I had a friend ask me awhile ago if I felt alone in my business. I thought about that for a minute, but in truth I do not. I have friends who support and encourage me, and working from home during the day has given me an incredible amount of flexibility to meet people for coffee or lunch and work a little later instead. On top of that, between meeting with brides and families, I keep a regular amount of contact with the outside world even when I'm holed up in one room of my house for a majority of my days.
Before my mentoring session with Justin and Mary, I hadn't really considered adding Nathan to the business as more than a second shooter until or unless I grow past the point of sustainability. There are weeks that feel overwhelming with an incredible amount of work, but that is every person in every job. Plus, he of course has a full time job and is going to seminary, so asking him to add anything else to his plate seemed out of the question.
One of the best things that came out of mentoring, though, was Nathan's interest in and desire to start being more involved in my business. As he watched two other photographers look through my blog posts and point out background distractions or things I could fix to make my work better, a light went off in his head. When we left, he came to me with a plan to help even more than he already is. Of course I said yes right away.
So from here on out, Nathan's going to have more of a role. You won't see him or hear from him - I'm still working on that, though he did write a blog for me once! But he has committed to looking through my images, especially those I blog, to make everything just a little bit better. Tonight as I write this he is going to review my portfolio, giving me advice on what to include and what to eliminate. Last week he set up a cloud-based storage system that will allow me to access ALL my files from anywhere - I have a feeling that will change my life for the better in so many ways!
Maybe I didn't feel alone before he stepped in, and I've never asked him to take a bigger role, but now that Nathan wants to jump in I feel both incredibly grateful and relieved. The truth is, one set of eyes can only do so much work. I can be so attached to my couples that I don't fairly evaluate my images. Having an extra set of hands to kindly, uncritically evaluate what I'm doing and why - and keeping me on track with my goals - is going to be such a lifesaver. I'm grateful for a husband who has not only always done everything I've asked, but is ready to do so much more so I can chase my dreams. I married a good man, and I'm reminded of that every day.
