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I wanted to hop on and talk to my past coaching client Charlotte a little bit about her experience working with me. I would call her one of my frequent fliers as she has been through a couple of different group coaching communities and 1:1 work with me. I figured Charlotte would be a perfect person to talk to and hear more about her experience and give everybody an idea of what it’s like to work with me today.
Karinda Kinsler: How has your business changed since you started working with me?
Charlotte: Well, in one word, drastically. But to give a little bit more detail. Before I started working with you, I was focusing on a lot of things that weren’t profitable. I kind of had this weird stubbornness, that if I had started doing something I had to keep doing it. I was just adamant that I was going to make it work. And of course, that’s a good attitude to have on the whole, however there were certain elements of my business that just weren’t working, such as volume photography. I was doing rodeos that were just not jiving, not working. They were keeping me awake at night, I was working insane hours for very little return. Generally focusing on the wrong things. I think that perfectionism is an ongoing topic as well. Which was getting in the way too, and I know you’re laughing about it because it’s true! But in terms of growth, my business has been on this insane trajectory since since I started working with you. My confidence has grown hugely, I’m just a lot more sure of myself with how I do things and what I choose to spend my energy on.
Karinda Kinsler: When you first started working with me, what were your clients spending with you?
Charlotte: Good question. I think my average was around $1,000. I had the occasional sale that was higher than that. My rodeo clients were not spending anywhere close to that, I would say below $100. I think it’s fair to say that I didn’t start from ground zero in terms of in person sales, I was part of the way there and had the grasp on products. But I think the biggest impact for me was changing the way I was pricing and structuring packages.
Karinda: Tell me what the last month in your business looks like so that people can get an idea of where you are now.
Charlotte: This last month has been insane, there’s definitely no one thing that I have done to have caused this growth. It’s definitely a marathon not a sprint. But I will say I feel like I’m kind of reaching the crest of that hill now where some things are starting to be more of a downhill stroll as opposed to an uphill hike. My most recent sale last month was as big as my best month last year. And last month, was almost as big as my entire last year. So that just puts things into perspective there. You know, numbers don’t necessarily mean anything to anyone unless they’re put into context.
Karinda: What is your biggest sales to date?
Charlotte: $8500.
Karinda Kinsler: In your business, what do you think happened? Was there a catalyst that finally caused you to get it together and do what you needed to do to get the clients?
Charlotte: I’m quite an open book, I don’t really mind discussing these things. I think, for me, the biggest lesson which cause this was that I was settling for average in many areas of my life. Within my business, I thought those big numbers, those $8,000-$14,000 sales were out of my reach. I certainly didn’t think that it would be something that could change quickly. I always felt like life was going to be the way it was as well as my business. In a nutshell, that I would never have to depend on my business for 100% of my income.
And I think that that is a big trap that people can fall into yet something that can change very quickly overnight, like it did for me. All of a sudden, I was faced with divorce and now my business is not just my not just my baby or supplemental income. I was faced with the decision of either running with this and making it work or quitting and finding a real job. That was the decision I was faced with. As stubborn as I am and as passionate as I am about my business, I wasn’t about to let four and a half years of blood, sweat and tears go to waste. That’s basically the turning point for me personally and mentally. It was kind of a now or never thing. The combination of all the things that I’d learned through spending time with you had me asking why not now, and why not me? Personally, there was a lot of things that I did that were getting in my own way. Some of them just really ridiculous things like, not feeling like I belonged in this horse world that I didn’t really know much about. You know, lots of things like that, not just from a personal standpoint, but the business that I was in. I guess a bit of imposter syndrome in both the photography and horse world.
Karinda Kinsler: I think that’s a good point. I think a lot of people have a crutch outside of their business, like a significant other or a second job providing support. I think a lot of people use that as an excuse in their heads to not fully dive into the photography and chase their business.
Charlotte: I guess now is an appropriate time to mention that I was using my relationship with the family business as a crutch for my business. I will be forever grateful that it gave me my passion, I would have never started photographing horses if it hadn’t been for my in laws ranch business. Eventually I knew there was more out there for me. And while those clients and I will always be grateful for that starting point, I think that I found it hard to let go of this notion that the clients from the ranch could be profitable for me. While it may have been profitable at times, I was never going to spread my wings, and my business was never going to really get the momentum it needed by staying in that bubble. So I think a lot of that happens to other people in terms of marketing inside something like a pony club, Horse Association, or to their friends and family. Maybe it’s a geographical thing like inside of their own town, you just have to let go of that stubbornness and push yourself outside of that bubble.
Karinda Kinsler: Would you find it safe to say that pushing yourself outside of the bubble is uncomfortable, but it’s always worth it?
Charlotte: Yes, every time. If it feels easy, it’s probably not doing very much for your business. I think that can be true once you get all your systems and processes nailed down. But I think once things become so easy to you that you don’t have to think about it then you’ve probably mostly stopped growing. I think that goes for a lot of topics, even just the horse industries, whether it’s photography or anything else. I think once when we stopped feeling that little bit of doubt, or that little bit of anxiety, probably most of the growth is over.
Karinda Kinsler: So, my next question for you is what made you decide to work with me, what was the thing that made you say, “I need Karinda in my life.”
Charlotte: So I cannot honestly tell you, I had never heard of you before. I had not seen any of your Facebook posts in the past. I had never seen any of your work before, I actually did not have any clue who you were. And I don’t know if that’s a good thing to admit or not, but I saw a Facebook post that you were offering coaching. I think it’s fair to say that some of it was just meant to be. Something told me “hey, you need to check this girl out.” so I did. That could happen with any number of people, any number of coaches, but for me what confirmed it was the value that I got in talking to you for that first call. Just that call, even if I never spoke to you again, if I never took any of your classes, I knew that call had value to make it worthwhile for me. There was one reason for that, really, in that you genuinely wanted to help me. Your hearts in the right place with helping people push forward in their business. To hear the excitement in your voice and knowing it wasn’t just this cookie cutter method and not feel like you’ve given that idea to 100 other people, that was what did it for me.
Karinda Kinsler: Yes, and learning that when my voice gets really high pitched about a really cool idea that my brain just came up with and it’s brand new, and you’re gonna be the first one to hear! If you could go back in time and give newbie Charlotte one piece of advice? What would it be?
Charlotte: I guess the obvious thing would be to stop sweating the small stuff and just do it. I know, that sounds like a Nike commercial. But you know, really, it’s just get on with it and do it. I think maybe just to show myself a vision of what life could be like now, and make myself realize it is possible and doesn’t have to take forever. I think that my growth took a lot longer than it needed to. It was accelerated hugely after after I started coaching with you, I but I think up until that point, it was slow. I was focusing on the wrong things like I’ve already said. Definitely just in terms of telling Charlotte then what Charlotte now is like, you know, really not sweating the small stuff, and being cognizant of how you never know when life could change. That cute side hustle hobby may be your lifeline.
Karinda Kinsler: Yeah, very true.
Charlotte: Aslo, I don’t need to know everything there is to know about Hunters Jumpers to take pretty pictures of horses, and sell 1000s of dollars worth of artwork to them.
Karinda Kinsler: I think the moral of the story is, you don’t have to feel like you fit in. You can make people your clients without being them or truly understanding them. Stop being afraid of the fear of not fitting in or not feeling like you’re the same type of person. They just know you’re an amazing photographer, and they want your photos, they don’t care if you fit in or you get the lingo or know the difference between a hunter and a jumper ring.
Charlotte: I actually bonded with a with a client’s mom the other day over that, because I asked her a few questions. I sounded like the expert in terms of photography, of course, but in terms of horses, I had asked her a couple of very basic questions she didn’t know the answers to. Then she was getting the imposter syndrome which was very weird. She was like, “I’m not a horse girl, it’s my daughter thing” and I actually just leveled with her and told her I asked those questions because I know only a little bit as well. I think that was a big thing for me to level with her and really make her ease. Maybe if I was in that world, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.
Karinda Kinsler: One last question. If you could give anyone reading this one piece of advice on trying to figure out how to make these decisions about investing in your business what would your advice be? I know you have invested a lot in your business and your education over time and I’m assuming in the beginning, it wasn’t an easy decision either for you.
Charlotte: No it was not easy, I guess I’m speaking to two people. To the person that is reluctant to invest in education and invest in themselves, I would say to them, you really cannot imagine how badly you need education. To have someone holding your hand via an online course or coaching. You cannot even begin to imagine the amount of growth you would experience just by having that support network. These huge Facebook groups with a few 1000 people in them that aren’t not investing in their education, either can only take you so far. Books will only take you so far, cheap cheat sheets and courses will only take you so far. Having that solid mentorship is what is going to shave months, if not years off the growth of your business.
Now I’ll speak to the person that’s already realized they are past the YouTube videos and the free webinars. They’ve already realized that they that they need some form of mentorship or, coaching or something like that. I would say, I did all the classes, I did all the self paced stuff, I did all the things that you go and do on your own. Nothing can replace having a group of people that have got your back and are working alongside you. Having a Facebook community, like the one you have attached to your online courses with the zoom calls, Q&A’s makes a difference. It’s the next best thing to being able to do workshops every week, none of us can go and do styled shoots, workshops, and conventions every single week. We don’t have the time and we don’t have the resources for that. So this is truly as close as you’re gonna get with much less investment and time. But you know, I think you really you cannot put a price on what that sort of mentoring will do for your business.
Karinda Kinsler: I agree. I feel the same way, anytime I have invested in coaching, such as 1:1 coaching or a group coaching situation, it has paid for itself tenfold. I can’t even imagine how long it would have taken me to get here. I probably would have given up by now if I would have done it.