Building a Business and Life with Purpose with Alex Cearns

110 - It's fair to call it a major pivot: When Alex Cearns went full-time as a pet photographer in 2009, she left behind a career in counterterrorism. And although the work was more joyful, it still felt like baptism by fire to successfully manage a full calendar of clients. 

These days, thankfully, up-and-coming pet photographers have far more people to turn to for advice—including Alex herself. Joining me from her home in Perth, Australia, Alex talks about her photography journey, her rescue-related projects, and the wisdom she's learned along the way. 

What To Listen For: 

• The business-consultant advice that Alex ignored altogether
• How she developed her studio shooting plan
• Why Alex ignores her competitors—but couldn't succeed without them
• The fascinating insight she gleaned from post-2009 global markets
• How to leverage your storytelling superpowers
• Why you don't want to volunteer for animal rescues (a brilliant bit of advice!)

Have you registered for the upcoming Hair of the Dog Summit, happening next week? Alex kicks off the summit, sharing her hard-earned wisdom on how to build your confidence, stay motivated and improve your resilience as a pet photographer. Join us on Nov. 2-4 for only $10!!!

 Resources From This Episode: 

• Houndstooth Studio
• Houndstooth Studio on Facebook
• Hair of the Dog Summit 
• Hair of the Dog Academy 
• Hair of the Dog Facebook group
• Hair of the Dog Elevate coaching program

CONNECT + LEARN MORE:

Explore all things photography education at nicolebegleyedu.com

Ready to build a profitable photography business? Visit freedomfocusformula.com

Master the craft of pet photography at hairofthedogacademy.com

Follow along on Instagram - @nicolebegleyofficial 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

1
00:00:00,090 --> 00:00:02,700
Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.

2
00:00:02,700 --> 00:00:06,860
I'm Nicole Begley and today's conversation is with one of the

3
00:00:06,860 --> 00:00:10,610
incredible leaders in the pet photography community,

4
00:00:10,610 --> 00:00:13,870
and really leading some conservation efforts.

5
00:00:13,870 --> 00:00:18,030
Someone that I am so thrilled to finally have the opportunity

6
00:00:18,030 --> 00:00:18,930
to talk with,

7
00:00:18,930 --> 00:00:21,860
please welcome Alex Cearns to our podcast.

8
00:00:21,860 --> 00:00:24,550
You're going to love our conversation.

9
00:00:24,550 --> 00:00:25,530
So stay tuned.

10
00:00:25,530 --> 00:00:28,140
Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.

11
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,470
If you're a pet photographer,

12
00:00:30,470 --> 00:00:33,980
ready to make more money and start living a life by

13
00:00:33,980 --> 00:00:34,930
your design,

14
00:00:34,930 --> 00:00:37,160
you've come to the right place.

15
00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:38,450
And now your host,

16
00:00:38,450 --> 00:00:39,820
pet photographer,

17
00:00:39,820 --> 00:00:40,940
travel addict,

18
00:00:40,940 --> 00:00:43,340
chocolate martini connoisseur,

19
00:00:43,340 --> 00:00:44,450
Nicole Begley.

20
00:00:44,450 --> 00:00:45,570
Hey everybody.

21
00:00:45,570 --> 00:00:48,660
Welcome back to the hair of the dog podcast.

22
00:00:48,660 --> 00:00:51,230
Today. I have a super special guest.

23
00:00:51,230 --> 00:00:55,350
I'm really excited about Alex Cearns all the way down from

24
00:00:55,350 --> 00:00:56,640
Perth Australia.

25
00:00:56,910 --> 00:01:00,990
Joining me from down under Alex is the creator of hounds

26
00:01:00,990 --> 00:01:03,660
tooth studio and black cat consolidate.

27
00:01:03,660 --> 00:01:06,120
And if you've been in the pet photography world for a

28
00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:06,630
hot minute,

29
00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:07,920
certainly you've seen her work.

30
00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:08,760
I heard about her.

31
00:01:08,850 --> 00:01:09,720
So Alex,

32
00:01:10,230 --> 00:01:11,550
welcome to the podcast.

33
00:01:11,550 --> 00:01:12,690
I'm so excited that you're here.

34
00:01:13,290 --> 00:01:13,590
Oh, well,

35
00:01:13,590 --> 00:01:14,910
thank you so much for having me.

36
00:01:14,910 --> 00:01:16,590
I'm very excited to be talking to you.

37
00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:18,810
Yeah, man,

38
00:01:18,990 --> 00:01:21,570
you've done so much.

39
00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,500
You're such an incredible successful inspiration to everyone.

40
00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:28,830
So super excited to have you here and chat about,

41
00:01:29,460 --> 00:01:29,670
you know,

42
00:01:29,670 --> 00:01:31,230
just about your experiences.

43
00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,270
Why don't you give us just a little bit,

44
00:01:33,300 --> 00:01:37,620
kind of an Alex in a nutshell overview of,

45
00:01:37,860 --> 00:01:38,430
of your,

46
00:01:38,790 --> 00:01:39,390
of your background.

47
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:40,590
Yeah, sure.

48
00:01:40,590 --> 00:01:41,640
We'll give you the short version.

49
00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,820
I won't give you the lifelong timeline version.

50
00:01:45,090 --> 00:01:46,920
Basically when I finished school,

51
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,980
I joined the police force here in Western Australia and I

52
00:01:50,010 --> 00:01:53,460
was a police officer for about 14 years and I worked

53
00:01:53,460 --> 00:01:54,780
at a homicide squad,

54
00:01:54,990 --> 00:01:57,840
child abuse units and pretty intense and hectic places.

55
00:01:58,380 --> 00:01:59,280
And then I,

56
00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:00,780
I just got kind of,

57
00:02:00,810 --> 00:02:02,550
I guess I got fed up with knowing what people did

58
00:02:02,550 --> 00:02:03,150
to each other.

59
00:02:03,270 --> 00:02:03,630
And I thought,

60
00:02:03,630 --> 00:02:03,850
you know what?

61
00:02:03,860 --> 00:02:05,340
I just want a complete change of career.

62
00:02:05,340 --> 00:02:07,440
So I left there had a really bad day at work

63
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:08,970
one day and I thought I've had enough of knowing this

64
00:02:08,970 --> 00:02:12,390
stuff. So I moved into the field of auditing airports and

65
00:02:12,390 --> 00:02:14,760
airlines for their counter-terrorist security measures.

66
00:02:14,820 --> 00:02:16,860
So I was flying around the state a lot,

67
00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:21,690
photographing photographing animals and wildlife because I bought a very cheap

68
00:02:22,110 --> 00:02:23,730
entry-level camera at the same time.

69
00:02:23,730 --> 00:02:25,920
So I was doing that on the side for fun and

70
00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:27,870
just traveling a lot and auditing the airports.

71
00:02:28,350 --> 00:02:28,860
And then I thought,

72
00:02:28,860 --> 00:02:29,160
you know,

73
00:02:29,700 --> 00:02:32,220
kind of realized fairly quickly within about eight weeks of buying

74
00:02:32,220 --> 00:02:32,880
that camera,

75
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,250
that animals were kind of what I liked the best,

76
00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:35,610
you know,

77
00:02:35,610 --> 00:02:37,470
everything else still alive,

78
00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:39,120
tractors, implants,

79
00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:39,360
you know,

80
00:02:39,390 --> 00:02:40,290
people. I was kind of like,

81
00:02:41,250 --> 00:02:42,000
yeah, it sounds great.

82
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,370
You think you're going to photograph everything then you realize it's

83
00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:45,750
not some things aren't that great.

84
00:02:45,750 --> 00:02:49,170
So I stopped really early on to what I enjoyed the

85
00:02:49,170 --> 00:02:51,090
most and what I was getting the best results in,

86
00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:52,890
which were animals and pets.

87
00:02:53,370 --> 00:02:55,230
And so that started to grow a little bit.

88
00:02:55,380 --> 00:02:56,070
I was doing,

89
00:02:56,430 --> 00:02:56,640
you know,

90
00:02:56,700 --> 00:02:59,620
a hundred photos on a disc for $95 clients.

91
00:02:59,620 --> 00:03:00,520
And as you can,

92
00:03:00,970 --> 00:03:01,600
you're a various,

93
00:03:01,900 --> 00:03:04,480
you are the most astute business woman in pet photography,

94
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:05,290
probably on a planet.

95
00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:06,850
And so you would know that that's not a very good

96
00:03:06,850 --> 00:03:09,010
business model and it was a lot of work for a

97
00:03:09,010 --> 00:03:09,560
lot of money.

98
00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:11,020
And so that was kind of wearing thin.

99
00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:14,650
And I started doing wildlife photography at the same time and

100
00:03:14,650 --> 00:03:15,940
the business has started to grow.

101
00:03:15,970 --> 00:03:18,460
And there was a point there where I thought,

102
00:03:18,460 --> 00:03:18,850
you know what,

103
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:20,620
I'm not going to be able to maintain,

104
00:03:20,980 --> 00:03:21,310
you know,

105
00:03:21,370 --> 00:03:24,070
the demand that clients have on me and follow up with

106
00:03:24,070 --> 00:03:24,730
their orders.

107
00:03:24,730 --> 00:03:25,450
And, you know,

108
00:03:25,450 --> 00:03:27,400
just keep up with all the demands of running a business.

109
00:03:27,430 --> 00:03:29,320
If I'm also traveling and doing this other job.

110
00:03:29,860 --> 00:03:31,090
And in between there,

111
00:03:31,090 --> 00:03:34,150
I switched from the $95 CDs to opening an actual fixed

112
00:03:34,150 --> 00:03:35,260
based portrait studio.

113
00:03:35,260 --> 00:03:37,580
And that's where it really kind of took off Good.

114
00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:38,620
I was going to ask us like,

115
00:03:38,620 --> 00:03:40,360
did you leave your job still doing that?

116
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,670
Or just something more profitable?

117
00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:45,370
I took a good risk,

118
00:03:45,370 --> 00:03:46,960
not a crazy like $95.

119
00:03:48,470 --> 00:03:49,990
I don't think I'd be sitting there if I had,

120
00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:54,310
Well, we all start there.

121
00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,380
I started there at the same point too.

122
00:03:56,380 --> 00:03:58,600
It's like looking back and I'd be like,

123
00:03:58,660 --> 00:03:59,980
oh man,

124
00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:02,110
thanks. Just shoot a session,

125
00:04:02,540 --> 00:04:05,110
like $175.

126
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,180
And I'm just giving them files.

127
00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,290
I'm going to make a fortune little,

128
00:04:11,290 --> 00:04:11,860
do we know?

129
00:04:11,860 --> 00:04:12,370
We just like,

130
00:04:12,370 --> 00:04:12,880
have no idea.

131
00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:13,960
What's actually involved.

132
00:04:14,860 --> 00:04:15,590
I think my brain,

133
00:04:16,060 --> 00:04:18,430
if I had a thousand clients at a hundred dollars,

134
00:04:18,430 --> 00:04:18,760
I'll make,

135
00:04:18,820 --> 00:04:19,330
oh, and I was like,

136
00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:20,350
well, that's not,

137
00:04:20,620 --> 00:04:21,580
it's just not possible.

138
00:04:21,580 --> 00:04:26,170
So in there I had a little portable lighting kit that

139
00:04:26,170 --> 00:04:27,670
I used for charities I'd started.

140
00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:31,000
I think working with charities kind of put the cart before

141
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:31,390
the horse.

142
00:04:31,390 --> 00:04:33,610
Like I was working with charities before I even knew how

143
00:04:33,610 --> 00:04:34,420
to take a photo.

144
00:04:34,870 --> 00:04:36,400
So the minute I got that camera,

145
00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:38,140
I thought I need subjects.

146
00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:39,130
I like animals.

147
00:04:39,190 --> 00:04:41,140
Let's go to a few charities and ask if they need

148
00:04:41,140 --> 00:04:44,410
photos. So at least like 15 years ago,

149
00:04:44,410 --> 00:04:44,980
we're going back.

150
00:04:44,980 --> 00:04:46,390
So did a bit of research,

151
00:04:46,390 --> 00:04:49,090
went to a dog and cat rescue group and a wildlife

152
00:04:49,090 --> 00:04:49,720
rescue group.

153
00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,270
So I had a portable set of lights because I was

154
00:04:52,270 --> 00:04:53,560
doing studio stuff for them.

155
00:04:53,980 --> 00:04:55,810
And I have the little room in the bottom of my

156
00:04:55,810 --> 00:04:58,210
garden, which is now my office where I'm speaking to you

157
00:04:58,210 --> 00:04:58,690
from now.

158
00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:00,190
And that was my first studio.

159
00:05:00,190 --> 00:05:01,000
It was really small.

160
00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:02,200
And I,

161
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:02,410
you know,

162
00:05:02,410 --> 00:05:03,280
opened that up and,

163
00:05:03,340 --> 00:05:04,810
and word started to spread.

164
00:05:04,810 --> 00:05:07,090
And that wasn't a $95 for a disc of a hundred

165
00:05:07,090 --> 00:05:07,750
photos model.

166
00:05:07,750 --> 00:05:08,560
It was a proper price.

167
00:05:09,610 --> 00:05:12,580
I, I was still making it up as I went along,

168
00:05:12,610 --> 00:05:14,920
but there weren't people like you and I around then,

169
00:05:14,950 --> 00:05:15,190
you know,

170
00:05:15,220 --> 00:05:17,890
anyone that will know,

171
00:05:17,990 --> 00:05:20,770
there's like one photography coach that I knew of that didn't

172
00:05:21,010 --> 00:05:21,760
coaching pets,

173
00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:21,970
you know?

174
00:05:21,970 --> 00:05:22,480
So there's just,

175
00:05:22,510 --> 00:05:26,020
there's no access to the internet was kind of just starting

176
00:05:26,020 --> 00:05:26,410
out, you know,

177
00:05:26,410 --> 00:05:27,550
growing. And it was just really,

178
00:05:28,030 --> 00:05:28,180
you know,

179
00:05:28,180 --> 00:05:30,070
you have to Bumble along and figure it out for yourself

180
00:05:30,070 --> 00:05:30,490
kind of thing.

181
00:05:30,490 --> 00:05:35,110
So I was doing that and Let's say people weren't nearly

182
00:05:35,110 --> 00:05:38,560
as open and sharing with business model was a lot of

183
00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,420
coasts, closely guarded secrets.

184
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,240
Yeah. So it was really hard to find that information.

185
00:05:43,870 --> 00:05:44,980
Yeah, I completely agree.

186
00:05:44,980 --> 00:05:45,730
And I think too,

187
00:05:46,090 --> 00:05:46,900
at the time,

188
00:05:46,930 --> 00:05:49,330
digital was just becoming super affordable.

189
00:05:49,390 --> 00:05:50,470
It's kind of that transition.

190
00:05:50,770 --> 00:05:51,130
And so,

191
00:05:51,850 --> 00:05:52,060
I mean,

192
00:05:52,390 --> 00:05:53,430
even in America there,

193
00:05:53,470 --> 00:05:55,360
you can count probably on two hands,

194
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:56,920
how many pet photographers there were,

195
00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:58,970
who were excelling when there was film?

196
00:05:59,510 --> 00:06:01,730
Only because I don't know about you,

197
00:06:01,730 --> 00:06:04,100
but I take 300 photos of shoot and I show them

198
00:06:04,100 --> 00:06:07,340
30. So it's not a very good you're shooting film.

199
00:06:07,350 --> 00:06:07,890
How do you know,

200
00:06:08,540 --> 00:06:10,490
36 rolls good shots for them?

201
00:06:11,090 --> 00:06:11,780
I can say,

202
00:06:12,020 --> 00:06:13,670
I must ask some of those people that I know that

203
00:06:13,670 --> 00:06:14,810
have been doing it for a long time.

204
00:06:15,170 --> 00:06:16,970
So it was becoming more,

205
00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:17,960
it was transitioning.

206
00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,960
So some pet photographers were moving towards digital as well.

207
00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:22,850
And everyone was a bit cagey about yeah.

208
00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:24,950
How they worked and what the secrets were.

209
00:06:25,550 --> 00:06:25,880
And like,

210
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:26,030
you know,

211
00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:26,500
as we know,

212
00:06:26,530 --> 00:06:27,710
there's not really any secrets,

213
00:06:27,710 --> 00:06:28,850
the more you share the better,

214
00:06:29,300 --> 00:06:29,480
you know,

215
00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:30,170
the more the community,

216
00:06:31,130 --> 00:06:31,790
all that sort of stuff.

217
00:06:31,820 --> 00:06:33,830
But I muddled through it and yeah,

218
00:06:33,830 --> 00:06:34,220
it just,

219
00:06:34,220 --> 00:06:36,920
it started to snowball a little bit when people found out

220
00:06:36,980 --> 00:06:37,580
what I was doing.

221
00:06:37,580 --> 00:06:39,500
And if you can't provide,

222
00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:39,710
you know,

223
00:06:39,710 --> 00:06:42,290
one of the biggest problems as your business grows is providing

224
00:06:42,290 --> 00:06:44,000
consistent service to clients.

225
00:06:44,270 --> 00:06:45,020
Very easy.

226
00:06:45,170 --> 00:06:46,670
When you have 20 clients in a year,

227
00:06:46,730 --> 00:06:47,960
when you have 400,

228
00:06:48,410 --> 00:06:50,540
you've got to maintain those same service,

229
00:06:50,540 --> 00:06:54,320
quality standards and timeframes and communication responses.

230
00:06:54,350 --> 00:06:55,430
It can get really hectic.

231
00:06:55,430 --> 00:06:58,250
So there's a bit of a baptism of fire for me

232
00:06:58,250 --> 00:07:02,390
when I did go full time and finally have full giving

233
00:07:02,390 --> 00:07:03,260
a hundred percent or something.

234
00:07:03,260 --> 00:07:05,570
And I had a full calendar of clients and having to

235
00:07:05,570 --> 00:07:07,910
service that and maintain the same standard as what I was

236
00:07:07,910 --> 00:07:08,540
doing before.

237
00:07:09,590 --> 00:07:10,610
Yeah. Yeah.

238
00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,060
Have you always done mostly studio for your clients or do

239
00:07:14,060 --> 00:07:15,230
you shoot on location at all?

240
00:07:15,710 --> 00:07:19,100
No, I do studio everything so pets and wildlife,

241
00:07:19,130 --> 00:07:20,180
everything in the studio.

242
00:07:20,330 --> 00:07:23,660
So for charities and stuff like that and an outdoors,

243
00:07:23,660 --> 00:07:25,910
I shoot wildlife using natural light,

244
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,030
mainly for myself also for animal charities.

245
00:07:29,030 --> 00:07:31,820
I don't do domestic pets outside using natural light.

246
00:07:31,820 --> 00:07:32,300
To be honest,

247
00:07:32,300 --> 00:07:33,320
I find them quite hard,

248
00:07:33,410 --> 00:07:34,490
which is rather ironic,

249
00:07:36,260 --> 00:07:37,340
but I can't photograph my,

250
00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:37,580
you know,

251
00:07:37,580 --> 00:07:38,390
the dog I can,

252
00:07:38,390 --> 00:07:38,930
but I just,

253
00:07:38,930 --> 00:07:40,610
not never in my mind's eye,

254
00:07:40,610 --> 00:07:41,360
quite what I want.

255
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,960
So it's really different systems,

256
00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:45,230
you know,

257
00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,870
studio lighting or an artificial environment,

258
00:07:47,900 --> 00:07:48,410
if you will.

259
00:07:48,410 --> 00:07:49,400
And it's very controlled.

260
00:07:49,790 --> 00:07:53,180
And then wildlife outdoors using natural light where they're,

261
00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:53,510
you know,

262
00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:55,700
they're just doing whatever they Can control.

263
00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:57,890
To be honest,

264
00:07:58,550 --> 00:08:00,710
I don't entirely have a lot of control in the studio

265
00:08:00,740 --> 00:08:02,300
other than the lighting and the environment,

266
00:08:02,300 --> 00:08:04,160
the animals are just bouncing off the walls.

267
00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:07,130
It's so funny.

268
00:08:07,430 --> 00:08:08,000
I've done.

269
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,430
I do mostly outdoors cause I,

270
00:08:11,430 --> 00:08:12,980
I love like the story of it,

271
00:08:12,980 --> 00:08:14,750
but I do every once in a while,

272
00:08:14,750 --> 00:08:14,990
I'm like,

273
00:08:15,050 --> 00:08:18,980
oh, like I long for the control of the lighting in

274
00:08:18,980 --> 00:08:19,820
the studio,

275
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:21,740
then I get in there a little bit and then I'm

276
00:08:21,740 --> 00:08:22,190
like, okay,

277
00:08:22,250 --> 00:08:23,240
I need to get back outside.

278
00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:23,900
I don't know.

279
00:08:23,900 --> 00:08:25,100
Maybe I'm just always like,

280
00:08:25,190 --> 00:08:30,760
I want what I don't have and get bored easily If

281
00:08:30,770 --> 00:08:32,720
I'm even as a studio photographer,

282
00:08:32,750 --> 00:08:33,890
if I'm being really honest,

283
00:08:33,890 --> 00:08:34,610
I think dogs,

284
00:08:34,610 --> 00:08:37,910
especially their greatest joy is when they're running around outside,

285
00:08:38,390 --> 00:08:38,690
you know,

286
00:08:38,690 --> 00:08:41,870
they're, or that the beach and in this year they have

287
00:08:41,870 --> 00:08:42,680
fun and they love it,

288
00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:43,700
but that true,

289
00:08:43,700 --> 00:08:45,650
110% in a joy is,

290
00:08:45,740 --> 00:08:45,980
you know,

291
00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:47,090
when they're running red outside.

292
00:08:47,090 --> 00:08:48,140
So yeah,

293
00:08:48,140 --> 00:08:48,440
it's good.

294
00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,570
Yeah. I love having the two genres.

295
00:08:50,570 --> 00:08:52,130
And even though they're very different,

296
00:08:52,490 --> 00:08:55,710
my photographs are very similar in both of those ones lit

297
00:08:55,710 --> 00:08:57,870
with a studio light and it's got a black,

298
00:08:58,050 --> 00:08:58,920
a white background,

299
00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:00,540
my natural light stuff too.

300
00:09:00,540 --> 00:09:01,530
It's very minimalist,

301
00:09:01,710 --> 00:09:01,950
you know,

302
00:09:01,950 --> 00:09:04,290
isn't that there aren't any man-made features and it's just,

303
00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:06,240
I want people to focus on the subject,

304
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,850
not be looking at the fence or the other animal dropping

305
00:09:08,850 --> 00:09:09,750
in or you know,

306
00:09:09,750 --> 00:09:10,260
that sort of thing.

307
00:09:10,260 --> 00:09:13,770
So they're kind of similar in feel minimalist kind of stuck

308
00:09:13,770 --> 00:09:16,140
in the background all about the subject and not about much

309
00:09:16,140 --> 00:09:18,130
else. Yeah.

310
00:09:18,370 --> 00:09:18,880
I love it.

311
00:09:19,300 --> 00:09:19,750
I love it.

312
00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:20,350
So, yeah.

313
00:09:20,350 --> 00:09:22,300
So when you were starting,

314
00:09:22,300 --> 00:09:23,530
did you find,

315
00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,740
I always love to talk about like the evolution of style.

316
00:09:26,740 --> 00:09:30,640
Did you find it took a while to get into your

317
00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:32,800
style or to kind of figure out what you like?

318
00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:34,300
Did you try a lot of different things when you were

319
00:09:34,300 --> 00:09:35,530
starting? Yeah.

320
00:09:35,530 --> 00:09:38,080
I actually had this really good friend whose wife was an

321
00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,950
amazing baby photographer and she used lighting and he knew everything

322
00:09:41,950 --> 00:09:42,850
about lighting setups,

323
00:09:42,850 --> 00:09:45,220
but he didn't shoot this just a genius of,

324
00:09:45,550 --> 00:09:47,740
so he would come to the rescues with me and set

325
00:09:47,740 --> 00:09:50,770
up my lights and taught me settings basically because I had

326
00:09:50,770 --> 00:09:51,310
no idea,

327
00:09:51,700 --> 00:09:51,910
you know,

328
00:09:51,910 --> 00:09:52,600
I was making it up.

329
00:09:52,630 --> 00:09:53,500
So yeah,

330
00:09:54,700 --> 00:09:56,020
that's like my motto for life.

331
00:09:56,050 --> 00:09:56,350
If it,

332
00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:57,100
if it works,

333
00:09:57,100 --> 00:09:57,700
do more of it,

334
00:09:57,700 --> 00:09:58,930
if it doesn't don't do it again.

335
00:09:58,930 --> 00:10:00,940
So that's kind of how I worked with my business as

336
00:10:00,940 --> 00:10:01,660
well initially.

337
00:10:03,550 --> 00:10:06,160
And so I initially started off photographing,

338
00:10:06,340 --> 00:10:06,610
you know,

339
00:10:07,390 --> 00:10:09,190
animals on white and black backdrops.

340
00:10:09,190 --> 00:10:10,780
I thought let's just keep it kind of simple.

341
00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:12,310
And then over time,

342
00:10:12,310 --> 00:10:12,490
you know,

343
00:10:12,490 --> 00:10:14,350
my shoots would go for an hour and a half and

344
00:10:14,380 --> 00:10:16,930
dogs would get tired and now that's evolved.

345
00:10:16,930 --> 00:10:18,820
And most of my clients just want black background.

346
00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:19,510
They liked the,

347
00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,190
the artistic effect of that.

348
00:10:21,610 --> 00:10:23,470
And black really emphasizes coat color.

349
00:10:23,590 --> 00:10:25,570
I find that there's beautiful saturation in the colors,

350
00:10:25,570 --> 00:10:28,330
in the coat and black animals on black look kind of

351
00:10:28,690 --> 00:10:29,650
funky and arty.

352
00:10:30,010 --> 00:10:32,110
So I moved to that and now I literally shoot those

353
00:10:32,110 --> 00:10:34,150
300 shots in 15 minutes.

354
00:10:34,180 --> 00:10:35,140
The dog is in front of me,

355
00:10:35,140 --> 00:10:36,940
say, it's adults 15 minutes.

356
00:10:37,300 --> 00:10:37,900
Get them in.

357
00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:39,070
It's really intense.

358
00:10:39,130 --> 00:10:42,190
I'm sitting really close to them and you're probably 12 inches

359
00:10:42,190 --> 00:10:45,790
away from them super quick shoot in and out because it's

360
00:10:45,790 --> 00:10:47,950
like a big training session and they get tired of the

361
00:10:47,950 --> 00:10:49,990
way I work and they get quite mentally exhausted.

362
00:10:49,990 --> 00:10:50,710
So yeah,

363
00:10:50,710 --> 00:10:51,250
it's different in that,

364
00:10:51,820 --> 00:10:54,130
back in the day when I was younger and fitter and

365
00:10:54,580 --> 00:10:56,030
I'd go for hours and you know,

366
00:10:56,030 --> 00:10:57,730
I say with the dogs and now I kind of find

367
00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,280
even the times I shoot not good in the morning,

368
00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:01,390
cause I'm waking up.

369
00:11:01,450 --> 00:11:03,430
I'm not good in the evening cause I'm winding down.

370
00:11:03,610 --> 00:11:06,400
So I shoot in know middle of the day times,

371
00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:06,640
you know,

372
00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,700
and make sure that everyone's at their peak and same for

373
00:11:09,700 --> 00:11:10,330
the dogs too.

374
00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,910
They're not expecting to have dinner and stuff like that while

375
00:11:12,910 --> 00:11:13,540
they're in the shoot.

376
00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,140
Yeah. It's definitely changed from where I've gone to where I

377
00:11:17,140 --> 00:11:19,750
am. I still use the same simple lighting set ups that

378
00:11:19,750 --> 00:11:20,470
I've always had.

379
00:11:20,650 --> 00:11:23,110
And I actually have the same ultimate.

380
00:11:23,110 --> 00:11:24,970
I've had it for 12 years that the dogs sit on.

381
00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:26,500
And, but other than that,

382
00:11:26,830 --> 00:11:29,320
the signing gets clean thoroughly.

383
00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:30,250
No one's allowed to pee on it.

384
00:11:30,250 --> 00:11:30,460
You know,

385
00:11:30,460 --> 00:11:32,080
I'm very particular about the Ottoman.

386
00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,810
So he's lasted and that's still the same prop that I've

387
00:11:34,810 --> 00:11:35,890
had for the last 12 years.

388
00:11:36,490 --> 00:11:37,600
That's fantastic.

389
00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,230
Yeah. That evolution of style thing can be pretty up and

390
00:11:41,230 --> 00:11:42,610
down. I know for me it took,

391
00:11:43,060 --> 00:11:46,540
I don't think I really like found my true style probably

392
00:11:46,540 --> 00:11:47,590
to like six,

393
00:11:47,890 --> 00:11:51,040
six years in and ah,

394
00:11:51,070 --> 00:11:53,140
it's just so much trial and error and it was like,

395
00:11:53,260 --> 00:11:53,470
you know,

396
00:11:53,470 --> 00:11:54,880
you see certain things you'd like,

397
00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,880
and you kind of try to like learn a little bit

398
00:11:57,880 --> 00:11:58,360
of that.

399
00:11:58,360 --> 00:11:59,860
And then you see something over here and you're like,

400
00:11:59,890 --> 00:12:01,300
oh, let me learn a little bit of that.

401
00:12:01,300 --> 00:12:02,320
And then like,

402
00:12:02,350 --> 00:12:05,740
I always tell people like just go out and learn all

403
00:12:05,740 --> 00:12:09,310
these different things and then like pick and choose and you're

404
00:12:09,310 --> 00:12:10,090
picking and choosing,

405
00:12:10,090 --> 00:12:12,280
and you're building this recipe of your style.

406
00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:13,510
That's completely unique.

407
00:12:13,930 --> 00:12:17,500
But I think a lot of people see someone that's successful

408
00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:22,180
and they think that it's that style that made them successful,

409
00:12:22,540 --> 00:12:26,530
but it's actually their heart and soul that is in that

410
00:12:26,530 --> 00:12:31,690
style and their energy and like just what they've built and

411
00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:32,740
it's technically correct.

412
00:12:32,740 --> 00:12:33,130
So yes,

413
00:12:33,130 --> 00:12:33,850
that's important,

414
00:12:34,150 --> 00:12:35,830
but it's not the style.

415
00:12:35,830 --> 00:12:38,290
It's all the other things that led up to their evolution

416
00:12:38,290 --> 00:12:39,400
of that style.

417
00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,480
So when you were learning that style,

418
00:12:44,050 --> 00:12:44,440
I guess,

419
00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,250
were there different influences that you had or,

420
00:12:48,850 --> 00:12:49,270
you know,

421
00:12:49,330 --> 00:12:50,710
can you shed any light on,

422
00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:52,570
on your development?

423
00:12:53,950 --> 00:12:56,020
I love how you put that because it's so true.

424
00:12:56,020 --> 00:12:57,760
You've hit the nail on the head completely.

425
00:12:58,090 --> 00:12:58,300
You know,

426
00:12:58,300 --> 00:13:00,400
people, people I find these days,

427
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,400
people are quick to adopt someone else's style and it's more

428
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,150
about this photograph a lot and really do what you like

429
00:13:07,150 --> 00:13:09,340
the most or what you're getting the best results in.

430
00:13:09,820 --> 00:13:10,030
You know,

431
00:13:10,030 --> 00:13:11,140
in the end,

432
00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:14,050
if you like photographing outdoors under trees or,

433
00:13:14,350 --> 00:13:14,530
you know,

434
00:13:14,530 --> 00:13:16,600
in the water or on a black backdrop,

435
00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:17,560
do what you like.

436
00:13:17,650 --> 00:13:17,980
And you know,

437
00:13:18,250 --> 00:13:19,360
the more you refine that,

438
00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,250
the more it becomes known for,

439
00:13:21,250 --> 00:13:22,090
you know,

440
00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:24,790
so I guess when I was starting out,

441
00:13:24,820 --> 00:13:27,550
I didn't have too much resistance.

442
00:13:27,550 --> 00:13:28,930
I think in that journey of style,

443
00:13:29,100 --> 00:13:30,220
it just progressed for me.

444
00:13:30,220 --> 00:13:30,520
I mean,

445
00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,370
I didn't even know I could take a photo until I

446
00:13:33,370 --> 00:13:34,990
was in my thirties and my first photos.

447
00:13:34,990 --> 00:13:35,530
Weren't great.

448
00:13:35,590 --> 00:13:39,450
I had to self audit really heavily to learn and grow.

449
00:13:40,030 --> 00:13:43,420
I, I think all of us as photographers have a perfectionist

450
00:13:43,420 --> 00:13:45,610
streak because we're always trying to take a better photo the

451
00:13:45,610 --> 00:13:46,150
one before.

452
00:13:46,450 --> 00:13:49,150
And you have to know when that is getting in your

453
00:13:49,150 --> 00:13:49,540
own way.

454
00:13:49,540 --> 00:13:51,940
You have to know when enough is enough or you're in

455
00:13:51,940 --> 00:13:54,730
perfectionism. So I can edit a photo.

456
00:13:54,730 --> 00:13:55,210
And you know,

457
00:13:55,210 --> 00:13:56,410
even in the beginning I'd edit,

458
00:13:56,890 --> 00:13:57,670
oh, it's not quite right.

459
00:13:57,670 --> 00:13:58,300
Keep going.

460
00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:00,160
And then in the end it was so far from what

461
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:00,850
it should have been.

462
00:14:01,150 --> 00:14:03,190
I probably should have just not even started with it.

463
00:14:03,220 --> 00:14:03,530
You know?

464
00:14:03,530 --> 00:14:07,390
And now I'm better at calling photos and getting through photos

465
00:14:07,390 --> 00:14:08,140
quicker and all that.

466
00:14:08,140 --> 00:14:11,260
So stuff that comes with that growth and knowing mind work

467
00:14:11,710 --> 00:14:12,880
and admittedly in the studio,

468
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:14,050
I'm shooting for the client.

469
00:14:14,060 --> 00:14:17,260
So I have to put out consistent pictures.

470
00:14:17,260 --> 00:14:17,440
You know,

471
00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:18,490
they sit in shots,

472
00:14:18,490 --> 00:14:19,450
they want look.

473
00:14:19,450 --> 00:14:23,170
So my evolution has been understanding what,

474
00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:23,950
what shots client,

475
00:14:24,070 --> 00:14:24,790
clients will buy,

476
00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:26,560
like understanding their purchase decisions.

477
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:27,550
And they want,

478
00:14:27,550 --> 00:14:27,760
you know,

479
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:29,290
high five looking down,

480
00:14:29,620 --> 00:14:30,760
I'm looking to the side,

481
00:14:30,790 --> 00:14:31,450
full body,

482
00:14:31,510 --> 00:14:32,260
half a face,

483
00:14:32,260 --> 00:14:32,470
you know,

484
00:14:32,500 --> 00:14:33,850
RT catching the trait,

485
00:14:34,180 --> 00:14:35,620
smiling, like all those sort of things.

486
00:14:35,620 --> 00:14:37,450
There's about 10 different poses.

487
00:14:37,450 --> 00:14:39,070
I run through in my head and try and get from

488
00:14:39,070 --> 00:14:39,580
each door,

489
00:14:39,910 --> 00:14:41,740
which in the beginning I was just shooting whatever I could

490
00:14:41,740 --> 00:14:42,880
get. I didn't have a plan.

491
00:14:42,970 --> 00:14:45,550
Right. I think having a plan definitely helped me,

492
00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,040
but even the evolution of my business,

493
00:14:48,190 --> 00:14:49,360
when I first started,

494
00:14:49,750 --> 00:14:51,040
I had this little room in the garden,

495
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:51,800
a mess,

496
00:14:52,370 --> 00:14:53,480
the brief was leaking in,

497
00:14:54,140 --> 00:14:54,470
you know,

498
00:14:54,500 --> 00:14:55,400
the door was always left,

499
00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:55,760
open on.

500
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,620
It's like a little shed garden shed kind of thing.

501
00:14:58,400 --> 00:14:59,990
Right? Big solid walls.

502
00:14:59,990 --> 00:15:01,700
It's like proper brick building with a roof,

503
00:15:01,700 --> 00:15:03,110
but it just been a bit neglected.

504
00:15:03,110 --> 00:15:04,310
So I was getting that fixed,

505
00:15:04,310 --> 00:15:06,440
but a friend of mine was paying a small fortune to

506
00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:07,040
tidy it up.

507
00:15:07,580 --> 00:15:11,420
And I had a free consult with a business center business

508
00:15:11,420 --> 00:15:13,250
advisory center and I thought,

509
00:15:13,250 --> 00:15:14,990
wow, this is great free one hour consult.

510
00:15:14,990 --> 00:15:17,810
So this is a motivational guy that's meant to help you

511
00:15:18,050 --> 00:15:18,740
with your business.

512
00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,200
When I went there and I said to sat down,

513
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:21,920
I was so excited.

514
00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:22,130
I said,

515
00:15:22,130 --> 00:15:23,960
I'm going to open a studio,

516
00:15:24,290 --> 00:15:25,490
like what you have for people,

517
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:26,420
but for pets.

518
00:15:27,110 --> 00:15:28,220
And he looked at me and said,

519
00:15:28,670 --> 00:15:29,900
that will only ever be a hobby.

520
00:15:30,860 --> 00:15:32,960
He and he could not in his wildest dreams,

521
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,140
understand why anyone would want to come and spend money on

522
00:15:36,140 --> 00:15:36,920
a photo of a pet.

523
00:15:37,190 --> 00:15:37,850
Now, firstly,

524
00:15:37,850 --> 00:15:39,860
I can tell you now from having done it for so

525
00:15:39,860 --> 00:15:41,390
long, he didn't have probably have a dog.

526
00:15:41,570 --> 00:15:44,630
He'd probably never had a connection and he wasn't my client.

527
00:15:46,070 --> 00:15:48,980
Yeah. I feel sad for him.

528
00:15:48,980 --> 00:15:51,110
Like that's terrible that Forman.

529
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:52,400
So, you know,

530
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:53,210
I kind of think,

531
00:15:53,210 --> 00:15:55,850
well that really didn't work out how he predicted.

532
00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,370
I left that meeting and he said to me,

533
00:15:58,370 --> 00:16:00,710
I only know one person that's ever opened a pet related

534
00:16:00,710 --> 00:16:01,910
business and it's a daycare.

535
00:16:02,030 --> 00:16:05,360
And in Australia we sometimes are loopy behind the trends in

536
00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:05,810
the states.

537
00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,990
So our doggy daycares came a lot later and people really

538
00:16:08,990 --> 00:16:11,720
had to battle local councils to get permission,

539
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,120
to have dog businesses in the suburbs and stuff like that.

540
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:15,710
So that's what he's referring to.

541
00:16:16,190 --> 00:16:17,240
And I left there and thought,

542
00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,210
oh, well I better not tell anyone that he said that

543
00:16:20,210 --> 00:16:23,180
because I'm paying this money to get the room renovated and

544
00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:24,290
I'm going to do it right.

545
00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:26,990
I want to do it was for me,

546
00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:28,880
even in the evolution of the whole thing,

547
00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:29,570
it was never,

548
00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:31,400
I want to do this because I want to get paid.

549
00:16:31,790 --> 00:16:32,180
It was,

550
00:16:32,210 --> 00:16:33,470
this is what I want to do.

551
00:16:33,470 --> 00:16:34,640
And in my,

552
00:16:35,210 --> 00:16:37,250
my small thinking at the time,

553
00:16:37,250 --> 00:16:37,700
it was like,

554
00:16:37,740 --> 00:16:40,490
I'll work my government job three or four days a week.

555
00:16:40,790 --> 00:16:41,770
And then on Fridays,

556
00:16:41,770 --> 00:16:42,710
Saturdays and Sundays,

557
00:16:42,710 --> 00:16:45,440
eventually I'll be part-time and I can do the business on

558
00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:46,730
Friday, Saturdays and Sundays.

559
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,030
And that was my future goal to work towards a four

560
00:16:50,030 --> 00:16:52,370
day of one job three-day of the other kind of system.

561
00:16:53,810 --> 00:16:57,440
I opened the studio on the 4th of July,

562
00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:57,560
2009, right.

563
00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,990
In the middle of global financial crisis as well.

564
00:16:59,990 --> 00:17:03,260
So that was Good time to start a business.

565
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:04,400
Absolutely. I mean,

566
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:05,330
that's the thing that I,

567
00:17:05,340 --> 00:17:06,680
is there ever a good time,

568
00:17:06,710 --> 00:17:06,980
you know,

569
00:17:07,010 --> 00:17:10,850
just exactly just do it because if it's not,

570
00:17:10,850 --> 00:17:12,980
then at some excuse in our heads or it's,

571
00:17:12,980 --> 00:17:13,310
you know,

572
00:17:13,370 --> 00:17:13,790
oh no,

573
00:17:13,790 --> 00:17:15,500
I've it's cold or you know,

574
00:17:15,530 --> 00:17:15,950
oh no,

575
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:16,880
there's always,

576
00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:20,240
But there's waiting for the perfection.

577
00:17:20,270 --> 00:17:22,010
There's a great quote that I love.

578
00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:22,610
It's just like,

579
00:17:22,610 --> 00:17:23,330
you'll either,

580
00:17:23,450 --> 00:17:24,350
if it's important to you,

581
00:17:24,350 --> 00:17:25,520
you'll find a way if it's not,

582
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:26,210
you'll find an excuse.

583
00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:31,070
Exactly. And there's a lot of things about me that annoyed

584
00:17:31,070 --> 00:17:32,810
me and there's a lot of things I like,

585
00:17:32,810 --> 00:17:34,910
and I think it's really good to know which and which

586
00:17:35,660 --> 00:17:37,340
one of the things I really like is if I want

587
00:17:37,340 --> 00:17:37,730
to do something,

588
00:17:37,730 --> 00:17:38,450
I just go and do it.

589
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:40,400
And like you mentioned,

590
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:41,240
if it doesn't work,

591
00:17:41,390 --> 00:17:42,080
I don't do it again.

592
00:17:42,140 --> 00:17:43,940
Or I do less of it or do something differently.

593
00:17:43,940 --> 00:17:47,510
So I was kind of stubborn and I opened the studio

594
00:17:47,510 --> 00:17:50,090
anyway. So 2009,

595
00:17:50,570 --> 00:17:51,980
I then put an ad,

596
00:17:51,980 --> 00:17:52,910
make it back in the,

597
00:17:52,910 --> 00:17:54,440
do you remember the good old days where you had to

598
00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,330
do like newspaper ads to get clients?

599
00:17:56,570 --> 00:17:56,990
It wasn't,

600
00:17:58,730 --> 00:17:59,390
it wasn't even,

601
00:17:59,450 --> 00:17:59,930
you know,

602
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:01,460
I think right.

603
00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:03,290
It had been around for about two,

604
00:18:03,380 --> 00:18:03,890
a couple of years,

605
00:18:03,890 --> 00:18:04,790
about two years by then.

606
00:18:05,150 --> 00:18:07,550
And I was a very early Facebook adopter because I had

607
00:18:07,550 --> 00:18:08,480
a friend who said,

608
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:09,560
I'm going to Japan,

609
00:18:09,980 --> 00:18:12,260
there's this website thing that we can join and we can

610
00:18:12,260 --> 00:18:13,070
keep in touch.

611
00:18:13,610 --> 00:18:14,080
And it was,

612
00:18:14,090 --> 00:18:16,700
I had a Facebook friend for about,

613
00:18:17,540 --> 00:18:18,590
for about two years.

614
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,050
And then I realized as it got,

615
00:18:21,050 --> 00:18:22,700
it became a thing people were saying,

616
00:18:22,730 --> 00:18:23,930
oh, you got to get on Facebook.

617
00:18:23,990 --> 00:18:24,230
I was like,

618
00:18:24,260 --> 00:18:27,230
oh, that's that software I've already been using once a month

619
00:18:27,230 --> 00:18:27,560
or whatever.

620
00:18:28,010 --> 00:18:29,870
So before Facebook though,

621
00:18:29,870 --> 00:18:30,800
that was kind of growing,

622
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,130
you had to put ads in newspapers and magazines and printed

623
00:18:34,130 --> 00:18:38,210
stuff. So I spent $800 on a tiny quarter page ad

624
00:18:38,210 --> 00:18:41,540
in the local state newspaper when all over the state for,

625
00:18:41,540 --> 00:18:43,610
I knew it was like a discounted photo session.

626
00:18:43,610 --> 00:18:47,030
And even if it included anything and I got eight bookings,

627
00:18:47,330 --> 00:18:48,920
I couldn't believe it where eight people.

628
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,190
And I remember my first sale was a pocket,

629
00:18:52,190 --> 00:18:53,060
was Doug the pug.

630
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:57,890
And she spent a little black pug and I hadn't photographed

631
00:18:57,890 --> 00:18:59,810
a black animal mama black background before,

632
00:18:59,810 --> 00:19:00,710
but I just made it up.

633
00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:00,890
You know,

634
00:19:00,890 --> 00:19:01,940
that if I could tell you,

635
00:19:01,940 --> 00:19:02,660
make it thing,

636
00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:04,760
clients coming for a service,

637
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:06,120
don't tell her you haven't done this.

638
00:19:06,170 --> 00:19:08,060
You've just advertised it in the newspaper.

639
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,790
She spent $825.

640
00:19:10,790 --> 00:19:11,930
And I couldn't believe it.

641
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:13,070
Like, you know,

642
00:19:13,070 --> 00:19:13,760
sometimes we,

643
00:19:14,150 --> 00:19:17,030
I guess we don't know how much people were spending,

644
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:18,530
how far it can go and we would do.

645
00:19:18,530 --> 00:19:20,540
And then we realized this is like kind of lucrative.

646
00:19:21,110 --> 00:19:21,680
And I was like,

647
00:19:21,710 --> 00:19:22,550
wow, that's amazing.

648
00:19:22,550 --> 00:19:24,230
And then from those eight clients,

649
00:19:24,710 --> 00:19:26,450
I really focused on them.

650
00:19:26,450 --> 00:19:28,460
I made sure that I delivered what I promised,

651
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:28,820
you know,

652
00:19:28,820 --> 00:19:29,090
and I,

653
00:19:29,510 --> 00:19:31,610
they had a good customer service experience.

654
00:19:31,610 --> 00:19:34,640
They had the pictures they wanted and that then grew,

655
00:19:34,730 --> 00:19:37,250
I think the first six months I had 20 clients just

656
00:19:37,250 --> 00:19:39,350
word of mouth and from those first eight clients,

657
00:19:40,010 --> 00:19:43,400
and then fast forward to October,

658
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,800
2010. So only about 15 months later,

659
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:47,360
that's when the demand started really,

660
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:48,260
really peaking.

661
00:19:48,950 --> 00:19:50,660
And I was going to drop the ball and the whole

662
00:19:50,660 --> 00:19:51,680
thing was going to implode.

663
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,400
If I didn't quit my 19 year government career with all

664
00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:59,360
the security and superannuation and leave that came with it and

665
00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:00,140
just took a chance on,

666
00:20:00,140 --> 00:20:00,380
you know,

667
00:20:00,410 --> 00:20:01,670
can I make this business work?

668
00:20:02,210 --> 00:20:03,890
How scary was that?

669
00:20:04,070 --> 00:20:04,940
Was that jump?

670
00:20:05,230 --> 00:20:07,130
I think scary on one hand,

671
00:20:07,130 --> 00:20:11,070
because all I knew was audit compliance with the government,

672
00:20:11,270 --> 00:20:11,480
you know,

673
00:20:11,690 --> 00:20:12,620
nine to five and,

674
00:20:12,690 --> 00:20:15,200
and it is quite regimented and it was safe,

675
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:16,760
but I was also bored.

676
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:17,030
You know,

677
00:20:17,030 --> 00:20:17,210
it was,

678
00:20:17,630 --> 00:20:18,710
it, wasn't what I wanted to do.

679
00:20:18,950 --> 00:20:21,710
I didn't have any financial burden.

680
00:20:22,070 --> 00:20:24,050
I moved in with my partner and just sold my house.

681
00:20:24,050 --> 00:20:26,450
So there was when there wasn't a financial risk,

682
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,910
but I knew I had to have a backup plan because

683
00:20:28,910 --> 00:20:31,550
you should always have one in your pocket and mine was,

684
00:20:31,850 --> 00:20:32,750
this goes wrong.

685
00:20:33,140 --> 00:20:35,180
I will go and work at the local pet store and

686
00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:37,640
just sell pet products and pet dogs at the pet store.

687
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,090
Right? So even now I say to people,

688
00:20:41,090 --> 00:20:42,800
if you ever see me at the pet store in the

689
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:44,060
uniform, you know the business,

690
00:20:44,090 --> 00:20:45,290
thanks. It didn't go so well.

691
00:20:45,530 --> 00:20:46,460
Cause that's my plan.

692
00:20:46,460 --> 00:20:47,650
Now let's go go Pittsburgh,

693
00:20:48,430 --> 00:20:50,470
but I didn't have to do that.

694
00:20:50,470 --> 00:20:51,580
And it was a,

695
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:52,510
it was a massive risk,

696
00:20:52,510 --> 00:20:54,280
but I had this really pivotal moment.

697
00:20:54,370 --> 00:20:56,830
I was still in the government job and I was very

698
00:20:56,830 --> 00:20:59,260
stressed about what to do because this was my,

699
00:20:59,710 --> 00:21:02,560
I loved this photography and I had all these clients that

700
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:02,920
wanted it.

701
00:21:03,370 --> 00:21:04,330
I was traveling,

702
00:21:04,780 --> 00:21:06,610
I was doing 160 flights a year.

703
00:21:06,670 --> 00:21:09,880
I wasn't home to do purchase appointments.

704
00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:10,720
And it can't,

705
00:21:10,930 --> 00:21:12,970
it's trying to run my business from the government office,

706
00:21:12,970 --> 00:21:13,240
you know,

707
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:13,630
on the phone,

708
00:21:13,630 --> 00:21:14,830
on my cell phone.

709
00:21:14,830 --> 00:21:15,070
And you know,

710
00:21:15,070 --> 00:21:15,730
it was a bit naughty.

711
00:21:15,730 --> 00:21:18,430
So it was all kind of coming to a head.

712
00:21:18,910 --> 00:21:21,520
And I went to the doctor and I said,

713
00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:22,450
look, I'm not stressed,

714
00:21:22,450 --> 00:21:25,180
but I need a week off as sick leave.

715
00:21:25,180 --> 00:21:26,560
Like stress leave from work.

716
00:21:26,590 --> 00:21:28,210
I needed a doctor's certificate for that.

717
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:28,990
And I said,

718
00:21:28,990 --> 00:21:30,670
because I just need a bit of a break and need

719
00:21:30,670 --> 00:21:31,660
to give my brain a rest.

720
00:21:31,900 --> 00:21:32,770
And he said to me,

721
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:34,570
what are you going to do after a week?

722
00:21:35,650 --> 00:21:37,120
Okay, got me thinking.

723
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:38,230
And then we had a,

724
00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:41,680
an animal rescue event at a town hall in my city.

725
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:43,360
And all I had to do is go to the town

726
00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:44,890
hall and stand outside.

727
00:21:44,890 --> 00:21:48,040
They were outside on the big table and photograph these,

728
00:21:48,100 --> 00:21:51,640
they were politicians and kind of celebrities representing this animal rescue

729
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,680
event. Wasn't even photographing animals.

730
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,800
And I remember standing there and there's a beautiful indigenous artists

731
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,920
called<inaudible> and his music was playing and the sun was shining.

732
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:01,030
And I just thought,

733
00:22:01,030 --> 00:22:02,590
wow, this could be my job,

734
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:04,000
my camera,

735
00:22:04,180 --> 00:22:05,740
this. And you know,

736
00:22:05,740 --> 00:22:06,130
it's a lot more,

737
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:07,300
we know it's a lot more than that.

738
00:22:07,300 --> 00:22:08,050
But in that moment,

739
00:22:08,050 --> 00:22:08,380
I was like,

740
00:22:08,380 --> 00:22:10,210
wow, this is felt like freedom.

741
00:22:10,450 --> 00:22:10,780
You know?

742
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:12,370
And I remember I rang my,

743
00:22:12,550 --> 00:22:13,630
I rang my partner and said,

744
00:22:14,170 --> 00:22:15,010
I don't know what to do.

745
00:22:15,130 --> 00:22:15,720
And my partner said,

746
00:22:15,740 --> 00:22:16,070
you know what,

747
00:22:16,070 --> 00:22:17,140
but don't care what you do.

748
00:22:17,170 --> 00:22:19,000
I won't use the exact language because there's a swear word,

749
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,860
but I don't care what you do.

750
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:22,720
Let's make a decision.

751
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:23,890
And I thought,

752
00:22:23,890 --> 00:22:25,810
wow, I'm actually being told that I can do this.

753
00:22:25,810 --> 00:22:26,470
It wasn't like,

754
00:22:26,710 --> 00:22:27,070
come on,

755
00:22:27,070 --> 00:22:27,790
be sensible.

756
00:22:27,790 --> 00:22:29,260
You've got a 19 year career.

757
00:22:29,470 --> 00:22:30,760
Think about the money you're going to look.

758
00:22:31,330 --> 00:22:32,230
If there was none of that,

759
00:22:32,230 --> 00:22:33,520
it was just full support.

760
00:22:34,060 --> 00:22:35,140
Do what makes you happy?

761
00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:36,340
Cause this is eating you alive.

762
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:38,770
And I went back to work two days later and I

763
00:22:38,770 --> 00:22:41,740
resigned and I literally have never looked back.

764
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:43,860
That's so awesome that like the,

765
00:22:43,860 --> 00:22:45,040
the, you have the support.

766
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,500
Cause I think there are a lot of people run into

767
00:22:47,500 --> 00:22:50,290
the issue and I think it comes from a place of

768
00:22:50,290 --> 00:22:53,170
love from like their family or their friends,

769
00:22:53,170 --> 00:22:56,440
because they're like the guy at your meeting that you went

770
00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:57,130
to, that's like,

771
00:22:58,030 --> 00:22:59,170
there's no way that'll work.

772
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,020
So they are projecting their thoughts of like,

773
00:23:02,020 --> 00:23:05,350
there's no way that'll work to them to try to insulate

774
00:23:05,350 --> 00:23:07,000
them or protect them from failure.

775
00:23:07,420 --> 00:23:08,170
But meanwhile,

776
00:23:08,170 --> 00:23:10,660
they're just like making them feel like,

777
00:23:10,750 --> 00:23:11,260
oh my God,

778
00:23:11,260 --> 00:23:13,000
I can't possibly pursue my dreams.

779
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,860
I need to stay at this safe job.

780
00:23:15,190 --> 00:23:16,030
And quite frankly,

781
00:23:16,420 --> 00:23:17,890
I'll say for any jobs,

782
00:23:18,220 --> 00:23:18,610
you know,

783
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,760
like, I mean maybe a government job,

784
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:23,170
at least here in the states is pretty safe.

785
00:23:23,170 --> 00:23:24,700
Cause those seem to never go away.

786
00:23:24,700 --> 00:23:25,450
They just get added.

787
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:27,190
But you know,

788
00:23:27,190 --> 00:23:28,480
like, you know,

789
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,850
my husband works in the pharmaceutical injuries industry.

790
00:23:30,850 --> 00:23:33,730
And like that industry is like always being bought,

791
00:23:33,730 --> 00:23:35,650
being sold and being spun off this or that,

792
00:23:35,650 --> 00:23:37,840
like, that's not safe.

793
00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:40,540
Like I feel like as an entrepreneur,

794
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,060
at least I have control,

795
00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:44,200
you know,

796
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:45,440
and it's a total control.

797
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,630
Like I have control for my future,

798
00:23:47,630 --> 00:23:50,570
but it's also complete responsibility to bring clients in the door.

799
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:51,890
So, you know,

800
00:23:52,250 --> 00:23:54,470
it's, it's a two-part thing,

801
00:23:54,470 --> 00:23:55,910
but I wouldn't have it any other way.

802
00:23:55,910 --> 00:23:58,850
I like to say I'm completely unemployable now because there's no

803
00:23:58,850 --> 00:24:00,650
way I can actually like go work for someone.

804
00:24:04,430 --> 00:24:08,090
No, I totally get how many weeks vacation and I have

805
00:24:08,090 --> 00:24:08,510
to ask,

806
00:24:09,530 --> 00:24:11,210
no, that's not gonna work for me.

807
00:24:13,340 --> 00:24:14,210
Sorry. I have to be there.

808
00:24:14,230 --> 00:24:17,110
I can't stay till midnight and I can't start it.

809
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,910
Great. And I can't just decide it's a nice day.

810
00:24:19,910 --> 00:24:21,650
I'm going to go paddle boarding for the afternoon.

811
00:24:22,190 --> 00:24:26,120
Yeah. It's a great point because I have never worked as

812
00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:27,710
hard in my own business.

813
00:24:27,710 --> 00:24:28,100
As I,

814
00:24:28,550 --> 00:24:29,840
at any time in my career,

815
00:24:29,930 --> 00:24:30,500
other careers,

816
00:24:31,390 --> 00:24:33,290
you never work as hard as when you work for yourself,

817
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,410
but you get a massive reward and I still have freedom

818
00:24:36,410 --> 00:24:36,980
of choice.

819
00:24:37,430 --> 00:24:38,750
So I choose to work.

820
00:24:38,930 --> 00:24:39,950
I choose to be booked up.

821
00:24:39,950 --> 00:24:41,030
I choose to be busy,

822
00:24:41,330 --> 00:24:41,630
you know,

823
00:24:41,630 --> 00:24:43,940
and I choose to do lots of things.

824
00:24:43,940 --> 00:24:45,320
I don't just do pet photos.

825
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,380
I do tours and I do education and I do go

826
00:24:48,380 --> 00:24:49,730
to camera clubs and talk to them.

827
00:24:49,730 --> 00:24:52,010
And there's lots of things I do to keep her interesting

828
00:24:52,010 --> 00:24:54,680
to me and to get out there and really do not

829
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,150
just the studio photos for the clients,

830
00:24:56,150 --> 00:24:58,190
but the wildlife stuff and the charity stuff as well.

831
00:24:58,760 --> 00:24:59,450
So I work hard,

832
00:24:59,450 --> 00:24:59,810
but you know,

833
00:24:59,830 --> 00:25:02,390
also it's not actually hard work it's I don't want to

834
00:25:02,390 --> 00:25:04,850
ever think sitting on the computer editing for five hours,

835
00:25:04,850 --> 00:25:05,150
he's like,

836
00:25:05,180 --> 00:25:06,290
oh, it's so terrible.

837
00:25:06,290 --> 00:25:06,980
It's the worst job.

838
00:25:07,460 --> 00:25:07,640
You know,

839
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:08,990
you have to stretch,

840
00:25:08,990 --> 00:25:09,380
but that's,

841
00:25:09,380 --> 00:25:09,560
you know,

842
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,980
I'm not locked in a room doing tax returns,

843
00:25:12,980 --> 00:25:13,130
you know,

844
00:25:13,130 --> 00:25:15,410
like I have freedom to choose to do that.

845
00:25:15,410 --> 00:25:16,340
And yeah,

846
00:25:16,340 --> 00:25:17,000
so I think we,

847
00:25:17,390 --> 00:25:19,130
we, when you are self employed,

848
00:25:19,130 --> 00:25:20,180
we all put in that effort,

849
00:25:20,210 --> 00:25:22,700
but you also get massive payback from that.

850
00:25:22,790 --> 00:25:23,620
And you know,

851
00:25:23,620 --> 00:25:25,850
you are perfect Testament to how far you can take it

852
00:25:25,850 --> 00:25:26,810
and you still got stuff,

853
00:25:27,050 --> 00:25:27,200
you know,

854
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:27,860
sky's the limit,

855
00:25:27,860 --> 00:25:28,220
you know,

856
00:25:28,580 --> 00:25:31,100
I think you're a massive inspiration in that way to show

857
00:25:31,100 --> 00:25:33,680
people not to listen to the people that tell you,

858
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:34,040
you can't,

859
00:25:34,070 --> 00:25:34,820
if they're out there as well,

860
00:25:34,820 --> 00:25:35,630
because you know,

861
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:37,100
end of the day,

862
00:25:37,490 --> 00:25:37,730
you know,

863
00:25:37,790 --> 00:25:38,600
get all philosophical,

864
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:39,950
but no one gets out of life alive.

865
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:41,210
So why are we waiting for it?

866
00:25:41,450 --> 00:25:44,450
Every day longer is one day closer to the door slamming

867
00:25:44,450 --> 00:25:44,870
behind us.

868
00:25:44,870 --> 00:25:45,530
Like, come on,

869
00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:48,050
just do it.

870
00:25:48,050 --> 00:25:50,180
You're not going to die from doing something you're just going

871
00:25:50,180 --> 00:25:50,600
to learn.

872
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:50,870
You know,

873
00:25:50,870 --> 00:25:51,530
it's, you know,

874
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,050
people get scared and,

875
00:25:53,050 --> 00:25:54,320
and getting their own way of stuff.

876
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:54,980
And yeah,

877
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:55,400
I just,

878
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,070
I wish people had that confidence in themselves,

879
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,350
which is interestingly where I'm going to kind of talk about

880
00:26:00,350 --> 00:26:01,670
in the hair of the dog summit,

881
00:26:02,030 --> 00:26:04,880
but that just building confidence and letting people know that you

882
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:05,510
want to do something,

883
00:26:05,510 --> 00:26:05,900
do it.

884
00:26:06,350 --> 00:26:09,380
And if I still get people at like events,

885
00:26:09,380 --> 00:26:10,370
like random events,

886
00:26:10,370 --> 00:26:11,210
it might be just a,

887
00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:13,520
some sort of random function who say,

888
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:14,150
what do you do?

889
00:26:14,210 --> 00:26:15,200
And I always play it down.

890
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:15,590
I just got,

891
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:17,510
I just photograph talks and they go,

892
00:26:17,660 --> 00:26:19,790
oh, do you make money doing that?

893
00:26:20,390 --> 00:26:20,900
And I always,

894
00:26:21,020 --> 00:26:21,710
and I don't want to go,

895
00:26:21,740 --> 00:26:22,280
oh yeah,

896
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:22,640
it's great.

897
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:23,090
I just go,

898
00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:24,440
ah, I can sometimes,

899
00:26:24,470 --> 00:26:25,820
cause I don't want him to go and buy a camera.

900
00:26:25,820 --> 00:26:26,360
And next minute,

901
00:26:26,390 --> 00:26:26,690
you know,

902
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,540
when I'm popping studio out the front of mine,

903
00:26:29,540 --> 00:26:29,750
you know,

904
00:26:29,750 --> 00:26:31,880
but like people are still surprised.

905
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:32,990
And I understand that they're like,

906
00:26:33,020 --> 00:26:34,190
do you make money doing that?

907
00:26:34,190 --> 00:26:34,490
And like,

908
00:26:34,970 --> 00:26:35,300
oh no.

909
00:26:35,300 --> 00:26:35,600
And then,

910
00:26:36,050 --> 00:26:36,370
you know,

911
00:26:36,410 --> 00:26:37,070
like, yeah,

912
00:26:37,070 --> 00:26:38,540
if you do it the right way and you have a

913
00:26:38,540 --> 00:26:40,880
plan and you have a system and you've got a client

914
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:42,230
base, you can grow and build,

915
00:26:42,260 --> 00:26:43,070
yes, you can.

916
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:44,250
There are people out there that will,

917
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:44,910
you know,

918
00:26:44,910 --> 00:26:49,590
this, everything can be monetized as a market for everything even

919
00:26:49,590 --> 00:26:51,270
pets. Yeah,

920
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,850
Absolutely. And I think a lot of people get into this

921
00:26:56,850 --> 00:26:59,670
or they start to look around and they get really kind

922
00:26:59,670 --> 00:27:01,380
of down that it's like,

923
00:27:01,410 --> 00:27:02,310
oh man,

924
00:27:02,370 --> 00:27:02,760
or they're,

925
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:03,990
maybe they're already in the market.

926
00:27:03,990 --> 00:27:06,690
And like another pet photographer pops up and another pops up

927
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:07,680
and another pops up,

928
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:08,250
you know,

929
00:27:08,250 --> 00:27:10,770
because 10 years ago there was like maybe one in a

930
00:27:10,770 --> 00:27:13,920
city and now there's a lot and it's only going to

931
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:14,790
continue growing.

932
00:27:15,180 --> 00:27:17,550
But I like to say to,

933
00:27:17,580 --> 00:27:17,850
you know,

934
00:27:17,850 --> 00:27:21,510
one of the challenges of marketing and a pet photography business

935
00:27:21,510 --> 00:27:24,390
10 years ago was that nobody knew a pet photography was

936
00:27:24,390 --> 00:27:24,720
a thing.

937
00:27:25,170 --> 00:27:27,240
So we had to let them know that,

938
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,690
Hey, this is a thing that exists and then convince them

939
00:27:30,690 --> 00:27:31,560
that they needed it.

940
00:27:31,980 --> 00:27:35,310
We're at least now as the industry grows,

941
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,950
there's more people out there doing awareness marketing.

942
00:27:37,950 --> 00:27:40,200
And then they're going to go to Google and check out

943
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:41,520
all the other options.

944
00:27:41,910 --> 00:27:43,440
And you know,

945
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,510
it's, it's a beautiful thing.

946
00:27:45,510 --> 00:27:48,180
It's actually helping grow the industry.

947
00:27:48,450 --> 00:27:51,840
And there's still so much room because like what percentage of

948
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,330
people, when they asked you what you do and you say,

949
00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:55,530
I photograph dogs,

950
00:27:55,740 --> 00:27:55,980
you know,

951
00:27:55,980 --> 00:27:57,720
they're like really,

952
00:27:57,930 --> 00:28:01,740
that's the thing like that tells me,

953
00:28:01,740 --> 00:28:05,340
there's still a lot of market awareness that needs to happen

954
00:28:05,370 --> 00:28:05,730
to like,

955
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:07,410
for everyone to understand that,

956
00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:09,420
oh, it's a thing and it's not crazy.

957
00:28:10,350 --> 00:28:13,140
And I think a lot of other people too,

958
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:14,430
even photographers,

959
00:28:14,430 --> 00:28:18,990
although the professional photography world of other jars is coming around.

960
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,060
But I remember being at conferences five,

961
00:28:21,060 --> 00:28:23,610
six years ago and other photographers telling me,

962
00:28:23,610 --> 00:28:24,840
there's no way you can make enough money.

963
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,770
Like make just as much in my pet sessions as I

964
00:28:28,770 --> 00:28:29,880
do with my families.

965
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:30,090
I mean,

966
00:28:30,090 --> 00:28:31,050
it was 2,500,

967
00:28:31,050 --> 00:28:32,490
$3,000 averages.

968
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:34,380
Yeah, yeah,

969
00:28:35,530 --> 00:28:36,600
yeah. A hundred percent.

970
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:37,680
It's a different market.

971
00:28:37,710 --> 00:28:40,770
It's not my family clients spending that on their pets,

972
00:28:41,130 --> 00:28:44,850
but it's my pet parents spending that on their pets.

973
00:28:45,210 --> 00:28:48,210
And so I think a lot of people start to put

974
00:28:48,210 --> 00:28:50,400
their own money stories on like,

975
00:28:50,730 --> 00:28:53,100
oh, that's a lot of money.

976
00:28:53,370 --> 00:28:57,810
Or my husband or my family says that's frivolous.

977
00:28:57,810 --> 00:28:58,890
No one will pay that.

978
00:28:59,250 --> 00:28:59,790
And then,

979
00:28:59,790 --> 00:29:02,010
so they just think that's the truth,

980
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,590
but some people won't pay it like the guy at your

981
00:29:04,590 --> 00:29:06,330
business consult,

982
00:29:06,330 --> 00:29:07,320
he's not going to pay it.

983
00:29:07,350 --> 00:29:08,070
But you know,

984
00:29:08,340 --> 00:29:10,530
the person in the next office fight,

985
00:29:11,710 --> 00:29:12,420
I think you're right.

986
00:29:12,630 --> 00:29:13,020
When I,

987
00:29:13,050 --> 00:29:15,990
thinking back to when I first started in the early days,

988
00:29:15,990 --> 00:29:19,170
I used to go to some camera clubs and no disrespect

989
00:29:19,170 --> 00:29:21,450
to elderly older men,

990
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,140
but it was early automated return with saying,

991
00:29:24,140 --> 00:29:25,110
what do you do love?

992
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:26,550
So it'd be kind of cringing.

993
00:29:26,700 --> 00:29:27,900
I'd say I photograph pets.

994
00:29:27,900 --> 00:29:29,760
And they pat me on the head and go,

995
00:29:29,820 --> 00:29:30,720
Aw, you know,

996
00:29:30,750 --> 00:29:34,080
either or you grow out of it or everyone does that

997
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:34,800
when they're learning.

998
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:35,220
And I was like,

999
00:29:35,220 --> 00:29:35,670
well, firstly,

1000
00:29:35,670 --> 00:29:36,720
I've been doing it for a while.

1001
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:37,230
And secondly,

1002
00:29:37,230 --> 00:29:38,280
I don't want to grow out of it.

1003
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:38,520
You know?

1004
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:42,370
Like it was seen as insane as the poor cousin initially

1005
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:43,300
of photography.

1006
00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:45,640
Like you only do this if you rubbish at everything else.

1007
00:29:46,150 --> 00:29:46,600
And for me,

1008
00:29:47,180 --> 00:29:49,450
I, I believe that was kind of true for me.

1009
00:29:49,450 --> 00:29:49,840
I didn't,

1010
00:29:49,900 --> 00:29:52,120
I didn't want to do everything else and because I wasn't

1011
00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:52,900
giving an attention,

1012
00:29:52,900 --> 00:29:54,130
I never grew in those areas.

1013
00:29:54,130 --> 00:29:54,280
You know,

1014
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,440
I didn't want to photograph so.

1015
00:29:56,740 --> 00:29:57,760
And I think now,

1016
00:29:57,790 --> 00:29:59,650
now I always kind of smile because now,

1017
00:29:59,890 --> 00:30:00,070
you know,

1018
00:30:00,070 --> 00:30:00,610
if there's a,

1019
00:30:00,750 --> 00:30:02,140
a speaking event or,

1020
00:30:02,140 --> 00:30:02,480
you know,

1021
00:30:02,710 --> 00:30:05,560
even even a random conference of photography,

1022
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:06,130
not about pets,

1023
00:30:06,130 --> 00:30:07,480
there's usually a pet presenter.

1024
00:30:07,690 --> 00:30:07,840
You know,

1025
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,960
there's an animal component in the pet presenter and it's not,

1026
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:12,670
we're not the poor cousins anymore.

1027
00:30:12,670 --> 00:30:13,480
We're not seen as that.

1028
00:30:13,810 --> 00:30:16,510
Now a lot of existing photographers are trying to get into

1029
00:30:16,510 --> 00:30:17,890
the pit area.

1030
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:18,190
You know,

1031
00:30:18,190 --> 00:30:19,360
they're trying to switch because like,

1032
00:30:19,390 --> 00:30:21,520
well actually I really like animals and you know,

1033
00:30:21,580 --> 00:30:23,920
maybe that's better than photographing people and they're trying to make

1034
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:24,280
the jump.

1035
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:25,270
So I love that.

1036
00:30:25,270 --> 00:30:27,220
And I think we're all responsible for that.

1037
00:30:27,220 --> 00:30:28,990
Our whole industry is responsible for that.

1038
00:30:28,990 --> 00:30:29,500
Like you're saying,

1039
00:30:29,530 --> 00:30:30,340
getting the word out,

1040
00:30:30,820 --> 00:30:31,870
proving it can be done.

1041
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:32,560
You know,

1042
00:30:32,620 --> 00:30:34,300
the, the point is of it that did it.

1043
00:30:34,300 --> 00:30:35,230
And you know,

1044
00:30:35,710 --> 00:30:37,240
and the people that have been doing it for years,

1045
00:30:37,290 --> 00:30:38,020
measuring those people,

1046
00:30:38,020 --> 00:30:38,830
using film,

1047
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:39,490
you know,

1048
00:30:39,670 --> 00:30:40,210
even 20,

1049
00:30:40,210 --> 00:30:41,530
30 years ago that are still shooting.

1050
00:30:41,530 --> 00:30:43,690
Now they had to go through that for years.

1051
00:30:43,690 --> 00:30:44,830
People, you know,

1052
00:30:44,830 --> 00:30:45,970
not only the film issues,

1053
00:30:45,970 --> 00:30:47,920
but people probably saying to them for years,

1054
00:30:48,140 --> 00:30:48,790
what are you doing?

1055
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:50,110
Why are you doing that?

1056
00:30:50,740 --> 00:30:51,340
But yeah,

1057
00:30:51,340 --> 00:30:51,880
they're still here.

1058
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:52,900
They're still sustaining.

1059
00:30:52,990 --> 00:30:53,590
And you know,

1060
00:30:53,590 --> 00:30:54,340
so it's yeah,

1061
00:30:54,350 --> 00:30:56,050
who's the smartest one in the room as far as all

1062
00:30:56,050 --> 00:30:56,500
that goes.

1063
00:30:57,310 --> 00:30:58,360
Yeah, Yeah,

1064
00:30:58,390 --> 00:30:59,290
yeah. You know,

1065
00:30:59,290 --> 00:31:00,280
and I think too,

1066
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,970
another parallel we can draw between talking about when they were

1067
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,520
back, like 15 years ago when we were making that transition

1068
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,270
from film to digital and all of those older film photographers

1069
00:31:10,270 --> 00:31:12,280
that were so protective of anyone new coming in,

1070
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:17,530
the industry that that's going to continue happening from here onto

1071
00:31:17,530 --> 00:31:19,360
forever with the growth of technology.

1072
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:19,630
I mean,

1073
00:31:19,630 --> 00:31:20,620
I see it happening now.

1074
00:31:20,620 --> 00:31:23,590
I just saw a Facebook ad the other day for some

1075
00:31:23,620 --> 00:31:25,660
company. I don't know if it's nationwide or what,

1076
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,810
but it's like free family shoot and digital images for 15

1077
00:31:28,810 --> 00:31:31,180
minutes and they just pair you up with some random photographer.

1078
00:31:31,180 --> 00:31:32,050
You don't get to choose,

1079
00:31:32,050 --> 00:31:32,710
they show up.

1080
00:31:33,130 --> 00:31:34,210
And you know,

1081
00:31:34,210 --> 00:31:36,400
so I think a lot of people just like freak out

1082
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,410
about that or freak out about like,

1083
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:38,980
oh man,

1084
00:31:38,980 --> 00:31:40,900
there's portrait mode on my iPhone now,

1085
00:31:41,410 --> 00:31:44,590
but it's going to always continue to evolve.

1086
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,040
And if we can still continue to evolve and create this

1087
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,320
beautiful customer service and,

1088
00:31:50,350 --> 00:31:50,650
you know,

1089
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:52,300
create this beautiful artwork,

1090
00:31:53,110 --> 00:31:55,600
like even with the best technology,

1091
00:31:55,930 --> 00:31:59,650
you're not going to be able to get the expression and

1092
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:04,660
create these images that we capture of these dogs or remove

1093
00:32:04,660 --> 00:32:08,800
leashes or like put merge images together to get a great

1094
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:09,810
group shot of somebody,

1095
00:32:09,860 --> 00:32:10,690
three dogs,

1096
00:32:11,140 --> 00:32:11,380
you know?

1097
00:32:11,380 --> 00:32:15,220
So I think a lot of people get really hung up

1098
00:32:15,250 --> 00:32:16,540
on any and I mean,

1099
00:32:16,540 --> 00:32:17,320
it's just human nature.

1100
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:19,480
Right. We get hung up on any change because we're scared

1101
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:20,020
of the change.

1102
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:20,770
That's unconscious.

1103
00:32:20,770 --> 00:32:21,070
It's like,

1104
00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:21,580
oh my God,

1105
00:32:21,580 --> 00:32:23,560
I'm going to starve and get eaten by a bear,

1106
00:32:24,190 --> 00:32:26,260
but it's just changed.

1107
00:32:26,260 --> 00:32:27,040
So it just adapt.

1108
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:28,660
So anyway,

1109
00:32:29,260 --> 00:32:31,360
yeah. It's curious to see where,

1110
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,780
where this all goes over the next 10 years.

1111
00:32:35,020 --> 00:32:36,460
I would love to know kind of what,

1112
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,220
what you think the evolution or kind of what 10 years

1113
00:32:40,220 --> 00:32:40,520
from now,

1114
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:42,440
like 20,

1115
00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:43,100
30, 10 done.

1116
00:32:43,100 --> 00:32:43,880
It's been by then.

1117
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,370
There's no new ones,

1118
00:32:46,370 --> 00:32:47,330
but you know,

1119
00:32:47,330 --> 00:32:48,260
what do you think is in store for the,

1120
00:32:48,980 --> 00:32:49,250
Oh wow.

1121
00:32:49,250 --> 00:32:50,300
That's a great question.

1122
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:52,250
And it's interesting too,

1123
00:32:52,250 --> 00:32:54,950
because I don't feel threatened by tech technology either and yeah.

1124
00:32:54,980 --> 00:32:56,120
Portrait mode on the phone.

1125
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:56,660
It's great.

1126
00:32:56,660 --> 00:32:57,890
But it's a bit rubbish as well.

1127
00:32:57,950 --> 00:32:58,370
You know,

1128
00:32:59,510 --> 00:33:01,460
You can see like where it's like,

1129
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:02,720
it's like the zoom background,

1130
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:05,750
The black background interpretation,

1131
00:33:05,750 --> 00:33:07,670
unless you're shooting in front of a white well with good

1132
00:33:07,670 --> 00:33:08,270
lighting and you know,

1133
00:33:08,300 --> 00:33:09,710
it's going to be a bit trash.

1134
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:10,790
No offense to,

1135
00:33:11,630 --> 00:33:12,380
but yeah,

1136
00:33:12,380 --> 00:33:13,760
I think it's a really interesting question.

1137
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:14,840
I, I also,

1138
00:33:15,410 --> 00:33:17,090
I think clients was because,

1139
00:33:17,090 --> 00:33:17,480
you know,

1140
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:19,280
a market can become flooded,

1141
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:20,000
but yeah,

1142
00:33:20,030 --> 00:33:25,640
literally every household in certainly Western countries has a pet.

1143
00:33:25,670 --> 00:33:26,270
And if they're tight,

1144
00:33:26,270 --> 00:33:27,170
they know someone who does.

1145
00:33:27,170 --> 00:33:29,150
So it's not like we're going to run out of subjects.

1146
00:33:29,150 --> 00:33:29,450
You know,

1147
00:33:30,110 --> 00:33:33,380
this year we went from a two to three per household

1148
00:33:33,380 --> 00:33:34,550
to now we've got four pets.

1149
00:33:34,550 --> 00:33:35,420
And how did that happen?

1150
00:33:35,420 --> 00:33:35,690
You know,

1151
00:33:35,780 --> 00:33:38,420
when are we meant to have one multiplying?

1152
00:33:38,420 --> 00:33:39,500
So everyone's got a feed.

1153
00:33:39,710 --> 00:33:40,760
A lot of people have a few pets.

1154
00:33:41,090 --> 00:33:43,820
So I think there's certainly enough subject matter out there.

1155
00:33:44,270 --> 00:33:46,100
I think as the market becomes more flooded,

1156
00:33:46,100 --> 00:33:48,050
we may all have to push a bit harder and deeper

1157
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,020
to find out our ideal clients amongst it.

1158
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:53,240
But clients too,

1159
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:54,170
aren't just picking,

1160
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:54,950
looking at the photos.

1161
00:33:54,950 --> 00:33:56,990
There are some amazing photographers in the world,

1162
00:33:56,990 --> 00:33:59,390
but they have zero clients because they don't know how to

1163
00:33:59,390 --> 00:34:01,880
push out in the market and reach them and get that

1164
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:02,840
work in front of people.

1165
00:34:02,870 --> 00:34:03,770
And they're held talented,

1166
00:34:03,770 --> 00:34:04,550
like way,

1167
00:34:04,550 --> 00:34:05,150
way, talented,

1168
00:34:05,150 --> 00:34:05,990
beyond anything I could do,

1169
00:34:05,990 --> 00:34:08,540
like incredible artists and stuff like that with that camera.

1170
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,820
So I think we will have to probably push harder,

1171
00:34:11,180 --> 00:34:12,890
but also clients are choosing us.

1172
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,270
They're not just choosing the images.

1173
00:34:14,270 --> 00:34:14,420
You know,

1174
00:34:14,420 --> 00:34:16,010
they're choosing are us.

1175
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,350
If, if I'm at an event and I'm talking to someone

1176
00:34:18,530 --> 00:34:19,340
and they like me,

1177
00:34:19,340 --> 00:34:21,500
they're more inclined to gravitate towards what I'm doing.

1178
00:34:21,890 --> 00:34:25,970
So I think people need really good business practices.

1179
00:34:25,970 --> 00:34:27,260
You have to have an ethical,

1180
00:34:27,260 --> 00:34:29,210
credible, reliable business.

1181
00:34:29,210 --> 00:34:31,100
You have to be consistent in the way you run it.

1182
00:34:31,460 --> 00:34:32,600
You bring the clients in,

1183
00:34:32,660 --> 00:34:33,770
run them through your system.

1184
00:34:34,100 --> 00:34:36,440
They pay you cause they're ecstatic and they leave happy.

1185
00:34:36,470 --> 00:34:37,730
That's the transaction.

1186
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:38,750
I guess that's what I call it.

1187
00:34:38,750 --> 00:34:41,090
That that is the whole focus of the business process,

1188
00:34:41,090 --> 00:34:41,300
you know,

1189
00:34:41,660 --> 00:34:42,530
and then rinse and repeat.

1190
00:34:42,540 --> 00:34:43,730
They come back again and hopefully,

1191
00:34:43,730 --> 00:34:45,860
and new people come in and you do the whole thing.

1192
00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:48,260
I think that might have to really be honed.

1193
00:34:48,650 --> 00:34:49,550
And yeah,

1194
00:34:49,660 --> 00:34:49,840
you know,

1195
00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,940
it's about customer service and how far you go for customers

1196
00:34:52,940 --> 00:34:54,020
that also distinguishes,

1197
00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:55,460
distinguishes us from each other.

1198
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:58,670
So the businesses that do have the best systems,

1199
00:34:58,850 --> 00:34:59,900
great customer service,

1200
00:34:59,900 --> 00:35:01,670
very customer focused principles,

1201
00:35:01,910 --> 00:35:04,760
good product for good money and you know,

1202
00:35:05,060 --> 00:35:07,760
can adapt and change and maybe their style attack,

1203
00:35:07,820 --> 00:35:09,740
adapts and changes with what clients want to.

1204
00:35:09,740 --> 00:35:11,780
Cause I think you have to kind of also pay attention

1205
00:35:12,020 --> 00:35:13,040
to what your market's doing.

1206
00:35:13,460 --> 00:35:14,660
They're the ones that will survive.

1207
00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:14,900
You know,

1208
00:35:14,900 --> 00:35:16,220
that cream rises to the top,

1209
00:35:16,430 --> 00:35:17,870
but there's a lot of room at the top.

1210
00:35:17,900 --> 00:35:18,170
You know,

1211
00:35:18,170 --> 00:35:18,980
I do believe that too.

1212
00:35:18,980 --> 00:35:19,940
There's a lot of pets.

1213
00:35:20,450 --> 00:35:21,590
So interestingly,

1214
00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,800
I, I watch entire markets.

1215
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:26,990
So cause it's like really boring,

1216
00:35:26,990 --> 00:35:29,150
fun. I like to watch entire global market.

1217
00:35:29,150 --> 00:35:34,220
So when the first global recession happened in 2009,

1218
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,620
the two areas that grew the most globally in the world,

1219
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:38,700
we're entertainment,

1220
00:35:38,700 --> 00:35:41,250
spending on entertainment and spending on pets.

1221
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:43,170
So there's a recession globally,

1222
00:35:43,170 --> 00:35:45,090
but everyone bought stuff for their pets.

1223
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,430
And they went to the movies and the theater and out

1224
00:35:47,430 --> 00:35:50,850
for dinner to restaurants because it made them feel good because

1225
00:35:50,850 --> 00:35:51,060
you know,

1226
00:35:51,060 --> 00:35:51,590
they were losing,

1227
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:52,650
they had some,

1228
00:35:53,250 --> 00:35:53,430
you know,

1229
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:54,420
a little bit of income.

1230
00:35:54,420 --> 00:35:54,870
They did have,

1231
00:35:54,870 --> 00:35:56,070
that's what they're using it for.

1232
00:35:56,580 --> 00:35:57,660
And even now in the,

1233
00:35:57,660 --> 00:36:01,500
in with Corona and the lockdowns and all the global turmoil,

1234
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:01,800
I mean,

1235
00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:04,260
this is a really unprecedented time to be alive.

1236
00:36:04,260 --> 00:36:06,450
It's horrifying and fascinating.

1237
00:36:06,450 --> 00:36:07,140
At the same time,

1238
00:36:07,770 --> 00:36:08,220
I looked at,

1239
00:36:08,250 --> 00:36:09,960
look at the markets and in Australia,

1240
00:36:09,990 --> 00:36:12,030
embarrassingly, initially when we were locked down,

1241
00:36:12,090 --> 00:36:14,520
our highest spending was in gambling and alcohol.

1242
00:36:15,810 --> 00:36:17,970
And then the next ones were like,

1243
00:36:18,150 --> 00:36:18,480
you know,

1244
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:19,440
Uber eats.

1245
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,450
So getting food delivered and there were,

1246
00:36:21,700 --> 00:36:22,800
and pets,

1247
00:36:22,830 --> 00:36:23,640
pets was in there too.

1248
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:26,520
And streaming services online were really high,

1249
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:32,070
whereas taxis and rideshare services and things like that were low

1250
00:36:32,070 --> 00:36:34,200
because, and cinema attendance and stuff was low.

1251
00:36:34,590 --> 00:36:38,040
So even in this current coronavirus pandemic,

1252
00:36:38,250 --> 00:36:40,230
the spending on pets has still increased.

1253
00:36:40,230 --> 00:36:42,600
And I think during that 10 week lockdown,

1254
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:43,920
I went crazy with the credit card.

1255
00:36:43,980 --> 00:36:45,540
My dog's got 14 beds.

1256
00:36:45,780 --> 00:36:46,770
She's only waistline.

1257
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,440
She's half a pound,

1258
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:51,870
A new bed for every room.

1259
00:36:53,220 --> 00:36:53,760
Pretty much.

1260
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:55,530
I was getting them a bed for every week,

1261
00:36:55,530 --> 00:36:57,840
a lockdown plus four bonus ones because they are really good

1262
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,560
company, but that's the thing like I wasn't working during that

1263
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,590
time in my studio yet I got the credit card out

1264
00:37:04,590 --> 00:37:05,700
and I was buying all these dock beds.

1265
00:37:05,700 --> 00:37:06,690
So our,

1266
00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:10,110
we have a market that people love spending on their pets

1267
00:37:10,110 --> 00:37:13,020
because their pets make them feel good and buying them things

1268
00:37:13,020 --> 00:37:15,150
and having portraits of them makes them feel good.

1269
00:37:15,510 --> 00:37:17,640
And when you're locked down or there's,

1270
00:37:17,670 --> 00:37:18,000
you know,

1271
00:37:18,090 --> 00:37:19,230
threats and stressors,

1272
00:37:19,260 --> 00:37:20,730
we'd go to our pets for that comfort.

1273
00:37:20,730 --> 00:37:23,910
And so I think there's still a massive market untapped market,

1274
00:37:23,910 --> 00:37:27,180
probably even for us to get out there and do pet

1275
00:37:27,180 --> 00:37:28,860
treats and get paid really,

1276
00:37:28,860 --> 00:37:29,280
really well.

1277
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:30,930
There's lots of room and there's lots of money to be

1278
00:37:30,930 --> 00:37:34,530
had. I would say the one place that has never crowded

1279
00:37:34,530 --> 00:37:38,640
is the place of running an exceptional business and giving great

1280
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:42,270
customer service and a great experience and excellent quality.

1281
00:37:42,690 --> 00:37:46,620
Like there is always room for that in any market at

1282
00:37:46,620 --> 00:37:48,210
that higher level of service,

1283
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:48,720
you know,

1284
00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:49,470
of course there's,

1285
00:37:49,470 --> 00:37:49,650
you know,

1286
00:37:49,650 --> 00:37:50,220
people get,

1287
00:37:50,220 --> 00:37:52,410
I think so concerned about the,

1288
00:37:52,410 --> 00:37:52,710
you know,

1289
00:37:52,710 --> 00:37:55,320
the shooting burners in that lower end of the market there's

1290
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:56,280
room for that too,

1291
00:37:56,370 --> 00:37:56,670
you know,

1292
00:37:56,670 --> 00:37:57,780
like just,

1293
00:37:57,830 --> 00:37:58,890
just stay in your lane,

1294
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,950
build the business in a way that you need to build

1295
00:38:01,950 --> 00:38:03,180
it to be profitable.

1296
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:05,940
And for it to support the life you want to live,

1297
00:38:06,270 --> 00:38:07,320
whatever that looks like,

1298
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:09,690
whether you're shooting like more volume,

1299
00:38:09,690 --> 00:38:11,190
whether you're shooting like,

1300
00:38:11,250 --> 00:38:11,730
you know,

1301
00:38:12,090 --> 00:38:14,970
super boutique style and 50 clients a year,

1302
00:38:15,510 --> 00:38:16,140
it doesn't matter.

1303
00:38:16,170 --> 00:38:19,950
Whatever works for however you want to build your business and

1304
00:38:19,950 --> 00:38:24,570
then always producing that excellent work and that excellent business sense.

1305
00:38:24,750 --> 00:38:25,800
There's always going to be room.

1306
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,100
Definitely. And I think we can spend so much time looking

1307
00:38:29,100 --> 00:38:30,930
at competitors that you,

1308
00:38:31,020 --> 00:38:33,420
it stops us having fresh and unique ideas as well.

1309
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,670
So I don't think I've looked at,

1310
00:38:36,790 --> 00:38:37,330
in my city.

1311
00:38:37,330 --> 00:38:37,690
I have a,

1312
00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:41,440
I have a pet photographer is a people portrait photographer,

1313
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:42,760
but they do pets in a studio,

1314
00:38:43,150 --> 00:38:44,710
a hundred yards from my office,

1315
00:38:44,710 --> 00:38:45,460
from my studio.

1316
00:38:45,970 --> 00:38:46,660
I don't care.

1317
00:38:46,870 --> 00:38:48,460
I don't actually do competition.

1318
00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:49,030
And by that,

1319
00:38:49,030 --> 00:38:49,330
I mean,

1320
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:49,810
I don't,

1321
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:51,220
I'm not interested in competing.

1322
00:38:51,310 --> 00:38:53,470
You just said it just do you stick to your lane.

1323
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:55,570
And I find,

1324
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:56,590
we can look at,

1325
00:38:56,650 --> 00:38:57,430
if you look at them,

1326
00:38:57,430 --> 00:38:57,760
you go,

1327
00:38:57,820 --> 00:38:58,330
oh no,

1328
00:38:58,780 --> 00:39:00,160
so-and-so is doing a calendar.

1329
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:01,240
I should do a calendar.

1330
00:39:01,510 --> 00:39:03,040
I'll know they're doing Christmas minis.

1331
00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:04,240
I should do Christmas minis.

1332
00:39:04,270 --> 00:39:04,690
Oh, I know,

1333
00:39:04,900 --> 00:39:05,410
you know what?

1334
00:39:05,410 --> 00:39:06,190
You should just do.

1335
00:39:06,220 --> 00:39:06,610
You should,

1336
00:39:06,670 --> 00:39:09,460
firstly, make sure your core customer clients,

1337
00:39:09,460 --> 00:39:12,430
your day-to-day pet shoots are being serviced properly.

1338
00:39:12,790 --> 00:39:13,180
You know,

1339
00:39:13,890 --> 00:39:16,000
and I'm kind of grateful that really early on,

1340
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,240
regardless of books and awards and you know,

1341
00:39:19,810 --> 00:39:22,150
all the other things that have come amazing opportunities that have

1342
00:39:22,150 --> 00:39:23,140
come from my business,

1343
00:39:23,650 --> 00:39:25,150
I learned that that's all great,

1344
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:25,750
you know,

1345
00:39:25,750 --> 00:39:26,590
going on TV,

1346
00:39:26,620 --> 00:39:28,570
getting a metals from the government for charity stuff,

1347
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:28,930
all that,

1348
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,120
all that beautiful things that have been bought in.

1349
00:39:31,510 --> 00:39:33,850
If I didn't look after my core customer client,

1350
00:39:34,270 --> 00:39:36,580
just that person that's coming with their pet for that shoot.

1351
00:39:37,180 --> 00:39:38,770
There aren't any photos for books,

1352
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:39,730
photos for awards,

1353
00:39:39,730 --> 00:39:41,080
photos to talk about on TV.

1354
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:42,400
There's no photos for charity.

1355
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:43,300
There's no one cares.

1356
00:39:43,300 --> 00:39:44,020
There's no business.

1357
00:39:44,020 --> 00:39:47,830
The house of cards comes down and it kept me grounded

1358
00:39:48,130 --> 00:39:49,590
because when you photograph animals too,

1359
00:39:49,590 --> 00:39:50,560
you do have people,

1360
00:39:50,890 --> 00:39:52,000
animal people love you.

1361
00:39:52,060 --> 00:39:52,480
And they're like,

1362
00:39:52,510 --> 00:39:53,410
wow, you're amazing.

1363
00:39:53,410 --> 00:39:54,850
Cause you take great photos and look,

1364
00:39:55,090 --> 00:39:56,590
I don't know if that necessarily goes hand in hand.

1365
00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:57,910
Sometimes I'm not amazing,

1366
00:39:57,910 --> 00:39:58,480
but you know,

1367
00:39:58,480 --> 00:39:59,320
they think you're a moon,

1368
00:39:59,320 --> 00:39:59,860
love animals.

1369
00:39:59,860 --> 00:40:00,790
I love animals.

1370
00:40:00,850 --> 00:40:02,470
We're kindred spirits and you're amazing.

1371
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:04,210
And you can really get caught up in that.

1372
00:40:04,210 --> 00:40:04,570
And I'm like,

1373
00:40:04,750 --> 00:40:05,260
that's great,

1374
00:40:05,260 --> 00:40:07,450
but I've got to make sure my orders are done on

1375
00:40:07,450 --> 00:40:10,180
time and I'm still running my business because if I don't,

1376
00:40:10,450 --> 00:40:10,660
you know,

1377
00:40:10,660 --> 00:40:14,020
there's none of that stuff comes and I think we can

1378
00:40:14,020 --> 00:40:16,540
get so hung up on what everyone else is doing.

1379
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:18,160
That we lose sight.

1380
00:40:18,190 --> 00:40:20,800
We don't focus our energies into our own business,

1381
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:22,510
which is absolutely where it should go.

1382
00:40:22,990 --> 00:40:24,340
And to be honest,

1383
00:40:24,340 --> 00:40:27,130
we need competitors in a way to keep us the stock

1384
00:40:27,130 --> 00:40:27,940
has been lazy.

1385
00:40:28,690 --> 00:40:31,090
Oh, I wouldn't even try if I didn't have competition because

1386
00:40:31,090 --> 00:40:33,640
why would I all the businesses mine and imagine my rubbish

1387
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:34,540
service I would deliver.

1388
00:40:34,570 --> 00:40:34,990
I wouldn't.

1389
00:40:34,990 --> 00:40:38,410
But for the example we know keeps us,

1390
00:40:38,410 --> 00:40:38,770
you know,

1391
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:40,990
well we have to push because if we don't,

1392
00:40:40,990 --> 00:40:43,780
someone else is going to take that there are clients standing

1393
00:40:43,780 --> 00:40:45,820
there with money in their hands going who wants all of

1394
00:40:45,820 --> 00:40:47,290
this? And if we don't go,

1395
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:48,560
oh, I'll have it for these meetings.

1396
00:40:48,590 --> 00:40:49,780
I'll do the pet photos for that.

1397
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:51,130
Someone else is going to get it.

1398
00:40:51,610 --> 00:40:52,180
And I,

1399
00:40:52,630 --> 00:40:53,770
that to me is motivation.

1400
00:40:53,770 --> 00:40:54,910
It's not even competition.

1401
00:40:55,150 --> 00:40:55,870
It's motivation.

1402
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:57,610
And so I don't compete.

1403
00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:00,730
I guess I'm just really motivated to keep going out there

1404
00:41:00,730 --> 00:41:02,350
and trying to be the one that takes that money that

1405
00:41:02,350 --> 00:41:04,810
those clients have got in their hot little hands.

1406
00:41:04,900 --> 00:41:07,750
Yeah. I love all you were saying too about,

1407
00:41:07,750 --> 00:41:07,990
you know,

1408
00:41:07,990 --> 00:41:11,590
not focusing on the competition because then if you do see,

1409
00:41:11,620 --> 00:41:12,790
oh, so-and-so is doing this,

1410
00:41:12,790 --> 00:41:13,390
I should do that.

1411
00:41:13,390 --> 00:41:14,170
I should do that.

1412
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:16,930
Then you're just working from this reactive place.

1413
00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:20,500
And I think one thing that more people need to do

1414
00:41:20,770 --> 00:41:21,280
and you know,

1415
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,050
I even read three reminded to do it every now and

1416
00:41:23,050 --> 00:41:25,930
again in work and personal life is to sit down and

1417
00:41:25,930 --> 00:41:26,950
actually ask myself,

1418
00:41:26,950 --> 00:41:27,700
what do I want?

1419
00:41:28,150 --> 00:41:31,000
Like, what do I actually want my business to look like?

1420
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:32,950
What do I actually want my life to look?

1421
00:41:33,740 --> 00:41:33,980
You know,

1422
00:41:33,980 --> 00:41:40,100
because it's so easy to just get pushed around with whatever's

1423
00:41:40,100 --> 00:41:44,120
happening. All these external influences being super reactive.

1424
00:41:44,510 --> 00:41:45,650
And then all of a sudden you're like,

1425
00:41:45,650 --> 00:41:46,760
wait, how did I,

1426
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:47,600
how did I get here?

1427
00:41:47,990 --> 00:41:50,390
This is not what I was planning.

1428
00:41:52,250 --> 00:41:54,410
Yeah. But I think a lot of people just never really

1429
00:41:54,410 --> 00:41:55,010
take the time.

1430
00:41:55,010 --> 00:41:56,810
Cause you can ask almost anyone like,

1431
00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:58,010
Hey, what do you really want in life?

1432
00:41:58,340 --> 00:41:59,360
And nine times out of 10,

1433
00:41:59,360 --> 00:41:59,870
they'll be like,

1434
00:42:01,390 --> 00:42:02,150
I, I don't,

1435
00:42:02,270 --> 00:42:02,870
I don't know.

1436
00:42:04,790 --> 00:42:05,300
You know?

1437
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:07,340
And, and the easiest way,

1438
00:42:07,340 --> 00:42:09,020
like if somebody is stumped and they're like,

1439
00:42:09,020 --> 00:42:10,640
well, I never really asked myself that question.

1440
00:42:10,670 --> 00:42:11,000
Oh my God,

1441
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:11,810
what do I want?

1442
00:42:12,140 --> 00:42:12,560
I mean,

1443
00:42:12,710 --> 00:42:14,000
the contrast is great.

1444
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,370
Cause you can ask yourself what you don't want and then,

1445
00:42:16,910 --> 00:42:18,710
okay. Then you starts to get clear on what you do

1446
00:42:18,710 --> 00:42:20,390
want. So yeah.

1447
00:42:20,780 --> 00:42:22,610
All such good stuff.

1448
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:23,690
I do want to talk though,

1449
00:42:23,690 --> 00:42:26,660
before we go a little bit about conservation stuff,

1450
00:42:26,690 --> 00:42:28,460
because it's close to your heart.

1451
00:42:28,460 --> 00:42:29,330
It's close to my heart.

1452
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:31,820
I spent the first 13 years of my career as a

1453
00:42:31,820 --> 00:42:32,990
zoological animal trainer.

1454
00:42:32,990 --> 00:42:34,850
So working with all these amazing animals,

1455
00:42:35,030 --> 00:42:36,590
my love for the natural world goes deep.

1456
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:38,450
And you know,

1457
00:42:38,450 --> 00:42:41,360
then I had this random epiphany at the beginning of the

1458
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:44,150
year, kind of like a download from the universe of,

1459
00:42:44,300 --> 00:42:45,020
oh my gosh,

1460
00:42:45,230 --> 00:42:47,660
I have this platform of dog loving photographers.

1461
00:42:47,660 --> 00:42:50,810
I have this connections from like the zoo conservation world need

1462
00:42:50,820 --> 00:42:52,580
to make a foundation and bring that all together.

1463
00:42:52,970 --> 00:42:57,050
So super excited for that with the conservation fund and the

1464
00:42:57,050 --> 00:42:58,660
summit, we'll talk about in a second,

1465
00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:01,070
getting it's benefiting the conservation fund,

1466
00:43:01,340 --> 00:43:04,580
but I would love to know more about like the conservation

1467
00:43:04,580 --> 00:43:05,420
work that you do.

1468
00:43:05,420 --> 00:43:10,760
And especially from the aspect of what If you're a pet

1469
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,730
photographer, ready to make more money and start living a life

1470
00:43:13,730 --> 00:43:14,510
by your design,

1471
00:43:14,510 --> 00:43:17,450
you've come to the right place.

1472
00:43:17,870 --> 00:43:18,650
And now your host,

1473
00:43:18,650 --> 00:43:19,700
pet photographer,

1474
00:43:19,700 --> 00:43:20,300
travel addict,

1475
00:43:20,300 --> 00:43:20,870
chocolate martini connoisseur,

1476
00:43:20,870 --> 00:43:21,560
Nicole Begleyphotographers can do,

1477
00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:23,310
if they have a cause that's close to their heart,

1478
00:43:23,130 --> 00:43:23,310
like we have this special power of creating stories and images.

1479
00:43:23,130 --> 00:43:23,310
So how can they like start to utilize that?

1480
00:43:23,130 --> 00:43:23,310
Or what are their first steps maybe to take.

1481
00:43:23,130 --> 00:43:23,550
Yeah, sure.

1482
00:43:23,580 --> 00:43:24,870
And congratulations on this,

1483
00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:26,190
on the foundation.

1484
00:43:26,250 --> 00:43:27,960
It's awesome.

1485
00:43:27,990 --> 00:43:28,740
It's amazing.

1486
00:43:28,740 --> 00:43:29,220
And it's,

1487
00:43:29,700 --> 00:43:30,810
it's a legacy thing,

1488
00:43:30,810 --> 00:43:31,230
you know what I mean?

1489
00:43:31,230 --> 00:43:32,070
Like it's just beautiful.

1490
00:43:32,070 --> 00:43:33,600
So I got goosebumps when you said that,

1491
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,480
cause it's just really cool and it will,

1492
00:43:36,540 --> 00:43:38,580
and it will change and it will change animals lives to

1493
00:43:38,580 --> 00:43:39,720
directly, which is incredible.

1494
00:43:40,170 --> 00:43:41,970
And you're right.

1495
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:47,010
We, photography photographs are very powerful media and it's a really

1496
00:43:47,010 --> 00:43:48,300
image centric world out there.

1497
00:43:48,300 --> 00:43:51,360
We only have to go on Facebook to be bombarded with

1498
00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:54,780
photos and ads and everywhere you look there's pictures and colors

1499
00:43:54,780 --> 00:43:56,970
and things vying for our attention.

1500
00:43:57,330 --> 00:43:59,580
If we can push out our images,

1501
00:43:59,580 --> 00:43:59,850
you know,

1502
00:43:59,910 --> 00:44:02,220
the best images get the best notice so we can push

1503
00:44:02,220 --> 00:44:04,590
our photographs out in that clutter for say,

1504
00:44:04,590 --> 00:44:08,280
rescue organization could be dog rescue or a wildlife rescue.

1505
00:44:08,670 --> 00:44:12,030
Then the right image seen by the right person at the

1506
00:44:12,030 --> 00:44:12,810
right time.

1507
00:44:12,900 --> 00:44:15,660
It can cause a donation to be made.

1508
00:44:15,660 --> 00:44:16,200
It can,

1509
00:44:16,290 --> 00:44:16,680
you know,

1510
00:44:16,740 --> 00:44:17,670
engage people.

1511
00:44:17,670 --> 00:44:18,660
It can educate,

1512
00:44:18,900 --> 00:44:20,130
it can create change.

1513
00:44:20,130 --> 00:44:21,600
It can create conversation.

1514
00:44:22,090 --> 00:44:26,280
It's really powerful media and use the right way.

1515
00:44:26,310 --> 00:44:27,360
It can have great impact.

1516
00:44:27,370 --> 00:44:30,840
So I see my role as with rescues to support promote

1517
00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:32,850
and what they do and to help raise funds.

1518
00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:35,340
So I do a number of different things.

1519
00:44:35,340 --> 00:44:38,550
I don't actually do day to day adoption photos or rescues.

1520
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,660
Yeah, my name because I see a lot of photographers doing

1521
00:44:42,660 --> 00:44:43,350
that. And it's,

1522
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:45,750
it's fantastic as a service like,

1523
00:44:45,780 --> 00:44:45,990
you know,

1524
00:44:45,990 --> 00:44:48,480
there are there people that depend on this great as a

1525
00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:50,160
service, they need adoption photos.

1526
00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:51,300
But as a business,

1527
00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:53,610
I want to do higher level project stuff.

1528
00:44:54,060 --> 00:44:55,590
Not even high level is probably not the right word,

1529
00:44:55,590 --> 00:44:57,270
cause it's really important to get animals adopted,

1530
00:44:57,540 --> 00:45:00,510
but I want to do exhibitions and project work where I

1531
00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:03,420
can really bring in large sums of money or get,

1532
00:45:03,540 --> 00:45:03,780
you know,

1533
00:45:03,810 --> 00:45:04,860
get them in the media,

1534
00:45:04,860 --> 00:45:05,760
get them on TV.

1535
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:07,500
And when I worked with the rescues,

1536
00:45:07,500 --> 00:45:08,490
I'm the platform,

1537
00:45:09,270 --> 00:45:09,630
you know,

1538
00:45:09,690 --> 00:45:10,650
I'm not the story,

1539
00:45:11,010 --> 00:45:11,880
I'm just the conduit.

1540
00:45:12,150 --> 00:45:13,980
So I have great relationships with the media.

1541
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:16,050
So if I get a really cool story,

1542
00:45:16,050 --> 00:45:17,310
I went with like a rescue there,

1543
00:45:17,340 --> 00:45:18,030
cleft palate,

1544
00:45:18,060 --> 00:45:19,200
puppy rescue group,

1545
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:23,220
two of my dogs are from I'm escalating in my adoption

1546
00:45:23,220 --> 00:45:23,880
of the cleft palate,

1547
00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:25,080
puppy rescue dogs,

1548
00:45:28,110 --> 00:45:28,830
getting picked,

1549
00:45:28,830 --> 00:45:33,960
taking their house puppies from the cleft palate puppy.

1550
00:45:34,830 --> 00:45:37,800
But I take on day old puppies that have cleft palates

1551
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:38,580
and cleft lips.

1552
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,810
And they cheap feed them every day for about six weeks.

1553
00:45:42,810 --> 00:45:45,180
And then they have surgery on their clefts at three months

1554
00:45:45,180 --> 00:45:48,570
old. There's been this amazing pioneer technique and in the puppies

1555
00:45:48,570 --> 00:45:50,040
are adopted out and they live happy,

1556
00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:50,580
healthy lives,

1557
00:45:50,610 --> 00:45:52,800
generally, most of them and make it through.

1558
00:45:53,430 --> 00:45:54,210
They're just remarkable.

1559
00:45:54,210 --> 00:45:56,670
It really small team of dedicated people yet,

1560
00:45:57,090 --> 00:45:57,330
you know,

1561
00:45:57,360 --> 00:45:58,080
they need funds,

1562
00:45:58,080 --> 00:45:59,250
they need their profile,

1563
00:45:59,250 --> 00:46:00,270
help raising the profile.

1564
00:46:00,270 --> 00:46:01,530
They need help to get the word out.

1565
00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:02,760
They need pictures of the puppies.

1566
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:03,450
And so,

1567
00:46:03,450 --> 00:46:03,690
you know,

1568
00:46:03,720 --> 00:46:07,170
I shoot for them and we have done calendar projects and

1569
00:46:07,500 --> 00:46:09,180
we do photos for their,

1570
00:46:09,180 --> 00:46:09,600
you know,

1571
00:46:09,870 --> 00:46:13,500
official website announcements of certain things that the charity might need,

1572
00:46:13,500 --> 00:46:16,200
or they do use the pictures for these puppies,

1573
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:18,240
for their adoption profiles and stuff as well.

1574
00:46:18,690 --> 00:46:20,670
And if I can then go to the media and say,

1575
00:46:20,670 --> 00:46:23,400
Hey, if you heard about this amazing cliff pallet puppy rescue

1576
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:24,900
these day old puppies,

1577
00:46:24,900 --> 00:46:26,550
that would otherwise be euthanized.

1578
00:46:26,580 --> 00:46:26,910
They're like,

1579
00:46:26,970 --> 00:46:29,760
wow, that's an amazing story that his group of people are

1580
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:31,920
staying up day and night for years,

1581
00:46:32,010 --> 00:46:34,050
every two hours waking up to feed these puppies.

1582
00:46:34,470 --> 00:46:37,350
So in that press,

1583
00:46:37,350 --> 00:46:38,550
article it say it's,

1584
00:46:38,580 --> 00:46:38,790
you know,

1585
00:46:38,790 --> 00:46:40,320
an online news article or something,

1586
00:46:40,890 --> 00:46:41,160
you know,

1587
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:42,420
I might be credited for the photos,

1588
00:46:42,420 --> 00:46:44,850
but I'm not the story I like to make.

1589
00:46:44,910 --> 00:46:47,070
I give freely my personal,

1590
00:46:47,100 --> 00:46:48,360
this isn't even a business thing.

1591
00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:52,140
And my personal philosophy with charity and rescue work is it

1592
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:53,490
shouldn't cost the rescue,

1593
00:46:53,490 --> 00:46:54,660
anything to work with me.

1594
00:46:55,050 --> 00:46:58,200
So if I post an exhibition and I sell prints and

1595
00:46:58,200 --> 00:46:59,910
it costs me $5,000

1596
00:46:59,910 --> 00:47:01,230
to post the exhibition,

1597
00:47:01,660 --> 00:47:04,470
my business funds that I don't take that out of charities.

1598
00:47:04,980 --> 00:47:06,000
That's just the way I work.

1599
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:07,830
Not everyone can work that way and have the luxury of

1600
00:47:07,830 --> 00:47:10,920
that. But I also don't like to make money off charities.

1601
00:47:11,340 --> 00:47:14,970
So if I sell a calendar and it's $20,

1602
00:47:14,970 --> 00:47:16,080
the charity gets $20.

1603
00:47:16,140 --> 00:47:17,550
I try and that's my other thing.

1604
00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:20,370
But having said that I had to work with a management

1605
00:47:20,370 --> 00:47:22,200
company for a few years to make sure I didn't give

1606
00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:25,650
everything away because I'm inclined to the pit money comes in

1607
00:47:25,650 --> 00:47:26,170
and then I'm like,

1608
00:47:26,190 --> 00:47:28,470
Ooh, charity projects and sending it out the other side.

1609
00:47:28,470 --> 00:47:34,420
So Totally understand Looking after my own,

1610
00:47:34,900 --> 00:47:35,110
you know,

1611
00:47:35,110 --> 00:47:37,870
rent my house needed a renovation after 15 years and you

1612
00:47:37,870 --> 00:47:41,260
know, just putting a bit and I don't feel bad doing

1613
00:47:41,260 --> 00:47:42,490
that because I do give a lot,

1614
00:47:42,490 --> 00:47:42,840
you know,

1615
00:47:43,210 --> 00:47:43,980
I mentioned I,

1616
00:47:44,230 --> 00:47:44,860
I got,

1617
00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:47,890
I got a medal from the government for services to charity,

1618
00:47:47,890 --> 00:47:48,790
through photography.

1619
00:47:48,790 --> 00:47:50,080
And to be honest,

1620
00:47:50,110 --> 00:47:52,860
it's a metal that people normally get later in life for

1621
00:47:52,860 --> 00:47:53,770
a whole life's work.

1622
00:47:53,830 --> 00:47:54,490
And I kind of,

1623
00:47:55,030 --> 00:47:56,500
I didn't have imposter syndrome with it,

1624
00:47:56,500 --> 00:47:59,260
but it might just fuels me to do more and to

1625
00:47:59,260 --> 00:47:59,890
do even more,

1626
00:48:00,220 --> 00:48:01,750
more meaningful stuff.

1627
00:48:01,750 --> 00:48:02,740
Cause I'm quite time poor.

1628
00:48:02,740 --> 00:48:05,650
So I've got to go for bigger projects than just going

1629
00:48:05,650 --> 00:48:06,670
out to a charity every day.

1630
00:48:06,670 --> 00:48:08,170
I don't have the time to do that,

1631
00:48:08,170 --> 00:48:09,220
to do that adoption stuff.

1632
00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:12,280
I can do a project every three months or four times

1633
00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:12,670
a year.

1634
00:48:12,670 --> 00:48:14,950
And there's a good dozen or so I worked with quite

1635
00:48:14,950 --> 00:48:16,300
closely and do those things for,

1636
00:48:16,300 --> 00:48:17,710
so I just love it.

1637
00:48:18,040 --> 00:48:19,690
I also get to just shoot whatever I want.

1638
00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:21,070
However I want to,

1639
00:48:21,130 --> 00:48:22,750
there's not really a brief at the time.

1640
00:48:22,750 --> 00:48:26,020
So I love shooting for clients in the studio,

1641
00:48:26,020 --> 00:48:28,330
but I'm always thinking of those poses I was talking about

1642
00:48:28,330 --> 00:48:29,110
and that outcome,

1643
00:48:29,110 --> 00:48:31,870
because their friend has that half face photo and that's what

1644
00:48:31,870 --> 00:48:32,320
they want.

1645
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:33,640
Whereas charities like Alex,

1646
00:48:33,940 --> 00:48:35,230
he has a dog you interpreted,

1647
00:48:35,260 --> 00:48:36,310
we just need help to,

1648
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:36,970
you know,

1649
00:48:37,030 --> 00:48:39,430
share a story and raise awareness or make some money.

1650
00:48:39,820 --> 00:48:40,090
And so,

1651
00:48:40,090 --> 00:48:40,720
yeah, I love it.

1652
00:48:40,750 --> 00:48:43,780
It's I would not take photos of people's pets if I

1653
00:48:43,780 --> 00:48:46,870
could not then use that time and money to photograph for

1654
00:48:46,870 --> 00:48:47,950
rescue. Yeah.

1655
00:48:48,460 --> 00:48:49,330
I just did a,

1656
00:48:49,930 --> 00:48:50,950
a podcast.

1657
00:48:51,430 --> 00:48:52,270
Was it last week?

1658
00:48:52,270 --> 00:48:52,690
Two weeks.

1659
00:48:52,690 --> 00:48:54,070
So it'll be two weeks before this one errors.

1660
00:48:54,070 --> 00:48:57,040
I think basically about finding that kind of life's purpose,

1661
00:48:57,040 --> 00:48:58,930
which seems like such a big,

1662
00:48:59,050 --> 00:49:01,120
giant albatross.

1663
00:49:01,150 --> 00:49:02,230
Like what blood?

1664
00:49:02,260 --> 00:49:02,770
Oh my God,

1665
00:49:02,770 --> 00:49:04,060
it seems so permanent and hard,

1666
00:49:04,390 --> 00:49:08,830
but really it's just like following these little interests and following

1667
00:49:08,830 --> 00:49:12,790
like where you have like this desire to give back and

1668
00:49:12,790 --> 00:49:13,720
where, you know,

1669
00:49:13,750 --> 00:49:16,750
just going down these little rabbit holes and then all of

1670
00:49:16,750 --> 00:49:18,340
a sudden you're like you pop out and you're like,

1671
00:49:18,370 --> 00:49:20,050
oh, well this led to someplace amazing.

1672
00:49:21,370 --> 00:49:23,380
Exactly. And it's taking action,

1673
00:49:23,530 --> 00:49:23,740
you know,

1674
00:49:23,740 --> 00:49:24,400
and every,

1675
00:49:25,240 --> 00:49:26,230
every charity or rescue,

1676
00:49:26,260 --> 00:49:27,610
even outside photography,

1677
00:49:27,940 --> 00:49:28,660
they need stuff.

1678
00:49:28,690 --> 00:49:30,160
They need someone to shake a tin,

1679
00:49:30,430 --> 00:49:33,460
someone to just look at their accounting for them and do

1680
00:49:33,460 --> 00:49:33,970
an audit,

1681
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:35,530
someone to drive animals around.

1682
00:49:35,530 --> 00:49:36,820
Like there's a lot of meaningful,

1683
00:49:37,090 --> 00:49:41,650
even small freeways people can help charities with their time or,

1684
00:49:41,920 --> 00:49:42,100
you know,

1685
00:49:42,100 --> 00:49:45,820
just having conversations and raising awareness about a cause or so

1686
00:49:45,820 --> 00:49:46,720
many things we can do.

1687
00:49:46,720 --> 00:49:48,280
And especially COVID,

1688
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:50,740
it's decimated a lot of donations to these charities.

1689
00:49:50,740 --> 00:49:53,020
They're desperate for money and we have this,

1690
00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:53,440
like you said,

1691
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:54,880
this really powerful tool to help them.

1692
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:57,640
And I think in some ways we should all use it.

1693
00:49:58,480 --> 00:50:01,750
Yeah. So if there are photographers out there that,

1694
00:50:02,020 --> 00:50:02,320
you know,

1695
00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:03,730
want to start working with the charity,

1696
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:04,810
kind of what's the first step,

1697
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:06,400
do they just kind of reach out and say,

1698
00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:07,270
Hey, I'm interested.

1699
00:50:07,270 --> 00:50:08,440
What kind of help do you need?

1700
00:50:08,440 --> 00:50:10,360
And just start kind of volunteering.

1701
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:12,520
And then you build those relationships and then it can turn

1702
00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:14,680
into these bigger projects.

1703
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:15,940
Yeah, definitely.

1704
00:50:15,940 --> 00:50:18,070
I think what holds a lot of people back is fizzy

1705
00:50:18,070 --> 00:50:20,650
that fear of just asking and you have to ask if

1706
00:50:20,650 --> 00:50:22,030
you don't get so,

1707
00:50:22,420 --> 00:50:25,870
but I also research I'm really big on,

1708
00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:29,030
and I know you are to ethics and integrity in the

1709
00:50:29,030 --> 00:50:31,700
industry. And you mentioned it when you said don't copy someone

1710
00:50:31,700 --> 00:50:32,420
else's style,

1711
00:50:32,450 --> 00:50:34,580
do what you want to do on it involve and you'll

1712
00:50:34,580 --> 00:50:35,460
do more of what you love.

1713
00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:39,290
So I think research that the rescue firstly,

1714
00:50:39,290 --> 00:50:41,360
or the charity to find out if they have a dedicated

1715
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:42,290
photography partner,

1716
00:50:42,590 --> 00:50:43,280
but if they do,

1717
00:50:43,580 --> 00:50:45,270
there's plenty that don't so no,

1718
00:50:45,500 --> 00:50:48,410
no stepping on toes and trying to undercut that relationship or

1719
00:50:48,410 --> 00:50:48,890
anything like that.

1720
00:50:48,890 --> 00:50:50,960
That's something that is quite important to me.

1721
00:50:51,410 --> 00:50:53,870
So a bit of research and then just make an approach

1722
00:50:54,050 --> 00:50:55,460
that could be in person.

1723
00:50:55,460 --> 00:50:56,480
It could be via email.

1724
00:50:56,510 --> 00:50:57,890
Hi, here's who I am.

1725
00:50:57,920 --> 00:50:58,850
This is what I do.

1726
00:50:59,150 --> 00:51:00,170
This is what I can offer.

1727
00:51:00,260 --> 00:51:00,950
It could be,

1728
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:02,780
I can do all your adoption photos.

1729
00:51:02,900 --> 00:51:04,700
I can come out one day a week or I can

1730
00:51:04,700 --> 00:51:08,360
do a project for you every three months of your dogs

1731
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:09,110
that have been in the shelter.

1732
00:51:09,110 --> 00:51:09,920
The longest I'll just,

1733
00:51:10,010 --> 00:51:10,190
you know,

1734
00:51:10,190 --> 00:51:10,760
an idea.

1735
00:51:11,300 --> 00:51:13,880
And I make it really clear to the charities that I'm

1736
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:15,320
actually not a volunteer.

1737
00:51:15,830 --> 00:51:18,200
I'm a sponsor providing a professional service.

1738
00:51:18,890 --> 00:51:21,320
And I like to set that up from the start because

1739
00:51:21,320 --> 00:51:23,360
it, it helps them value photography.

1740
00:51:23,510 --> 00:51:23,930
You know,

1741
00:51:24,350 --> 00:51:24,770
and I,

1742
00:51:24,920 --> 00:51:26,840
I talk about this with my coaching clients.

1743
00:51:26,840 --> 00:51:29,480
Like if Ford motor company gave a charity,

1744
00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:30,530
a $25,000

1745
00:51:30,540 --> 00:51:32,090
car, that'd be telling everyone,

1746
00:51:32,570 --> 00:51:35,000
but we give them 2,250

1747
00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:37,880
photos valued at say a hundred dollars each on paper of

1748
00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:39,050
inclined photography.

1749
00:51:39,050 --> 00:51:40,550
And we don't forget a photo credit,

1750
00:51:40,850 --> 00:51:41,270
you know?

1751
00:51:41,510 --> 00:51:41,810
And we're like,

1752
00:51:41,810 --> 00:51:43,730
Hey, so I make it clear.

1753
00:51:43,730 --> 00:51:46,550
I'm a professional providing a professional sponsored service.

1754
00:51:46,880 --> 00:51:48,950
And if they do forget to credit the photo,

1755
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:52,550
I always go with kindness because their days turning up,

1756
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:53,360
oh yeah.

1757
00:51:53,450 --> 00:51:55,610
16 kittens in a box that dog's dead.

1758
00:51:55,610 --> 00:51:58,610
Someone's got COVID that Doug's got parvo.

1759
00:51:58,880 --> 00:51:59,300
And I'm like,

1760
00:51:59,300 --> 00:52:00,650
sorry, I didn't credit a photo.

1761
00:52:00,650 --> 00:52:02,540
They're like hardly in the top a hundred things that are

1762
00:52:02,540 --> 00:52:03,350
important right now.

1763
00:52:03,650 --> 00:52:04,340
So, you know,

1764
00:52:04,880 --> 00:52:05,390
Hey guys,

1765
00:52:05,570 --> 00:52:06,200
I know about,

1766
00:52:06,240 --> 00:52:07,340
so sorry about the kittens,

1767
00:52:07,340 --> 00:52:08,390
the COVID the parvo,

1768
00:52:08,630 --> 00:52:10,490
or could you just edit this and throw our credit on?

1769
00:52:10,490 --> 00:52:11,060
Thanks so much.

1770
00:52:11,090 --> 00:52:12,920
I don't fire them.

1771
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:13,820
I don't cancel them.

1772
00:52:13,820 --> 00:52:16,010
I just go with love because you know,

1773
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:18,230
it's just in the scheme of things,

1774
00:52:18,230 --> 00:52:18,860
it's minuscule.

1775
00:52:19,820 --> 00:52:20,270
But to us,

1776
00:52:20,270 --> 00:52:21,110
it was like the whole world,

1777
00:52:21,110 --> 00:52:21,290
you know?

1778
00:52:21,290 --> 00:52:22,880
So I just don't make it bigger than it is.

1779
00:52:23,210 --> 00:52:24,500
And I think too,

1780
00:52:24,500 --> 00:52:26,720
people gravitate towards the biggest groups.

1781
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:27,890
Some of the biggest,

1782
00:52:28,070 --> 00:52:28,310
you know,

1783
00:52:28,310 --> 00:52:29,480
more well known groups.

1784
00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:32,150
I like working with small.

1785
00:52:32,300 --> 00:52:33,920
I don't like big ones have their place too,

1786
00:52:33,920 --> 00:52:34,700
but small,

1787
00:52:34,700 --> 00:52:37,250
but meaningful groups like the cleft palate puppy,

1788
00:52:37,250 --> 00:52:38,510
it's technically three people.

1789
00:52:38,510 --> 00:52:40,760
And then some other volunteers in a foster care network,

1790
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:40,940
you know,

1791
00:52:41,120 --> 00:52:44,660
three main people yet they save a 60 to 80 puppies

1792
00:52:44,660 --> 00:52:46,460
a year and it's growing small,

1793
00:52:46,460 --> 00:52:49,670
but meaningful work where a thousand dollars to them is like

1794
00:52:49,670 --> 00:52:51,290
$10,000, you know?

1795
00:52:52,130 --> 00:52:53,480
And they're so grateful and just,

1796
00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:56,000
you don't get mucked around because the rules are consistent.

1797
00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:57,500
You deal with the same person each time.

1798
00:52:57,500 --> 00:52:58,670
There's not 10 managers.

1799
00:52:58,970 --> 00:53:00,110
So I like that sort of thing.

1800
00:53:00,500 --> 00:53:02,420
And thinking outside the square,

1801
00:53:02,420 --> 00:53:03,890
if you're a dope photographer,

1802
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:05,210
but you really love squirrels,

1803
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:07,790
go and find the wildlife rescue where you love cows,

1804
00:53:07,820 --> 00:53:09,740
go to the farm rescue where you've,

1805
00:53:10,100 --> 00:53:10,310
you know,

1806
00:53:10,310 --> 00:53:10,970
it breaks your heart,

1807
00:53:10,970 --> 00:53:12,650
that children get childhood cancer.

1808
00:53:12,650 --> 00:53:15,950
They go to the childhood cancer organization and do something,

1809
00:53:16,550 --> 00:53:17,570
give them vouchers,

1810
00:53:17,570 --> 00:53:19,040
gift certificates or something like just,

1811
00:53:19,100 --> 00:53:20,240
there's lots of ways you can help.

1812
00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:22,070
So you put it out there,

1813
00:53:22,310 --> 00:53:24,380
research, put it out there and,

1814
00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:24,680
you know,

1815
00:53:24,710 --> 00:53:26,040
make sure you go in as a sponsor,

1816
00:53:26,040 --> 00:53:26,910
providing a service.

1817
00:53:26,910 --> 00:53:28,470
That's where you establish yourself.

1818
00:53:28,500 --> 00:53:30,330
Because then that tells them that,

1819
00:53:30,390 --> 00:53:30,690
you know,

1820
00:53:30,840 --> 00:53:34,380
your, your work is valued and these images have a currency

1821
00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:35,220
that they're not paying,

1822
00:53:35,220 --> 00:53:36,720
but they're still worth something.

1823
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:39,600
Yeah. That's a great point.

1824
00:53:40,110 --> 00:53:41,730
That's a huge takeaway,

1825
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:43,860
man. This conversation has been so good.

1826
00:53:43,860 --> 00:53:46,560
I feel like we could talk probably for three days about

1827
00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:47,220
all of these things,

1828
00:53:53,100 --> 00:53:53,520
But yeah,

1829
00:53:53,550 --> 00:53:55,170
but we should probably wrap it up,

1830
00:53:56,430 --> 00:53:56,790
you know?

1831
00:53:56,790 --> 00:53:58,200
Cause it's learning for me.

1832
00:53:58,200 --> 00:54:00,180
It's nighttime for you as a lead time zones.

1833
00:54:00,510 --> 00:54:01,680
But anyway,

1834
00:54:01,980 --> 00:54:03,990
if you guys love this conversation with Alex,

1835
00:54:04,020 --> 00:54:07,650
definitely come join us in the hair of the dog summit

1836
00:54:07,740 --> 00:54:09,480
November 2nd through fourth.

1837
00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:13,950
So this releases blush that October 26th on Tuesday.

1838
00:54:13,950 --> 00:54:15,930
So we've got one week getting ready for the summit.

1839
00:54:15,930 --> 00:54:16,830
It's going to be incredible.

1840
00:54:16,830 --> 00:54:19,800
Alex, kick it off the summit on the second at 9:00

1841
00:54:19,830 --> 00:54:24,930
AM Eastern with an incredible talk about helping you get over,

1842
00:54:24,930 --> 00:54:25,680
you know,

1843
00:54:25,770 --> 00:54:26,640
lack, confidence,

1844
00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:27,510
getting that confidence,

1845
00:54:27,510 --> 00:54:28,260
getting started,

1846
00:54:28,350 --> 00:54:31,830
like all that mental head stuff that happens when we start

1847
00:54:31,830 --> 00:54:33,060
our business.

1848
00:54:33,060 --> 00:54:34,260
And quite frankly,

1849
00:54:34,260 --> 00:54:35,700
even when you're running your business,

1850
00:54:35,700 --> 00:54:37,470
like it never really goes away.

1851
00:54:41,400 --> 00:54:42,660
That's when people are always like,

1852
00:54:43,020 --> 00:54:44,100
oh, my students are like,

1853
00:54:44,100 --> 00:54:45,450
man, I'm so nervous for the shoot.

1854
00:54:45,460 --> 00:54:45,780
I'm like,

1855
00:54:45,810 --> 00:54:46,320
Hey, guess what?

1856
00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:47,920
I get a little nervous portion.

1857
00:54:47,970 --> 00:54:48,330
It they're like,

1858
00:54:50,190 --> 00:54:52,440
yeah, I'm still still like human here.

1859
00:54:53,430 --> 00:54:56,940
Tell them all that same like self doubt nonsense in my

1860
00:54:56,940 --> 00:54:57,900
head all the time.

1861
00:54:58,710 --> 00:55:00,960
Oh. But yeah.

1862
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:01,500
But anyway,

1863
00:55:01,770 --> 00:55:03,060
you guys to join us at the summit,

1864
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:03,990
pet photography,

1865
00:55:03,990 --> 00:55:07,560
summit.com. Registration is only $10 for that.

1866
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:10,230
And that all goes towards the conservation fund.

1867
00:55:10,500 --> 00:55:10,920
So far,

1868
00:55:10,920 --> 00:55:12,810
we've already raised like $15,000

1869
00:55:12,810 --> 00:55:13,770
for the conservation fund,

1870
00:55:13,770 --> 00:55:15,060
which is amazing.

1871
00:55:17,190 --> 00:55:20,640
Yeah. And that $10 gets you live access and also replay

1872
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:22,410
access to the following morning.

1873
00:55:22,650 --> 00:55:25,440
You can also upgrade to the VIP all access pass,

1874
00:55:25,440 --> 00:55:28,020
which Alex donated some cool bonuses.

1875
00:55:28,540 --> 00:55:30,330
There's over $1,500

1876
00:55:30,330 --> 00:55:33,540
worth of awesome bonuses in the VIP all access pass.

1877
00:55:33,720 --> 00:55:34,830
Plus the recordings.

1878
00:55:35,220 --> 00:55:39,660
Plus when you purchase that another $25 goes towards the conservation

1879
00:55:39,660 --> 00:55:42,060
fund. So come and learn,

1880
00:55:42,450 --> 00:55:46,470
save these wild animals and it's going to be awesome.

1881
00:55:48,300 --> 00:55:48,660
All right,

1882
00:55:49,050 --> 00:55:52,560
Alex, thank you so much for this incredible conversation.

1883
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:55,530
I know everyone will love it and I enjoyed chatting with

1884
00:55:55,530 --> 00:55:58,770
you. So hopefully we will chat again soon.

1885
00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:02,370
Cause I think there's probably like four more topics right here

1886
00:56:02,370 --> 00:56:04,410
on my list that could have gone on for another hour.

1887
00:56:05,940 --> 00:56:06,570
Thank you so much.

1888
00:56:06,570 --> 00:56:07,500
I'll see you at the summit.

1889
00:56:07,500 --> 00:56:08,010
Can't wait.

1890
00:56:08,700 --> 00:56:09,060
All right,

1891
00:56:09,060 --> 00:56:09,540
sounds good.

1892
00:56:09,570 --> 00:56:09,930
Oh, wait.

1893
00:56:09,930 --> 00:56:10,650
Before we go,

1894
00:56:10,890 --> 00:56:19,350
let people know where they can follow you and find You@houndstoothstudioonfacebookorwwwdothoundsdostudio.com.edu.

1895
00:56:19,710 --> 00:56:19,980
All right.

1896
00:56:20,010 --> 00:56:21,360
Perfect. All right,

1897
00:56:21,420 --> 00:56:22,470
thanks everybody.

1898
00:56:22,500 --> 00:56:22,860
Thank you,

1899
00:56:22,870 --> 00:56:24,610
Alex. We'll talk to you next week.

1900
00:56:25,240 --> 00:56:27,400
If you enjoy this podcast episode,

1901
00:56:27,400 --> 00:56:30,820
go ahead and take a screenshot of this episode on your

1902
00:56:30,820 --> 00:56:34,240
phone and posted up there on your Instagram stories and be

1903
00:56:34,240 --> 00:56:37,570
sure to tag us at hair of the dog academy.

1904
00:56:37,690 --> 00:56:41,230
And we would just love to see how you're listening and

1905
00:56:41,230 --> 00:56:42,370
a full disclosure.

1906
00:56:42,490 --> 00:56:45,910
Sometimes we just like to give away a little pet photographer

1907
00:56:45,910 --> 00:56:49,780
swag in the form of hair of the dog t-shirts and

1908
00:56:49,780 --> 00:56:52,360
sweatshirts. So what are you waiting for?

1909
00:56:52,390 --> 00:56:55,480
Go ahead and share that screenshot of this episode.

1910
00:56:55,750 --> 00:56:57,610
And don't forget to tag us at Hare,

1911
00:56:57,610 --> 00:56:58,420
the dog academy.

1912
00:56:58,660 --> 00:56:59,680
And while you're there,

1913
00:56:59,710 --> 00:57:01,990
maybe you want to jump on over to our account and

1914
00:57:01,990 --> 00:57:04,930
see what we're up to on the gram would love to

1915
00:57:04,930 --> 00:57:05,740
connect with you.

1916
00:57:06,370 --> 00:57:08,740
Thanks for listening to the hair of the dog podcast.

1917
00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:10,990
This was episode number 110.

1918
00:57:11,230 --> 00:57:13,420
If you want to check out the show notes for access

1919
00:57:13,420 --> 00:57:14,980
to any of the links that we shared,

1920
00:57:15,070 --> 00:57:20,080
simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/

1921
00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:22,600
1 1 0.

1922
00:57:22,600 --> 00:57:26,350
Thanks for listening to this episode of hair of the dog

1923
00:57:26,350 --> 00:57:28,030
podcast. If you enjoyed this show,

1924
00:57:28,030 --> 00:57:29,320
please take a minute to leave a review.

1925
00:57:29,500 --> 00:57:30,400
And while you're there,

1926
00:57:30,550 --> 00:57:31,900
don't forget to subscribe.

1927
00:57:31,960 --> 00:57:35,440
So you don't miss our upcoming episodes on last thing,

1928
00:57:35,830 --> 00:57:38,500
if you are ready to dive into more resources,

1929
00:57:38,770 --> 00:57:44,170
head over to our website@wwwdothairofthedogacademy.com.

1930
00:57:44,470 --> 00:57:47,710
Thanks for being a part of this pet photography community.