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Showit Freedom Tour: Orange County
I am back from Arizona and am finally catching up on some blog posts that needed to be done even before I left. It's official, I am finally over the yucky bronchitis and sinus infection that took over my body a few weeks ago. A few weeks back, I attended the Showit Freedom Tour in Orange County at the Wedding Pantry. If you have been reading my blog for quite some time, you will remember that I attended the first Freedom Tour back in 2008, and if you do check out this blog post, don't judge with the stretchy faces, I didn't know then what I know now. Looking back at how much I have learned about myself and my business since that first tour, I get excited! Excited for all of the endless opportunities that have been placed before me and continue to present themselves.
Over the past few years, I have been very selective on the events I attend that will help me build my business, and get me motivated to serve my clients. Without a doubt, these events David Jay puts on have been great, and this time around, I was excited that he rotated the speakers at every stop around the country. I also love attending events sponsored by PPA. I can go on forever about how much every single PPA event has literally rocked my world. If you are a professional photographer, you should consider joining PPA if you haven't already. By far, the best organization out there that stands behind their members. I will share even more about them in a few days when I post my Chicks Who Click recap.
Okay, on to the FREEDOM Tour!! There were four speakers at this stop: Gabriel Ryan, Stephen Knuth, Rudy Arpia and Jessica Claire.
*All images in the blog post are used with permission from Rudy Arpia. Thanks Rudy!
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Gabriel Ryan spoke first on how we can create our own freedom. Here are some of the things I took away from his presentation:
1. Take your own actions and build your own roadmap for your business.
2. Pick one thing and act!
3. Keep your plans on paper and move forward.
4. You can’t make it without a clear vision.
5. What makes YOU uniquely you?
6. Friendship is giving someone a gift and it ends up being the ripple effect of giving.
*Pricing / Clients / Look – What kind of life do I want to live?
*How would your day look if your business is the way you want?
*Your strategic vision/business plan for your business.
*Where will you get leads?
*If you know exactly what you want your clients to purchase, put it out there. Think about the following: Total Sales, Ideal Client, My team, Marketing, Uniforms, products, experience.
*Humans want to know what to go after.
What is your Target?
Discipline – Building your business bit by bit.
1. Look at your strategic vision
2. Pick One Thing
3. Get it to work
The process of creating freedom. Create a business that serves my life.
1. Self Analyze and ask the tough questions
2. Plan and Commit
3. Build and Do
• Clarify my vision and take 2 things to feel free and then take action.
Stephen Knuth from San Diego spoke about Action Runner, a new program to boost your editing productivity and Thirst Relief. |
| Rudy Arpia is amazing! He came to America from Argentina and has built a successful wedding photography business here in Southern California. If you have a Showit Site and want to know how to use it to it's fullest potential, he's your man. Seriously, I was floored with some of the things he is doing for his clients. |
Jessica Claire: Freedom – Myth or Reality?
I have heard Jessica speak a few times, and she is hilarious! She's the co-founder of the Shootsac, my most favorite camera bag EVER!
Here are some of the nuggets I took away from her presentation:
Revolve my business around my life.
Decide what I want my life to look like.
Make choices that fit with the life I want.
Pay yourself first (emotionally).
Expectations & Management
Most issues come up because of mismanaged expectations.
IF________THEN___________________
Jessica’s mantra for her own business which I love is setting those expectations and then over delivering on her own terms.
These are all sorts of things that occupy our time with the business. Think about the percentage of time you spend on each one. Shooting, Office work, Workflow, email & relationships, learning, wasting time on the internet, financial stuff.
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| Something that we haven't had before with the Freedom Tour is live entertainment. At this stop, and think almost all of them, the ever so lovely Molly Jenson performed. I bought her CD and you should too!!!! I listened to her on my way to Arizona and fell in love with her music. |
Arizona Bound!
This morning, I am on my way to Arizona for the Chicks who Click Retreat sponsored by PPA Charities. I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time to just get away, hang with a bunch of new and old friends, and learn more about the photography industry. The cool thing...it's all women! Hint Hint...Chicks who Click! David will be staying home with the kitties, and he even let me drive his car because it gets better gas mileage.
Before I check into my hotel though, I am having lunch with the wonderfully sweet and super talented Melissa Jill and Allison Bess. Melissa Jill is sort of the reason I got into this whole thing, as that's an entirely separate blog post. I can't wait to hang out with Melissa and Allison, and I am super excited to meet Dixie Dog! Melissa's dog whose the most famous pup in Arizona.
I will be out of the "office" until Sunday evening, so all emails and phone calls will be returned Monday.
Have a great weekend! |
| *This image was taken on our last trip to Arizona back in 2004. Can't wait to get some updated images of the famous Saguaro cactus |
300 sheets and counting...
| Yep! That's how many sheets of Kleenex are in the Costco box of Kleenex, and I have gone through almost double since last week! I do not wish this illness on anyone, as it isn't pretty, or all that fun. Some already know this, but I came down with bronchitis and a sinus infection last week, and I ALMOST NEVER GET SICK, so when I go down, I go down hard. I am thankful for an amazing husband, awesome friends, and two very loyal cats that stayed by my side and nursed me back to health. I am not quite healed, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. |
The reason for this post, isn't just to share with you how many tissues I have gone through in a week, but to also share with my clients, past, present and future, that I rarely get sick and have never canceled a session. Unfortunately, this past weekend, it happened. I had to make the call to a client who had her session on my calendar for a few weeks to say, I was just too sick. Of course, she graciously said that it was okay if I just came over with a little cold (which is what I thought it was at first) and was still planning on going. But then Thursday night and Friday rolled around and I had taken a turn for the worse. Crawling out of bed on Friday, putting on clothing that I thought had matched to make it to the doctor was about all I could do.
As a business owner, I realize how important it is to work with reliable people, and I consider myself a pretty reliable person. But with a fever of 101 and the diagnosis of bronchitis and a sinus infection, I can't be relied upon.
*Photographers, be sure share with your clients what is going on in your life such as your health, or things that could possibly prevent you from doing your job as you intended. If for some reason you can't do a portrait session, most of the times those can be re-scheduled pretty easily. Weddings can't be re-scheduled, hence the reason it is important to belong to some strong communities of other photographers such as the[b]school where someone always has your back.
Happy Tuesday! |
Happy Father's Day from Jenna & Justus, Glendora Children's Photographer
Happy Father's Day to ALL the Dad's out there! You all have a special place in someone's heart whether you are still here with us or not. This is a very special post for my dear friend and colleague Dr. Jon Milhon, whose kids are so thankful he is still with us. If you don't know Dr. Milhon, let me quickly bring you up to speed. A little more than eight weeks ago, Jon was hit head on by a car while traveling down Glendora Mountain Road on his bicycle. I won't go into any of the other crazy details other than, I saw him a few days after the accident while he was in the hospital, and he is SO LUCKY to be ALIVE! As our friend Todd said, "he shouldn't even be alive, and it is a total miracle".
That's right, it is a miracle that Jon is here to celebrate father's day with his two precious kiddos, Jenna and Justice!! |
I "kidnapped" Jenna & Justus a few weeks back to take some fun pictures of them for this special day. Actually, Tammy gave me permission, so it really wasn't a kidnapping!
I love this one of Jenna, which I did a few extra "artistic" touches on. |
Justus and his Dad are very into fishing, actually one of their favorite things to do, so I thought it was appropriate that Justice bring along some of his gear.
*Future clients, feel free to ALWAYS bring props along to your sessions that showcase your personalities! |
| Mr. Justus, so focused on getting the line fixed on his fishing rod. Disclaimer, apparently, Jenna and I walked into the line and he had to spend about 15 min. trying to fix it up again before we could take more pictures. Oh Justus!! |
| Jenna just turned 10 a week prior and is growing up into a beautiful young woman,. |
| You can't bother a young man while he is getting some serious fishing done. |
| They have the BEST garden behind their home where they grow all their own fruits, vegetables and gorgeous flowers. |
| Towards the end of our time together, we went back to the house and had fun on the hammock and in the garden. I love these next two with how the light is hitting them. |
| Brother and Sister! After about 20 frames, this is the one that I was able to get of the two of them being still and both looking at the camera. Crazy kiddos! *Thanks Jenna & Justus for hanging out with me for a few hours. Let's do it again soon! |
| Happy Father's Day Jon! I hope you, Tammy and the kids have a fabulous day! xoxo Tira J. |
Whip It Up Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Soup
| Being under the weather for several days, means you must resort to good old Chicken Noodle Soup. I am sure everyone has heard, just sleep, drink lots of water, have some chicken noodle soup, and you will feel better in no time. Trust us! We NEEDED this soup tonight! After some pretty yucky days, we finally resorted to the trusty, down home, cure all! Below is the recipe David made up tonight, so it is some real down to earth, totally amazing homemade soup! Enjoy! |
Chicken Noodle Soup
2 large chicken breasts
2 T olive oil
1 onion cut in small wedges
3 cups diced celery included leaves
2 cups diced carrots
4 cloves garlic
2 t mixed Italian seasoning
2 T kosher salt
1 t fresh ground pepper
1 pinch of crushed red chilies
4 qts water
1 lb Flat egg noodles |
Heat a six-quart pot, add olive oil, then lightly brown chicken breasts on all sides. After browning, add all ingredients (except noodles) and cover with 3 qts water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for one hour. After one hour, remove chicken breasts from pot and tear apart with a folk to shred the meat. Return shredded chicken to the pot and add the rest of the water. Return to a boil then add the egg noodles. Reduce to medium heat and let simmer for 8-10 minutes based on pasta cooking directions. Serve and enjoy. Makes 8 servings
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Of course, we used our awesome can't live without Le Creuset pot.
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