Kristen is a Dog Photographer based out of Richmond, VA. She travels all over to her clients and most recently added a van to her business (hello van life) so that she can travel in style all over the country.
When Kristen came into my life she was doing a phenomenal job but she knew that she could do better- that she could go further- and she decided to take the big leap to start combing through every little piece of her business and look for the tiny things that we could tweak and make work better.
I think there were a few pivotal things that stood out to me through the journey with Kristen.
.png)
First of all was her discovery of the importance of finding her “why” – it is something that all to often I see photographers dismissing…but when I finally step in and say “we are going to dig into this, we are going to get to the nitty gritty” then things start to really change and transform.
Secondly a big piece was asking the right questions and saying, “what is next” when it came to getting this giant wall art sales.
She shares more about both of these things in the blog post below.
Karinda: So tell me what your business was like and where you were at when we started working together.
Kristen: My business was good, I was doing okay, it wasn’t where I wanted it to be and I knew that there was just a little bit more that could get me where I needed, but I didn’t know how to get there myself. I came to you through Charlotte Detienne, and she raved all about you how you kick people into gear and tell them what they what they need, rather than what they just want to hear. Like I said, I enjoyed my business, there was just like certain little things and I needed help with.
Karinda: Do you think you knew what needed to change? Or were you like, something needs to be tweaked but I just don’t know how to pinpoint it.
Kristen: It was a good mix of both. I knew like I had a really good client experience, but I wanted to elevate it just a tad. I was at 80% and I wanted to get it to 100% I also do a lot better when I’m held accountable. If I hold myself accountable I’ll procrastinate a lot so having that extra accountability of you reaching out and saying, “Hey, Kristen, how have you done this today? Anything that I can help you with?” helped. I’ve also never worked on my why, until working with you. I tried doing it on my own and I was just like, I’m done. I would stay very high level. And you kind of got me to break through and dig deeper.
Karinda: What about digging deeper and getting down to the nitty gritty stuff do you think helped change your business?
Kristen: It is easier to speak to my ideal client, knowing what to say and why I do the things that I do. It sounds so silly and so cliché saying you have to know your why. But it really is important and I didn’t realize the importance of it until working through it and working with you. I can I find it easier to be authentic and my business feels more authentic than just like, “Hi, here’s a really cute photograph of your dog.” Now they know why having your dog is so important and and experiencing the great outdoors with them is so important. It just helps me connect with my clients better.
Karinda: So, what other ways do you think your why has impacted your business? Is there any other area that you feel like finding your why has changed things for you other than just connecting with them?
Kristen: I sometimes get what I call shiny object syndrome because I get so excited about the next best thing. I stop and think, “does this fit my why? Is this really what I want to be doing? Or is this just a shiny new object I want to play with?” Now I ask myself, “Does it fit into the heart and soul of my business? Will it help me or is it just a distraction?”
Karinda: That’s a good point. I think using your why as a compass is really important. Did you realize the importance of your why before we started working together?
Kristen: I thought it was just something everyone told you that you needed but didn’t truly listen.
Karinda: So when was the time when you truly got it and understood why this is important.
Kristen: Probably when we were going through it, and you made me bawl my eyes out.
Karinda: Your why definitely sounds like one of the more impactful things that we have gone through on this journey together. And it always really surprises me how often my past coaching clients mention how their why helped. But I think it’s not just business, it’s a personal thing as well.
Kristen: I think it’s because my business is me and everything is very intertwined.
Karinda: So, how do you think your business has changed since we started working together?
Kristen: I think it has changed very much for the better if we want to talk financially, you’ve taken my average sale from $2500 to $4900. I think that’s a that’s a big thing, I’m on I’m working less and I’m enjoying my work more. I think with the the things that I’ve tweaked in my business to how I speak to and educate my client. You’ve helped me through the in person sales session, and it’s just elevated my entire business.
Karinda: So tell me what you thought when I said I knew you thought you had your pricing and client experience down but there may be holes we can fix.
Kristen: Oh yes, I was absolutely ready to go. I had been in some coaching programs before and they were teaching to give away all the Digital’s if they spend $2,000. I did not want to cap my sales, I felt like I outgrew some of the coaching that I was in. I didn’t ever want to be the smartest person in the room, I wanted to learn from others. So when Karinda says we need to look at my pricing again, then let’s look at my pricing again, because I want to better myself. I was all for it.
Karinda: I feel like sometimes you will feel okay having a couple $1,000 sales and say things are good. But you can always be better. I think even in your pricing or ordering appointments there is something you can change.
Kristen: Yes, you don’t know that you could be doing things better. By changing a few different words you could add on $1,000 or for me, I added on $2,500 worth of artwork just by asking, “is there anywhere else in your home?” And I never asked that before.
Karinda: I think that there’s always a bit of resistance to break down every little inch of your business. When you feel like you’re in a place where you’re doing okay but you need to do a little bit better. I think that that’s a big part of what we do is we break down every little piece even the stuff that seems so juvenile like how much you sell a canvas for.
Kristen: Yes and there’s a you making me type out all of my emails and go through them. I did a lot at first to appease you but changing the way I word those same emails and formatting them differently clicked with my clients better. That has helped a lot with how I how I speak to my clients and how I prepare them for what they will be spending.
Karinda: How do you feel now based on what we’ve done together, and what you’ve put together in your business? Do you feel like you can stop reinventing the wheel over and over again now?
Kristen: What really resonated was telling me to do my pricing based on where I want to be in two or three years, not where I’m at now. I was redoing my pricing and redoing everything every year to account for how I wanted to make more and account for raised lab costs. I don’t really have to keep reinventing myself for at least for like another three years until I get to another level.
Karinda: So, what made you take the leap to work with me?
Kristen: I got tired of the group coaching aspect and just needed one on one. What really pushed me to work with you is what Charlotte and Jan were telling me about you. But then when I got on that call you made me feel like I could do the things that I wanted in my business and grow rather than being forced into what works for other people. I needed somebody who would help me grow the business that I wanted not just put me in a box.
Karinda: I know that sometimes when I’m teaching, I like to give lots of options and say, here’s all the options. How did you feel about being given the option to choose the direction of your business with my methods versus just being told this is the way and you need to copy what I do?
Kristen: I really enjoyed having the options, because then I can choose and figure out what what the best way is for me. I don’t feel like business in general is not a one size fits all, you have to do what works best for you. And if option A works best for me, and Option B works best for Sally, then cool. We shouldn’t have to be forced to go in each other’s boxes.
Karinda: So how did you feel about making the decision? What helped you the most in making the decisions when you’re presented with different methods for your business?
Kristen: Intuition and what would make sense for me. Work smarter not harder.
Karinda: So your first experience with me was the Plan Your Year Workshop. What what did you think of that workshop and what was it that made you realize you needed me in your life?
Kristen: Your personality and how you were so helpful and giving. I just I really resonated with with your personality, more so than what exactly we were doing at that time.
Karinda: What advice would you give someone that’s thinking about taking the leap to invest in their business or in themselves to grow?
Kristen: I would have them get on a call with you and just talk to her and see. Just do it, like the money that you spend is going to come back to you. It’s never a bad idea to invest in your in your education.
Karinda: So that leads me to another question, talking about the money you make back. Tell me about your whopper sale and what you think fell into place when you had that sale?
Kristen: So I had a really big sale over $13,000 after my prior record being $5500. It was it was terrifying and amazing. I remember being so nervous going into it thinking how we haven’t really talked prices, I’ve given her a range, but I have not given her the specific cost. She was the first client that I didn’t do that with, because I had always given a price in a pricing menu, and they had copies of the prices. So when it got down to the time to present the number her daughter was in the room. Her daughter started talking about her hermit crab so I asked her daughter if I could see it and we played with it for a few minutes, just to calm down and get the courage to say this number. And I did. She took a beat and then started asking me how we could get some things down. I remember she came to me for a series of five square portraits for one of her rooms and an album. She started talking about dropping some of the pieces in the gallery. I told her we could do that but she specifically came to me for the gallery images and I would rather take some images out of the album and drop that down to a smaller album instead. Having the confidence to navigate that situation felt really good. So that’s what we did and she enjoyed her portraits. I went over there and installed it, and they look wonderful and fantastic and she’s so happy with it. I remember getting in the car and Voxering you immediately afterwards.
Karinda: Did you have any idea that this person had the ability to invest that in their portraits?
Kristen: I thought that if anyone was going to spend $10,000 with me, it would be this person. She came to me referred by one of her friends who had been a client. I thought it was possible if it was going to happen, but I also didn’t think it was gonna happen.
Karinda: So if you could pinpoint a couple of things that were different in your process in getting this client there, what would you say those things were?
Kristen: How I talked with her. I think of her she was one of the first ones I had an inquiry with after I had worked with you to get my inquiry process in place. We did a backyard session. I just made everything easy and simple for her. We had planned on going to a park but then the day before she I think she got overwhelmed with all the kids and everyone and just asked for a backyard session instead, which we did. I typically don’t do backyard sessions but I showed up and got in the groove and figured things out. But I think it was how I talked with her and how I approached designing the artwork for her wall.
Karinda: I think it’s all about how you prep them. Did you tell her that there was possibility she might invest $10,000?
Kristen: So I give a range. I say on the low end, you’ll spend $700 while on the high end, if you want to do X, Y and Z, you might spend eight to 10 to 15,000 or more.
Karinda: Do you feel your clients when you get to your reveal are more prepared to spend money than they were before?
Kristen: Yes, I no one has complained.
Karinda: Tell me what other exciting, big scary things you’ve done since we’ve worked together.
Kristen: I bought a van.
Karinda: What made you make that switch?
Kristen: Well, one finally came available. I couldn’t say no, this has been like on my dream vision board for years now. My first goal when I started a coaching program was to quit my job in six months, and I did that and then my second goal was to get a van within the year. I don’t know what actually made me pull the trigger. It was probably because I was confident in my business and my process.
Karinda: So are you ready to hit the road and go have $5,000 clients on the road everywhere?
Kristen: Yes, I am ready, I am still nervous. I like having those $5000-$7,000 sales in my local area and it seems like no big deal. But then I worry about how they may not spend $5,000 on me when they can hire their local pet photographer. So I still do have a little bit of issues that I need to work through, obviously mindset issues when it comes to this ban project and that is why I am continuing with the Master Your Mind & Money to iron that out.
Karinda: So if you could take one piece of advice of something that you’ve learned from your time with me that everybody needs to know, what would it be?
Kristen: It’s probably going back to your why and really digging and finding the deeper reasons of why you do what you do.
Karinda: Yes, there’s something rooted in your past that is really powerful. When you can finally put that into words and express that when you start talking to your clients about it, it makes all the difference.
Kristen: They start tearing up too.
Karinda: They feel like they are not alone, people don’t want to feel alone in this world and the struggles and the journey that they’re on. What we do, although it’s like a happy thing, also is rooted in a lot of really bad things in our life and struggles and challenges.
Kristen: When you can be emotional and vulnerable with your clients, they feel like they can open up too and you never know how much healing just a conversation while you’re out photographing their dogs can help. I’ve made clients cry during their sessions before and don’t always mean to, it’s usually at the end, but I’ve made really great friends out of these clients who I’ve connected with on an emotional level, and their dog.
Karinda: So is there anything else that you want to share or anything else that you think could be helpful for anybody who is reading this?
Kristen: Fork over the money and join the coaching program, they will help you so incredibly much. I feel like you’ve been in my corner the entire time. It’s really nice having that because you’ve been really helpful.
Karinda: What is different about what you learned from me versus what you’ve learned through other education experiences?
Kristen: I think a huge difference is you try to meet your clients where they’re at, rather than forcing them to fit inside a certain box. I feel like there was so much value from your time and advice, whereas other courses might have 80% value and like the rest is whatever. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of value out of working for me working with you.
If you are interested in working with me 1:1 submit an application for Master Your Mind & Money and put in your application that you are interested in working together 1:1, I will give you a call and we can talk more to see if 1:1 coaching is a good option for you and your business. Apply here. We typically have a waiting list to work with us 1:1 as we only accept a limited number of 1:1 Clients each year.