad.
Speaker 1:But are you over it now?
Speaker 2:Over it, so over it and it definitely like that also, I think, is the big difference in our like the business taking off, because it was we weren't, I wasn't being pulled in so many directions that I could focus more. Well, we kind of niched down.
Speaker 1:I think what was happening was we were like, okay, how are we going to get clients for seniors and how are we going to get clients for boudoir? And then we were like we're spending all this energy on seniors, but really we could just get rid of that and spend all the energy on boudoir and branding, and then we could do more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's hard when you are multi-passionate and you want to offer a lot of services or a lot of things and you hear people say, like niching down is better. But you're like, but then I'm losing, like all these other clients. But I feel like it's so true, like the more niche down that you can get in your business, it's like all of your marketing is so much easier because you're just talking to one client, not four different types of people, and you're just talking about this one or two services that you offer and not five, and you're not like spreading yourself thin and doing everything half-assed. Yeah, so that for sure. And then the other one was when I had to let one of my employees go. Oh God, I don't even want to talk about it. If I'm about to start crying, I'm gonna stop please, I hate it.
Speaker 1:I hate when I cry, I mean, and so I really don't like crying and so I'm gonna go outside. Go, you're gonna cry, go outside yes, so I had it for like
Speaker 2:seven years suck it up and I actually did her senior pictures and her sister's senior pictures and just, yeah, I just was really close with her and we had a couple of years in the studio that were bad. I had a really bad year personally and that took a. That took us down yeah, your life fell apart. Well, I was in shambles for all of 2022. There's a funny area.
Speaker 2:It was really bad, and so then I feel like the business was getting sucked down with it at the same time and I think that really affected her, um, and anyway, I feel like she also was in a place where she was like ready for something different in her life, but like didn't want to admit it yeah, she was in a transitional like spot too, like she should be, like she should have been going somewhere else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and so it was just tough and it's like she did. I think she didn't want to quit but kind of did, but, like I said, wouldn't admit it even to herself and it was affecting her work a lot. And I was also in a position where at that point, I mean the studio was just going downhill fast. I mean we were nose diving and, um, I was like maybe I need to cut expenses and, like I said, studio and payroll are the two main things and obviously I can't just pay for half the studio. My landlord would be pissed. So I was like I have to cut out somebody payroll wise, and it only made sense for it to be her at the time and that was the worst. Like I hate I. It was like I couldn't even.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I still hate it I don't want to talk about it but she, yeah, okay, moving on yeah, because she was such, you know, she was a pivotal part in like building the studio and you were close with her and she also had like just lost someone really close to her too. So she was going through a really tough time and I think that you know, her work was really suffering and I think that that was hard to watch her go through even more. And so then, like when you're seeing all this and you're just like I mean, business is business too. I think this is where you have a hard time, because you tend to want to be friends with your employees, where it would have been a lot easier if business was business and you didn't have to go like actually I know all these things about you and like I actually kind of love you and like all these things Right. So it becomes more tough for you.
Speaker 1:And you know, I am shocked how quickly you made that decision. I thought you were going to drag it on a little bit more and but that's kind of how your personality is. You kind of just like you're so impulsive and so you know you had said like, okay, like a couple months, and then you were just like, nope, actually I'm just gonna let her go out like now and then yeah severance, and then that's it yeah, and I made the decision to do.
Speaker 2:What I decided to do was I didn't want to like drag her through, like working here for a couple more months or right and so I said, look, she had all this, like you said, she had so many things going on in her life. And I was like what, if I think you need to be done, like now, um, and I'm just going to give you two months of pay, like pay every week, so you can just like go and take care of, like whatever you need to take care of and like your resume.
Speaker 1:Find a new job in eight weeks without like having to do this job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, yeah so that I felt like that helped me feel a little better about it yeah, I think it was more.
Speaker 1:It was more than fair yeah yeah, so, yeah, that was awful.
Speaker 2:Um, but I think in, I guess, actually answer the question of like a decision that really hurt, but it changed things for the better, like I hate to say.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say like it would change it for the better that she was gone, but it was like I had it. I had been kind of removed from the admin side of the business for so long that it was like once she left, I had to step into that role and I was like man, we're really doing stuff backwards, like it was like I didn't realize how many things we could have been automating or like that we were doing that were so unnecessary. It was like we don't even need to do this anymore. Why are you wasting like three hours of your week doing that? And so I was able to actually come in and like see all these things and make everything a lot better in that way. Um, so that's how I would say that it was better. So now I feel prepared, like when the next person comes on, that I can train them into a role that's more efficient.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Position yeah yeah, okay, this was a funnier one. Okay, good Cause, you know you're crying, I know God. Okay, what about CEO meltdown signals?
Speaker 1:What are the signals I'm about to have a meltdown? There's so many. No, like really. She just like kind of sits there, like if we're like yesterday we're preparing for this and she's kind of lagging. I can tell she's like lagging and then she'll be like I'm just so hungry, I need to go home and she just like has to take a nap and shit, and I'm like we got 30 more minutes. Like buck up, come on well and she just can't do that she just like once I go home once I'm like tapped out, I emotionally just shut down.
Speaker 2:I have to go home and take a nap and then it's so, it's like the most like pouty. I'm like I have to go home and eat something and I'll be like no, and then she just wants to like bam, bam, bam, like yeah, everything done right now.
Speaker 3:And I'm like yeah I don't want to stress about it later.
Speaker 2:I hate that yeah, also if I know a client is coming, I get really stressed out oh god, she.
Speaker 1:Well, you guys don't know this, but like when you guys come through the door and it's like a brand client or like you know, the makeup artist says like oh, you're ready. This walks back in there and she's like where's my brush? And she's like brushing her hair and she got to put her cuticle oil on. And she's just like talking and she's like got to talk herself into it. And then she comes out and she goes okay, what outfits do you want to wear? And I'm just like client comes in, I'm like, hi, you know instantly. And so I'm just like what are you doing?
Speaker 2:like literally sometimes I'll see a client walk in my go go get the door, go get the door, go get the door, and it's like I don't know why. It's like I have like a social anxiety thing where I just like I need a moment to like mentally prepare to have like a conversation, I mean.
Speaker 1:I guess you're introvert, so like you have to prepare for your energy and like all that bullshit that's why I take so many naps. Yeah, yeah, come on, let's go, you know okay, this is the last thing.
Speaker 2:Uh, what is one thing that actually mattered in getting the business to a million dollars and one thing that didn't um a lot? You have a lot of things to say, dollars and one thing that didn't.
Speaker 1:Um, you have a lot of things to say I would say things that didn't matter at all.
Speaker 2:Updating our website posting on instagram yeah, shit that people think that they need to do all the time and it's like no you don't?
Speaker 2:well, I mean, we have to post ads on instagram, but we didn't even talk about how that got shut down oh my god, yeah, but I think we get caught up in all these like little things where you get overwhelmed about like oh my gosh, I haven't updated my website in so long, or like I need to do this, or I need to like start sending email newsletters or these like random things. That's like why, why do you have to do that? What is that gonna do for your business?
Speaker 1:I think, though you're saying this, while, yes, maybe our website isn't like updated, but it's really a nice website okay, like it has its own like it already is pretty like above standard, but I mean like you have to have a website.
Speaker 2:I mean you should have a website however as of a month ago. It still said we did family and senior photos.
Speaker 3:So just stupid stuff like that, where it's like who cares, who cares?
Speaker 1:if someone inquires, we just say no, yeah we're not doing that, it's fine, or I'll do it for ten thousand dollars. Yeah, that's it, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do your family photos for ten thousand dollars, fine. I'll let your husband look at my tits for ten thousand dollars, fine stupid.
Speaker 2:Um, the things that actually mattered, uh, hiring and outsourcing. I started hiring people from the very beginning of my business. Like soon as I could afford someone for like five hours a week, I was like, oh yeah. And then it's like soon as you, like I said, as soon as you realize, like how helpful that can be, and then you can, like, pay someone. Let's say that you're paying them 25 an hour, but that means during that hour you're doing something that makes you 500. Why would you not do that?
Speaker 1:yeah, it just makes so much. Me having an assistant right now is like like these things, like I mean as simple as like amazon returns oh god, overwhelmed with returning things, the fact that I could just be like, okay, here, do whatever you need to do, drop it at you. Yeah, I don't even have to think about it or I don't have to hear drew nagging at me like, uh, what's all this shit in the office?
Speaker 2:yeah, I don't know I don't know who knows I don't know and chris you'll come get it on friday, so okay, I probably really shouldn't say this, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Oh, okay, you could also just test it out. Like I said, test out hiring someone for just like a couple hours a week and just like pay them on Venmo or something you don't have to be this whole official thing and like setting up payroll and you're like oh my god, how am I gonna like hire someone that I don't know how to like legally, like, just just test it out especially
Speaker 1:if it's not like you know she's like a hairstylist assistant, if it's just like a personal assistant.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're just like, oh, I need a personal assistant to get my groceries or to do these like things. Like I was on vacation and I didn't have like the wine that we wanted when we got home and my husband was like, well, how are we going to get it? We're going to get home at 11 o'clock at night and he needed wine, I guess, that night. So I called christy and I'm like, hey, can you go get us some wine and drop it off at the house for us? Like just that, you know paying her, yeah, you know, yeah, yeah, it's cheaper because I, you know, I pay her for an hour.
Speaker 1:So then you know, and, and so small things like that and just being able to have someone like that really like makes it so that you can like maximize like the energy you're putting somewhere else instead of like being so like, oh, I have to do this and I have to do that and have to do this. You're like, okay, I'm gonna give you all this shit and then I can actually focus and do all these things yeah, I think like the main thing is just focusing on the things that are actually moving the needle forward.
Speaker 2:And so having someone, yeah, who even is just doing personal, like have them get your groceries, have them do your laundry, do like I literally used to have edith do my freaking landscaping, like she used to just be out there pulling weeds and shit, yeah, and you want to have your assistant right now do it and steam them and like have your outfits ready for the week?
Speaker 2:yeah, just like anything, because it's like all of that stuff is not doing any like, that's not making you any money and it's really easy stuff that isn't gonna require you to like train somebody. Yeah, this stuff. So anything you can outsource in your life, just do that, yeah. And then definitely tracking numbers mm-hmm, that's my biggest thing is tracking all of our numbers.
Speaker 2:So I love spreadsheets so much and I have a spreadsheet. We track every single one of our campaigns and every single inquiry goes onto the spreadsheet. And then it tracks like out of those, like, did they book a call, like a consultation call, from the call, did they actually book the shoot or not? Once they booked, did they cancel or did they actually follow through? And it does all these calculations so I can see like, okay, we're at like a 37% booking rate. And then I know the next month, if I'm looking at the numbers and our booking rate's only like 15%, I'm like, okay, what's happening? Because I feel like it's easy to make decisions based off of like things you think or like, oh, I feel like we're not.
Speaker 1:I think that goes back to the six figure thing. Everyone, oh, you're making six figures, but are you making six figures? You know, when you're talking about it like, okay, look, you have all these numbers, that I'll tell you.
Speaker 2:Yeah like, like what do you really knowing what our real numbers?
Speaker 2:are financially but, also just like tracking everything to know, like I know that our cancellation rate is 11, so I need to book 11 more clients than what we actually need because those people are going to cancel, and so like really knowing that stuff, and then tracking, like what marketing stuff is actually working, like where did every single client come from? Cause at the end of the year, we pull up a thing and pull up this wheel and I go, okay, well, you know, our referrals weren't that good this year, cause that was only you know 20% of our bookings, or whatever. Then it really helps you to make decisions based off of data and not off of like emotion. And if you do things like Instagram ads, for example, I know, per dollar, how many clients we're going to get, or whatever.
Speaker 2:So, then, when we went from shooting four days a week to now, we added two more photographers so that we could shoot seven days a week. Now I can just do the math and just go okay, well, now I need to do whatever percentage more on Instagram ads to get that many more leads, to get that many more bookings, and it's so much easier to figure stuff out because you're not just guessing, you're not like well, well, I guess we'll see if this works. Yeah, so I would suggest even just starting with like a simple spreadsheet and tracking stuff.
Speaker 1:It is like that has been and if you need to hire, brianna to do that.
Speaker 2:Oh, she will love it. She loves it, I love it once you have it like you just have to you know, plug everything in.
Speaker 1:So you just need it one time. Yeah, yeah, I hate it. So I just ask her what? Okay, so tell me the number.
Speaker 2:I don't know she just wants me. I love when it gets to the end of the year and I get to make all the reports and she's so excited and I'm just like just tell me the, the number, I don't care yeah yeah, yeah it's really fun
Speaker 2:yeah, you love it and then one last thing is stop looking at other people like I just was, like I've been so tunnel vision for most of my career where I barely look at what other photographers are doing, because either I'll compare myself and I'll start being like, oh, like I suck, and why am I not doing that? Or I'll start like drawing inspiration and like doing shit that they're doing when really I should just be doing my own thing or whatever. You just get distracted and the thing is you have no idea if that person's even making any money. You have no idea if the people they're posting actually paid money for that. Like just because they're posting, oh, look at 20 clients that I had this week. Look at all these hairstyles I did this week. Like maybe 15 of those were like a model call. Maybe they're for free, you know, so that they could get content, so it's. You don't know at all what people actually are doing and I hate when people like over sell themselves on social media.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's been my biggest thing right now. When people say I have the biggest salon, I have the best salon, I have the most clients, like how do you know you're the most? There's 25 salons downtown. How do you know you're making the most money? How do you know you're the most? There's 25 salons downtown? How do you know you're making the most money? How do you know that you have the most clients? Like it's just like you could just say like yeah, I'm really busy, but like I just hate that kind of attitude. We're like I'm the best I'm, then like are you sound annoying?
Speaker 2:it's really annoying and I feel like you wouldn't need to say that if that was true just annoying people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, braggy, it's too braggy for me.
Speaker 2:I think, but I also hate a humble brag. I hate a humble brag. Yeah, that is the worst. Yeah, yeah, okay, we're getting kicked off.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Christine said we're too long, we're going too long.
Speaker 1:Does anyone have any questions? I'm just going to ask, yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh okay, hell yeah, I'm just wondering how you guys keep your team together so strong, like and deal with drama, because I'm a hairstylist so there's always that you know that drama happening.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm just going to repeat the question. Yeah, okay, I'm going to repeat the question so that it's on the audio for the podcast. But so someone from the audience said, like how do we keep our team together and basically not have drama?
Speaker 1:the thing about us, though, too, is like we don't hang out a lot together. So it's different than in a salon setting, I think, because you just have 12 girls all together at once, and then you're like in these group chats, like none of us want to like talk to each other in the group chats, like it's brianna like texting, and then we don't like really interact a lot in the group chat so no one could be rude to each other or anything like. Typically, you come in, you work with your makeup artist and that's it, and we're talking to a client mostly, so we don't really have time to like be mean to each other or to get catty, I think, and like we're all just so busy, like it just can't really happen I also just can't even imagine that that would even be like even if we all were here.
Speaker 1:So it did happen, it did happen one time and we I went in there and I had to ask like what the fuck happened and because, I'll just like I mean that's how I talk to them, like brie, I'll tell you, like I'll just be like what happened, or this person's doing this, and then like, okay, like that's it, you know. And so I asked what happened and then I was like, okay, well, she didn't mean it like that. So like we just have to get over it and like you know, okay, be done with this, you guys don't talk anymore.
Speaker 2:Also whatever the drama that happened it was not that much drama, but it was, um, between someone who had worked here for a while and someone who was brand new, who didn't know that. This person's personality she didn't know. Kristen, yeah, kristen is how do you say it? How would you say? Because she says things like okay?
Speaker 2:so I showed her pictures of like a guy that I'm on a date with, and she looks at the photos and she goes oh, like it's kind of like condescending, yeah, like she thinks the guy's ugly, but she's just not. And then she goes well, there's someone out there for everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, but here's the she just says shit like that, yeah, so she's kind of funny and she just has like all these like little sayings and stuff, and so she had said something to this girl. She just said vibe check, like that. Because the girl came down kind of like Brianna said this was supposed to happen. This is exactly what happened. She said Brianna said this was supposed to happen. She didn't like the girl's tone and she just said vibe check, just like that. And then the girl was like well, I just felt like Kristen was being mean to me and like all these things, and I was like look, that's how Kristen talks, like you like first of all, you'll never have to talk to each other again too. Like they weren't interacting, like they shouldn't have interacted really in the first place. That much, um, but I, I don't know, like none of us are really like that.
Speaker 2:No, I don't think that's just like not how we are, and I think so the the, I would say the base of all of it is that when I am hiring people, one of my biggest things is like are you going to get along with everybody here? Because the problems that we have had were people that when we went to hire them we go, they're a little off brand, but maybe it's fine, maybe it's fine, and then it wasn't fine, and that's exactly why. And so it's like hiring people not only for their personality, but is their personality going to mesh with everybody else? It's so important, yeah, so to start it off like that, and then I try to do stuff, like I try to, you know, like have us, you know, like do team photo shoots or team get togethers, and then you know, sometimes they want to and sometimes they don't.
Speaker 3:And that's okay.
Speaker 2:And I'm just like well, I'm gonna have fun and this is gonna be a fun place to work and we're all gonna just be friends. And then if they don't want to participate, I just don't. I try not to let it bother me. I'm just like whatever, like it's not gonna make, we're gonna make drama out of it no it's just never like that. I don't know we never have that yeah yeah you just have to.
Speaker 1:I don't. I don't know. I don't know why we don't have more drama, because it is 11 girls.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Mostly, it's just us bickering.
Speaker 1:The two of us, yeah, the two of us will bicker and I mean sometimes, like when I talk to the girls, sometimes I'm like look, this makeup is ugly or this. She'll say that I don't like this. And they know, though, like I'm saying that like, and then we just fix it, and then we just move on, like we don't have to, like I'm not saying like that, you know, your work is ugly. I'm just like I don't really like this, like let's just fix it, let's move on, let's keep going. And I just try to be really real with them, but I also try to be really nice to them too.
Speaker 2:So then it's like also, you're yeah. I think that people aren't as shocked when you say mean things to them, because you mean a lot, and so they're just like, well, that's just to make a, you know whatever. Like if I say something mean, I feel like they're like what a bitch? Yeah. Like if you say it, they're just like, well, you know what are you going to do, yeah.
Speaker 1:I think so I don't know.
Speaker 2:Bree and Gabby tell us yeah, she doesn't want to say nothing, I know, I know. Also, I do think that, like most of not most all the girls that work here are mature and they're not like like I couldn't imagine them even working somewhere else and being like catty or like we stand right, there comes a boy into a job and
Speaker 1:then we go home. Yeah, yeah, I think that's what it is too like, and no one's like borrowing each other's stuff or we don't have to clean up after. It's mostly like Brianna telling us we need to clean. It's not like, hey, I left all of my shit out, so then Bri had to come up and like pick up all my shit, you know so, and then I mean I think it's just like every it being like there's this gossip thing that's happening because this person's doing this and this person's doing that. That doesn't really happen.
Speaker 2:No, every week we have a team meeting and then we'll just say everything. So if anyone tells me stuff, I'll just say it Because I'm like it's okay. If I'm the bad guy, I'll just say, like whatever. Someone told me, like, oh, this is like whatever. I don't know, there's not really. I do think. So I think it is important. Yeah, it's hard, though, because it's also like you don't want to force it and so sometimes you want to like, do stuff like. There'll be times where I'm like. So every year I go to the Folsom Pro Rodeo and I love it.
Speaker 2:And this year I was like who wants to go to the rodeo? And like two girls were like yeah, and everyone to me is like I'm not going to fucking rodeo, I'm like what? And so it's like I want to do stuff, but I don't want to force them to like spend time together if they don't want to, or I don't want to do stuff like I try to be.
Speaker 1:It was fourth of July weekend so like, okay, like let's, let's really be real about it. She wants to go on fourth of july weekend when, like I'm pretty much like open book for brianna, I can like, yeah, I'll be whatever, but I was like fuck, fourth of july weekend, no, I can't do that one.
Speaker 2:I also try to be very respectful of people's time off. For the most part, like I try to schedule stuff on weekdays if we can like we're gonna have a team party or team like photos. I'll do it on a day when I know everyone normally works anyway.
Speaker 1:I'm not asking them to come in on a Saturday to do something and so yeah, unless we have to and unless everyone's like I just can't do that day which I do appreciate that, like when we go to Palm Springs it's during the week, so it's like, oh, we don't have to like not see our families for the whole weekend or something.
Speaker 2:You know we would be at work for, you know I do, I try I feel like it starts a lot with you and like how you treat them and how you treat like everybody, and if you're gossiping too, then it's just kind of filtered down from there. Yeah, tough, but I can't speak for working in a salon because, yeah, I can't imagine it gets a little crazy if you get really crazy, yeah, yeah yeah, it's tough. Does anyone else have any questions?
Speaker 3:I have another question yes, so no, I'm sorry, I just love her.
Speaker 1:I know me too breast cancer survivor.
Speaker 3:What do you do with people that have had like mastectomies and stuff? How do you make them like I would love to do something like that. But then at the same time it's like how do you deal with somebody that's gone through that and you say you've got young girls that you know they have this fabulous body and stuff, and make them feel comfortable to do a?
Speaker 2:shoot like that, okay. So she's asking uh, so the next question they're asking like for boudoir photos specifically. Um, how do we make clients feel comfortable if they have like they have scars, they have stretch marks, they have things that maybe they just feel really uncomfortable about their body and maybe are thinking, like you know, other clients that we photograph have like nice bodies and they're young or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say 90% of women that we shoot are regular women. They are, I would say most of our size ranges are going to be large, to extra large. That we are actually shooting Regular women that have had kids, that you know we're not shooting these 20. I mean we are. There are some these 21 year olds with these fantastic bodies. Like to me, everyone is just normal.
Speaker 2:However many times when we photograph early 20s girls they have like model bodies and they are so insecure. Yeah, I just shot one, and she was.
Speaker 1:She had this hella nice body and she was like I'm just like, so worried about my boobs being smaller. I'm like I'm like jesus christ, like your face is so pretty and your body is so nice like any one of us would come in here and be like.
Speaker 1:You know, I want to look like you and you know 20 years younger and she body's so nice Like any one of us would come in here and be like you know, I want to look like you and you know 20 years younger and she just is so insecure.
Speaker 1:So I would say everyone is insecure and also I try to treat everyone really just normal, like you come in here and you're just as beautiful as a girl that came in before you and the girl that's going to come in after you. And also I think that there are signs that I can tell when people are uncomfortable. So there are times when I feel like I is kind of like a little kid, kind of you, kind of like get down to their level, like when I'm posing them and I'm like a little bit more touching their arm, a little bit more comforting. You know, I think I have to like I notice though, especially like when they write that like oh, you know, I'm a cancer survivor or I'm this and that, and so I think I kind of feed off that a little bit and noticing those types of things.
Speaker 2:So I'd say like you're just, you're as normal as the next girl and not making a big deal about it too I try not like yeah, oh wow, I see you got that scar there, so we're gonna cover that up like yeah you, there's not a lot that shock you, except for, except for the dicks out, except sometimes.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we photograph trans, trans Women, women, and there have been multiple times where they're like baby trans, so they're newer and they don't tuck, and sometimes full penises come out, which my thing is.
Speaker 2:I don't even see full vaginas so when the full penis come out, it's a little shocking.
Speaker 1:Sometime I'm like let's tuck it back in and then let's move on to the next photo.
Speaker 2:So you know, well also. I. One of the things too anyway, I feel like we went over this a lot when we were training the new girls was like we never assume that someone is uncomfortable with their body, though, too. Like we're like okay, let's say they come in here, yeah, and they, I don't like don't photograph them in a way like trying to make them look skinnier.
Speaker 2:Maybe they don't want to be skinnier yeah like you just don't know, and so that's the other thing too. Like don't assume that just because like oh, they have stretch marks that they hate them, maybe they don't right yeah, yeah, you just try to photograph them the best angle for their body possible look at the photo. When you take the photo, we just say if this was you, would you like this photo? Do you think this is sexy? If not, then don't show them that photo. Don't take that photo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because everyone's always so worried like the. My biggest like complaint always is like, don't take a photo of my tummy, yeah, the belly, and I'm like I'm not gonna take the photo here. Okay, like this is not what's gonna happen, you know. So like I have to like, like it's okay, like this is not, and so you know. You just try to comfort them as much as you can and try to make it fun, like that's my thing, it's like let's make it so fun where you're not even thinking about your belly. That's the thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we try, we try our best we try, try my hardest, yeah, yeah yeah
Speaker 2:yeah anyone else? I think that's it. Did you have any questions anyone else? I think that's it. Did you have any questions? Good, good, okay, so. I think that that about wraps it up for this episode. Yeah, um, this was really fun yeah, okay, so I forget what how we're supposed to end this now right here this one okay, if you guys have any more questions for us, reach out to us.
Speaker 2:Shoot us a dm on our instagram at maximalist life podcast and we'll see you next time. Hope you're having fun, tix up tix out, thank you Yay, yay. Now we're.