Show up on Instagram more. Post every day. Do what everyone else is doing. Most marketing advice is one size fits all, and I disagree with nearly all of it. When I knew I was leaving teaching, I spent my two-year runway learning marketing and my ideal client more than technique, and I hired a business coach to keep that clarity in front of me. Reading Fascinate: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist by Sally Hogshead helped me define how I wanted my business to be seen. Her research identifies seven ways a brand captures attention: Innovation, Passion, Power, Prestige, Trust, Mystique, and Alert. Every business naturally leads with one or two, and the strongest brands stop trying to be all seven. Learning that I lead with Mystique and Trust explained why constant posting and loud marketing never felt right for me, and it took me in a different direction than some of my closest competitors. In this session I share how to find your own lane, read your own data, and confidently say no to advice that does not fit.

Stop Taking Everyone's Marketing Advice

Speaking Topics

I started this business on maternity leave, hoping to bring in a little extra income. What I did not plan for was how much the business, my teaching career, my marriage, and motherhood would ask of me all at once. For a while I felt like I was failing at every one of them. Then 2020 arrived, and I was homeschooling, teaching virtually, rescheduling every client on my calendar, and trying to stay steady for my family. Yes, I called my mom in tears. That season forced changes I probably would have avoided otherwise, and those changes are a big part of why the business works today. My kids are older now and the balance looks different, but the questions have not changed: what gets my time, what gets my best energy, and what can wait. In this session I share five ways I have learned to let motherhood and a creative business work alongside each other, without pretending either one is easy. Attendees will leave with practical structures for protecting family time, setting client expectations, and finding peace in carrying more than one title.

Making Motherhood Work: A creative outlook on our greatest project. 

My success is measured at home, not by my industry, and I want every photographer and creative business owner to believe that about their own work. I built this business from the ground up with a handful of financial habits I still use every week. In this session I open my ledger and show exactly how I track income and expenses, how I use that data to set profit goals and budgets, how I think about raising my prices, and how I plan ahead so tax season is never a surprise. These systems are why I can take real time off, pay myself a reasonable salary, and make decisions from clarity instead of panic. Attendees will leave with a simple bookkeeping structure, a method for setting profit goals, and a plan for setting aside taxes throughout the year.

Financial Strategies for a Profitable Photography Business.

Film asks you to slow down. You count frames, you trust your exposure, and you wait to see what you made. That discipline has changed the way I shoot digitally, and film is now a core part of how I photograph weddings. In this session I share how I brought film into a working wedding business and how any photographer can begin. We cover choosing a camera and film stock, metering and focusing with confidence, finding a lab for developing and scanning, and printing from negatives. I also talk about how I present film to couples, as a philosophy rather than just a look, and how it fits into a hybrid workflow alongside digital. This session is for photographers at every level who are curious about analog. Attendees will leave with a starter gear and film list, a clear understanding of lab options, and ideas for personal and client projects that bring film into their work.

Rediscovering Film: A Modern Photographer's Guide to Analog Photography

Are you ready to elevate your wedding photography business and step into the realm of high-end, lucrative weddings? Join us for an in-depth session designed to equip wedding photographers with the skills, strategies, and insights necessary to attract and thrive in the premium wedding market. We will explore the nuances that differentiate standard weddings from premium ones and delve into the unique expectations of discerning clients. This session covers everything from refining your craft to sophisticated marketing strategies, ensuring you can present yourself as the go-to photographer for high-profile events. By the end of this session, participants will: Learn what sets high-end weddings apart and the key elements discerning clients look for. Gain insights into current trends and how to align your style to meet the demands of the premium market. Better understand how to personalize the client experience to exceed expectations and build lasting relationships. This session is a must-attend for any wedding photographer looking to elevate their business and secure more high-paying clients.

Elevating Your Craft: Succeeding in High-End Wedding Photography

Community over competition is one of the most repeated phrases in our industry, and one of the least defined. I believe in it. I celebrate when my friends succeed, and healthy competition keeps all of us sharp. But community is a soft skill that only works when it is protected by a few hard rules. The longer you stay in this industry, the more clearly you see two kinds of people: those who help you grow, and those who want to use you as a rung on their ladder. Learning to tell the difference, and walking away quickly when I need to, has protected my business and my energy. So has learning to say no to work that does not fit, a lesson that cost me family time and more brain space than I can measure. In this session I share the clear, non-negotiable rules I use to build real community, protect my capacity, and keep my relationships generous without being gullible.

Generous, Not Gullible: The Rules of Real Community