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Karinda: Tell me what the process was from when you first found me and what you were doing versus when are you finally joined Master Your Mind and Money.
Kaylee: I would charge $300 a session and give away all of the digitals and it was a disaster. That made me start looking for coach in the first place and then the universe just kind of put you in my lap right when I needed you. I bombed a photoshoot, it was terrible because I had no client experience and that’s what they were looking for. It felt awful on my end, and I’m sure it did not feel good to them and so I really started looking around at ways to offer a better service. Then I found you, not only did that fix the business side, which I didn’t know how to do either but also the client experience which is huge.
Karinda: I think like when we first met, you took pieces of what I was sharing, and started trying to implement things before we had work together, right?
Kaylee: Yes, you walked me through your process. And after that, I realized you were making much more and had a better business model. So I tried to cherry pick the stuff that I had listened and watched you do. I did go from selling $300 photoshoots to selling $1,500 photoshoots but I knew that there was a lot more there that if I could do that from just from a 30 minute conversation with you, what could the coaching program do?
Karinda: That’s really cool. I love that you took what we talked about before you even were really a coaching client and you just ran with it and realized you could do it. So how has your business changed since you joined the coaching program?
Kaylee: It doesn’t look anything similar, if you could take what it was before versus now you can’t even compare. It’s like apples and oranges? I have a whole system in place that I love and it’s foolproof.
Karinda: So is this system as complicated as you thought it would be?
Kaylee: It’s not complicated at all and actually, it’s a little bit simpler. The way that you explain things takes away all the fluff, so you don’t end up wasting time on all the extra stuff. It’s surgical.
Karinda: So what is your average sale after the program?
Kaylee: The pre purchase is $4,500, which includes the album and a sizable print credit and then they usually end up spending another $1000-2000 after that.
Karinda: That is a significant bump from what you were seeing before! So what was the biggest thing that you learned from our time together?
Kaylee: All of it. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know. I didn’t know how to run a business, create a guided experience, or how to deliver something. I just felt like it was going to be expensive and people wouldn’t want to pay for that but they want the experience and the service. That was a big one. I think I just never had a fully functional business.
Karinda: How long had you been in photography before you joined the coaching program?
Kaylee: Roughly 10 years, but a lot of that was just shooting Polo. I had said that I was a professional photographer, but it was more of a hobby now I realized.
Karinda: Was there anything that surprised you the most that you learned?
Kaylee: The client experience. I knew that it was important, but I didn’t realize the parts helping them with their wardrobe and helping them design their wall art. That’s huge.
Karinda: Was the client experience what you thought it was gonna be or did it look different?
Kaylee: I really didn’t know what it was supposed to look like.
Karinda: I think that’s an important thing, you don’t know what’s underneath the water, you can see the iceberg but that’s just the tip of it. Then all of a sudden you dive under the water and realize there is a lot of other things underneath. What made you decide to take the leap and join Master Your Mind and Money?
Kaylee: I knew that if I wanted to make this a viable business that this was the best way to do it. I knew coming out of it even just from the free information you gave out that I was going to have a profitable business.
Karinda: If I would have told you a year ago that one day your clients would spend $6,000 or more with you, what would you have said?
Kaylee: I remember when we first had that 30 minute conversation about a year and a half ago now, you told me that the average client spends $5,000. I’m sure that number has changed since then for you now and I remember thinking holy crap. I never could have imagined it for me and now that’s what they spend, it’s crazy.
Karinda: For people who don’t know this, Kaylee and I live in the same city just on opposite sides. What did you think about the fact that I was totally cool with helping you with your business even though you are my competitor?
Kaylee: It shows just how committed you are to this, and how much you genuinely love teaching, that it didn’t even bother you that you were raising a competitor.
Karinda: Do you think we really have to compete with each other? Explain that process to me, because I think that’s helpful for other people to hear.
Kaylee: We have different clientele but we do have some overlap at the same barns and we know a lot of the same people. But our styles are completely different.
Karinda: Yes and even though our workflow, pricing and everything else are very similar, our stories and journeys are different which is what makes our why’s substantially different. So somebody who wants to put on sparkly dresses in the field are probably not going to go to Kaylee. Kelly’s clients are a skip around the field with my pony that probably won’t go to me. I think that’s the other thing is that we are very similar in our businesses but at the same time, we are also very different. That’s really important to remember for any of you that are sitting out there thinking you have a million competitors. No, you don’t. You can have your competitor that’s literally down the road and serves and knows the same people and still have a high functioning business yourself. You got to come hang out with me at the horse show when I was shooting and doing stuff, what was that like for you?
Kaylee: You shoot a lot like you run your business, there’s no fluff you have surgical system in place, and you do it and can replicate the results, which is important.
Karinda: Everything is extremely systematized, which I think is hard for some photographers, because as a photographer, you have to be creative, and you don’t want to have a system, but it produces the work my clients hired me for. What advice would you give someone that’s thinking about taking the leap to invest in their business and themselves?
Kaylee: You just have to do it. I say this on Facebook a lot when people are thinking about joining and every one of your coaching clients say the same thing. I think that speaks for itself.
Karinda: I think it can be a lot to manage in your head when you’re sitting there thinking about spending a lot of money on something when you realize you’re not currently making money. How do they go and invest money on this?
Kaylee: It feels like you’re standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up and you’re wondering how you’re gonna get to the top. I paid my investment off within a month.
Karinda: I love it. Is there anything else that you want to share from your experience that you think is important to share with people who might be listening, reading or watching?
Kaylee: I would say the mindset, I had done a lot of that work already in the past. For me, it was setting up a business and knowing what to do in that business. The client experience was what I really struggled with even though I thought I had a grasp on some of that. I didn’t know how much I didn’t know.
Karinda: How much money do you think you would have been leaving on the table if you would have never done the scary thing and made the change?
Kaylee: I mean, it’s disgusting to think how much I missed out on already. I would do this every year if it made that much difference in the business. Money well spent.
Karinda: I love that. Well, thank you for sharing all of this and I’m excited you decided to hang around a little longer.