245. How Julia Went From $6K to $30K Weddings & The REAL Truth about Luxury Clients

On the Often Ambitious podcast, Alora interviews her student and Wedding Atelier co-coach Julia, a luxury wedding photographer in Quebec, about her rapid business transformation from a $6K starting package to $20K, $30K, and beyond.

 Julia shares that after the 2022 wedding boom and becoming a mother of two, she took fewer weddings, faced ghosting on proposals, and felt stuck between markets in the “dead zone” $6–8K range. 

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

04:01 Pricing Fear and Mindset

06:21 Escaping the Dead Zone

14:04 Luxury Client Myths

16:17 Portfolio That Sells Luxury

20:28 What Luxury Couples Value

25:07 Positioning and Brand Alignment

30:18 Thinking Like a CEO

32:18 No Fluff Program Support

42:33 Luxury Is Exclusivity

44:21 Courage To Raise Prices

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Transcript

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Alora 0:01

Hello and welcome back to the Often Ambitious podcast. I'm so excited to have one of my students with the most incredible transformation that we've ever had inside of this program. She has broken a record like blown my Mind where I was like, Julia, we gotta get on a podcast. Also, she is. Surprise, a luxury wedding photographer coach in our program. So she knows what she's talking about. She's had a crazy transformation from six K to 20 K to 30 k and beyond. And I just wanna talk about the journey and what it looks like. So Julia tell us about what your business looked like before joining Wedding Atelier. What you were charging and what your business looked like

julia 0:42

hi Laura. Thank you for having me first. I'm so happy to be here. And, okay, so to start off, what my business looked like. I thought it was going well. But then I think after the 2022 season where there were so many weddings and starting to go down, I also intentionally was taking on fewer weddings because I was I become a mom now. Now I'm mom off too. So that was also intentional on my part. But. Obviously fewer weddings mean fewer me in the bank,

Alora 1:16

yeah.

julia 1:17

And that was not the plan. I, this isn't, that wasn't something I wanted to happen,

Alora 1:22

happen. So

julia 1:24

Looking at that point at the beginning of 20, 24 or five? Five, I think when I joined the wedding at Tellier, I think I knew where I wanted to go. But I didn't have clarity on how to go there. And I had already starting the process of, I had done a new website, kind of new branding and charging already more than I used to charge when after 2022 and after having my new website up. But it still wasn't, I think enough and I knew I wanted to go further. And not just in terms of pricing. I think just everything in terms of the client experience, the type of photography, the type of wedding I wanted to capture. So that's where I was at, but I was really facing impasse where I would send out proposals and I was being ghost a lot and I was feeling that, okay, I am too expensive for my market at this point, at this point.

Alora 2:34

this

julia 2:34

at the same time, I was also, obviously you talk, within the industry and I was seeing other photographers being in a higher price sprint and actually doing well. So I was wondering, okay, what can I do to improve and to actually reach my goals? And that's when I found the wedding. I tell you. Connecting with you was really eyeopening. Even just the first conversation before I signed in and it was truly eyeopening and that's why I decide to join and I'm obviously very happy I did. And how has evolved also with time, as still know student, but also being a co-coach, which has brought me so much joy and actually learning opportunity as well.

Alora 3:23

My gosh. When you came, I remember even like your mindset, you're like, I know that I should be charging this amount because I have been featured everywhere. I've been in this industry over a decade. Like I, I've not a brand new photographer, and I looked at your work and I was absolutely flabbergasted when you gave me your pricing audit. I was like. Like she should be triple this. Like what? And you're like I'm getting ghosted at this price. I'm not going to, I'm not gonna triple my prices. I'm like fair. Let's do the transformation. Let's do the messaging work. Let's do all the things so that you can build the confidence to stand

julia 3:58

Okay.

Alora 3:59

that higher pricing. Which leads me to my next question why do you think it was so scary to raise your prices? What is the process, that you go through when you know where you should be, but then you're so terrified because let's say you're getting ghosted and people are saying you're too expensive and you already overstuffed your packages. Like how did you take that leap and be like, you know what? I can raise them, I can try this. This is my last shot. What was your thoughts behind that?

julia 4:27

Great question.

Alora 4:28

question.

julia 4:29

Oh my God. Where to start? I think it has so much to

Alora 4:32

It has

julia 4:32

do with mindset. It's really the mindset behind it that for me change and change everything. And the past year, my mindset has changed so much

Alora 4:44

much

julia 4:45

and I think I had to first believe in myself and actually my worth and what I was bringing to my couples and listening to what my co couples were actually telling me and believing it.

Alora 5:00

it

julia 5:01

To be able to be okay.

Alora 5:03

okay.

julia 5:03

those are my new pricing. This is actually what I'm worth. I know that, I know because everybody's telling me. And also being very mindful of actually, okay, what is the,

Alora 5:18

is

julia 5:18

experience that I provide to my couple? What is the type of quality in terms of pictures that I provide and having a good look about? Everything. How can I do better? Or what am I doing already? That is great and that actually has a price point and it's being really clear with that. And also I think, and that's something that you had told me at the beginning when we met, which changed so much and helped me

Alora 5:50

me also

julia 5:51

Move a price point. It was the messaging that was sending to the world that was off, the messaging was off. And that's a point that wasn't working and wasn't allowing me to actually book even like 6,000, which at that time that's what I was charging for the minimum. Yeah.

Alora 6:10

this is so crazy to me.

julia 6:12

which was a leap of faith for me already when I started being like, okay, my, my beginning price point is 6,000. That was big. There's also something to say though and that's for, I think from what I noticed, in every market, there's this, the dead zone pricing that Is a fact and the six to eight. It is a kind of a dead zone pricing. So what happens I'm in Canada and I'm in Quebec, and we have our own market for sure, but I know in the US it's the same, dead zone pricing, so you're too expensive for most couples, but you're not expensive enough for more of the luxury market. So you have that, it's that weird in between that. You're gonna need to go through, but you can't stay too long. 'cause otherwise you're stuck and you're just, you're not actually being profitable and you're not, you're not just going, achieving your goals basically. I think at that price point you're not going to book as much weddings that you could simply.

Alora 7:23

I always say don't stay in the six to eight K for long. Like

julia 7:26

Yeah.

Alora 7:26

stepping stone to leap into 10 K. And, but it feels like it's so scary. It's it's more than 5K, so that's successful, but it's not quite 10 k, so it's not so scary. But I don't know. How did you just know to take that leap? How did you get out of your head? Because I remember like in the beginning, you were so frantic I'm gonna do this, but I don't know what's gonna happen. Did you lose bookings? Did you turn people away?

julia 7:51

Yeah, for sure. I think you have to be ready to lose bookings. That's for sure. You're gonna be turning people away. And you're going to also, you need to be ready to have people try to negotiate you as well because then you become,

Alora 8:11

know,

julia 8:12

I would say like more of expensive, to the other photographers that they met with. But then it's also finding okay, they're negotiating me, but with this photographer that is like a thousand less, but okay, maybe that is better, that I know it is worth that price. But you have to be ready to lose bookings in that transition. it's going to happen. But if you know your brand well, and if you know also your ideal clients that you want to attract, then you're going to be able to reach those couples.

Alora 8:55

Yeah, like you have to coach yourself as you're going through this.

julia 8:59

Yeah.

Alora 9:01

that like things are not gonna be as they were. And you're gonna have to be okay with being uncomfortable. gonna have to be okay with the word no And knowing that it means nothing about your work. And your business, but just knowing that's just not the couple I'm serving anymore. That is a good reframe to keep you grounded. What were you telling yourself as you were going through this transformation from six K to 30 k.

julia 9:31

I was telling myself, I can do this. It's been working so hard for so long and I'm overdue at this point. That's what I was thinking. I was like, I am really overdue. I should have done that years ago. I should have, I had some opportunity and I didn't take them because I wasn't actually ready. I think my mindset wasn't there. And it truly, the mindset changed everything for me.

Alora 9:57

for

julia 9:57

I owned my own confidence. But I was like, okay, why am I not confident about this? Why am I not actually confident about. My work and the service I provide to my couples, other people, like the perception of other people is better than my own perception of my own brand. And that's the issue. And I think a lot of photographers are like that.

Alora 10:22

that.

julia 10:23

The famous imposter syndrome. I think

Alora 10:26

I think

julia 10:27

every photographer has that at some point, especially if you're trying to move up the market.

Alora 10:34

and

julia 10:35

it's a good thing because it allows yourself to to actually think what am I doing well and what can I do better? So if you think you're always amazing and great, you are not gonna improve. It's true. You need to realize that yes, I'm doing some things well, but if you're always thinking that everything, my work is amazing and perfect, and my client experience is amazing there's some flaws for everyone. So if you have to really reflect on what actually you're doing.

Alora 11:11

If you keep doing the same thing or staying the same and you're not getting where you want to go, it's time to try something new. Like it's time to just bet on yourself.

julia 11:21

Yes.

Alora 11:22

Get

julia 11:22

one is gonna do it. Yeah, you, yes, absolutely.

Alora 11:26

absolutely.

julia 11:26

And

Alora 11:27

And

julia 11:27

this market is evolving so much like it. I honestly.

Alora 11:33

honestly

julia 11:34

it's really crazy.

Alora 11:36

crazy

julia 11:36

There's, with the new technologies, with the new, the new generation simply, but new technologies. When I started, and I'm gonna sound very olding, this when I started there wasn't even Pinterest and I'm not even talking about Instagram, like that didn't exist. There was Facebook. I'm not that old. I was Facebook. But Facebook wasn't used for business yet. And then Pinterest arrived and I was starting,

Alora 12:10

starting,

julia 12:11

I had I think one year in for, with Juneau. And then a couple of also famous, like Blogs magazine were there, but it was still like, the beginning, I would say, of those magazines or even directory.

Alora 12:27

directory

julia 12:28

And then Instagram arrived and I had Instagram, but I was, putting some selfies with bad filters on it and yeah, having so much fun my business. And I had to adapt, and if I hadn't changed my ways at that time. I would not be here speaking. And I, it took me some time. I took too long to get on the Instagram program where, Instagram was used as a marketing tool and I didn't do it because I didn't like it. I was just like, oh no, I don't care. I don't need that. I have a beautiful website and things are going well, things are going well until they don't, because the market change super really fast. That's it. It's when things are going well that you need to like, you need to actually see and okay, why is it going well, but what might be changing? Let's be ready for that

Alora 13:24

that.

julia 13:25

because we never know, just things are moving really fast and we need to adapt really quickly.

Alora 13:32

Yeah, I agree. I, we talked about this like when you were joined the program, you're like, I. know what's happening right now in this industry. It's going so fast. I feel like I'm gonna miss the other train. If you are ready to go from wherever you are right now to 10 K and beyond, like you gotta hop on the train. Like you gotta just commit and decide and be like, I'm just gonna play the game and see what happens. Let me just play the game. Let me do the strategies. Let me do the whole thing. Let me adjust my messaging. Let me show up on social media and what do you know? When it comes to the luxury market, what would you say is the biggest misconception that photographers have about luxury clients? Besides that they have to shoot film what you do, which is a

julia 14:16

Yeah.

Alora 14:17

what do you feel like, is that, There's

julia 14:19

there's there. Yeah, exactly. There's many and there's even some that probably I still have like perfect. I'm sure I still have some misconception. One mistake that I see is people raising their price just to raise their price without any backbone behind it. And just I'm more expensive, so they're gonna think I'm better. They're not stupid like. They're smart people, they're educated, and it's not stuck with the fluff. You have to stop with the fluff. They're gonna see right through you. So it's not because you are raising your price. Let's just put another zero on my pricing. You know that you're gonna suddenly attract luxury clients. Yes, there's obviously I think there's that conception about, I don't know, I'm buying a fridge. There's a $500 fridge, and then there's a 5,001. Obviously the 5,001 is much better. But it's not exactly that. And yes, there's gonna be a perception that is going to shift if you have higher pricing, but if the rest doesn't follow the backbone, then it is just, it's not gonna work. Maybe it's gonna work just like one or a couple times, but not on the long run. And it depends,

Alora 15:46

you know.

julia 15:46

what are your goals? But if you plan to be in this industry for a long time, you need much more than that than just, raising your price. Just like that.

Alora 15:55

Yeah. And I know like you do so good with the portfolio reviews that you do, and you're just like, okay, what is this? This doesn't correlate, who is this speaking to? Client wants to see things like that. I feel like they're a little bit more detail oriented and they can smell a rat is what you're saying. Like they know. When you just raise your prices for fun by three grand and they're like, okay, this doesn't look professional. What would, what does professional work look like to you? As somebody who is a hundred time published luxury wedding photographer you know how to curate a gig. You know how to curate a grid, you know how to curate your portfolio, you know how to even get editors to publish your work. What would you say that luxury clients are looking for just in the portfolio alone?

julia 16:36

I think it needs to speak to them and to their world. What type of, where do they shop? Where do they travel? What type of, hotels do they go to? It needs to, when they look at the picture, they need to feel like, yeah, that's me, or that's my world. I think that's mostly that if and not to like off offense anyone, but if you wanna do a luxury, you want to appeal to a luxury client and you showcase a wedding in a barn it's just doesn't fit with, you can have the most gorgeous picture and like beautiful, candid, raw emotion and it is just. They're gonna feel there's just, it's opposite world to them. 'cause larger couple won't get married into a barn unless it's a very I don't know,

Alora 17:33

white

julia 17:35

all white with

Alora 17:37

glass.

julia 17:38

the aesthetic needs to match their aesthetic.

Alora 17:41

So

julia 17:41

You have to look at all like those type of hotel, the, those five star hotels, those the brands, the, the designer brands, all of that, and look at their aesthetic versus, what, maybe you are showcasing.

Alora 17:57

yeah, they say show. What you want to shoot, But if you don't already have that portfolio, I think people are just relying on retreats and styled shoots right now. Do you feel like that can carry you for a little bit or do you feel like that's like the biggest, like misconceptions like I don't have like luxury weddings, but I know you can curate what you have to look like luxury, because that's what I did,

julia 18:23

Yes.

Alora 18:23

Yes. I'm curious what your experience was to being able to just like leap into that space.

julia 18:30

I think yes, definitely. It can be some, it can be a big help for sure. But you can't rely on that. More and more couples are educated. There's so many blog posts around like, how to choose your photographer and what are the tips that people give, which it's something I actually give my couple sometimes. It's show a full gallery. You like, they're gonna can we see one or two full galleries of your work? And if you only have. Just, editorials that are just fake weddings, like they're gonna see it. But some couples, to be fair, some couples don't. It's true. Like I've,

Alora 19:16

I

julia 19:17

I had a bride,

Alora 19:18

bride,

julia 19:18

send me some inspiration pictures and it was gorgeous picture. And I was like, this is beautiful, but it's an, it's a fake wedding. It's not a real wedding. She was like, whoa, okay.

Alora 19:29

oh my gosh.

julia 19:30

Yeah. And I was like, oh. And I can tell, I see, unfortunately, I see a lot of photographers now that you can go on Instagram and most of the pictures are editorials with models And it's, it, I understand when you're beginning. But I don't think you can be charging eight k, even six k if just your portfolio only, just a couple of editorials because maybe the pictures are beautiful, but you don't have the experience on the wedding date to show up at the same person who's being, doing that for years and actually knows how to adapt to a wedding day and you know how to capture everything. Towards the vision of the couple. If you don't have the same experience and you just experience some style shoot, I think it can help. But don't rely solely on that.

Alora 20:27

Yeah. do you feel like a five figure plus client cares about versus what maybe your six K cared about? Are they two different things, what is it that they actually want?

julia 20:41

It's it's funny because, and that was a actually one of my misconception as something that I realized a lot. Is that this, let's say the six K client is gonna care more about the details. For example, the Jimmy Chu shoes captured it's true. Then the actual luxury bride doesn't, they don't really care about those details because it's normal to them. It's not like they invested for their wedding to have the Jimmy Chu. It's something they wear all the time, or Chanel or whatever, brand. So it's gonna be nice. You're gonna include it to be part of the storytelling. Of course I'm gonna do it and like I love shoes, so I will do it for sure. Absolutely. So it's like more for me honestly at that point.

Alora 21:38

point.

julia 21:38

But in the end, what they care about, it's why they're there. It's. Just, it's being with their loved ones, it's having those memories and I guess they're going to be looking more also for the future and having an album, having picture framed in their house, so they're going to be investing more in that as well. Than just having, an online gallery just to go through pictures. That's something also a big difference. They will wanna invest into an album that's important to them. I would say the legacy is much more in mind with the luxury couples than maybe the o other couples. Yeah.

Alora 22:28

That makes so much sense though, because you're right. It's almost like it goes from super materialistic More about their why and your why. Just like sinking together, which isn't that what we all want is to create good work.

julia 22:42

Yes.

Alora 22:42

who love each other, like that's the goal.

julia 22:44

Yes, a hundred percent. that's exactly it for sure.

Alora 22:49

So it's not as scary as people think really.

julia 22:52

No, obviously they're gonna, the expectations are high, but I find that the, I would say

Alora 23:00

say,

julia 23:01

the couples, and in my experience, my hero experience, the couples that for me. Were the harder to please and the, that drained so much energy from me were the couples that were, I was the cheapest,

Alora 23:19

cheapest.

julia 23:20

Were my,

Alora 23:21

Yeah.

julia 23:21

were like, like 2000, 3000. Those were, I would say. And that was like a long time ago. But I would say the beginning of my career, those were the couples. And I realized that very quickly. And the more they invest in you, it's because they trust you. So if they trust you, then I feel like they're less

Alora 23:49

less.

julia 23:49

demanding, they're less, because they know what they're gonna get. Basically. They don't have to second guess you. They don't have to over your shoulder and be like, okay, but did you do this? Did you take this? I'm make sure you took this shot. They're not gonna do that. They are for them investing in the best, so they don't have to do that. And same thing with all the other vendors. That applies to all the vendors of course.

Alora 24:17

It makes sense why we outsource. We'll do things to a certain point, but eventually we'll hire out and we're willing to make that investment because we either trust their services or we know that it's going to free up something for us. So like your couples will make that investment. They trust the planner, they trust you, so they don't have to worry about that, and they can just enjoy their wedding day. It's the perfect trade off.

julia 24:40

Yeah and the same couples, they do that for everything in their life. They have a gardener. They have someone who's going to take care of their garden. They want a nice garden. They're gonna hire an expert. They're going to hire an expert with their investment money. They have expert for every field. They have someone usually, so they can focus on things that matter,

Alora 25:06

matters.

julia 25:06

To them.

Alora 25:07

I wanna go backwards a little bit just to like your positioning journey, because like I said, you already had the pieces. But they were not executing what you wanted for your vision. And I remember asking you when I was doing your website review, I was like, okay, Julia, how do you feel about this website? You're like, Ugh, it's old. I don't even look like this anymore. And I remember you were like, this is the kind I wanna serve. This is the look that I want to give. And I was like, they don't match. But then when we were able to do that and go through the process and figure out like what you really wanted, who you really wanted to serve, that changed way that you felt about your business. Maybe that's what gave you the confidence because oh, this is exactly what I wanted. I'm embodying that Finally. Now I'm ready to book the weddings at this price. I know that I have this many years of experience. I know I should have been charging this all along. Now I can really stand behind it. What did that process look like for you? I wanna call it the transformation because when I was doing your feedback review for your brand shoots, I was like, who is she? Oh my gosh. She's iconic. Julia, this is crazy. You went from being so unsure and so To being very bold and confident. And I saw it happen less than 12 months. I think it happened in six to eight months,

julia 26:33

Yeah.

Alora 26:34

Is it 'cause you had the blueprint, like what did you need, Julia? Now I'm curious actually. What did you need all along?

julia 26:40

You did really help me. Seeing your perception of me change also that, and I was like, oh yeah, she is. She's right. You. No. Why am I doubt myself? At this point, like in when we met, I was still with a young baby. My second, and becoming a mother I think is also a very, like a journey in itself. And you are, from the Julia before becoming a mom to being a mom of two in a very, I would say, quick. Time, I have a four and a two year, almost two years old now. So for four years it was like, okay, pregnant baby, pregnant again, another baby. And I'm trying to, also run a company at the same time,

Alora 27:35

time.

julia 27:36

Buying a house. So a lot of things, I think in my personal life as well, I was also trying to gain. Back, or who is Julia now? I'm not the same person. And being a mom also helped me see things differently and also where I wanted to go with the company. And I thought, I think that was also the best, oh, one of the best gifts that being a mom gave me, obviously two amazing girls, but just being able to. Gain clarity of what I wanted from June of photo, what I wanted to become in order to still, prioritize my children but also being,

Alora 28:25

be

julia 28:26

successful in my career.

Alora 28:28

my

julia 28:29

I.

Alora 28:29

Yeah, it's it, as somebody who's also had a photography business with children, you lose your identity a lot. You're just responsible for. a human alive, and it's hard to figure out who you are with each child. And I, they say actually your brain changes with each child that you have. But with the second one, like your whole brain chemistry completely changes. So you're probably like, what is happening? Like I, I need to I need to focus on this business, but also I need to like manage, motherhood. And I think realizing like, girl, you still got it. You've never left the chat like you are Julia from Juno. You can keep going. Nothing has changed. You took a little bit of a break. Sure. But now we're gonna make up for all the time loss,

julia 29:16

yes.

Alora 29:16

Yes.

julia 29:17

being like more efficient because I used to work, I don't know, like from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM 9:00 PM with obviously having some lunch, but I used to work a lot and seven, seven days a week I was just working. And I had to rethink all of that and be like, this is not possible anymore at all. Yes I am seven days a week and 20 it feels like 24 hours a day,

Alora 29:43

Yeah.

julia 29:44

but I'm know making lunches, doing the bedtime routine, all of the other stuff that you do as a mother. So I had to find a way to keep on, doing what I love with the other thing that I love. So being a mom and just working with on Junifer on the company, but doing it well in a way that also fills my cup, not as like just a hobby, which I think that's also something that.

Alora 30:15

that

julia 30:15

The mindset that changed is after having children. I was like, okay, what am I doing? It feels like just a very expensive hobby right now. I'm not making it as a business. And one of the reason I signed up for the wedding at Tell is that in my mind I was like, I need to gain back control on my business. I need to think as a, CEO. I say that I'm A CEO, but I'm not. At that time I wasn't, I was like, I'm not a CEO right now. I am not in control of anything really. So I wanted something that was focused on the business aspect, and I think that's something that I found for sure, like with the wedding at you and.

Alora 31:01

and

julia 31:02

It's for anyone who wants something more specific and business like, I think that's the, what I tell you was perfect for that because a lot of other just courses online, which I've invested in a lot.

Alora 31:15

lot.

julia 31:16

I won't name names, but I did and yeah, obviously I've learned a little bit from their, but a lot of the things I think were more. A lot of talking and not actionable steps and maybe for some people it's good. It depends on what you're looking for. I know for me it wasn't. And I think there's a lot also of courses that are built. There are a lot of fluff and are not really specific.

Alora 31:46

specific,

julia 31:47

They're very generic, unfortunately. The wedding at tell is not at all. It's very specific. It's also very actionable and bite-size, which when you know you're

Alora 31:56

know?

julia 31:56

everyone's busy. So that was a factor for me for sure.

Alora 32:01

Yeah. As a busy mom of two and still going through that queue of like older weddings before you transitioned into the luxury weddings, it was like, okay, I have 10 minutes to watch a video and implement something, which. I'm very no fluff. If you listen to my podcast, I talk very fast. You can slow me

julia 32:17

Yes.

Alora 32:17

but I don't know. I've always been that person that's okay, mindset is great. I'm a mindset girly through and through. But what do I do now? What do I do? And I remember you telling me, you're like, I can't even believe that you just gave me a pricing audit. I can't believe that you show up on the calls. I can't even believe you're in this program. And I was like what do you mean? She's you were like, I've never had contact with the founders, the coaches or whatever. And so I had no idea. 'cause I'm just out here serving my people, but I just think it's so important to. Know what to do, the mindset, have the strategies, and then the implementation, which is why we do unlimited marketing submissions. We now have SEO audits every other month. We're having a wedding copywriter coach coming in today, actually. Surprise.

julia 33:10

So exciting.

Alora 33:11

copy reviews from her,

julia 33:12

That's.

Alora 33:13

she's a sales copywriter. So if you feel like your inquiry form and you're adjusting it for every proposal, Julia's like, I'm going in right now. Like, Okay, see you later. We can end this podcast. But I was like, I just want people to come in, get something done, and then keep it moving. And not just like us harping over what are you struggling with? What do you need? I want you to be able to just get it done. In less than 12 months. The 12 months is mostly just for support. You should be able to get results. You got results in your first like

julia 33:43

Three months.

Alora 33:44

months.

julia 33:45

Yeah.

Alora 33:45

yeah.

julia 33:46

Yeah, actually even before that, because I remember we had a talk and you told me, you're like, I don't exactly what was the specificities, but the point was you've been doing this is not working. What if you do it differently, try it on your next inquiry, and I did. And I booked a wedding and I was like interesting. Let me and the funny thing too, it was like a last minute contract. Like I think it, I booked it like two months before their wedding date and I was over their budget, but they saw, yeah. And this has been, by the way, happening to me a lot. I'm a lot of the clients that I've booked so far. I am, I'm over the budget that it had fixed. Or they're like, because they see the value, obviously they, and I'm, and I think you wanna be known for that. You don't wanna be known for I was cheaper than, and this other grapher, no, I am more exp I was more expensive. And they still went with me because they saw. They trust, like they trust and they saw the value that simply that. But anyway, just moving backwards, that was really, that changed very quickly from there. Then there's always a period where, it's just em bit empty and chosen inquiries and like bookings. But then it went back because I had also refined other stuff. But I would say for, I think week three of signing up, I think in the first month. I, it was in, I booked in March, end of March, and the wedding was yeah, in May that I did. Yeah, I know. And I was like, okay, this is working well. But you were mentioning how like you show up

Alora 35:37

up

julia 35:37

and we have different expert coming in and giving feedback quickly. That's something I haven't seen in any other. Course. Just the fact that no, but it's, it's so much va honestly, the value that you give in this is insane. It's really, it's insane.

Alora 35:59

insane.

julia 36:00

I, there's no other word. I haven't seen that. And let's, if we're talking price point, some of the course that I've invested in were much higher than, the price of the wedding at. And I think the value was there, not for me, at least in my experience, that I can talk for everyone. Some people are happy, but yeah.

Alora 36:22

Some people are happy. I want it to be where you make your investment back with prices you're at now, Can know that you still have 12 months of support. Oh, I booked a wedding that paid for this investment. It's. because we promise that you can charge 10 K. We promise that you can make six figures a year, and it's like a fraction of that because I want you to be so confident oh, I can make that back. That's a wedding.

julia 36:51

Yeah.

Alora 36:52

That's your CEO math right there for free. Yeah, I, I don't know. I just, I feel like I wanted to create the program that I wish that had existed when I wanted to charge 10 K and I was so scared and all I did was DM everybody I knew and be like, what should I do? I'm so scared. And they're like, oh, Lord. Just freaking do it. And. I wish I had the resources. I wish I had the copywriter. I wish I had a sales expert. I wish I had Julia charging 30 K for weddings to be able to like, how is my positioning? Look at this proposal. Wha in less than 12 months, like you've mastered positioning. You're always like, oh, that will, that won't. this, change that. And it's so fun 'cause she's so nice and motherly, but very no fluff with her feedback. She's like a luxury client would say, wouldn't look at this.

julia 37:41

Very nice. Don't scare people. I'm very nice.

Alora 37:46

You're nicer than me. That's what I said. I was like, you're nicer than me.

julia 37:48

I think that's the thing is that if you're not honest with the feedback, then what's the point of giving the feedback in the first place? If I say, oh yeah, this is perfect. You did such a wonderful job. Go ahead and it's not the case. It might be the case. If it's the case, I will tell you. But if there's maybe some areas that need improvement, I will let you know, because that's why you're here and that's why you submit it. Like I'm not, it's not for someone to tell me, oh, you did such a great job, and that's it. Do okay, send it. No, that's not the point.

Alora 38:24

not pay us to be our best friends. You paid for life experience. You paid for the right answer and the honest answer. So there is no fluff in this pro. It's so anti fluff it. It might be terrifying if you're emotional, but I tell you what, just watch a mindset training and you'll be back on your feet and ready to submit again. I promise.

julia 38:44

Yeah, exactly. For example, one of,

Alora 38:48

one of,

julia 38:48

One of the students,

Alora 38:49

students,

julia 38:50

of wedding, she's been submitting her work a lot.

Alora 38:54

a lot

julia 38:55

her website, everything like her copy, like so many things, portfolio. And I've been actually doing, giving her some feedback and didn't she just happened to have her best month ever, like this month or something.

Alora 39:08

Julia, she booked her first 10 K wedding.

julia 39:12

see, like

Alora 39:13

had a 26 K month.

julia 39:17

that's amazing.

Alora 39:18

amazing. I said, go on, Julia. Go on with your feedback. She knows what she's talking about. She's page by page. I'm like, Julia, you sent out like six reviews this month

julia 39:28

But because she's been doing the work, she's just not, sitting there and waiting for it to happen. She's working really hard and she's also taking into account some of the feedback that I told her and she told me, she's you've been helping. She looked, she told me, and I was like, yay. This is okay, this is why I'm here. That's good. But yeah, she's been working so hard and she's been following the method and the strategies and just refining everything and it's, it will pay off, but you need to work hard. That's, and that's a lot of, I think people think also, it's oh, I'm just gonna do this and this, and then wait. It's gonna work. No. You have to work really hard. And it will pay off for sure. Sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes it's quick. It really depends, but it will pay off.

Alora 40:19

If you wanna build a six figure business in less than 12 months. Imagine your whole life is gonna change. You're gonna uproot everything, okay? You're gonna shift your website, you're gonna align your messaging and your brand. You're going to completely clean up your portfolio with those images from 2020. Take them out, free advice right now. Go through your portfolio. Oh my gosh. And it's like we want you, we want this for you, just as bad as like you do. But we only work as hard as you do. So send it to us. We'll give you feedback and we'll review it until it's great. We give you all the resources, we give you all the emails, we give you the client experience, and Julia's adding in like a luxury follow up proposal process. So if you're like, okay, now that I have these 10 K clients, the process does look a little different, but going from that three to 10 K is pretty similar. So we have all the phases, like you are pretty much covered. Until 10 K beyond you have unlimited resources and support for 12 months, just put in the work, just hit the ground running. We're actually doing this live for six months cohort so that you guys can actually be more That was the question. They were like, oh my gosh. Like I keep getting lost, I keep getting busy and forgetting what I'm supposed to do. I'm like, you know what? We're running it live. And then you get six extra months of support as your business develops. But we're gonna go through the entire program together and submit, submit and homework. So it's gonna be great.

julia 41:47

Excited. I'm so excited to see new faces. And one thing too I do wanna mention, because it is very important the community.

Alora 41:54

the

julia 41:55

Is amazing. Everybody wants the best for everybody, and we do support each other. When you post your wins, I, everybody's yay. And that is very important. So yeah, I'm excited for some new people.

Alora 42:12

It's gonna

julia 42:12

I'm excited to reviews and everything to see everybody's work, what they're working on. I love that. I literally, I, it's

Alora 42:19

so

julia 42:20

There's so many talents. I've discovered so many talents and I was like, wow. You're like the pictures. Sometimes I look at pictures like, what? What? They're like masterpieces. It's so beautiful. So it's exciting.

Alora 42:33

the thing about it too, Julia, that we're, I'm learning about like luxury and you looking at everybody's different portfolios. One size is not fit all and that's the best part. Everybody brings their own unique artistry and you get to see, oh, you can even tell from the way they shoot their personality, their dream couple, their artist story and all those things. you feel like that is what the new luxury is just owning yourself, your craft, your style, and then a premium for it showcasing the value in that?

julia 43:04

Hundred percent I think nowadays. It's some, that's something that's very amazing about the industry that has changed is that, for example, when I started there was, it was, there was really a trend and there will always be a some kind of trend, of course. But I think where the photographers, you can really, make people see you and want you is really by obviously your own style. And I think. There's a name that comes to mind.

Alora 43:37

mind.

julia 43:38

she's really an artist and people really want her name is Coco King. It's,

Alora 43:43

and,

julia 43:43

it's very specific and her work might not be for obviously everyone, which it's totally fine. That's not what luxury couple want. They don't want what? Everyone has that. Ooh, I'm like, boom.

Alora 43:58

Ah, exclusivity. The only option that is luxury.

julia 44:03

Is that is.

Alora 44:06

Oh my gosh, I love it. We could end the podcast right here. I just have one more question because this has been so good, so juicy. This is a luxury masterclass right now for 2026. I hope you guys are listening, but. What would you, what did you wish that someone had told you when you were stuck at six K or too scared to raise your prices at 10 K? Because I know you knew where you wanted to be, what was that mindset shift that you think made the biggest difference in your business? Just one.

julia 44:37

Do it. It's a leap. Just do it. I'm

Alora 44:41

do it

julia 44:42

No, it's true. Just do it. You have to, in a business like that, you have to be courageous. You have to be brave.

Alora 44:51

be great.

julia 44:51

You're not gonna get anything

Alora 44:54

Anything

julia 44:55

if you're not

Alora 44:56

if you're not,

julia 44:56

brave with, obviously, like I said, backbone, working hard strategies, but then it's the action. Go for it.

Alora 45:07

yeah,

julia 45:08

I'm a go-getter, so it's, I guess it's easier for me to say, I know it's not easy for everyone, but I, and I think it's something I mentioned earlier and I think I had mentioned that to one student. I'm like, who is going to believe in you if you don't even bene believe in yourself? It's it's basic psychology. It's very, but it's so true.

Alora 45:32

it's so good. What you're doing right now isn't working, like why not try something else? I think is what I told you

julia 45:38

Yeah, you did. And I was like, oh man. I dunno. Because it's uncomfortable. You have to be willing to like, to be uncomfortable for it to work.

Alora 45:50

to work.

julia 45:51

No change is comfortable because then it's not change like. Just, if you wanna lose weight, it's not gonna be comfortable. But if you do it and you know it's gonna work, you are gonna put in the work. It's like the mindset. It's same thing. Change is uncomfortable.

Alora 46:10

Change is uncomfortable. Yeah. Feel the fear and do it anyway. that's like my favorite one.

julia 46:15

Yeah.

Alora 46:16

your brain tries to protect you because it doesn't know what's gonna happen. But I promise you, if you just keep going. With our 3 million plus collective wins that we've made in this program, I promise you not only are you gonna make your investment back, but you're gonna be a different person. I still don't even know what Julia I'm talking to because her identity has completely changed. I feel like you did know, but you just didn't know how, and then now you know how, and you're like, yeah,

julia 46:45

Yeah, I think what changes now I'm owning myself. I am, I'm owning myself as a business owner, as a mother. That's really, I think what changed for me.

Alora 47:01

me

julia 47:02

yeah and is just, it opens such a world of. Possibilities and clarity to where I'm going. So yeah, good stuff are happening.

Alora 47:15

Good stuff. Yeah, you guys, if you're listening now, RSVP for our masterclass. It's gonna be the 10 K formula, what's working right now to book Luxury Weddings in 2026. And if you already missed the masterclass, then just enroll in the program. See if this is the right fit for you, but I guarantee if you're stuck at three to 5K prices or below 10 K, this program is for you and we're gonna help you until you win. So thank you Julia for coming on the podcast. This was great.

julia 47:45

I.

Alora 47:47

Yes. I was like, we're just gonna get on for the yaps. She's like, all right, I'm in. I'm in. Let's yap. I'm just so excited too to see like how you're gonna keep helping our students step into luxury and book these five figure weddings. Who knew six K photographer? Would be educating others on booking five figure weddings. This is crazy. In less than 12 months. Ugh. Okay. We'll see you guys in the next episode, and if you're listening live, see you on the masterclass. Have a good week. Bye bye.