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Ep. 173 - Adventure Without the 4-Mile Hike – Crafting Unique Weddings with Rose Groves
0 Playsin 9 hours
🌟 Episode Summary:
Social Media: @matlai_photographyConnect with Carissa https://instagram.com/carissawoo
In this episode, I sit down with the incredible Rose Groves, a destination wedding and elopement photographer who believes adventure doesn’t have to mean a 4-mile hike! She shares how couples can craft luxurious, intimate wedding experiences in stunning locations—think private beaches in Santorini, glass cabins under the Northern Lights, or secluded sunrise moments in Italy. Rose also gives her best sales techniques for getting a HECK YES from dream clients and talks about how she stands out in the wedding industry with her Woo Factor.
🔥 What You'll Learn:✨ How to redefine adventure weddings beyond the typical hiking elopement
✨ The importance of making your wedding a reflection of your love story
✨ Rose’s top sales technique for attracting and booking dream clients
✨ What makes Rose more than "just" a photographer—her expertise in logistics, food, and unique experiences
Social Media: @matlai_photographyConnect with Carissa https://instagram.com/carissawoo
🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app!
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Transcript
Making Passive Income as a Photographer
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes, another Woo Wednesdays with your girl Carissa Woo. If you guys are still waiting on inquiries and it's been crickets, or if you have a bunch of weddings booked up but you're just hanging out at this off-season time, it's time to make passive income and it's time to turn your expertise into a digital product and sell on autopilot.
00:00:27
Speaker
And if you don't have any expertise, then ChatGPT can help you. um Also, if you don't want to do that, then you could also sell an affiliate course, a done-for-you affiliate course. That's what I do.
00:00:39
Speaker
And wake up to daily sales. The first time I woke up to um sales, like four or five sales, it was probably the best feeling I ever had. And to continue to do that, I just got
Meet Rose Groves: A Destination Wedding Photographer
00:00:53
Speaker
hooked.
00:00:53
Speaker
It's kind of like day trading. You just like... creatives working for an ad then I put more money to it and if it's not working i take it off so you gotta to hop on i have a nine minute video explaining everything um and yeah it could change your life So anyways, back to the podcast.
Carissa's Journey in Photography and Coaching
00:01:13
Speaker
I have an incredible guest. Her name is Rose Groves, a destination wedding and elopement photographer and coach who specializes in helping couples craft intimate, luxurious and total badass adventures. You have to check out her feed.
00:01:29
Speaker
From a glass cabin under the Northern Lights in Iceland to a private beach in Santorini, Rose is redefining what it means to have an adventurous wedding. And she has a kid.
00:01:40
Speaker
And in this episode, Rose shares how adventure doesn't have to mean a four-mile hike. It's all about making your wedding day a reflection of your love story, celebrating with intention, and ditching the expectation of others.
00:01:53
Speaker
So get ready for some incredible insights. Let's dive in.
00:02:01
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host Carissa and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all.
00:02:11
Speaker
I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:02:30
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. i want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey.
00:02:42
Speaker
i hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon.
00:02:52
Speaker
everyone. Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with me, your girl, Carissa I have a very special
Rose's International Background and Its Influence
00:02:58
Speaker
guest. Her name is Rose Grove, and she is from MatLive Photography.
00:03:03
Speaker
um She is a destination wedding and elopement photographer in Denver, Colorado, and she specializes in helping craft intimate, unique, and luxurious adventures for couples who want something and badass.
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:20
Speaker
Yeah, I'm so excited to be on with you and to just chat about all things adventure and travel and getting married. Yeah. And then um Becky from Denver Collective highly recommended you. She was on um not this week's episode, but last week. And she's absolutely amazing. So I'm so excited to talk to you.
00:03:42
Speaker
Yeah, I love Becky. Shout out to Denver Photo Collective. ah Yeah, they're amazing. Okay, so in a nutshell, tell the audience who you are. Well, um so my name is Rose and I am, like Carissa said, I live in Denver. gosh, I'm a gosh I was kind of raised internationally.
00:04:02
Speaker
I was born in Kenya. um I lived in three countries before I was 10. And then kind of um as an adult have continued that just like creative lust for seeing the world. And um i kind of had a different career before being a photographer. And that also had me traveling and living abroad. So that's been a really big part of um ah me and like my what makes me, what makes me just excited about life.
00:04:33
Speaker
Um, gosh, I am the middle child. And so sometimes the ultimate people pleaser comes out in me, but, um, yeah, I, um, like I said, I like started as a, um,
00:04:48
Speaker
Gosh, where do I even start with this? um awkward of I'll kind of lead lead back to the beginning. So Kenya, were your parents like missionaries or? No. So my parents are both geographers. My dad is a climatologist. And so he does like very specific agricultural climatology work.
00:05:07
Speaker
And so his job, um gosh, we lived in Nairobi. We lived in Mexico City. We lived in Switzerland. um His job research kind of took him everywhere. And so as a kid, obviously, we moved around with him. We went to international schools predominantly. So until I was like 15, that was all, you know, that my that was all that I really knew.
00:05:30
Speaker
But um because we moved so much and because like It was just us and our my parents both come from huge families. um My immediate like nuclear family was always very close just because like it was just me and my brother and my sister and jumping on the trampoline, making up games until basically until we moved to the states that we lived around family. So to this day, they're still very close. We're still very close and family is a really big part of... um
00:06:01
Speaker
part of my life. So buts I feel very lucky. Are they still geologists? um So they're geographers. Yeah, my dad is. they and So he lives in Denver. Well, both my parents live here, as do my siblings.
00:06:14
Speaker
um But yeah, he still travels back to Kenya a couple times a year for work. He's been going there since like the early 80s, I think. So it's been 40 years that he's been traveling back and forth.
00:06:28
Speaker
yeah I sometimes, I can't imagine what that must have been like when he first went versus now. That's amazing. Yeah. ah Do people always tell you, are you Katie from Mean Girls?
00:06:40
Speaker
You can't imagine how many times they're like, if you're from Africa, why are you white? Yeah, exactly. So funny. Yes, I do. I get that sometimes. um And when that movie first came out, I was like,
00:06:54
Speaker
Is this about me? I know. You're like, what? Am I Lindsay Lohan? Am I Lindsay Lohan? Yeah. No, I... um I joke with my husband a lot that I could go and get my Kenyan citizenship if I really wanted. But that feels like feels like a lot of effort at the moment. Wow.
00:07:12
Speaker
Okay, so I never met anyone from Kenya. So white girl from Kenya, but I'm painting the picture a little bit like what what it was like um growing a middle child in Kenya. Oh my gosh. Living in different countries, because I never went in camping.
00:07:26
Speaker
My parents never went camping. So it's just totally different myself. Oh my gosh. Yeah, my parents are definitely big on exploring and, you know, like seeing the world around you. So when we lived in Kenya, um they would wake us up sometimes. I remember doing this, like I have some very short, very vivid memories of this, but they would wake us up before dawn.
00:07:47
Speaker
And Nairobi National Park is, was probably 20 minutes away, 30 minutes away. And it's, um, They have everything but, I think, elephants at this national park. And so, of course, this was in the early 90s.
00:08:00
Speaker
they would, like, load us up. We would drive into the park. And this was at the time you could self-tour the park. Like, now you have to go with a guide in like, a registered vehicle. But we would just, like, cruise around and look for, like, hyenas and lions.
00:08:15
Speaker
my God, that's awesome. Yeah, it was definitely a different childhood. You know, like, we... had Maasai, um, basically guards at our house.
00:08:26
Speaker
And I remember they, we had a trampoline and they would jump on the trampoline. It was like this game that they would play to see which, who could get the highest. And they there was like this big tree.
00:08:38
Speaker
so yeah, I don't know. Definitely. Um, yeah living in Kenya was quite an experience. The guards would be on the trampoline? Oh yeah, they loved it. I mean, we did too. We spent so much time on that trampoline. but i yeah and that lesson so Oh my gosh. Yeah, the amount of like near-death experiences.
00:08:57
Speaker
No wonder insurance doesn't let you have them now. um That's funny. I think, really though, I personally thrived the most living in Switzerland because I was like 13 and I think I had that profound sense of independence because public transportation was just exceptional. So I would just like, you know, get myself to school, buy a tram, get myself home, meet up my friends in downtown Basel and like go grab a Euro or something. And so the transition from being like 13 and getting around and having a, you know, Nokia little brick cell phone to moving to the States where I had to be driven everywhere. And like,
00:09:38
Speaker
I remember I had to like, and when I came, when we came to the States, I had to line up and like be quiet before a teacher would let us out for lunch. And I was like, what is this? Like I used to just, yeah, it was definitely a culture shock. So, and then, yeah, as a, as a middle child, I was kind of the peacekeeper of both. My siblings are very competitive and very athletic. And I was always sort of like,
00:10:03
Speaker
Let's just talk and love. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. i'm Super nice. um Let's talk about like maybe college years and then what it was like, like moving to the States. Did straight up move to Denver and then why?
From Politics to Photography: Rose's Career Shift
00:10:21
Speaker
Yeah, we moved to Denver mostly because my sister was about to start high school. She's one year older than me and my parents were Like, you know, you guys have never lived around family. You've moved a lot. Let's try and have like a consistent like foundation for, for you guys to go through high school then go from there. So we moved to Denver, got family, like extended family here. um
00:10:44
Speaker
aye went to a private Catholic school, which was also but big culture shock. Um, And then for college, I actually went and studied ah political science, international studies, because was very taken with my dad and mom's lifestyle, and I wanted to pursue international living. So I thought, okay, what if we do political science, foreign policy, like all this stuff?
00:11:09
Speaker
So I did, graduated from CSU. This is just Fort Collins. And then I worked... and then and worked for a few years for the state of Colorado. So I kind of worked in politics.
00:11:20
Speaker
I did work in politics. I got really good at cold calling. So that's a skill that, you know, I think one of the things that as a photographer, when you work for yourself, you have to get very comfortable with talking to strangers all the time, whether it's you know even right now, right? Like we're meeting for the first time, but having that like personability of ah conversation, like working in those communities of politics really showed me kind of how to disfinesse that.
00:11:50
Speaker
Yeah. um And then, yeah, after, like, so I worked for a few years and then I was like, I don't know about this. So I went and taught English for a year in South Korea. And that's kind of where the photography as a, as an actual like job started to enter but the brain space. Cause I was um teaching English, but then,
00:12:11
Speaker
you know, I'd meet other expats or some of my Korean co-teachers. They'd be like, Oh, you know, will you come take our pictures? And so I did that like kind of as a side hustle. um And it was, it was a blast. I loved living in Korea and i loved teaching there and meeting all kinds of people again. um So that was, that was pretty cool.
00:12:32
Speaker
But were you just taking pictures of like maybe them hanging out, not yet Yeah. No, I did. I did a Korean wedding. I did a couple engagement sessions. And like, you know, I think I had like a little cannon rebel of some kind, like, a you know, crop sensor, but it was just sort of like, it was a fun thing to do. And of course, everybody wants photos of themselves. It's kind of a, you know, unique way to mark certain points in time. And so I am.
00:13:01
Speaker
And I love doing it. i think I did it mostly just sort of like for fun. Yeah. What year was this when you picked up the camera? this, well, so I took darkroom in high school.
00:13:12
Speaker
um So I kind of, I learned on film. um But then when I was in South Korea, that was 2015. Yeah. 2014 to 2015. yeah two thousand fourteen to two thousand fifteen And so um that was kind of when it first started. But then when I left Korea after a year, I did start a graduate school.
00:13:30
Speaker
program here in Denver and then graduated with a degree in it's basically an international economics degree which at the time I again was like perfect this will be what I need to like go live internationally and storytell and do the whole thing and it actually did um lead me to a really cool job for a bit. I worked with this organization called Photographers Without Borders, which is similar in concept to Doctors Without Borders, but um you get placed with a ah nonprofit international organization and then you go and you help them create marketing material. You do stuff for their like annual reporting. So I um went to South Africa, went to Durban for couple of months and helped out an AIDS clinic, which was
00:14:20
Speaker
the health world is kind of outside of my general vernacular. So I was a little bit overcome with emotional, yeah like just weight of, of, um of that clinic. But I worked with them. I helped them, you know, capture photos that were both like ethical in the sense of like privacy and things, but then also,
00:14:44
Speaker
you know, emotional and and documentary so that they could then turn around and say, like, we need help. And so that was a that was a real big moment in my sort of journey as becoming a ah wedding photographer because I really learned how to watch people instead of...
00:15:03
Speaker
um kind of direct them because I was very much my role in that was very much just to observe. And so coming home from that, I was, gosh, I was like inspired, but also torn apart, you know, I think. And I was like,
Embracing Intimate Weddings: Rose's Personal Experience
00:15:20
Speaker
okay, i really want to do this. How do I marry photography with my degree and with international worlds? And then COVID happened.
00:15:29
Speaker
so So that's really when I was like, okay, let's look. Let's look elsewhere. What else can we do? And then the, uh, the elopement world, gosh, I eloped and it wasn't really until that moment actually, where I was like, this is what I want to do. What did you meet your husband? And then where did you elope to?
00:15:49
Speaker
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00:16:03
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:17:00
Speaker
Heck yes. And it's going to give you guys 50% off your first annual membership. How amazing is that? So we met in 2019, on Bumble and we ah we kind of like hit it off really quick.
00:17:17
Speaker
So we met in April of 2019 and by December we were living together and engaged. And then, um and then COVID happened much right after that.
00:17:29
Speaker
So we were going to do, well, I shouldn't say this. We were going to have a wedding, like a more traditional wedding. i have a huge family, like extended family, but um when COVID hit, we just, and obviously you can't go internationally. Right.
00:17:42
Speaker
So I, you know, I think in hindsight it would have gone to like, I don't know, Patagonia or something. But we, we just went to Rocky Mountain National Park or Estes Park up near a couple hours away and just got an Airbnb in the mountains and had 10, you know, of the closest people to us there. And, um but that was the moment where I was like, wow, this is like, we hired a photographer and, you know, was like, you know, I really enjoy small groups. I think I,
00:18:12
Speaker
And when when I'm in a big crowd, I tend to kind of just sort of become a wallflower. So small group settings make me just so at ease. And so observing like kind of like how she was working and things like that.
00:18:25
Speaker
was like, oh, wow. Like, yeah, this would be sweet. so That's amazing. did Yeah. and Like, was he a world traveler as well?
00:18:36
Speaker
Yes, very much so. That's kind of how we really, We really connected on that. He grew up in Alaska, but before I'd met him, he had just gotten back from like three months in Namibia. And before that, you know, he was in at the Sochi Olympics and then he was, you know, in Brazil and Heath.
00:18:57
Speaker
has very much pursued the exploring the world phase too. And actually it's kind of, it was a, it has been a joke since we, since we got married, but um so we met in April of 2019 and he had had ah trip planned to Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine.
00:19:19
Speaker
um Right. Like he was going to leave in May. And so you know We met for coffee, and I think it was maybe on our second or third date where he was like, you know if you don't get this job, you're applying for Because I was applying for jobs here in Denver. He was like if you don't get this job, you should just come with me.
00:19:35
Speaker
Wow. And I was like, I'm to get this job. Of course I'm going to get this job. I can't go to Bulgaria with you. Yeah. um Well, I did not get the job. That was Oh, I think it was like some analyst role at an international company.
00:19:54
Speaker
business so it wasn't totally aligned anyway but my ego was like oh I've got this yeah yeah yeah um but then yeah I think it was like May 20th of 2019 I flew to Sofia Bulgaria and spent three weeks road tripping with this guy do what do i do for work to like afford all of this travel yeah so he um was a like a kind of co-owner of a ticketing sales um business, which obviously soon as COVID happened, nobody went to concerts anymore either. So he's now a public school teacher and i think he loves it.
00:20:30
Speaker
So, but yeah, he was very much nomadic in that sense before um that sort of job title really boomed. Like there weren't as many nomadic travelers, nomadic workers before the pandemic. And obviously now it's,
00:20:46
Speaker
much more common. So, but yeah, he he and I just spent the next, gosh, nine months. We went to, we went to Peru and Azerbaijan and wow Italy and Georgia.
00:21:01
Speaker
We were all over, all over the place. It was wonderful. It was magical. I could listen to this for another hour. just bought your travels, but yeah like paint the picture of like what your business looks like today and then kind of like bring it and into hot topics.
00:21:14
Speaker
Yeah. So my business now, it is very much focused on destination, intimate weddings and elopements. i have been able to carry the experiences of my entire life as far as travel and adventure and like creativity, into building this business that has just been so much focused on that level of like curiosity about the world. And I think that, um,
00:21:43
Speaker
You know, my my business now is also like, now that I have a ah new baby, she's 10 months old. So that has also changed the nature of how this is unfolding. But um we love to bring her with us.
00:21:57
Speaker
It's always an adventure with baby. yeah um So I predominantly shoot in Colorado and Alaska. Those are my two big markets for elopements.
00:22:09
Speaker
But last year were in Iceland twice. ah photographed a wedding in a like countryside chateau in England and been to Puerto Rico for a wedding. So it's definitely um all over the place and I absolutely love it.
00:22:26
Speaker
That's insane. Do you hire like second shooters out there or do you bring them with you? yeah. Not typically, no. So I've kind of found that for elopements people, and this is, this probably ties into like, what makes me as a business owner and in this industry pretty unique is that people tend, like your photography is obviously um a skill and it's something that you can practice and train and like get better at.
00:22:52
Speaker
But I think for elopements, especially people tend to hire the personality and the like, expert behind the camera insofar as, insofar as like that experience with travel. So I tend to not hire second shooters because if it's, especially if it's just me and the couple, like they don't really want or need another person there. It's, you know, it's very, it's very intimate experience. And one of the things I really like to do, if at all possible before a wedding day is I'll always meet up with the couple, whether it's to like,
00:23:27
Speaker
grab a beer, go for a walk, or just, like, you know, kind of get to know each other. Like, I'm pretty tall. And sometimes people are like, wow, didn't know you were 5'10". And so it's nice to kind of, like, yeah have that that ice-breaking moment before their wedding day. Totally.
00:23:43
Speaker
um So, yeah, it's a pretty intimate um experience. The exception is if, like, if I have a – this June I'll be in Maryland for a pretty big Cameroonian – American wedding. And I will have a second photographer there because I'm fairly certain that this is going to be like a 200 plus person wow party.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah. yeah it's one thing Your life is so insane. um I don't have my notes up because I turn out off my phone, but what is your hot topic and why is it so near and dear to your heart? I know it's everything that we've been saying, but yeah, I think my, you know, my hot topic is that your wedding is an expression of, of your values and of yourself. And I really believe that in the world that we live in,
00:24:27
Speaker
Now that like it's back open, it's your oyster. And so to be able to bring together what makes you happy and
Creating Unique Weddings Through Travel Experiences
00:24:35
Speaker
go and express that, whether it's, you know, in a luxurious, tiny Airbnb in Iceland, just the two of you, or there's 15 people and you're at a cabin in the mountains, like and express that and like, go find it. And I i am very fond of that um because I did it, but then also because it's what makes,
00:24:57
Speaker
me thrive as a, as an artist and as a business owner too. Wow. Where do you find most of your business? Is it from like Google, Instagram or like planners? Um, mostly for me, it's Google. Um, I, you know, I think when I first started out, I had no idea what ah SEO is. Uh, so I've learned a lot about how valuable that can be. And, um, so for me, it's definitely,
00:25:23
Speaker
it's definitely Google sometimes, uh, referrals, but those, those can be ah challenge. I think more traditional weddings planners play a huge role. Um, but for elopements, because so much of my job is planning and so much of what I do is logistics that I double as a planner and we're a photographer. So I don't, um,
00:25:46
Speaker
I don't find as much like referral from that, even though planners are absolutely wonderful humans because they are so necessary for bigger weddings. Yeah. I mean, going back to your hot topic about like um the values that people have and like how you translate that into planning your wedding, like what does that really mean to you?
00:26:05
Speaker
So I like to tell people, like, i've I've been approached by couples being like, we want to elope, but we don't know where, you know, like, help us find a place. And so this can be really exciting, because it's like, okay, wow, what do you want to do?
00:26:18
Speaker
Yeah. And I think it's really helpful to ask them things like, what do you like to do together? Like, do you and what are things you enjoy? So for example, if you really like the idea of really good food,
00:26:32
Speaker
um and like a unique, rich cultural experience. And, you know, you want to kind of also maybe do some shopping. Like, let's talk, let's think this is also like people tend to build honeymoons into their destinations. So they tend to kind of like take two weeks, go somewhere.
00:26:49
Speaker
And, you know, so in thinking about that, I asked them, what do you guys like to do together? um and so, yeah, if it's like rich culture, food, history, you know, i say, well, maybe we should look at a place like Italy or maybe Greece, you know, so that way you can really have this full experience that makes you really happy.
00:27:09
Speaker
If it's, you want to be but F away from people, you want to see more than lights, you want to see, you know, all this other stuff. I'm like, let's go to Iceland. Let's go to Alaska. So I, wow I really like to to sit with what sets them on fire and then help them come up with ideas um and coordinate like How do we get there? What do we do?
00:27:32
Speaker
All that kind of stuff. Wow. So your sales calls are really interesting. Well, they can be. mean, I've, ah you know, I've had, um I think since I'm in Colorado, a lot of times people come here from out of state being like, we want to elope in Colorado, but we don't know where.
00:27:48
Speaker
And so I do. That's kind of how I started. Like, okay, what are your, And this is the other thing tell people, I was like, you can have two of the three. You can have privacy, you can have accessibility, or you can have um ah views.
00:28:05
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:28:52
Speaker
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00:29:07
Speaker
AfterShoot, I can't thank you enough for giving me back my time to focus on this podcast. Oh yeah, back to the podcast. So you usually can't get like something that's incredibly accessible and it's very private because there's going to be other people there. So, so yeah, there's, you know, the, my Google maps is full of little pinpoints of like location drops. That's so cool. Yeah. So um I think, yeah, what makes this job so, so cool is that nothing is ever the same.
00:29:40
Speaker
um And so much of the experience is built around what makes this couple unique and what makes them just like absolutely excited to get married. And, you know, I've had people, I've had one couple like make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as their unity ceremony, because that's what,
00:29:58
Speaker
really made them excited about um you know their moment and I've had another couple that like wanted to smoke a joint because that's what they love to do together absolutely absolutely so it's very customized it's very like representative of oh the i who they are yeah ah what's it like um getting married in Alaska I'm thinking of the movie Proposal I'm thinking of sledding with dogs so I'm like all over the place I don't know anything I actually had someone bring up that movie to me the other day. It's a classic. Oh my gosh.
00:30:32
Speaker
I love that. Sitka. Yes. ah So good. I love how that guy like is like, he does everything. He's like the MC, the stripper, yeah like the voting. guy It's true. i mean, some of those small communities, Sitka is not a big place, but some of the small communities, especially in Southeast Alaska are just like one town, but one, one road towns or whatever the expression is. But yeah.
00:30:56
Speaker
Oh man, what is what is it like eloping in Alaska? Well, um i I think that the answer is spectacular. um the I've spent a lot of time in Alaska and a couple years ago, we actually drove from Denver to the Arctic Ocean on the north coast of Alaska and like spent the summer just driving around Alaska. And it is...
00:31:19
Speaker
um It's a huge place. So there's so much to do. But I think that most people are really drawn to glaciers and to like landing on a glacier.
00:31:31
Speaker
asked but think the first time I landed on a glacier, I could not stop saying, wow. I mean, it's just like. Wow. Insane. yeah Yeah, it's insane. um I think, you know, it really speaks to people who want to be like Alaska is full of people who are not fancy.
00:31:48
Speaker
And I mean that in the most like charming way. It's full of people who like you know like to be outside if and when at all possible, whether it's 70 degrees or negative 70.
00:32:02
Speaker
They tend to be a little funky. so You get a lot of you know you get a lot of um different types of humans up there. So if you're drawn to like things being a little...
00:32:14
Speaker
different but nature you know I think Alaska is like such an easy such an easy choice and it's it's also just incredibly diverse I feel like feel like but I was just thinking about this the other day but there's like seven different um like climate types in the whole of Alaska like from southeast to northwest I mean you've got you've got rainforest you've got tundra you've got high alpine you've got like you know, functionally coastal desert, like it's wild. It's just a huge, huge, remarkable place. And i um that was one of the first places that I really targeted to build my business in because I love being there.
00:32:59
Speaker
And with my husband's from Juneau. So it helped to have some like home bases to be like, okay, but these people know cool, you know, they can recommend places for us to go. But ever since like 2021, I photographed my first elopement in um Alaska and I was just like, Oh my gosh, so this is so cool. where ah How many places have you, has your 10 month old gone to?
00:33:27
Speaker
oh Um, let's see. and think she's been to five countries. Yeah.
00:33:34
Speaker
We have a problem. I will say it's, it's not getting easier. Um, last summer when we flew to Iceland, I think she was four months old and we kind of joke that she was a potato because she just kind of laid there. Yeah.
00:33:49
Speaker
Um, But over Christmas, we went to Taiwan and she was, she is not a potato anymore. She is very much a movie moving, moving. She has opinions now. And so that was a long 12 hour flight.
00:34:03
Speaker
Oh man, man.
Balancing Motherhood and Business
00:34:05
Speaker
I was going to say like, what are the struggles of like being a parent and like having this job and like, how are you handling everything? No, that's, I mean, I think before i had Mika, that's our daughter, um,
00:34:19
Speaker
could not have possibly understood or appreciated um parents and business owners because it is a lot of work. um It's a challenge to even sometimes just get work done because it's just all hands on deck.
00:34:34
Speaker
And I think as a, as someone who runs their business basically by themselves, it's also one of those things where it's like, you really have to, prioritize and you have to, you have to learn how to delegate really, really, really well. Yeah. um And I would say that like this year I think is going to be, I think I'm going to probably end up just adjusting my bookings because it was one thing when I was pregnant, cause that was like mostly just ah physical capacity. yeah But now it's like, there's a whole other human and, you know, having to
00:35:11
Speaker
And, you know, i think a lot of wedding photographers are women and the the community that has come out that I, or that maybe I'm seeking out that are also mothers. It's, it's so like refreshing, but also, very humbling to be surrounded by women who are doing it all. Cause it's, it's not easy. I'm finding it like there are days where I'm just like, what?
00:35:31
Speaker
Yeah, kind of. I mean, it's definitely a, yeah yeah i mean definitely a um you know It's definitely difficult, but you know even in in trying to shift to Colorado-based elopements and weddings more this year, um you know Crested Butte is still a five-hour drive from my house.
00:35:51
Speaker
and so it's not like you know And that's a pretty popular destination for people. Colorado weddings because it's i mean it's beautiful. especially There's a whole wildflower festival there in July. so It's um pretty astounding, but it's definitely something where like even being in Denver, um I don't get a lot of ah Denver booking, so i'm I'm on the road anyway.
00:36:14
Speaker
So it's just an adjustment of energy and time. Yeah, excited my baby was like, I think just enough months to like sit up. And then I booked a engagement at the San Francisco City Hall.
00:36:28
Speaker
And then my husband came with me, but then he flew back early. um so then I had to be by myself with the baby. So I didn't know what to do And i remember putting the baby on the phone.
00:36:41
Speaker
I think it was either the floor on the conveyor belt. And then like, you know, like these women like gas, like, because I didn't have enough hands. And then yeah um someone actually offered to hold my baby.
00:36:53
Speaker
And I was late for my flight, like running. And then as soon as I put her my lap, like she pooed and I had to go like change her diaper with one hand. i go Yeah. Cause you're holding her. yeah,
00:37:06
Speaker
I was like, literally drenched. Yes. like yes but So I'm like, the struggle is so real. Yeah, it's a lot of work. um Yeah, I remember we were about to board our flight Iceland and she just let one rip. And I was like, cool.
00:37:21
Speaker
it Cool. Now we get to go do this. Also, like, airplane bathrooms are not built for big people. Totally. I'm one of those people. So, yeah, it's, um I mean, gosh, have you, how did you adjust to to, like, bookings and things like that when you had your kiddo?
00:37:39
Speaker
It was tough. um Like, I don't even even remember that far back, but I think in 2020, when everything got shut down, I just had my second baby. And then the 2021, everyone like pushed the weddings to that year. So I had 36 weddings that year.
00:37:56
Speaker
um my gosh. Mental breakdown, lost all my friends. Like it was just like the most horrible year ever. And then, Yeah. I know. Oh my gosh. Yeah, it was just a fucking miserable. like it was just crying every day. It's like, just throwing food at their their faces.
00:38:13
Speaker
Yes. Like, help me. You're like, didn't want to take a bath. I'm like, spraying the water over their head. You're I don't care anymore. yeah A fed baby is a fine baby. so Yeah, exactly. you know It's just so hard adjusting.
00:38:26
Speaker
It's a big adjustment. now i like We have some like flex because my husband is a teacher. So in the summers when I'm busy, he gets to be on dad duty. Oh, I love that. So that's...
00:38:40
Speaker
like So on one hand, when we first sort of outlined this potential careers for us, it was like, perfect. Like you'll have summers off and I'll be working in the summers, but sometimes it can actually be really hard because then it's like, it's all or one or all or nothing in some in some ways. But it is nice that, you know, if we do go to places, um whether it's Alaska or international in the summer,
00:39:05
Speaker
that he's basically going we can all go. we knowing that I can work and he will watch her. Um, so that's been, that's been one of the biggest sort of graces of this whole, because if he had a traditional job in the sense of like, you know, 36 weeks a year what, not 36, like what is it?
00:39:25
Speaker
48. I don't remember. 52 weeks in the year, however many you get typically off in America, ah huh not enough. Um, it would be a real challenge to be able to balance this. Right. So slowly I'm glad you have some sort of balance. I mean, our conversation kind of turned into mom work balance, but yeah, we don't have that much time. So i want to ask, there's so many questions I want to ask you. Cause
Rose's New Coaching Venture for Photographers
00:39:47
Speaker
I'm curious. I'm going to ask the question probably that the audience wants to know, like your coach, like what do you coach on? And then like, I guess, how do you become a destination, allotment photographer? I'm sure that's what you want to know.
00:40:01
Speaker
Wedding pros. I have a new and exciting opportunity for you to make passive income with digital products and courses and affiliate marketing. The space is booming right now and you have to take a look.
00:40:14
Speaker
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00:40:24
Speaker
Get your weekends back and comment at me at Carissa the word info, and I'll send you a free sneak peek guide on how to make passive income. And if you're ready to start making money from home while being there for the moments that matter, I can't wait to connect.
00:40:42
Speaker
Well, so I am just starting my coaching journey and I was really excited about this though, because I think that more people want to do like the destination worlds and I see, I see newer photographers coming into it and, and where I was kind of just like, what the hell am I doing? Um, so I've started the coaching business to sort of help people elevate their, their bookings and like how quickly they're getting there. Um, so sorry, what was the other part of that question?
00:41:15
Speaker
ah Oh, no, you're doing good. I'm just um like, what are some tips and tricks on how to like people oh get started? Yeah, so I would say so, like I mentioned earlier, one of the things that I think helped me was I, um I knew I really wanted to work in Alaska. So instead of like, being like, oh, I'm a destination wedding photographer, I started with like one place.
00:41:35
Speaker
I focused my efforts there, i was able to go and like, go to a styled workshop, get some content, bee boots on the ground. Um, I met with some local like florists and, you know, the big industries up there, obviously like recreation. So like sea kayaking and, you know, um, helicopters. And so I would like meet with these people.
00:41:55
Speaker
Um, and then really, um just blogging and writing the hell out of it. I think that is something that when people think of SEO, they tend to be pretty overwhelmed. i mean it's a huge topic, yeah but, um,
00:42:10
Speaker
if you're able to just focus on your words more than your photos. And I, and I think that sounds a little counterintuitive, but when you're starting off, like if you can express yourself and your knowledge and your value of a place in words, that's going to make clients feel like they can trust you more than pretty pictures will show, especially like when you're just starting out. So yeah, focus on you know, focus on the, your, your blogging,
00:42:38
Speaker
and And if you can, like one place, like when I first also, and then when i was like, okay, I've got Alaska, really think Iceland would be epic. I went to a ah styled shoot there and I got content and I like figured out that this is how you rent a car. This is how you, you know, you can only get gas with debit cards. Like you learn the hard way, right? so That's been my experience. And I think it kind of, you kind of can jump ahead of the curve a little bit if you can be very specific.
00:43:09
Speaker
that can help a lot too. Cause I think destination can be so vast because Colorado a destination, but I live here. And so it's like how to navigate those waters of where do I want to work very specifically and then build from that.
00:43:25
Speaker
That's really really, really, really, really good advice.
Memorable Wedding Experiences
00:43:27
Speaker
i love um And then I guess last question before we go into rapid fire questions, um I guess your favorite wedding.
00:43:38
Speaker
ah I know there's a ton of them. Gosh. I think one of my favorites was um this last summer in Colorado.
00:43:50
Speaker
i think it the reason it was my favorite is because this couple booked this like giant Airbnb. Like it slept 12, but it was way on the middle of nowhere. it's really hard to get to, but they booked this huge thing just for them.
00:44:04
Speaker
they, they could not have been like more in love. And my job was just to sort of like hang out with them all day. Yeah. totally um I just felt in my element, they were just so excited to be getting married to each other. And it wasn't like the weather wasn't, maybe the weather wasn't great, whatever. It didn't matter. Right. Like, Oh, this road was actually closed. We didn't anticipate that whatever it doesn't matter. They were just so thrilled.
00:44:30
Speaker
um And probably my second favorite one was, a couple who had planned a more traditional wedding. And then they saw that I was going to be in Alaska. And they were like, um we were canceling our wedding and we wanted just to look with you in Alaska. And I was like, yes.
00:44:48
Speaker
So you cool. It was, it was very um gratifying and like humbling. Cause they were just like, Nope, we don't want this. We want you to take us up a glacier and let's do something bad-ass. So like you are the wedding. Yeah. I mean, you know,
00:45:03
Speaker
It is. It's spectacular though. The Rose experience. um Okay, cool. So that was amazing conversation. Okay. Fun, short, rapid fire questions, but social favorite but or best social media hack.
00:45:15
Speaker
Oh my gosh. um Be relatable on Instagram, like show your life as it is, not just the prettiness of it. Like, you know, if,
00:45:28
Speaker
Just, yeah, be real. That was one of the things I really struggled with um because I tended to be very guarded at the beginning, but then I was like, whatever, just let it all go. ah I love that.
00:45:38
Speaker
um Travel hack that people don't know about? um Travel hack. You don't need to get money out at the airport. The conversion rate's not any better. can get it out anywhere. Yeah.
00:45:53
Speaker
And then definitely take a picture of your passport on your phone. Yep. Because you never know when you might need that. Yep. Email it to yourself. Yes. Yeah. um Mom hack.
00:46:05
Speaker
Mom hack. um It's okay if she eats something that's been on the floor. Two second rolls. Two second rolls. Yeah. it wrong yeah ah I know my my kid like dropped her ice cream and like I just like picked it right back up and put it back on the call.
00:46:23
Speaker
yeah Germs are good for me. Yeah. I was like, I'm not paying another $8 for ice cream. Yeah, exactly. right Oh, my God. Okay. And then how do you get your best heck yes, ah heck yes technique? Anything that you want to say about it?
00:46:37
Speaker
Heck yes related. My heck yes is probably just like meeting, meeting clients where they're at, right? Like if they're excited about something, then you are game for it. And I think that the more that I've gotten into this industry too,
00:46:51
Speaker
The world is your oyster. And if you can also inspire people and by, you know, getting them excited about something, it just like, man, it's just awesome. So meet them where they're at, be pumped about it, you know, and I think there's so many ideas. There's so many cool things you can do with a wedding day. So.
00:47:09
Speaker
And then where can everyone find you? Yeah. So my photography business is Matt Lai Photography. It's M-A-T-L-A-I. And then my new coaching business is called Wildly Booked.
00:47:22
Speaker
And that's also on Instagram. Oh, I like that name. Thanks. Yeah, I'm excited about it. Cool. well I could talk to you about forever, but oll I won't keep you. This is a great conversation. Thank you, Rose.
00:47:32
Speaker
Thank you so much, Chris. This was great.
00:47:38
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine.
00:47:54
Speaker
See you next time, wedding pros.