019: Growing Your Business Through Postpartum: Rebranding, Creating New Offers, and Entrepreneurship as a New Mom

You've heard all the advice for building a business AFTER having babies. But what about those of us who were business owners first?

In today's episode, join me and Brinna for a conversation about pregnancy, motherhood in the newborn days, & prioritizing the business (that really feels like the firstborn 🤪). Brinna is a photographer and photographer educator who recently took the leap of investing in branding & web design. Hear firsthand how she overcame pricing hesitations and decided post-partum was the perfect time to rebrand.

We don't have it all figured out, but we hope this conversation leaves you feeling encouraged and a little less alone in the online business world. 

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Music: "Great podcast intro (both short and long version included)" by Lundstroem. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Transcript

Hi Brinna, welcome to the Flourish Foundry podcast. I'm so excited to have you on and hear more about your story and your business and all that good stuff—which I have the pleasure of already knowing a little bit about, but no one listening does. So would you mind telling us a little about who you are, what you do, your business, all that good stuff?

Hi. Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. I am a wedding and family couples photographer. I've been doing it for six years now. I own my own business. I'm getting into photography education more recently.

Yeah, yeah. No, that's great. It's always so awkward, but no, that's great. Okay, so you mentioned you're a photographer and now you're shifting more into photography education. What made you want to make that pivot? And are you—how are you handling it? It's almost like two businesses at once now. What does that look like for you?

So I'm still figuring it out. It's definitely been a bigger shift than I was expecting. But I started selling my presets for photographers about three years ago. Once I started selling my presets, I was a little nervous because I kind of felt like I was just giving away what set me apart in the photography industry. So I was nervous about that. And I thought, yeah, people would just kind of take my presets and just be essentially stealing all my clients and all that stuff. In my mind, that's kind of what I was expecting most. But I thought it would be nice to kind of have that a little bit of income come in from that. So I was trying to diversify my income that way. But the second I started selling them, I would get messages from photographers all the time just telling me how much it changed their business, how much—how helpful it was for them. And I was able to connect to so many photographers just through DMs, through messages who were using my presets—some of them who weren't, but they would just ask me for advice. And I realized how much I loved helping them. And like, yeah, it's kind of just giving back to them, helping them grow their business. Because I feel like I didn't have that when I first started. The photography industry can be a little bit—I don't know. It's known for being kind of almost a little… Yeah. And I feel like for me, when I would try reaching out to people when I was starting… Yeah, it seemed almost a little standoffish. It was just scary because all these big photographers that I wanted to be like, and I just had no idea how they got there. So that's kind of why I've started to be interested in shifting more into the education side—because I wish that I had that when I started.

Right. I feel like in other interviews this comes up too—like across all industries where it's just like a mindset thing that people have. There's like not being enough for everyone. Right? Not true. I do know what you mean specifically with the photography industry. Do you think it's like very prevalent there? But it's interesting that like so many of us feel the same way regardless of what…

Okay, like it would be nice if there was just a little bit more community. Like we're all doing the same thing. Right. Like you obviously have things that make your business unique and why someone would pick you over someone else. But for that someone else, like they have a reason why someone would pick them. Like there's kind of—we all have a unique skill set and something to bring to the table. And I just am of the belief that there's—like there's a customer for everyone, if that makes sense.

Like no, I agree. Limit someone else's business to have our business be successful? But it's just like a personality thing. I mean, I don't think we are all going to be like besties in the web design… And I don't follow that many branded web designers on social media just because I don't like sitting there comparing myself to what they're doing. But I'm in plenty of like community forums elsewhere where we do share ideas and ask each other questions, and it's like more beneficial that way for me rather than like seeing their work. You know what I mean? So you have to just do what works for you.

So you started selling your Lightroom presets three years ago while taking on photography clients still, correct?

Yes. And then you also moved somewhere in there, right? So what was the timeline of that like? Were you still—were you building your preset shop at the same time as rebuilding clientele in a new state? Is that right?

Yes. I started selling my presets and then at the beginning of the year I think February… and then 2023? 20… yes, yes. And then I'm pretty sure I'm like—I should probably get back, but yes. So I started selling my presets and then a year later I relocated to Colorado. Okay, so I had to rebuild my clientele there, and then I was there for about a year, and then I moved to Texas.

Oh wow, so you've done this twice now of rebuilding clientele.

Yeah. How has that been? Because you don't do a lot of traveling—like you work locally, right?

Yes, I try to. Yeah. I've traveled a few times this summer for weddings in Colorado and Utah that I've had booked. But yes, rebuilding locally has been my goal. I've found the best way to rebuild is through social media. Honestly, that's been my biggest thing. I really don't know where I'd be without Instagram specifically. Recently, I've been getting more into TikTok, and I've actually found that it's been very helpful here in Texas, rebuilding my clientele here. And yeah, I feel like social media has been the biggest help in rebuilding.

If you could say like roughly how long… like if someone was in your same position where they are a service-based business but they're not an online service-based business—like they're a local service-based business—how long of the like drought season is there? Or did you have like work lined up before you even moved? Like kind of… I don't know, I'm just curious like how long you felt… because like even if you just move your life personally—like we just moved to Florida and it's like okay, it takes like a good six months or so to like get settled into church and like find new friends and like feel like you have your rhythm back. Like what was that like business-wise? How long did it take to find a rhythm?

I would say about the same amount of time, around six months. I had people tell me when we moved for all the personal things, they were like, "Take at least six months and then you can decide if you love or hate it." Because I feel like when you move automatically, it's easy to just kind of assume that you're not—that you don't like it because it's new. It's different, especially if it's somewhere you've never been or you don't know a lot of people. It's definitely an adjustment period. Yeah. For me, I feel like it took around six months before I started to feel like there was more momentum. But I did work really hard before each time we moved. Luckily, I mean, we were lucky enough to know at least a few months in advance each time we moved where we were going to be moving to. I know some people might have to relocate last minute and they're not going to have this time that they can prepare for it. But because I knew where I was going to be moving to, I did a lot of work on social media, connecting with people in the area—just following photographers in the area or small businesses. I was still doing a lot of weddings at that time when I moved to Colorado. I followed a ton of wedding vendors. Right. I was just interacting on their posts and things like that. And so people were able to find me through there.

I would say probably my two biggest tips for before you relocate is to start posting and putting your location for each post as the location that you're moving to. Right. So I would put all of my locations as Castle Rock, Colorado, because that's where we were moving to. And that just makes it easier for people to find you when they're searching. The second tip I would say is photographers specifically: I reached out to a ton of people that I found that were located in the area. And I set up some shoots for myself for when we first moved, either for free or for a trade, for services or something like that. And especially doing trades, I feel like was very helpful because I was able to help them out. They get to, you know, practice their services or whatever. And you both benefit. That way you're not doing it completely for free, but you're also meeting people in the area, making connections. Then they'll post about your services, your pictures or whatever it is that you do. And then their friends see it, you know, and it's just—it starts to spread word of mouth that way. So those are the two things I feel like made the biggest difference for me, both times that I've relocated my business.

That's great. I think it's so important to have like momentum either way—like whether it's like interactions online or having trades going—like just something that keeps like the excitement there. Yeah. For me, like if there's a stall because we all have slow seasons—like that's just how it is as a service-based business. Like you know sometimes you have like plenty of work and sometimes it's a little bit slower and that's just how it is. But in those slower seasons, like continuing the momentum somehow—I think it's… I don't know, keeps your motivation up and like your why.

Yes, sure. So how did you… I want to talk a little bit about your branding and website. It's so fun to make and I think it's so gorgeous. Um, but I want to hear from you how you knew it was time—like to make that investment. And because just to recap a little bit here: you've had two major moves as somebody who needs to have location-specific clients, decided to start marketing to an entirely new audience being photographers, also became a mom… yes. And then you made this huge decision of rebranding and your website. So I'm curious to hear from you like what that has… yeah, we'll start with what made you make that decision to rebrand.

Okay, yes. I think I waited way too long to be honest. Branding has always been something that I've seen so many photographers do on their own. And because photography specifically is such a creative outlet—it's a creative business—I feel like most photographers or anybody in any creative business feels like they can do it themselves because it's so creative and it's kind of fun. It's kind of fun to mess around with it yourself or whatever. One of the reasons why I felt like it was time is because I feel like I had waited too long. I feel like I noticed that my services didn't seem the most professional because of the way they were presented. I had a website a friend put together for me years ago. I think I paid him like $500 or something just to throw something together for me, and it was good enough. Like it had what it needed to have, but because I wanted my business to come across as a high-end service instead of just a homemade type of service, if that makes sense. Yeah, I feel like that's the main reason why I decided it was time. And then the other reason is because I was making so many changes, so many adjustments, relocating a couple times. I felt like I needed to have something consistent in my business. And I feel like branding is something consistent. It's something people can look at and they know it's you. They know it's yours. And I think that helped a lot with my relocating because even though it was confusing for some people like where I was at, they would still know it was me because of my branding.

Yeah, totally. And you do such a good job at utilizing your branding and like keeping it consistent throughout everything. It's been so fun to watch you. Like, I don't know, that's like from my side of things, it's really fun to watch how my clients use their branding assets after we're done and how their website like works—you know, like it becomes real and alive once it's right in the client's hands. So it's so fun watching you like make all of your Instagram stories and all of that good stuff.

So that is so fun. Now that you have your new website and it is that more like high-end feel—do you have… have you noticed a difference in bookings or in sales at all?

Yes, absolutely. First of all, I'm obsessed with my website and I look at my website at least once a day—which I used to never look at my website. I would literally avoid looking at my website because I was embarrassed of it. Yeah. I look at it at least once a day and I just love it so much. That being said though, I have definitely noticed a difference with the numbers, specifically my presets and the little bit of photo education that I've been doing so far. I mean, within the first month, I noticed a huge increase in my sales. I think my conversion was a lot better because people go to my website and all of my products were just presented so much more professionally. I believe people feel more confident purchasing from somebody when they look like they know what they're doing. Or I've also thought about how it's easier to invest in someone who you can tell invests in themselves and in their business. That was another big selling point for me—is I realized how am I going to, how am I expecting people to invest all this money in my services if I'm not willing to invest in services to better my business? Yeah. So I've definitely definitely noticed an increase in both my bookings and my sales inquiries—all of it.

Yeah, I love that. It's easier to invest in someone who you can tell invests in their own website. Because I think from my perspective as a web designer, like I think a lot about how much more confident my clients feel. I feel like that's like honestly one of the largest deliverables in what I do. They go from that embarrassed to send your website to somebody to like "Oh my gosh, I work every day"—like exactly what you're saying is like information that I love but I haven't thought about it from that perspective exactly of like the confidence that then my clients' clients get. Right? Their purchasing decision… obviously who are investing in your website—if you want increased conversion rates you want it to you know do all of those hard number things—but when you actually think about like the person of it, like their emotion and then feeling more confident just trickles down. Oh yeah, everybody feels really really good. That's so fun.

Okay, I want to transition a little bit and talk about your motherhood experience as a business owner—what that's been like. So how has that been? How has it been like being a mom and a business owner in a new state and just your life is just so interesting. I just want to know more.

I mean, my daughter is nine months old, so I'm still really new to it. I feel like there's a lot of moms out there that are also business owners that have four or five kids and I'm sure that's probably a completely different experience. So I'm just talking to the people who… there's like a… yeah, because like obviously I'm soon to be a mom and so I'm like been looking for this kind of content of like okay what about the girls who like we had a business first? Because there are a lot of moms like maybe like five to ten years older than us where they had their kids first and then made an online business or just a business in general. And then we're kind of coming from a different perspective of like I built this business first and now I'm becoming a mom. Like so I am curious to hear from your perspective because it's the same as mine.

Yes. No, I feel kind of like you said—I feel like my business was my first baby in a way. So I, especially before I had my baby, I was like very—it was everything to me. Yeah. And once I found out I was pregnant, I got really scared because I kind of was expecting to have to not give it up, but in a way kind of give it up. Yeah. I knew in the back of my mind I always knew I could, you know, you can keep doing it. You can balance whatever. But my first trimester was so hard and I was really sick. And I, in my mind, I was like, this is how it's going to be. And I'm just not like—there's no way this is going to work. Yeah. And you know, that's how I felt because I was voicing them all the time like "Brenna, I'm gonna fail." Yeah. The first trimester was so hard and same as you—like I was like if this is what the newborn phase is like, which I don't know why we like jumped to that conclusion that oh if this is how the newborn thing is gonna feel—but I totally did too. And you were like "No, trust me, it'll go away, you'll be okay." Yeah. I feel like that's like the last thing you want to hear when you're in it—especially in the newborn phase. I feel like everyone's like "It's just a phase, it's gonna get better, it's gonna get better." And in the moment it does not feel like it.

No, because last thing you only live like one day at a time. So it's very difficult to think outside of that and you're in a bubble. Like you—if you anticipated that season for nine months, you know. So no, exactly. And so going back to my first trimester—it was really hard. Then I got into my second trimester and I was like "Oh wait, I'm fine. I can… I can still do this." And everything felt great. In my first trimester I slowed my bookings way down. I almost completely cut out my bookings for the next year really after that because I was so scared. I was worried that later I wouldn't feel like I could handle it or whatever the reason was. Yeah. I felt like it just wasn't a priority anymore—which I feel like that's another thing that's very common with new moms. It's you want everything to be for your baby and about your baby. And I think that's great. But something that I've learned since having her is if I'm not good, I can't take care of her. One of the ways that I feel good is when I'm—when I have my business and when I have the outlet. And that's just something I feel like all business owners—they own business for a reason. It's something they're passionate about. It's something they love. It's an outlet for them whether it's creative or whatever outlet it is for them. And I think it's so important to remember that you have to continue to do things for yourself too even when you—even when you have a little one to take care of and they rely on you. But you can do both.

Yeah. I feel like culturally—and maybe I mean I have a lot of mom friends in general all here in Florida but then also just what I've seen online—I feel like motherhood has shifted into this like very all-consuming thing where I mean from the moment the baby's born it's like they need contrast cards and their education and everything. Like there's just a lot of pressure to raise like the smartest, most loved, most well-disciplined baby. And they're like—even if it's not business, I feel like we've lost like how babies fit into our world and into our lives and suddenly they make our life about the baby. And I think that in like the most loving way—like I'm so excited to meet this baby and like be a mom and be a parent. Like we very much like wanted that. So I don't mean like I'm not going to make a combination of sacrifices for my child at all. But at the same time I'm like—I don't know if the generations before us put as much pressure on themselves or if they just like kind of continued their daily… just now you have a baby involved, if that makes sense. Like we live such isolated lives and I don't know—like it's like your baby needs like a whole routine and like track them with an Owlet sock and like… yeah, it's like you can really get like anxious about it, you know? Like if you let it be like your whole entire focus. And I don't know—obviously there is a time like very early days it's like yes, like that is your entire focus. And there is a reason why we have maternity leave and paternity leave and like you get that time to bond with the baby. But then after that—like in your position—okay she's nine months old. Like what does your schedule kind of look like? Like when are you working versus like what does that look like if you don't mind sharing that?

Yeah. I feel like I kind of was what you were just mentioning—especially right when she was born, it's hard to not feel all consumed by it. You know. Well, I do feel like the newborn phase is—they are—they do—and they haven't… yeah, they don't have any ounce of independence yet.

No, no. Which I think I was expecting because it's just the way I am. I love working. Have her and then maybe a week or two, just kind of get back into it and still be working. So, you know, and that is not at all how it went for me, which I didn't have shoots scheduled and things like that. So I knew I wasn't going to be out shooting and doing things like that. But I was still expecting to be able to kind of just dive right back into work. This is born. I think you have to just give yourself some grace, give yourself some time to figure it out because it's so different for everybody. And I feel like it took me until about—I'd say she was about six months, which is interesting because I feel like it's the same as relocating. Yeah, what we were talking about—moving and planning to client base. Yeah, just any big change, I feel like will take at least about six months until you start to feel comfortable, confident, kind of figure out a routine and everything.

But I will say the biggest thing for me has been managing my time differently. Before I had her, I was able to just sit down and do 10 hours of work because I couldn't like it. Now that's obviously not gonna happen. But I feel like I've figured out the times where she needs my attention and needs me to be playing with her. She needs me to be taking care of her. For us, I'll kind of lay out what a day looks like. But for us, typically when she wakes up, I'll spend like the first couple hours of the day getting a workout in. We'll go on a walk. We'll do some things. And I know for her, she is so independent in the mornings. Like she will just play by herself for hours in the morning. And that's just what—that's how she is. So I know that's when I can take advantage of that and get some work done. During naps, I'll put her down for a nap. And I know I have at least this amount of work—this amount of time to get some work done. But I feel like just figuring out what your baby needs and how to manage your time the best—because you really can get so much done in 20 minutes of time if you plan to. Even just one task you want to do—getting that done in that amount of time I feel like is huge. And that's been something that's helped me to feel like not as guilty. That's another thing I feel like a lot of moms who work from home have a lot of guilt around working in front of their kids or if their baby's playing by themselves—then it's hard not to feel like you're neglecting your baby. Yeah. But like you mentioned before with previous generations—that's how they did it. Like they taught their babies to be independent and… yeah, just kind of add them in.

I really feel like I can say now that she's a little bit older—she really just comes along with me. We just go along with it. I schedule everything out. I can adjust her naps to work with it. I can adjust—you know—I kind of adjust her schedule to match mine.

Yeah. I do feel like we are in a unique time period where it is a newer like third option, right? Like for my mom—like she could either be a stay-at-home mom or she could go work somewhere. So like she chose to be a teacher so that she would be working the same hours that we were in school—should be like off the same times that we were off. Right? Like moms forever have wanted to like the same things that we're saying—like you want to have something that's like your own and your own identity kind of outside of motherhood and then provide something financially for the family. Yeah. But then also spend as much time as possible with your kids. So the core is like the same. But then now we have this kind of new third option of like "Oh, you can almost have the best of both worlds and you can have your own business and your own income and spend all day at home with your kids because you can work from home." But then that's just not true—there is still sacrifice of time and you can't get your fullest attention to two things at once. So it is interesting to hear like what you were saying of like the guilt. Like I wonder—I mean neither of us have ever been working moms in an office, right? Like how that feels—you know? Like we're just like in an in-between middle.

Yes. There's so much to be grateful for and that we can switch our schedules around and spend time and all of that good stuff. But then… yeah, I don't know. It's just like a new experience.

Yeah, yeah. And I feel like I've tried it—I've tried to kind of both ways to see—passing her off to my husband and I'll go in a different room and I'm just shut the door and I work. Yeah. And then the whole time I'm like "Wait, I want to be with her." You know? Right. You miss… but then if I'm sitting out with her playing and I have my laptop and she keeps looking over at me and I'm just like in the zone—then I feel like "Oh, now she's like feels like my attention's not on her." Do you know what I'm saying? So I really feel like there's no—there's no right answer with that. And I feel like regardless there's always gonna be some sort of—there's a trade-off like for anything.

Yes, yeah. I'm not a fan of the term "mom guilt" because I feel like it's a choice to… way. I don't know. I feel like that's kind of an unpopular opinion. I try my best to not feel that way because it's not beneficial for her or for me. And if I'm constantly feeling bad because I'm trying to provide a good life for her, that's not benefiting either of us. I always try to remind myself that she's going to grow up watching me work hard. She's going to grow up watching me build—build something for myself, build something for our family. So I try to just keep that in mind and have that be kind of my goal is to build something that she can look up to instead of… yeah, I don't know. I don't know if that makes sense.

No, it makes perfect sense. And I feel like that's—you said it more eloquently of like what I was trying to say earlier. Just like we have more guilt—like the mom guilt thing is so normalized. Like "Oh yeah, that's just like part of it." Yes. I agree with you. Like it is at some point like that is a choice and you're setting an example and you have to think about like the larger picture. Like there's this expectation for our generation of moms that we will give 100% of our attention to our children at any given moment. And I just don't think that past generations did that. I guess I'm getting out like—I don't know. And maybe they did. Maybe they felt just as guilty. But we do—do we need to keep doing that? I don't think so. So it's refreshing to hear what you're saying. It's like "No, like does it cross my mind? Yes. But like you can remind yourself of like okay—play and see me working and that's okay. Like you're not damaging your child by working or like…" Yes. Collecting them or missing out or you know. So… and I feel like there's times—there's times where you should feel guilty. Like if I'm sitting there just hanging on TikTok—that's a little different than exactly—like a focused 20 minutes of work. It's not the same thing.

Yeah, yeah. I think it really does go back to what you were saying with like just how you spend your time matters more and like how you manage that. So yeah.

Well, it's been so helpful for me talking to you and like having this conversation. Thank you for like just being vulnerable and open and honest with like how it's been. And I hope that like someone else in our same position feels—I don't know—a little less alone or encouraged by what you have to say.

We'll have linked in the show notes too, but I'd love to hear kind of like what's coming up in your world, how people can connect with you online, all that good stuff.

Yeah. I have really—I just have some mentor sessions that I'm going to be starting to take on here pretty soon. I mean, we've been talking about motherhood and everything. And with that big adjustment, it's taken me a lot longer to come out with those than I expected. But yeah, I have those coming out. I have a couple of courses that I'm working on that'll be coming out soon. But really just… yeah, you can follow along on Instagram.

You're on TikTok? Yes. Yeah, pretty much anywhere. And you can go check out my beautiful website. I'll have all that linked below.

Yeah, thank you, Brenna.

Perfect. Thank you so much.

Not ready to say goodbye.

Me neither. Follow along on Instagram at flourish.boundary to stay connected day to day or join my email list for freebies, new episode updates, fun links, and more.