0:00:00 - Carissa Woo

remember who you are and then when you do remember who you are, how much work you put into your business, I think it'll carry you through and you'll manifest that good energy and you know you're manifesting all the time. So just really keep in mind those thoughts Like when you get negative, negative things will happen. When you stay positive, positive things will happen.

0:00:28 - Natalie Joanne

This is the Photo Business Help Podcast, a resource for photographers of all levels, from brand new to burnt out, who believe that business growth starts with personal growth. I'm your host, natalie Jennings. I created Jennings Photo back in 2010 and have been happily full-time since, but not without some mistakes along the way. Those lessons, plus what's really helped me thrive financially and personally, are what I want to share with you so you can grow with your photo business, too. You'll also hear stories from other photographers and industry folks, as well as my favorite ways to be more mindful and happier on this journey.

Sometimes it is a blast to talk to people that have been doing this as long or even longer than I have. Reminiscing about how much has changed in this industry is just one thing that Carissa and I are talking about. She is a powerhouse of branding and coaching, and her amazing podcast and, of course, her wedding photography business. All of this stuff is looped into our conversation about the importance of mindset, just to name one thing, and I think you're really going to enjoy this chat. It's very flowy, very conversational, very laid-back. Before we get into that, here are a few words from the folks that support this show. So are you from Torrent, or are you there just recently?

0:02:01 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I'm a Torrent girl. So born and raised and back in Torrent, people make fun of me because I have a five mile radius of my life. Here I'm the biggest Torrent girl you could ever meet.

0:02:16 - Natalie Joanne

That's amazing. I like it out there. I used to go visit my aunt and uncle when they lived out there a lot when I was a teenager and I have good memories out there.

0:02:25 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, Torrent has everything.

0:02:27 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, I love how you're like I just go five miles, that's it. Well, I think most people unless they have a really long commute, I mean most people are within a pretty structured radius almost all the time. I mean we don't go too far away if we don't have to. I don't think, especially now that everyone's online.

0:02:46 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I mean, people always say, oh, do you still love wedding photography after 14 years? And then I'm like, of course I love wedding photography, but it's a lot of driving, yeah. Yeah, I mean, with two kids you had to do like drop offs, and then it's just, you know, sometimes I did Jardim, alibu or Temecula or wherever it wants me, and it's just a lot of time in the car.

0:03:12 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, well, that's cool, though I've only shot a couple of weddings in Southern California and I love it because it's just compared to here, which has its. You know, minnesota is beautiful but it's also very seasonal, like it's really really cold and you can't really shoot much for most of the winter outside. But like every time I'm in California shooting and I've done like a lot of brand stuff out there and stuff, it's like always beautiful light. I'm like this is amazing. I should just live here because I'm a photographer.

0:03:42 - Carissa Woo

Oh, thank you for saying that, because I kind of forget, because I just take it for granted. But even on rainy days, like somehow, the light will just pop up like recklessly it is.

0:03:55 - Natalie Joanne

It's beautiful out there for whatever reason. It's just always really lovely out there, at least in my experience.

0:04:01 - Carissa Woo

So it is, I'm not an overcast shooter, it just I don't really like flat light. I need to reflect there, but I definitely like the sun for sure.

0:04:11 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, well, and you have a lot of it out there. So that's really cool. Yeah, really good memories. But some of my favorite like sunny shots definitely came from California, so, but, yeah, certainly, but yeah, so, okay, so you've been doing this. We've both been doing this a long time. I think we started around the same time, like 2009, 2010, something like that. And yeah, like what was going on in your life when you were like I'm going to do this because I think there was a very specific group of folks. This is like for people listening that don't get it like. This is like when blogs actually started to become a thing, like not everyone was online, like online and not everyone had like. I mean, facebook was barely just born, so it was like a really interesting time to try and do this compared to now, because it was like there were very, very few people that were kind of modeling like what was going on.

0:05:00 - Carissa Woo

I guess, if that makes sense, yeah, I mean just you saying that makes me feel so connected to you. We were there at the same time. So you're right, I think I got a little lucky because I got out of advertising because of 2009 recession and I was kind of like this exploration time in my life. I was collecting unemployment and I didn't have too many bills, so I was just like, oh, what should I do? And like super random. But I started a frame company with my dad, but we did like personalized name frames and I actually did like bride shows because I had like a really cute frame for couples, like with their wedding day or that's a couple's name. And then that's how I kind of fell into the industry. And then, you know, I looked at the photographers. I'm like dude, they suck. They're like dinosaurs. You know Now, I'm like suck.

0:05:54 - Natalie Joanne

It's so funny. I mean I remember so distinctly that crossover of like kind of the old school photographers and then this new group that came in and was like all about being digital and starting blogs and not relying on studio time and prints and all that kind of stuff necessarily I mean some people do but like it was such a different world, like right before kind of we got started.

0:06:19 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I mean not to make anyone feel bad, but it was a lot easier back in the day, like anytime I posted something, oh, I mean. Yeah, it sucked to start, but when I posted like a wedding, everyone's like oh and ah, you know like comments and likes or whatever. And now it's like I'll post something on Facebook and like I don't even get one like.

0:06:42 - Natalie Joanne

It's totally different now. I totally agree with that, Like it was a.

0:06:46 - Carissa Woo

I was like wow, like to think about everything I put out to the world. Everyone saw it was so magical. It was even, I think, the Salma Critis green running shoes, not even a shoe bug, but they were just popping out. And if I said I was a wedding photographer, people actually thought I was weird. And you know, I said, oh yeah, I'm a wedding photographer. They're like what. Like that's like a weird job and that's kind of embarrassed. And then now everyone's like oh yeah, my seven friends are wedding photographers. Oh, like that.

0:07:23 - Natalie Joanne

It is really interesting because that is a thousand percent true. I can't remember the last time. That's so. I mean, like, every time I say, like I'm a photographer I don't shoot weddings anymore but every time I say that I'm a photographer to people, they're like oh, my friend and my neighbor and my you know whatever. And I can't remember the last time I did that where, like, there wasn't a response. I mean, everybody knows somebody that's doing photography, which is wonderful. I mean I think it's great, but it was so different starting out, when not a lot of people were doing it and people thought I was kind of weird too.

I just finished my masters and I was a teacher and I just it wasn't really going the way I wanted it to.

Like I thought it would go and I didn't love it that much and I've always loved art and visual art and it was something that I was just super drawn to and I was like I'm going to do this. But it amazes me, like I think about like the first photo I ever published on like my first WordPress blog in like 2008 or nine, and it was like a picture of like a swing set, just with a swing swinging, like a very poetic picture. It wasn't. It didn't even have people in it and I'm like, oh, that was so awful. But then I realized, like we have been inundated for the last like 15 years with more imagery than probably our entire lives before that. I mean, it's like so like now I think people have the ability to like be inspired by so many other people, like back to the dinosaurs. It's like we were kind of coming into this going like, okay, well, like, oh, that person has a cool idea. But we were just sort of like making our own way in a way.

0:08:58 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, it's interesting. I do feel like your work is. It's interesting to say poetic, because when I was looking at your Instagram last night I was like, oh, it is like kind of poetic.

0:09:07 - Natalie Joanne

Oh, thanks, thank you.

0:09:09 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, it's interesting. It's kind of like you get all the feels. But I guess you know when I started, there's always, you know, inspiration. There was always famous people already and even looking at like Netflix documentary they'll see like old photographers and they're almost like way more amazing than photographers these days, like it's crazy. So I mean the work's been out there like forever. Wedding photography was definitely not like a thing, a random story, but I kind of hit the ground running because I did bride shows, so I was already in that world. So I took 50 weddings my first year and just out of my list and the price was cheap. It was like, you know, $17.99 or something. So people lined up to book with me and I had pretty good, you know, eye for color or whatever. I was kind of posing, I danced my whole life but I actually someone said, oh, you should go to WPPI, you know, like the biggest.

0:10:05 - Natalie Joanne

Conference. Yeah.

0:10:06 - Carissa Woo

Or photographers convention, that's the word. And I was like, okay, so I went and there's, like you know, thousands of wedding photographers and I was like, oh my God, like this is a thing. So I had no idea. And then I got really intimidated. So if I had gone to that before I booked all these weddings, I wouldn't have booked all these weddings. I got like my foot in the door to you know, creating my brand and getting my name out there, Cause I was really intimidating. I was like who am I to like with these weddings, Like I don't know anything. So just, you know, letting you guys know your audience, like it's kind of mindset, it's all mindset.

0:10:41 - Natalie Joanne

I love that and I know, like I know I talk about it a lot on this show, but it is all mindset, like if we could just just end the conversation there and go on our way. But I think that people hear that a lot now. I mean, it's like it's something that people talk about mindset. But not only do I agree with you, but I think that, like it can change. I mean it can completely change everything in your life. However, because people hear it a lot, like what do you think is like like a tangible way to understand that for people you know they're like yeah, yeah, mindset. Like what do you think is a helpful way to start addressing that if someone's like okay, I maybe have a little bit of a mindset problem? Or even identifying, if you do have a mindset problem, like, is there anything that's popping up for you that like help people?

0:11:27 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I mean rather story. But I had like these photographer friends and we started at the same time and they were like really, like not that good, and they're just, they had this mindset. They're like, oh, we're gonna be the next, like Jasmine star, and I kind of laughed. I was like ha ha, ha, ha, like. And they started like after me, just a little bit after me, but I was like, yeah, right, and then they're not Jasmine star, but because she went the whole other route, but they did like really make a big name for themselves, like, and they charged a lot. So I was kind of like, wow, I should never laugh at someone and I didn't have that mindset. So I wasn't like, oh, I'm gonna be like you know, like charged 10, 20 K for wedding. I never had that mindset. So just let me know like it is your mindset, like, trust me with everything. And it's just.

Another story is, you know, when you start talking to negative friends or negative people on it just like want, want, and trust me, I'm negative too. Like I get in like really negative phases where I'm like nothing, blah, blah, blah. I try so hard, I work so hard. You know what's going on. It's just, it's literally like a spiral. It's like, and then you get in your head and then you're like I don't know, you almost want to give up and it's just tears. And then you start maybe finally getting out of it. You talk to other people that are inspiring.

Like you could do this, like maybe try this, maybe try this, you've got this. When I see your work, it's so incredible Like, blah, blah, blah, like. And then you get out of your head and you start doing things and things like actually you start getting inquiries and there's like wow, like if I just, you know, put myself in these situations or I'm a part of, like inspirational groups or inspiring people or positive friends, like it's just so much helpful or so much more help, being that mindset.

0:13:15 - Natalie Joanne

It's so huge. I was just talking with my partner about this. Actually we were at podcast movement, which is the big podcasting conference that they do every year and we've been going for years. It's actually where we met, which is the whole other story, but we were both speaking in August and you know we were meeting new people and Having like some really good conversations with the people that are like you know, now that we've attended for so many years, like we've gotten to know a lot more of the speakers than just sort of networking with attendees now that like they're better but they're just more experienced, usually business-wise and stuff like that.

And it's so cool to just talk to people that are killing it, because when you're in that energy you're like okay, like yeah, okay, let's go. You know it's so, so, so motivating and it makes you realize, like how important it is to surround yourself with people that are like in a positive mindset, in like an abundance mindset and in a growth mindset, because it Really rubs off on you if you spend most of your time with people that are kind of on the other end of that spectrum yeah, I like how you said that, because when you do Spend time with those people, like even at those conventions or like skies a limit, and you see these people and you're like that's a lot of work to get there, but it's also a lot of work to like do bad in life too.

I Love that you said that it is a lot of work also to not do that. When people is almost more work, I would say to try and just get up every day and like Really yourself through a difficult, challenging time I mean, we've all been through really hard times but like just when, when? That is your sort of like starting point all the time. I would way rather be in in like a positive mindset, working all the time. You know. Yeah, totally, it really is it. It's again. I think it's all energy moving around, it's just. And when you're in like high energy space, you're like okay, let's do this, you know.

0:15:15 - Carissa Woo

I Just met you, but I feel like you get me.

0:15:19 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, I feel like, well, I will say, whenever I speak with photographers, that kind of started at the same time like there is something shared there that was like different than it is now.

0:15:32 - Carissa Woo

We've been on the same a little bit of like same wavelength, but you know yeah, there's a journey like a real interesting one.

0:15:41 - Natalie Joanne

I mean, I used to deliver photos on CDs.

0:15:44 - Carissa Woo

Me too, that's okay.

0:15:47 - Natalie Joanne

So if you're wondering, like what we're talking about, that's what we're talking about, landline. Like. I mean there was no zoom. I was meeting all of my clients in person.

0:16:01 - Carissa Woo

Oh, absolutely.

0:16:03 - Natalie Joanne

Lots of coffee shops, lots of dinners, just to get weddings booked. It was a different time.

0:16:09 - Carissa Woo

I had like a wagon, like.

0:16:16 - Natalie Joanne

Well, cuz you're like samples, you have to like bring a lot of stuff to show people.

0:16:21 - Carissa Woo

Oh my gosh you know I would never think of the CDs until you said it, but I didn't, I forgot.

0:16:28 - Natalie Joanne

I was so proud of, like the aesthetic. I had like really cool CD covers and they were like Kind of rustic and cute for like my there's a lot of rustic weddings in Minnesota and Wisconsin and like just cute little silk ribbons and like I mean I had a whole thing like it was such a thing and now it's just gone. I mean not that I wouldn't occasionally send a client a gift or something, but I haven't again shot weddings in a few years, but I mean I've taken so many like branding classes, blah, blah, blah, a thousand thousand dollars.

0:17:00 - Carissa Woo

And then I go back and I'm like I kind of knew all this like in my head, like from day one.

0:17:05 - Natalie Joanne

I know like the ribbon and, like you know, like the marketing is like it's kind of obvious, totally Well speaking marketing like how do you think mindset like plays into what people, how people market themselves and how they price themselves like do you think they're related?

0:17:22 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I think you have to. It's hard, I know, and I struggle to, but confidence because Kind of like, oh shit, I make Two, three thousand dollars a weekend or nothing, you know yeah so it's like we almost have like this desperate aspect in our voice.

You know if you're not doing like crazy mini sessions or you don't have another job and you know you have built a, so it's like, I don't know, it's a little hard if you don't have that like confidence. But I think it goes down to like having a really powerful brand and then you could really speak upon it Like what your brand's about, what differentiates you, you know why, like they should hire you. It's like little stories to create desire and then the conversation is a little more powerful and you kind of are in your confidence. You're in your power because it's very easy for the client to take your power away with always trying to low ball, you just wanting to know the price oh, we're talking to six other photographers. But it's like you kind of have to stand your ground and like your packages and why.

It's like different and kind of selling even little things. Like, instead of devine, you like, oh, discounts or adding this, adding that, add an album. Maybe hype up the second shooter, what everything the second shooter does. Oh, maybe hype up that you have the most amazing albums. Maybe hype up you've been dancing your whole life and you know flattering poses, maybe hype up that you are, like they're gonna be their hype girl. Instead of liking, like, drag you into this, like give you more, give you more for doing less or for paying you less, so like a slippery slope on those calls, I'm like you have to really tap into your power, become the one, become authority and have this confidence to be like hey, like this is me, you want in or you don't want, you know.

0:19:21 - Natalie Joanne

I think that is so important to try and explain to people. I comes up in my coaching a lot but I don't really know how to explain what that is. It's just different for everyone. But like being an authority, when you're on that call, like this is your business and if you don't wanna do X, y and Z, like if that's not what you do like, for example, I never stayed past the first hour of the dance. It was just not my thing. I was like if you wanna pay me extra, fine, but like you will have more than enough photos of probably the best part of the dance.

From that first part People start to get tired and go home. So if you have like unless they had like an exit or something planned, but anyway, like I would just say that I'm like I'm going to show up about an hour before you're dressed and ready and I'm gonna leave about an hour after first dance. And however long that is whether that's like six hours or nine hours that's great, but like that's what we're doing to make this collection work. And I find that on either end of that there's way too many of the same photos. If I'm just hanging around all day just doing the same stuff and I just stood my ground. That's like one example of standing your ground, of like this is just. This is my style and this is how I like to create this story, and without missing too much of the day, which I don't think I really ever did. I mean I was.

I think that's a great kind of window of time, but it's hard to explain to folks what that feels like because it's you know, it really does make a difference if you're trying to pay the bills and you're really just want the gig and you want the experience. But I think ultimately you end up in a place that you don't want to be in. So it's almost better to like, you know, it's almost better to like notice what you're spending your time on, and maybe you do need to get like a side job while you're your authority and growing your business, so that you aren't having to take the stuff that you don't like. You know that might be one option, because it's not worth it in the end, you know, to get pushed around by clients and to sign up for stuff that you don't want to do, because that ultimately breaks down that mindset a little bit, like you are no longer in your power or in control.

0:21:20 - Carissa Woo

You're kind of just like, okay, and those types of clients will be the ones to ask for more and more and potentially not be happy. And as soon as I get St Pigs, oh, but can you blah, blah, blah, listen to this. And oh, where's the rest? Oh, you know, like it. Just, they, just, they drag you through the mud. You want to work with clients that love your work and, with that said, you know, bless your ass to make your portfolio amazing, your website amazing, your copy amazing, your funnels, your Instagram, and you know, work on your brand, work on your photos, so that you have this confidence. And when they say, actually all these things, you could easily be like, no, like this is how I do business. It's working for my clients. They love it. I have all these reviews and you know, are you in there or are you not?

0:22:09 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, and it takes a while to figure that out. I think to really recognize like, oh, I should have said no, or you know, you just have to kind of pay attention when that happens. You know, pay attention, as I always say, to how you feel and if it just feels icky, like, notice what you want to change about it. You know.

0:22:25 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I'm trying to like you know it took me so many years. But it is that feeling of feeling icky. I priced this girl. She was like, oh, like you know, she wanted a a lot of it. But it was just gonna be like her, her husband, and she's asking all these crazy questions like can you bring a friend for like a vision? I was like sure, I'll bring a friend, like that's gonna cost us much, but I just charged her like $500 an hour. And then, but, to go to Malibu. And then she calls me back. She's like, oh, I want to hire you, but we only want one hour. I was like, oh, I'm so sorry, like I'm not gonna go to Malibu for like 500. I'll have to do like two hours. And then she texted me back like, oh, we went with a different photographer, but I actually felt like really good about it.

0:23:06 - Natalie Joanne

Yes.

0:23:07 - Carissa Woo

I was like imagine like having to pick up my kid and then drop them off and then drive to Malibu, you know, for like an hour and a half, two hours. It's like not.

0:23:17 - Natalie Joanne

Now I always had a minimum of two hours for my like wedding stuff, cause I just felt like just I know I take that back. I would do 90 minutes if it was like the courthouse, cause it wasn't that far away, but like that was the minimum. I was like I can't just do an hour.

0:23:33 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I should have said something earlier Like so that was my fault, you know. And the beginning.

0:23:37 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah.

0:23:38 - Carissa Woo

So it's just these little things. But I think before I didn't have that feeling of you know after, of how are you going to feel after. You know how old are you going to be If you book on these like 10 hour, 11 hour gigs. You know the aftermath of it and your mental health. You know when you're young, yeah, you could do everything, whatever is. And then now I kind of like really tap into what makes me feel good.

0:24:02 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, yeah, I think it just makes such a difference. And and just holding firm on stuff, like I recently had a family client that wanted to do like photos. So the package they got is meant to be like an at home session where, like I just come over for an hour and we they play and like we just maybe they make dinner or do a bedtime routine or whatever it's storytelling, and they're like, well, we'd rather just go to a park. And I was like, well, that's not really what this is about. This is really like you know.

And I did not that time stand my ground. I was like, okay, you know, we'll just go to a park. And it was fine, like, but I didn't feel like excited about it. I was like, okay, now I'm just ending up at the park again, which is not really what I want to do for an hour. I'll do it for a mini session, but I'm not going to do it for an hour. And I don't know, I had to like really think about that, like why didn't I sort of stand my ground more? But now I do. I mean, I think it's just like that process of like noticing and going like oh, I should have just, you know, said something like more firm.

0:25:00 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I think, see me and you are like it's like we know, we know what's up.

0:25:08 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally, totally. Well, I love that, though I mean I think it takes. You know, the thing I wouldn't trade for any of this is the experience. You know it takes a while to kind of figure this stuff out and some people figure it out sooner than others. But, and I think, like back to what we were saying, like it might have taken us a little longer in some ways because we didn't have like a road paved for us already, you know really.

But you know, don't get discouraged. I guess if you're listening and you still haven't kind of found your groove, because you know the contrast, the like icky feelings, those are there to guide you. I mean that's actually really good information. So it's sort of like a great big blinking sign saying like don't go this way anymore. You know, and that's just as good as knowing which way to go you might have to figure out where you're going, like it might take a little longer, but at least you know where you don't want to go, which I think you know. Hopefully, flipping that like glass half full helps people a little bit if they're feeling a little lost, you know.

0:26:05 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I've been thinking a lot about values. I've been hearing this concept for over six years, I think, and I think I was always asking. I didn't understand it because the reason I didn't understand it was because I felt like all the values are my values.

0:26:23 - Natalie Joanne

I know that's so funny. You're like what are your values? Well, like all the ones that are values.

0:26:28 - Carissa Woo

Yeah. So I'm like I think, now that I'm gonna be 39, I'm realizing maybe like flexibility and peace are one of my top values and with that, you know, comes love and everything else, but those are my top ones. So it's like I have to be careful when I like throw in to the plate, because is it gonna cause me not to be like at peace with myself and be stressed. So I think I'm, after all these years, I'm finally understanding that. And they say like if you're not aligned with your values and you're gonna feel kind of out of alignment.

0:27:02 - Natalie Joanne

Yes, well, and that speaks to the story I just told cause one of my biggest ones is just autonomy over my time and my creativity and my schedule. You know, like that is a huge one. That's one of the main reasons I did this is just that autonomy and that ability to choose. And when I get put in a position where I'm like, okay, I guess I'm not choosing the location, fine, you know. Then I get a little like out of alignment, but that's what it's there for. I think that's good. That's really good advice to like think about that. Like what are you valuing?

0:27:32 - Carissa Woo

you know, yeah, and I guess like it just takes time and experience to understand what truly like are your values, and I think they could change over time.

0:27:44 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, yeah, yeah, well. And now you I mean I imagine, after all of these years of doing this and you're still doing weddings like I bet things feel pretty good right In your business, like pretty smooth, pretty like aligned.

0:27:57 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I think even when second tutors come on, they always say, oh Priscilla, like how do you get the best clients? And I'm not talking luxury at all or like you know, like super crazy budgets or anything, it's just they're so nice and like they'll do whatever we say Like they'll do a cartwheel they'll do a cartwheel you know like they just do, like they just so like freaking, awesome and caring, and they ask us questions and they're like how do you get this type of bride?

And we're just like I don't know, like it works really hard for it, like I don't know, I guess I just my brand like just says, oh we want happy people.

0:28:35 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, totally. And you like I've been only talking to you for like 20 minutes, but like you're clearly a happy person and it's like or that comes off, that's like a you're not just like, hey, how's it going? You know? I mean that's people are getting married, especially like they want to feel like joyful.

0:28:52 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, yeah, there's, yeah, I get the most the kindest couples and I'm a coach now and just you know, helping people create their brand and help them with sales. I really go to my value of flexibility, the zoom lifestyle and then being able to say like no, if you don't want to work with them, because I'm all about that kind of like an introductory call. So I hop on the call with them, like for like 10 minutes, sometimes it's even less, and if I just feel like that feeling of it's not right, it's actually okay for me to just be like oh, like maybe you should go talk to this photographer and they're like happy about it, because I want it to be like a good bit, because I'm going to spend eight hours that my day, two hours driving, like I want them to be really cool and I want to have fun too.

0:29:47 - Natalie Joanne

Yes, totally. You have the right to like, fire your own clients. You know, I mean, you do like not really like sounds harsh, but I've done it before with weddings. I remember there were a couple of times where you know one I can think of in particular, where, like they seem like really nice people but then they started, you know, just getting and we were like ready to sign and book and everything.

And then they sent me an email that was like, well, we don't really like the photos where it's just the bouquet and the heads cut off and you know it's just this whole thing. So could you just and could you maybe do? And they sent me like a list of stuff and I was like, well, you know, I was really excited to work with you, but I have to say like, if I have to keep these things in mind, which are different from my natural style, I'm not gonna be able to really serve you the way that, like I can't. I mean, my talent is just what you see, like this is what I do. So you might be better off. If you want a different type of photo to that, have me as your photographer, because I'm not gonna change the way I shoot for somebody else's, you know, they should just be booking someone else at that point, you know.

0:30:50 - Carissa Woo

That's like a lot of balls that they do that. But you know, is that the trajectory of, like, your whole entire career? Because if you just get enough minds, oh yeah, I'll do boho for you, I'll do dark and moody for you, oh yeah, I'll not do my normal style. I just like then, who are you Like? You lose kind of who you are. So I mean, you had a lot of courage to do that. I don't think I would have had that.

0:31:12 - Natalie Joanne

I think I just there might be something in my personality that's like a little grumpy about stuff like that, where I'm just like no, I'm not gonna like not do what I like doing, just cause you want me to do it differently. You know, I think I just got, I think I was more annoyed than I was nervous about the money or whatever. I think I was just like no, no, no, you know like I'm not gonna do that, but it was scary. It's always scary to say no to clients.

0:31:35 - Carissa Woo

You know the bride. She texted me. She said something about cause her engagements shoot. She saw a photo in the back of my camera and she didn't like her armpit. She was older than that and she says to me like oh hey, I fixed my armpit for an iPhone app and make sure you do that for my wedding pictures. And I was thinking in my head like why would she text me that before I even sent her sneak peeks? And then, secondly, she was wearing long sleeve. Oh my Lord, but it's like dude. So I didn't even respond.

0:32:07 - Natalie Joanne

I was gonna say, like, what do you do at that point? Like if someone, I mean, I would just say like, per our agreement, like this wasn't you know? Something like if you want to pay extra for edits or if you want to take it somewhere else, go ahead. But that's not part of what we agreed on, Cause that's a lot of extra Plus. Like you're following the clients edit from an iPhone, Like that's not very good instruction.

0:32:28 - Carissa Woo

The armpit didn't look. It got great. But yeah, the wedding day she was wearing, luckily, long sleeves, I didn't have to worry about it. But it just like these insecurities that pop up and I understand. But it's just kind of navigating everything through a positive light, like you're gorgeous girl, you know. Like you know, look how stunning you are, you know, see that, see, you know it's like I don't know. Us wedding photographers I know you're retired, I'm semi-retired, but we have to deal with extremely sensitive situations and emotions and through the family, because a lot of divorces, a lot of times they're seeing each other for the very first time, a lot of bad blood and we're like this vessel of like hope and light and love and making it all come out in the photographs and sometimes, if we're not strong, then it could get to us all these different energies.

0:33:22 - Natalie Joanne

Vessel of hope and light and love that should be on someone's wedding photography branding page. You're listening and you're looking for good copy.

0:33:31 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, unless you are dark, you are the vessel of hope and light and love.

0:33:37 - Natalie Joanne

That's really good, though it's true. A lot of times, like I mean many times and I probably I think I shot just over 300 weddings, so not you know a lot, but not you know as many as some there's a lot of times where I would feel like I was the one bringing the energy, like I was like, okay, this has got to change. You know, like I get something has to change here, because it would be sometimes, yeah, awkward or a little tense.

0:34:01 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, I know it too well. You could like literally feel that you're like ee-hee.

0:34:07 - Natalie Joanne

It's a wild job, it's a really interesting job and I'm grateful for every minute of it because it really allowed me the lifestyle that I was really excited to live. And I mean, I'm still doing photography, just not that. And I just think I think I'm such a better photographer because of just having to think on my feet all the time. And you know, weddings are a good way to grow if you're looking for experience, you know.

0:34:31 - Carissa Woo

Oh my God, I don't see everything.

0:34:34 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, you totally will. Well, before we sort of wrap up I always like to well, first I wanna ask you where people can find you on Instagram and just connect with you if they want to, for just coaching or whatever. You can toss that out there, yeah.

0:34:47 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, my Instagram is at Carissa Woo. I have a new book out for wedding photographers. I have a new program. I have a live demo on how to get 10 to 15 leads per month High pain leads. Been working on this for three months and just launched today, right before.

0:35:06 - Natalie Joanne

Oh, congratulations.

0:35:07 - Carissa Woo

Thank you. So I have all the funnels in place, all the emails in place, all the videos. I could live in my feminine energy. So I don't have to do anything, and it's at the work when you hire me. But yeah, go check it out. It's a really fun 20 minute demo and you get even if you don't wanna work with me, you'll get a lot of tips on how to build your brand and how to book the call.

0:35:33 - Natalie Joanne

And that's on Instagram or your website or both.

0:35:35 - Carissa Woo

Yeah, everything. And then my website is heckyesmediaco, and if you wanna check out my photography work, it's Carissa Woo Photography, w-o-o.

0:35:45 - Natalie Joanne

Perfect, that sounds awesome. Well, what I was gonna say before I asked you for the Instagramming stuff was I always like to ask people for one thing that kind of carries you through as a business owner just through life, like a quote or like a mindset thing, or like a post-it that you have on your computer, or just something that you think you could share with people that might help them along their way.

0:36:09 - Carissa Woo

I was gonna say something that we said like become the one, become the authority. But I think my therapist always tells me. She always tells me, remember who you are. Yeah, because people try to nickel, that gave me goosebumps. Yeah, I've been doing this a long time and people still ghost me. Or I get rejected all the time still and, yeah, I get down still, which is still weird because I still really care. And she just like remember who you are. And then when you do remember who you are, how much work you put into your business, I think it'll carry you through and you'll manifest, like that good energy and you're manifesting all the time. So just really keep in mind those thoughts, Like when you get negative, like negative things will happen. When you stay positive, positive things will happen.

0:36:58 - Natalie Joanne

Yeah, it's finding that light, that silver lining, even when stuff is really hard. You know that makes a huge difference in your energy. But I love that. Remember who you are. I also liked it, you know, in my own coaching stuff. I love reminding people that like we all have something different to bring to the table, so there's enough pie for everybody, you know. And that when you remember who you are, as you said, like you can then tap into what makes you you and why people might wanna hire you versus someone else. Like there's, you're gonna be just right for some people and not for others, and that's exactly how it's supposed to be. There's enough for everyone to go around, you know, but just staying true to you is so powerful. I love that. Well, thank you, chris. So I really I would love to do this again so we can just just dig in as some of this stuff Cause-. Oh, you want my pie, cass? Yeah, I would love to. Absolutely, you can plug that too. What's your podcast?

0:37:50 - Carissa Woo

It a heck, yes.

0:37:53 - Natalie Joanne

Nice.

0:37:54 - Carissa Woo

All right.

0:37:54 - Natalie Joanne

So we're gonna link to all of your stuff in the show notes. But thank you again for coming on the show and I can't wait. I would love to chat with you on yours. So I guess we'll be doing this again soon.

0:38:04 - Carissa Woo

Oh you're so cute.

0:38:05 - Natalie Joanne

Oh, talk to you soon.

Transcribed by https://podium.page