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Karinda: Hello! Tell me a little bit about you where you’re from and what you do.
Katey: I live in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and I am kind of a jack of all trades of the in the equine world. I’ve dabbled around in a lot of things. I was a therapeutic riding instructor for a long time. I’ve driven horse drawn carriages in Denver. I clip and give lessons, I do little of everything. I started my photography journey in Colorado and worked for the Division of Wildlife. I just had a little Nikon Coolpix and it got a few images, but it wasn’t doing justice to the beautiful things I was seeing. So I got a nicer camera and started taking pictures of wildlife. In 2017 or 18, I took one of my writing students to her first horse show, and I shot her riding. I blew myself out of the water with them and I just fell in love with capturing that. It wasn’t even necessarily that the photos were fabulous, but the emotions that I was able to capture of her in these candids from the horse show were just amazing. So that’s how I started with horse shows and recently added portrait work at the end of last year.
Karinda: So tell me what was your business like when we started working together?
Katey: It wasn’t much of a business at all. I was having clients here and there along with horse shows that I reached out to but nobody was knocking down my door for sure. I didn’t really know a whole lot about what I was doing and I would just throw their online gallery out at them at the end and get no feedback. no tags, nothing.
Karinda: What has that been like to actually get to hear your clients reaction to their photos going from online galleries to hearing their excitement when they see them?
Katey: Yeah, it definitely is a big confidence booster when other people are seeing my images and saying, “Oh my god, I love this.” It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Karinda: Yes, I feel like when you have your first image reveal and get that experience of hearing people’s reaction to every single photo.
Katey: It’s very validating that like, maybe I actually have some skill!
Karinda: So tell me this, how has your business changed since we started working together?
Katey: I’m starting to get into and understand marketing better. I’m still not great at it but it’s just gonna take time to get all the processes and systems in place. But I am a lot more confident in my business, I’m a lot more confident talking about my business, I actually managed to do an info call the other day without my script. That was a big improvement for me and now I have clients actually starting to message me for portraits.
Karinda: What do you think, has made the difference in your confidence or your ability to talk to people on the phone?
Katey: The first couple of phone calls were very rocky and I did a lot of stumbling, I was reading off a script we had created and I wasn’t good at explaining things. As I did more of it, it got easier and easier. I learned what things I’m going to ask and didn’t have to use the script. First I moved to note cards and now I’m off the note cards. Being more confident in myself and my business has made a difference in having people say yes, I will pay that money to you. That definitely is a confidence booster.
Karinda: It gets easier every time I promise, like a year from now you’re gonna look back and wonder why you worried about it. So tell me, when we first started working together, what were your clients investing with you?
Katey: My average was about $300 and they were getting around 15 digital files included. I had quite a few mini sessions booked up for around $125 and my black backgrounds were low.
Karinda: So now that you’ve made these changes new business, what do you find your clients are investing?
Katey: That is yet to be determined this year. I’ve only had the one image reveal which was $7,000.
Karinda: You’ve had one really amazing client come through your door in your first time through the whole process. Do you think that there’s any chance that you’ll go back to some of your past clients and offer them wall art to see if anybody wants to print anything that they didn’t before?
Katey: I will try to, something I struggle with is reaching out and saying, “Hey, I’m doing this now” but I’m going to get the confidence to do that. I know a few past clients I can reach out to.
Karinda: Okay, so I have a fun question for your first image reveal last night. It’s very fresh in your mind, were you surprised? How easy was it to just ask what they want? How did you feel about that process?
Katey: No, I didn’t really think it would be easy. I didn’t realize how non salesy I would have to be and how everything would just unfold on its own. We did a two part reveal but my horse got sick that day. So we pushed it to Friday and by the end of the week, she had a tough week at work and was exhausted. We sorted through the portraits and I showed her a few mockups, but we weren’t really getting anywhere on decisions. So when we came back on Monday she said she wanted to do one big canvas and add smaller canvases on the other wall. It was really quite easy.
Karinda: I hate using the words selling art, because people have that bad connotation. I love that your first experience was very easy, and it just unfolded. So what do you think the biggest thing that you learned from our time working together?
Katey: The biggest thing I learned is that I have to be more. I have to be the face of my business more and I have to be more personable. I need to reach out and put myself out there because nobody else is going to do it for me. They’re not going to come to my door without that.
Karinda: Do you feel like you have a bit more of a game plan now of how to go put yourself out there? Are you are starting to realize the different things you have to do to put yourself out there?
Katey: I’m starting to put some things together and figure things out. I am piecing ideas and method together to be more present on social media and how to get myself in front of some new people. At the end of September, I’m going to be the photographer for a charity polo event. Unlike a horse show where I have to be dedicated the entire time to watching the ring, I don’t have to do that. I can take some photos of the game, I can take some candids of people and still walk around and talk to people. So I’m hoping that will be like a good practice and confidence booster for me.
Karinda: So is there anything that really has surprised you through this process of going through the course and making changes in your business? Is there anything that stood out to you?
Katey: Mostly just that there are people who will invest the money and not even ask questions. I didn’t really think at first that I would be able to sell myself for a good profitable price for this.
Karinda: So what made you take the leap and join Master Your Mind and Money?
Katey: You did. You extended the opportunity to get on a quick phone call with you and talk about where I was in my business and what I needed help with even before I joined the program. The fact that it laid out a roadmap of where to go and how to get there and and what to do was really helpful. That was a big thing I was honestly terrified of when I joined the program. I thought how I just spent all this money and I didn’t even know if I could do it. But then I surprised myself and I’ve been able to do a lot of it.
Karinda: What was it like working through all the videos and all of the content and all the things in the course?
Katey: I really liked it. The videos were mostly broken down into short chunks. I have ADHD so it’s hard for me to just sit down and get into it, especially with videos. The live recordings and things are a little more interactive but the fact that the videos were broken up was really nice.
Karinda: What was it like working through all the content? Did you feel like you had a good path in mind?
Katey: It really laid it out very nicely, in a very logical kind of path. The 6 Steps to Success is laid out really, really well, it’s very easy to go from one to the next. And if I’ve missed something, or I need to watch something again, I can go back to that piece and just watch it again. The marketing classes were definitely long and a lot more detailed as well.
Karinda: Yeah, I think marketing is like it is much more of like a tedious thing. What advice would you give to someone that is thinking about taking the leap and investing in their business and themselves?
Katey: Just do it. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to commit enough of myself to doing it and really get everything that I wanted to out of it. My husband reminded me that nobody gets everything out of anything. So really, it’s helped to transform my business and I know that it will continue to transform my business in the future as I start to put the pieces together.
Karinda: Well I guess for you it literally paid for itself with your first clients which is crazy and amazing. What if I would have told you six months ago, when I first talked to you, that your first client would have spent $7,000?
Katey: Never in a million years would I have believed you.
Karinda: Were there ever times through the process when thought, Karinda, this is never gonna work?
Katey: I feel like at times, I would think there is so much here, how is one person supposed to do all of this stuff? I don’t know how she does it. But I’m like getting more of that understanding and now I see how this works.