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Episode 160 - prioritizing your physical and mental health - Jacquelyn Nytes
62 Plays1 month ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! Today we are prioritizing your physical and mental health as a wedding shooter so your career and creativity can last longer.
Jcquelyn Nytes, photographer from Gray Day Photo and her biz Partner Ashley are touching on a niche in the wedding photo industry that has never been done before but is soooooo important!! They started Focus Fit Co. after meeting at the YMCA and becoming good friends.
Focus Fit Co: fitness, health, and wellness for wedding photographers & videographers. A community that's here for photographers & videographers that want to improve their physical and mental health!
Hot Topic
- strength training for shooters
-stretching for shooters
-taking care of your mental health to avoid burnout
@focusfit.co @graydayphoto
Recommended
Transcript
Weekend Chaos and Upcoming Season Prep
00:00:00
Speaker
What a weekend. I had many family sessions this weekend and a wedding. I am pooped. Anyways, happy Woo Wednesdays. We are at episode 160. Wedding pros, it's going to be engagement season soon. Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming up, which is crazy.
Triple Threat Program for 2025 Bookings
00:00:19
Speaker
I want to make sure your online presence, your AKA website, Instagram marketing materials and sales presentation are perfecto.
00:00:29
Speaker
So go to www.hecyes.vip to learn more about my triple threat program. So you can get booked up for 2025.
Special Guests: Jacqueline Nitez and Ashley Fernandez
00:00:41
Speaker
So today I have Jacqueline Nitez and Ashley Fernandez in the house. Today we are going to talk about something that is not talked about enough in the wedding industry. Fitness, health and wellness specifically for photographers videographers, and all wedding professionals.
Physical Challenges in Wedding Photography
00:01:00
Speaker
From all my years of being a photographer, I've hurt my back, neck, hips, and yeah, we all think we have a shelf life to shooting weddings. Once I go down, it's super hard to get back up. But today, Jackie, she's amazing photographer, owner of Grade Day Photo, and her business partner Ashley met at YMCA and saw a hole in the industry. but And they created focusfit dot.co.
00:01:23
Speaker
They are going to challenge us to be better with stretching, shooting correctly, and eating right on game day, which is wedding day.
Success Insights from Top Wedding Creatives
00:01:31
Speaker
Enjoy this episode.
00:01:36
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. 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,
00:02:04
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. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
00:02:27
Speaker
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with your girl, Carissa Wu.
FocusFit Community for Health and Wellness
00:02:32
Speaker
I have my friends, Jacqueline Nitas and Ashley Fernandez here with Focus Fit Co. And I was going to say a little bio from your questionnaire, but now there's two of you. But I'll say a little bit um about Jacqueline.
00:02:47
Speaker
um she will I'll say a little bit about you guys. You guys a are a fitness, health, and wellness for wedding photographers and videographers, a community that's here for photographers and videographers that want to improve their physical and mental health. So welcome to the podcast. Yay. Hi. Thanks for having us, Carissa. We're big fans and congratulations on your 160th episode.
00:03:12
Speaker
Yes, you actually could be number episode 160. So it's been a journey. Congratulations. That's so amazing. We're so excited for you. And our mutual friend, Eric Chen Photography, he was maybe five podcasts ago. He introduced us and I thought you guys were super cool. So super good to have you. I just wanted to say that you are also Jacqueline, the owner of Gray Day Photo.
Jacqueline's Journey into Wedding Photography
00:03:39
Speaker
um and films, and you're just amazing photographer. And I really, truly, truly admire your work. It's just incredible. Oh, thank you so much. And just a quick shout out to Eric for introducing us. Shout out to you, Eric. love you we love ah gym photography So I guess we'll start with Jacqueline. Tell me a little bit about you in a nutshell.
00:04:01
Speaker
Hi, yes, I'm um a full-time wedding photographer and my partner does video. um We aren't like officially branded as like a photo video duo because he's not like full-time in it, but I'm full-time. But he does, when people add video, he comes.
00:04:19
Speaker
but gonna Yeah, it's I love it. um But I have been doing this for about 10 years now. I started back in college, just shooting my friends' weddings, um going to college, working at a restaurant, and then I realized, like, oh my gosh, like what am I doing? I'm making like a full-time living shooting weddings. And so I just kind of followed that path. um I finished the year that I was in at school, and I just never went back. And I'm really thankful, and I kind of regret going in the first place.
00:04:50
Speaker
um What did you go to school for? um I was going to school for like art education and art therapy, but I just thought that was a little too boring and like textbook for me. I really liked being like more creative and behind the camera. And when I was making money doing it and I was making good money, I was like, hmm.
00:05:09
Speaker
I don't know if this is a career, but I'm going to make it one. and it was It is a career. A lot of people do it. You do it. We're all here. All of our listeners do it. I mean, most of your listeners do it. so I think it was just the right path
Fitness Importance for Photographers
00:05:22
Speaker
for me. um and Then about three years ago, I started working out more. and One of my main reasons for working out was because I just felt really fatigued and sore like after my photo shoots. And um I just remember seeing, do you know who Chris Burkhardt is? Sounds familiar, but no. Okay, so he's a really like, he's like the number one um like adventure photographer in like the outdoor photo community. And I just remember seeing all of like his Instagram stories and just seeing how active he was.
00:05:56
Speaker
And I kind of realized that he is an outdoor photographer, so he's constantly like challenging his body by like climbing mountains or like riding bikes, just like what you do. And I was like, I, mean like if I want to be a photographer, I should also train like a photographer. Like I i should be an athlete, right? Like I see this guy, Chris Burkhardt, he is like acting like he's an athlete because he is, he's carrying around heavy equipment. He's hiking mountains and he's riding bikes. And even though I'm not necessarily doing that while I'm shooting a wedding, I'm still like working physically
00:06:31
Speaker
for, you know, eight to 10 to 12 hours a day, like on my feet, carrying equipment. And I just really wanted to be more physically fit. And so then I started going to the YMCA. And um one of the fitness instructors was Ashley, and she was amazing. um Yeah, let's get into it. That's a great introduction, Ashley. Ashley wanted to share with the Heck Yes! listeners like a little a bit.
00:06:58
Speaker
a little intro about
Ashley's Journey from Accounting to Fitness
00:06:59
Speaker
you. Yeah. Hi, I'm Ashley. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you, Krista, for having us on. um I'm a full-time fitness professional. And so I do personal training. I do programs specific for people who might be rehabbing before surgery or posthab. And I just have a passion for helping people. And there's so many different ways physically to help people also, you know, mentally and what their nutrition needs. So I just really like to support people and help them on their journey.
00:07:27
Speaker
Nice, nice. Let's talk about you, you too, your love story, like meeting at the YMCA. What was that banter like? And then how did like the friendship evolve and then into into a business?
00:07:40
Speaker
Yeah. So Jackie was coming to my class regularly and as you can tell, she's adorable and she has great personality. One of the things I love about Jackie is her ability to see things that might that we can make better, but with really great constructive criticism. And so she would tell me like, oh, we should do this or we should do that. And I'm like, oh my gosh, she's got such great ideas.
00:07:59
Speaker
And then I asked her to be on our team. So she's a fitness professional as well now um at the Y. And then when she had this great idea about you know how do we make this better for wedding photographers specifically, we paired up. And so it's a really great team. I don't know much about wedding photography. She knows a lot about exercise and like the exercise part of it, but also I'm the one that's certified. And so we work great together.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, you didn't tell me um you're an accountant before, right? Oh, I am. Yeah, I went to college not get and accountant. Yeah, but I don't practice accounting anymore. Okay, so what was like the big transition for you when you just decided to get up, give up the desk job and go like for it for in the fitness world?
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's such an organic story. I'm an outdoor exercise triathlete. My husband and I have three kids and I was working full-time and so many hours and I just thought, what am I ruining my life for? like I need to do something that I really, really love. I had no idea I was going to become a fitness instructor. um I started taking some classes and they said to me, you'd be a great fitness instructor. You should join our team. And I thought, I'm not a fitness instructor, but I did become a fitness instructor organically, and I've really, really loved it. I've been in fitness for over 15 years now, so it's been quite a long time for me. Wow. So what once you guys became like friends and started talking about this vision, like did you guys develop like a business plan? like um like Actually, tell us like what your business like encompasses, like a little bit about the business.
FocusFit's Mission for Photographers' Health
00:09:40
Speaker
Okay, I love that you asked that. Okay, so we are FocusFit and we are a community dedicated to promoting and educating photographers and videographers to prioritize their health and wellness so they can fraught thrive physically, mentally, and professionally. Ooh, I love that. I'll tell a little story about me. I always throw in one or two stories about me, but I think it was maybe one or two years ago. like I would shoot weddings and they just wasn't taking care of myself. And then after a wedding, I would like literally sit down like, like I have this vision of like me like editing at a park when my kids were like playing and then I couldn't even get up. Like my hips and my knees, I couldn't get up and then when I
00:10:32
Speaker
did get up. It was very painful. And I was walking, I was walking like an 80 year old grandma. um Fast forward, I'm a little bit more in shape. So I i do go to Wilson Park and I like, um I do like two laps. I did two laps today with my dog. um I'm a little bit better, but then I think it was two weeks ago, my neck because I've been shooting a lot because October is my busiest month. And I was in the most like excruciating pain, like even in my dreams, like I um or my sleep, I woke up and I scream because I like just a little movement in my neck. So I'm like, I, I really
00:11:09
Speaker
feel like this topic is very important that wedding professionals just don't really necessarily have it in their consciousness. So yeah,
00:11:23
Speaker
I'm old. No, you're not old at all. no I tell people once I go down, I can't go back up. like
00:11:33
Speaker
One of the things you mentioned is really important for wedding photographers because the neck is really, really delicate. Like we talked a lot about shoulder training and it's different than the neck, um which are why some of the stretches are important. But we talk about this a lot where if you think about your neck, it's like a toothpick and your head is like a bowling ball. So your neck is really, really busy. And then you're using your arms to hold up the camera and you're going down and up. but You're talking about your hips.
00:11:59
Speaker
So, that's why this specific adaptation training for wedding photographers or videographers specifically is so important because we can give you neck stretches, shoulder muscular strength exercises, and so we can eliminate some of that, which is so important for the wedding photographer industry. Wow. Okay.
Training for Photographers' Resilience
00:12:17
Speaker
That's perfect. Segue. um Let me ask a couple more questions before a Hot Topic, but I guess What is it like working together now in a business? like What's like your dynamic? Do you have like um where do you guys live? Do you guys meet up like weekly, Zoom calls? um What's your vision for the company? Anything you want to share with us? Just to give us, like kind of like take us into your world. Sure.
00:12:46
Speaker
So we live about 15 minutes away from each other. So we're pretty close and we'll go to our YMCA and we'll film our workout videos. And whenever we meet, we just take about, you know, a half hour to deb debrief. We talk about like weddings and shooting weddings. There was one weekend where she went to a wedding and she saw a photographer shooting. And so she came back and was like, oh my gosh, like I saw them doing this and this.
00:13:10
Speaker
And we'll like we'll kind of reenact the movements that we do as wedding photographers, and I'll kind of show her like what I was doing this weekend and like what new moves I noticed. And then like she would tell me what she saw at the wedding when she went. And so then we're thinking, OK, we're breaking those movements down and figuring out how to train those specific muscles, and also kind of like mimicking um the movements that we're doing while we're shooting. and like strength training those muscles and targeting those muscles specifically. Very interesting that you even did some research Ashley to actually go to a wedding and be like you're literally looking at like the human body their anatomy of like their neck goes this way and then their shoulder goes this way. yeah Exactly and I've never thought about it before Jackie and I started working together so I was at a wedding just about two months ago actually I've been at two weddings in the last couple months and just really watching
00:14:07
Speaker
what the wedding photographer is doing from my perspective as a fitness professional has really helped me like gain a better understanding of what the needs are and how I can help with those needs. Yeah, I think it's so important. um I was at a wedding I have a second shooter that's amazing Kevin um photo quests photo if you don't know what i am but Kevin Yeah, he he's amazing. But we were shooting a month ago, and he's like, Krista, did you know like you wear your strap backwards? but What do you mean?
00:14:40
Speaker
Like my whole fast thing, like I was wearing it like backwards for like over a decade. Like it was like, Oh my God, are you serious? The cameras were probably sitting like incorrectly. Oh my gosh, that is crazy. And then you have those hip problems. Yes, exactly. Well, I will say that I'm a huge advocate for like spider belts because of what they're doing to like the, the, the, um,
00:15:05
Speaker
suspenders or the harnesses are doing to like your body and your back and your neck and your posture. I really, really recommend switching to like, okay, okay, yeah because as Ashley could tell you, the glutes are the strongest muscles in your body and like all of your leg muscles are way like more capable of heavy lifting for longer periods of time than like your back would be or your neck or your shoulders. and And when you're wearing a harness, all of that weight is just like very unevenly distributed on the smaller muscles of your body. Whereas like the the belt are ah definitely like much more stable.
00:15:45
Speaker
and the the muscle groups are stronger down there as well. Okay, good to know. I know that they're cuter. I know the harnesses are cuter. So maybe like we're like half the day when people like can see you maybe you could wear the harness and then like maybe in the evening like switch over to the belt when like the lights get low and like no one can really see you that much anymore. Totally. I know the belt, I mean this strap is like a stylish little so glad you like I wish I would wear the harness because it's just ugly. This belt is not working with this outfit. Oh my God. Totally. My husband was like, Oh, you're getting like humpback. So I had to buy one of those like posture correctors I've been wearing like that. I got from Instagram ads. I know me, but anyway okay let's get into hot topic. We've been talking about it this whole time, but what is your hot topic and why is it so near and dear to your heart?
00:16:39
Speaker
Pardon this short interruption, but guess what? I have a new program. It's for all wedding professionals. It's called The Triple Threat. We redo your brand messaging, the homepage of your website. Part two is we do all your marketing. we create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales so we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo.
00:17:19
Speaker
and DM me the word DEMO. I will send it right over. It's how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox per month. Enjoy, guys. Krista Wu is a LA-based wedding photographer who's actually turning business coach. She helped me grow and change, and I'm so proud to call you coach.
00:17:41
Speaker
tell us how you're feeling. like I want to just know a little bit more about your thoughts. It's beautiful and you're awesome. It's beautiful. I'm speechless. I just like the fact that it feels like myself. like i can I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you.
SAT: Strengthening Muscles for Photographers
00:18:02
Speaker
So our hot topic is what we call s SAT or a specific adaptation training. And you're right, we've been talking about it a lot, but what kind of training can we design for wedding photographers and videographers specifically that is going to train your muscles to do your job better? And then not only that, but you will feel better because you won't be as sore, you won't be as tired and fatigued.
00:18:25
Speaker
And then we build in some stretches so you can stretch out those muscles as well because it's not only building muscular strength, but we need some flexibility and mobility as well. who um cool One thing I also want to talk about about stretching is that like you need to do it consistently if you are hurting, especially in like specific places. like I personally hurt the most in my wrists. We're driving, we're on our phones, we're shooting. um so I like do this 10 minutes a day.
00:18:55
Speaker
and it like It's gone. I never feel pain anymore. No carpal tunnel. but If you can't see her, she's doing a little roundabout with her wrist. Oh yeah, that's right. yeah okay let's talk it Let's get into it. so i Never heard of this. S-A-T, Specific ah Adaptation Training. so We could just banter about it, but give us some tips and tricks.
00:19:23
Speaker
Mainly for wedding photographers, we want a strong core, the core holds up the torso, um but a lot of shoulder and upper back work. You're carrying your camera or holding it isometrically up high, lots of stress and pressure on the shoulders. And then like we already talked about with the harness, which I don't know much about, but I do know a lot about caved in shoulders. We need lots of strengthening through the what we call the posterior chain or the upper back.
00:19:49
Speaker
so that you can stand up tall. I mean, we all want to look taller, right? But then, of course, it's just safer for when you're holding that camera, especially, again, for those long periods of time that you're not letting the neck muscles take over and the actual shoulders and upper back muscles are working. Oh, Yeah, I mean, I just want to also tell the listeners right now, like, I talked to a lot of wedding pros and I've been in the game for a long time, like 15 years, and I've heard so much that like they can't do this anymore because their bodies are just so much pain or it's just like they're aging out of the business and we're we're like not old, you know, going to be 40, but it's like our bodies can't take it. So this these kind of tips on what you're doing for the industry is extremely important because you can have another like 20 years of your business and not have to retire because
00:20:40
Speaker
You know, people that are wedding professionals, we do it because we love it and we want to be at the wedding. That's like a shot of dopamine, like I always say. So yeah. Yeah. No, right. And, and even just like for the sake of like yourself and the others around you, not only would you have to retire earlier, but you're not as capable and mobile as you used to be if you're not taking care of yourself. And if you have a family or if you just care about being active, like, you know, as long as you can.
00:21:07
Speaker
This is just like so important. It's it's crazy that this doesn't exist It's crazy that we are some of the first people I've seen talking about it Yeah, so Jackie you're a wedding photographer and your husband does video most of the time. Do you guys stretch together? Does he give you massages after and rub your feet? Like what is your regimen for keeping your body like functional? I every day like after a wedding when we come home, as long as it's not like 2 a.m., when I'm backing up my photos, I like to stretch like while I'm waiting for my photos to be backed up. And then we also have like a massage gun that we'll use on each other.
00:21:48
Speaker
yeah i get her though yeah yeah I have a question about massage guns. um People say different things but I used to like put it in like my clavicle or like my neck but then a lot of people say like it's kind of dangerous because of like then the nerves are so there's nerves there so you could have nerve damage. um How far up can you get with a massage gun?
00:22:11
Speaker
I think it's more about where you're putting it versus how high up you're going. And so you definitely want to think about the bigger part of the muscles. So it's intramuscular versus like, yeah, where those tendons and ligaments attach, which might be kind of difficult if you're not really sure. So the placement is very important and then not doing it for too long of a period of time as well. So you're not aggravating it, you're just stimulating.
00:22:35
Speaker
Mm hmm. Yeah, it's like a muscle massager, right? So you want to massage the muscles, not like the bones and the tendons and the nerves. Yeah, I did not know that.
00:22:47
Speaker
ah yeah i mean i Like big myself, like paraplegia. Yeah. Cool, cool. Okay, so um more tips about how to build your core. My sister-in-law, ever since she had a baby, she's one of the closest people to me.
00:23:03
Speaker
she has a weak core and she'll be like completely blow off her back where she's on her floors and can't even walk just because she like changed the sheets wrong or like um something really small happened um and I keep telling her like you need to work on your core you need to work on your core like what are some exercises that you love Um, I think real quickly just so your listeners know that the core is a really complicated set of muscles and the big core muscles does attach from your spine and wraps all the way around to your abdominals in front. That's why we call it a corset that thing that people used to wear like we actually have that and then there's some muscles on the side of your body and then an additional muscle in the front of your body.
00:23:43
Speaker
Lots of planks are good, but they need to be executed correctly. So you'll have to go to our video on planking so that you know how to do that. Sit ups have had a bad rap where you are on your back and you're doing sit ups. As long as you're using the muscles in the abdomen and you're not crunching through the neck, they're actually very effective.
00:24:02
Speaker
um And then some isometric moves when you're on your back where we just hold. So you're challenging the the front of the body um and not the low back. It's very, very complicated actually, Carissa, but we do talk about it in some of our videos. Core strength is where everything originates. And then from there, we just move out from the core. Nice. I love that.
00:24:26
Speaker
And something too about building any sort of muscle on your body is that I like to think of it as like, we can't build our muscle unless we're technically straining our muscle, right? Or we're breaking our muscle fibers. So I like to use like weights. If I'm doing like core exercises, like a situp, I like to add weights to it because personally I feel my muscle like being torn into more when I'm using weights instead of just body weights. But that doesn't mean you can't just use body weight either. like You can do both. But when I think about like what I want to build a shorter core, I always try to implement more weights that I can tear into my muscle fiber. oh Very interesting. Ashley, I was going to ask you, like you did triathlons. Was there any time that like you got injured and then you had to um recover? or was like What was your
00:25:20
Speaker
I don't know, exercise routine like during that time. Cause it's such like a, I had, I could never like imagine doing something like that. Like rigor. Yeah. Thank you. Um, you know, I mean, I'm an endurance athlete, so I do train a lot. Um, I was hit on my bike riding in the street once, um, the car opened their door and I had nowhere to go. So I was like flipped off my bike into the road. Yeah. It was, I was fortunate that I wasn't more injured, but I did suffer, um,
00:25:49
Speaker
soft tissue damage through my left shoulder, um and it takes time, unfortunately. There's not a lot you can do with an actual injury other than, like I knew the rehab exercises, um I just had to take time and build it back up slowly.
00:26:07
Speaker
Unfortunately, but luckily, like I said, it wasn't worse than it was. um But you can your body's an amazing machine and it definitely does heal if it's given the proper you know time and you're doing the right things.
00:26:20
Speaker
um So like even like you were saying, like I'm 56 years old and I'm in better shape now than I was when I was 30. So just because of training and nutrition and the stretching, the flexibility. So any of these photographers that think that they're aging out, they're not. They just need to change up their routine a little bit and then they're going to be even better and they'll be able to work for longer. So it's actually really exciting.
00:26:44
Speaker
who And I think some don't look at 56. Thank you. she's Something too is that like when you change your lifestyle, because I'm familiar with that and I'm sure maybe we all are in a sense, like it is only uphill from when you so decide you want to change your lifestyle. Like a lot of people probably look back at their high school pictures and they're like, Oh, I missed the way I looked in high school. And I look back at my high school pictures and I'm like,
00:27:09
Speaker
Ew! I know! I hate, like, my body. Like, it's crazy. And it's not just about your body.
Lifestyle Changes and Performance Enhancement
00:27:16
Speaker
It's also the way you feel, too. And, like, once you decide you want to change your lifestyle, it's only uphill, even if your age is downhill, right? Like, you're going to feel better. You're going to look better. You are going to be able to perform your job better, even though you're getting older because you change your lifestyle. Yeah. I think I look a little bit better now than I did, like,
00:27:37
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. when i right Maybe 10 years ago, just because I was drinking a lot and I looked in the mirror and I looked like I was 80 years old. and I was like, oh my gosh. Yeah. You're killing it. ah What do you eat during like the day of a wedding? I've always wondered that because it's like you feel like you have to feel love, but then you don't want to be like dragged down where you get food coma. And also you want to like feel like you're rewarding yourself by going to like um you know, a nice lunch with your kids because you're going to be working all day. You're going to be gone. Like what is, what is your game plan wedding day?
00:28:14
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:29:33
Speaker
Thank you for asking that because I think that's something that we haven't really hit on yet on our Instagram pages like nutrition. I'm trying to like slowly implement it but I'm trying to figure out how to make it make sense on our feed but I eat and drink.
00:29:50
Speaker
a lot of protein wow before my wedding. And I also do intermittent fasting. So in the morning when I wake up before my wedding, I don't really eat anything up until about like like an hour or two before I head to the wedding and I make sure that I'm eating protein. So I feel very energized and my muscles are being fed.
00:30:11
Speaker
before my wedding shoot. um And I just try to stick to healthier things when I pack like snacks for a wedding, like apple, a banana, a protein shake, a yogurt, a high protein like cheese string, um string cheese, nuts.
00:30:27
Speaker
um I'm just trying to make sure I'm killing my body properly because when I'm shooting I don't want to feel like, oh I ate a donut this morning and I just have a bunch of sugar in my body or carbs. like that area wasn in That makes me really hungry and tired and grouchy during a wedding. Totally.
00:30:43
Speaker
Um, and the intermittent fasting too is really nice too, because then I'm making sure that like I'm fueling my body right before I go to a wedding versus like in the morning when I wake up, then I start, then I eat. And then now by the time I start my wedding, I actually haven't eaten for like five hours, you know? Wow. I, um, yeah, like.
00:31:08
Speaker
I'm just like laughing at myself because i'm I always during interviews I think of like funny stories that like I would uber eat like kind of express like during the Catholic like ceremony because I was just so like immature and like now I'm so mature but I would just like ah make my second cheater go run to get like the nearest fast food and stuff and eat it like you did behind the last pew and it's just so silly.
00:31:34
Speaker
ha That is not being focused spit, okay, you're in you're in trouble. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I and also um i just i had a missed diagnosis. They thought I was pre-diabetic, but it was kind of like a wake-up call. I think I ate breakfast that morning, so I'm actually not, but it was like this wake-up call. um I would drink like sodas like during for lunch, and it just got really like addicted to sugar. and yeah um Even in the morning, I would eat like f fried rice, fried rice all day long, and then I was just getting like so like
00:32:10
Speaker
lethargic and like kind of like brain fog and kind of depressed. And like I really um kind of changed my habits. And it could be small habits. like I could indulge for dinner, but maybe not for breakfast, or maybe not for lunch, or like not eat the ice cream after. So um yeah, I just didn't know anything about health. um So I really am excited for this conversation.
00:32:36
Speaker
but um I mean, I think there's a few basic things that most people don't know, but like hydration is the most important thing. um Everybody should be getting 50%, like 50%, this is my accounting coming in, percent of their body weight and ounces of water. So like if you weigh a hundred pounds, you need 50 ounces of water every single day, non-negotiable. And when you're shooting a wedding, you need to increase that by an additional 10% because your body's really, really busy.
00:33:04
Speaker
um and the water hydration does something to your blood cells where they pop and that helps circulate the blood in your system better and that'll help us like less fatigue um but also the thing about nutrition is that you have to be really really prepared so like instead of is kevin your second shooter what was his name yeah instead of sending him for fast food you're gonna get but a little bit more prepared so you can take like hummus and carrots and celery and nuts and apple and cheese. And then you can just eat on that. Yeah. Whatever you like. Fried rice is not bad as long as it's like too much sodium. and No, I'm serious. I love rice. It's like one of my favorite go-tos. But if you need protein, yeah, right. That's very salty.
00:33:48
Speaker
Proteins will definitely make you feel satiated, but you also need some good fats and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are not bad. They help boil fuel your body with energy. So yeah, it's pairing foods together properly, making sure your body's hydrated just so that you can feel really effective while you're working because you guys have a really long day and yeah, you can't eat you know, one donut or even even a bowl of fried rice in the morning and expect that to hold you over. yeah And if you're prepared instead of having to send someone out for fast food, which I know we're kind of joking, but and that happens to all of us. I have three kids, like they're grown now, but I remember just being, oh my God, I'm so hungry. I'm just going to eat chips because I don't have any other bandwidth to do anything else.
00:34:30
Speaker
um So just being prepared with healthy snacks that you're pairing together properly, it makes a huge difference for your mental space as well as your physical space. Yeah, and I didn't mean to say like, we love carbs. Carbs are really, really good for us just as much as like protein would, but you just have to make sure you're eating healthier carbs. Yes. I love it. I love it. Well, I am going to to ask more like personal questions for the last like 10 minutes just because I didn't ask in the beginning. I just went kind of like went straight into it. So um I'm going to just ask you, not like personal, but like more like deep rooted, not so like, you have to do this, you have to do this. But like what is your big like vision for your
Upcoming Guide for Photographers' Health
00:35:15
Speaker
business? And like what is like your your goals, your big goals?
00:35:20
Speaker
who Well, our biggest vision is that maybe towards the end of the year, or at least by early next year, we want to release like um a PDF like guide for photographers on how to work out, how to take care of yourself, how to stretch, how to recover, um how to take care of your mental, how to fuel yourself, proper nutrition. um So we kind of want to release some sort of like info guide for wedding photographers and videographers to kind of help them you know, change their lifestyle. Cause when I first got started, I really knew nothing. And, and there's so many myths on the internet. There's so many like ideas that we have in our head that are just not true at all. And so I think like putting it all out on, on a guide is like a great way for photographers and videographers to get started, to like learn how to do better for themselves, like physically and mentally. I love that. I love that. Anything you want to add, Ashley?
00:36:18
Speaker
I just feel like the PDF guide will help break it down and make it more manageable because thinking about doing everything all at once, sometimes it's just too much for people to even compute. So just giving them a PDF guide, these are the few things you can start with and then continue adding on and building on that. ah That will be really important for all of the wedding photographers and videographers. Yeah, I love it. and I could see i guess you guys like talking on a big stage as well.
00:36:42
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, I would love that. Have you, I'm assuming you've heard of like WPPI. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. For sure. Yeah. And I'm sure a lot of the listeners have too, but I'm hoping that like, you know, someday you'll see us there like as a vendor, you know, giving you guys all the information and tips that you need.
00:37:00
Speaker
Um, and then I would also love, if you've noticed our Instagram name is focusfit dot.co, which means we're a community. So I would love to have like some events, um, in LA, maybe traveling, maybe even like some zoom boot camps where we can kind of come together and like help each other out. Um, you know, we, none of us are perfect. We're not like, you know, these fitness robots that do everything like.
00:37:25
Speaker
you know, perfectly day and day night, but just, you know, having a place where we can all come together and like talk about fitness, talk about health, talk about wellness and just holding each other accountable and like staying consistent.
00:37:38
Speaker
Oh, I would love to throw a bat with you guys. Like we could just, you know, do some exercises and have like different vendors. That'd be so cool. Because everyone comes out for like exercise. They love that kind of stuff. We're in their cute outfits. and It would be some nice photo moments for us too, since we never get in front of the camera. ah Totally. Okay, so for you, um Jackie, tell me a little bit about Grey Day photo.
Confidence and Business Success
00:38:04
Speaker
Like you,
00:38:06
Speaker
If anyone like doesn't know you, like go to your Instagram, great great day photo and check out your work and you'll like you know your mouth will drop in one second. but like how like Maybe tell the audience like what was the biggest struggle of your business and how did you overcome it and maybe like a tip for wedding professionals today, what they could do to like i don't know make their business explode.
00:38:29
Speaker
who Um, I think that the main thing, the main tip that I can give other photographers and videographers is just having confidence because when you are not confident in your work, it really shows. Um, and part of that with me was also just like finding confidence in who I was like outside of my business. And I think like, if you've ever like learned about branding.
00:38:54
Speaker
and like your your brand identity, that identity like from your work, your photos and videos comes from the confidence that the owner has, right? So I think I was able to build a lot of that honestly by like working out and taking care of myself. And I became a more confident person. And it also translated like in my work and in my grade A photo brand. And because of that, like everything else followed.
00:39:20
Speaker
like I felt more comfortable and confident like raising my prices, um being more active on social media, showing a little bit more of my life, like showing a little bit more about who I am and like being more confident in my work. um Same with like just getting inquiries from from from clients or potential clients. like I'm able to have more confidence when I reply to them, when I hop on the phone with them. um And I think it all really started by like taking better care of myself physically and mentally. And you know your value will rise. you can raise You feel better raising your prices, um your clients value you more. And I think all of your work just comes together more beautifully when you feel more confident in yourself.
00:40:02
Speaker
Well said. You mean it's the inner work? Are you serious? Why didn't I learn this like, you know, like when I first started? right I know I just saw like a TikTok and she was like, she's like a manifestation coach, but she's like, do you love you or do you love the idea of you? So she was kind of went deep into like,
00:40:24
Speaker
The ideal view is like maybe a lot of friends or planning cool parties or like cute outfit and like having a cool photography um website and this or do you really love like the interview or like you're laughing when you're getting like having your morning coffee and like Um, you love your yourself, like without the validation from people. So I was like, Oh yeah, that hit hard. yeah Really hit me in my core. Yeah. And then, um, Ashley, you are not a wedding professional, but you have gone to weddings. So you see everything in a different perspective. What would you maybe
00:41:03
Speaker
say to the listeners on like what you like when you see a wedding and what you don't like as far as like the wedding pose, because you know, your your lenses, your lens on the wedding is so different. I know you're looking at the body, but like, what do you think? I don't know. Do you have any perspective on that?
00:41:24
Speaker
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00:41:48
Speaker
I remember being at barbecues with my laptop because I had to get out of shoot and and that was so stressful, so not fun. And the best part about after shoot compared to their competition is that it's a monthly minimal cost, not cost per image because I am a true overshooter. I could shoot like, I don't know, 3000 photos in an engagement shoot, which is not good. But anyways, using my code in the show notes to get a 30 day trial and 20% off you're going to get in the software and just go crazy with it. And AfterShoot edits 2.0 just released and they have a lot of new features that you are going to love. AfterShoot, I can't thank you enough for giving me back my time to focus on this podcast. Oh yeah, back to the podcast.
00:42:34
Speaker
Just the perspective from going to these couple weddings this summer, um I just noticed how often you're down low, like on your knees or maybe even in a crouched position. And I just kept thinking, guy I hope they have really strong glutes or quads so they're not hurting their joints. I know this is how I think. yeah And so like the squats and lunges are really important for that, but also something that we touched upon when I saw them holding the camera here and their neck was like this, I'm like, oh no wonder they have sore neck. So it's all about this, what we call scapular retraction and strong shoulder muscles so we can really hold that camera properly.
00:43:09
Speaker
But I'm terrible because I'm always looking at people and thinking, oh, I don't want them to hurt themselves. So that's why I think I have a passion for this because, again, photography is not my forte. And you guys are so passionate about it. I love that. I just don't want people to get hurt. And so I feel like with simple things, you know, you can really make it so that you feel better and you won't be injuring yourselves. I love that.
00:43:32
Speaker
I love that. Well, thank you for being on. just I'm going to let leave with rapid fire questions, more shorter answers, and then where it to find you. But I guess first question is for Jackie, but maybe like a tip and trip trick for working with your spouse.
00:43:50
Speaker
um Don't go to bed mad. um o I love that one. I always write that in a little like notes thing for the car. You never know if you have tomorrow. So that's a good one. Ashley, what is your best mom boss hack? Mom of three. Oh, um you know, we're real matter of fact around here. So I've always told my kids to shake it off and get over it.
00:44:17
Speaker
Ooh, shake it off. And then the question for both of you, what do you guys talk about when you're not talking about your business or fitness? Hiking. Hiking. Hiking. Oh, OK. Outdoors. OK, love the outdoors. And then what is your biggest ah social media hack, if you could share a little tip? Social media hack. um I'm not the best example of this, but 100% consistency, like the more you post, the more you're active, the more you engage, you will be found, you will be seen, you will be loved. But that's also me preaching to myself, ourselves. Yeah, visibility, visibility. It's all about visibility. That's what my coach says. um What is your favorite, either book or podcast or influencer in the fitness industry? o Oh, Corey from Redefining Strength.
00:45:14
Speaker
so She is hands down the best in the entire country. She's in Costa Mesa, actually. Oh, crazy. Yeah. Corey Leckfetch from Redefining Strength. Oh my God. oh Yeah. She is absolutely unbelievable. Okay. I'll check her out. Yeah.
00:45:28
Speaker
Um, well, one of my favorite podcasts is how to get a heck yeah yes. Yes. I paid you to say that. Um, and then one of my favorite, um, fitness, uh, platforms is, um, the workout app that I use called evolve you. I feel like that really changed my life.
00:45:48
Speaker
um I go to the gym and I know what to do when I'm there, otherwise I probably wouldn't be as consistent as I am if I went there and I just was like, oh, what am I going to do today? So I really recommend like finding a plan and finding something that you can depend on when you go to the gym.
00:46:04
Speaker
our plan. Go to our videos, watch our videos and take us with you to the gym. I love that. Well, thank you so much for being a part of this podcast. You guys are going to change the wedding professional industry. um You know, one, one real a day. I mean, one real at a time because I love your, I love your reels. Everyone check you guys out. And yeah, thank you so much. Thank you, Carissa. Thanks, Carissa.
00:46:35
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. See you next time, wedding pros!