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Ep. 146- Bringing your dreams in life & business into reality - Ashleigh Taylor
92 Plays5 months ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays. Ashleigh Taylor is in the Get a HECK YES house and she teaches us how to achieve your dream life, business— achieving your goals. We met when we just started wedding photography 15 years ago.
Ashleigh Taylor is an award winning portrait photographer based in Santa Barbara CA. Shr is also a speaker, photography educator & hosts international luxury retreats for people ready to step into their next level.
Hot Topic
Bringing your dreams in life & business into reality
1) be authentic to who you really are (not what society expects of you)
2) get clear on what you actually want
3) believe in your dreams & vision more than fear
4) work on your self value
Favorite sales technique : How do you get a HECK YES from your dream clients?
It's all about energy and excitement. When you wholeheartedly are excited for your offer & believe it’s worth it, you sell with ease
Marketing Toolkit which includes guide to ig reels, guide to fb ads & marketing masterclass https://ashleightaylor.lpages.co/marketing-bundle-opt-in/
Connect with Ashleigh
Connect with Carissa
https://instagram.com/carissawoo
https://www.instagram.com/ashleightaylorportrait
Sponsors
kickstartaccountinginc.com - Use code heckyes
17hats.com - Use code heckyes
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Transcript
Introduction and networking tip
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays. I hope you are enjoying your summer. I am enjoying my kids and the sun, the beach. I went to an epic play in Palos Verdes called Bring It On. It was the best play I ever been to. DM me and tell me what you're up to this summer. So wedding pros, if you need a new brand and more leads and more bookings, go to my IG and DM me the word DEMO. I will send you a 20 minute video on how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox a month. It's really good.
Meet Ashley Taylor
00:00:33
Speaker
So I have Ashley Taylor in the Get a Heck Yes House. We started our wedding photography journey at the same time about 15 years ago. She looks so young still. And then she branched out to Portraits for a Woman. Check out her work. It's beyond. And if you ever wanted to be that girl in the magazine, book a shoot with her. She is also hosting a woman's retreat in Spain. Yes, I said it, Spain. It's coming up in October and she only has two spots left. There's like nothing that this girl can't do. I love her why not me mentality. It's so good. This is one of my favorite episodes. It left me with so much positive energy and I've been on such a high from this conversation. So I hope you will feel the same way. Enjoy.
Podcast's mission and Carissa's background
00:01:22
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, 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!
Growth in the industry over 15 years
00:02:14
Speaker
and Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with your girl Carissa Wu. I have a very special guest. Her name is Ashley Taylor with Ashley Taylor Portraits. She is a ah Santa Barbara, California photographer. She's award-winning portrait and fashion photographer. She's an educator. She's a speaker. shim I don't know what to say. like I've known her for ah ever since I started. I know 13, 14 years ago, we finally are connecting again. you are a powerhouse in the industry, you are speaking all over the world winning awards, like your work is incredible. And welcome, Ashley. Oh my gosh, it is so crazy to think how we met like both when we were starting out and how far we both come and it's just really cool to be on your podcast and to have reconnected and it's just super awesome. So thank you for having me. Yeah, so crazy. I think it was my first WPPI.
00:03:08
Speaker
And I don't know how we connected, but so we went to like that dinner, remember? Oh, yeah, I know. It was a bajillion years ago when it was in the MGM. like That's right, MGM, exactly. Yeah, it's crazy to think how much just the conference has evolved in that time, too, when the industry has evolved. And yeah, it's absolutely unbelievable.
Ashley's passion for photography and career shift
00:03:34
Speaker
Yeah, and I've been following your journey from afar just like your intro to like the Sue Bryce, was it Sue Bryce world of this woman and your studio and now like doing ah travel tours with photographers. We'll talk all about that in a little bit. But I guess tell the audience a little bit about you where you're from and what you were like growing up. Yeah, so I'm from Los Angeles originally. um But I live in Santa Barbara. I've lived here for the past
00:04:04
Speaker
gosh, it's almost been 13 years, which is really crazy um to think about. umm And yeah, I always loved photography growing up, like I always had a disposable camera or a not, you know, super expensive film camera. And I loved taking pictures and um I did darkroom photography in college and minored in it, but I also just always loved all kinds of um artistic endeavors, particularly like theater and performing. So I think photography has always been such a good fit for me because
00:04:40
Speaker
um even though it's not theater or being on stage in a lot of ways, like I feel like my work pulls from that because I feel like I direct people into their posing and um in in my photo shoots, I help style people into me. That's like the costume element of it. So um I do feel like a lot of things that I, like my inner child or my little child self loved, like playing dress up, acting, the theater coaching other people into performances, um creating things that were pretty taking pictures like all that is still um very much a part of my reality. So I'm so um grateful to be living the dream basically that I had as a kid. I love that. i did it Did your parents like throw you into like a bunch of activities as a kid?
00:05:31
Speaker
Um, I don't know that my parents threw me in as much as I demanded it to be in like dance class or theater or taking singing lessons or and I was an only child. So like, luckily for me, my parents had enough like resources not being divided between multiple children that usually I could um do that. I also I quit a lot of things like I never really quit theater but i I wanted to do piano but then I didn't really like practicing so my mom was like if you're not not gonna send you to piano lessons. Same with dance like I would get into dance and then when it
00:06:10
Speaker
like got really rigorous of like a rehearsal schedule I didn't always like want to do that because I like I think I just always was like very interested in a lot of things and if one thing was going to like dominate my time it was very um like no longer that interesting to me um with the exception of like theater and being in place like that was the one thing that If it dominated my time, I was good with it. But otherwise, everything else was like, no, I don't want to spend like every afternoon working on this. Yeah. What plays were you in? Just curious because I was in a bunch of plays. um ah gosh I mean, I like none of them were professional, like kids, kids version, yeah guys and dolls, South Pacific, the net. Joseph. and and like
00:07:00
Speaker
I was in a lot lot like we did a summer theater camp every summer and then when I got older there were like two or three shows a year and that's like the kids theater program that I did so I was yeah I was always in a play pretty much. I love that how about college years what were you into and then like early after college years Um, well, I ended up majoring in filmmaking at Emerson college. So, um, yeah, so as I got older, I loved like video and film. And um I still loved theater, but I thought maybe I would be a filmmaker. So in college, I did spend a lot of time making short films and stuff. um I also, like I said, I did minor in photography. So I and that at my school was darkroom black and white photography. So I spent a lot of time in the darkroom and I really loved it. Like I really loved the magic.
00:07:55
Speaker
of watching the image appear in the chemicals and dodge like actual dodging and burning not photoshopped dodging and burning and doing different prints and the teacher giving you critiques and like going back at it again um and I loved um you know again that feeling of taking pictures with a film camera was is still I don't really I don't really indulge in it a lot to be honest but I do have a film camera but um I think there was like a magic to like making every shot count and not knowing really what you got until it got developed. And yeah, all that was like a pretty magical feeling. So I spent a lot of um college doing those two things. I didn't really do theater anymore. Once I got to college, I was kind of focused on film and photography at that point. Yeah, I never got to experience a dark room. That's so cool. And it kind of like the way that you photograph now it kind of
00:08:54
Speaker
looks like that like cinematic style and you use like black and white. So I'm sure. Yeah. that led you out to you know your successful career. so Yeah, I mean, I didn't i had no like intention really of being a photographer back then. I just genuinely loved it. I remember even like the last day that I had access to Darkroom before I graduated being like, oh, this is it, and being kind of like depressed. you know And again, I haven't been in a Darkroom since. like Someone would need to give me the whole lesson all over again. i I remember the steps, but I don't fully remember the steps. But yeah, it would be super fun if I could ever get access to that again. And we only did black and white darkroom. We never did. um My school didn't have like the facilities to do a color lab because my understanding is that's like way more chemicals or steps or something different about the process. um But it would be super fun to do that again because it was like a very tactile
00:09:51
Speaker
um I think that was what was so fun about it was it was very tactile. And it was very, like, what is gonna I don't know, like that little magic reveal of like, what is this gonna look like? Exactly. So that's awesome. How did you get into wedding
Wedding photography and industry realities
00:10:07
Speaker
photography? What was the steps like? How did you kind of take the leaf into to that? Because I know you were shooting a lot of weddings at the time when I met Yeah, when we met. Yeah. Um, so Really, I like I said, I wanted to be a filmmaker my whole life. I wanted to be like an actor, director, filmmaker. That was really what I saw for myself. So I went to film school, I got an internship. um I ended up working as a temp at Sony Studios for a production company as like a temporary, um like a long term temporary administrative assistant to a producer.
00:10:45
Speaker
And it just was very disillusioning. Honestly, like it was like my thought of what the film industry was and what the reality of like what day-to-day life and grind of being in the film industry is was like not what I had pictured at all. And I was pretty like, oh no, is this really what I'm going to do for the rest of my life? time because I just think at the end of the day I wanted to tell stories and be creative and I didn't really realize how corporate filmmaking is. And that also like you start at the bottom, which is great, like it's you always need to pay your dues but you truly like you start getting coffees for people and doing like the most basic grunt work and then you just hope you eventually can get to the next step and the next step and I was like I don't know like I don't
00:11:33
Speaker
I don't I don't play politics very well. You know what I mean? It's a lot of political maneuvering and relationships and stuff like that. And it just was very like intimidating to me. And I just didn't know like, is that really how I want to spend my day and also it was like people were working crazy hours too um so anyways i was doing that at the time that i was engaged um i got married really young luckily we're still married so it was a good life i never asked a question because everyone's like oh were the worst. I was 23. I thought I was super old at the time. But like, I'm 38. I'm like, wow, I really was not old at all. Super mature. But like I said, luckily, it worked out. Congratulations. Um, but I was getting married at the time. So I was researching wedding photographers to hire and I just thought
00:12:30
Speaker
Um, especially cause I don't know if you remember, but the industry back then, like everything was about blogs and yeah blogs and every photographer had their own blog and like they talk about their life and they always made it sound so. fun and like they got to do something creative every weekend. And you know, I saw the prices too. And I was like, you know, cause you don't know about running a business until you have a business. And you're like, wow, 3,500 to just show up and take pictures all day. Like my God, you're getting $100 a week paycheck and you're like, you know, it's just like that feeling of like, and I could do two on a weekend and I could do that.
00:13:11
Speaker
every week like oh my god so i just got it in my head and at the like i said i had loved photography was a photographer in college so i thought also i was 23 so i had like a lot of confidence and nothing to lose and i was like why not me i don't know why yeah you have a probably personality too like i think it's very different when people have a corporate job that's paying them like six figures and they transition like what a leap i was making like I don't know at the time, $300 or $400 a week. like I really wasn't making much money. so There was nothing to lose. Literally nothing to lose. And I had all like the confidence of a 23-year-old that was like, why not?
00:13:56
Speaker
Um, I had a moment where I got humbled along the way, but I just decided like I would start my business. Obviously you can't just start a wedding photography business. So I, um, second shot for a lot of people in the beginning. I did things probably the wrong way at the beginning where I charged too little just to get the jobs and the experience. But I mean, Hey, it worked out. I eventually, you know, raised my prices, I learned about running a business, I, you know, I learned things as I went. And again, I was really lucky in a way that I started so young, because I was a four, I had nothing to lose. And I was able to like, learn the lessons along the way. Yeah, we weren't like on a, like a time crunch, like some people like we got to ride the waves, like starting young, and we got to learn things like slowly. And yeah, and
00:14:45
Speaker
We, I think we both started, or at least I know I started like kind of right after slash during the recession. So I knew there were so many, like at that time when I thought old photographers who really struggling and really jaded cause the recession really like took a lot out of their business and digital photography took a lot out of their, you know, all that shift. Like people were really struggling, but like for me, I was just coming in. So I had no, no, no baggage. And I was just like, I can start in the environment that we're in and just yeah with work for me. So, um, yeah, I think, you know, time. Yeah, I think might my dad told me he's like, Oh, I have like a photographer friend and wants to talk to you about like, how it's not good to like go on the wedding then this year. It's like, I don't want to talk to him.
00:15:30
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.
00:16:10
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. 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. I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you.
00:16:54
Speaker
Yeah, im doing good like yeah right the way yeah so like yeah, a lot of it was was for me was timing and then eventually I um got really burnt out with shooting weddings mainly because I got um I mean like intentionally I was pregnant but my I didn't I was pregnant with the early part of the pregnancy with morning sickness and During my wedding season and I was like at the height of height of my business in weddings at that point Like I built it up. I was getting paid like five grand per wedding.
Building a portrait studio
00:17:29
Speaker
I had a full schedule I had multiple weddings per weekend and I was so sick and nauseous every day i um mc flu And I also felt like I couldn't let people down and let them know Oh
00:17:44
Speaker
Um, which in hindsight, I feel like I would have been a lot more honest with people and just been like, Hey, I'm bringing extra people and like they're super talented and we've got you but this is what's going on with me so far it was like I'm dying it's as I am I felt like I really had to like mask and like hide it which was like even more effort because I you know it's like when you feel so bad and you're just trying so hard not to show it it just doesn't help anything so um by the end of that wedding season
00:18:15
Speaker
I was kind of like, I just don't want to ever do this again. I'm done. Of course, I had weddings already booked for the next year as we always do, but I'd pretty much made the decision that that next year would be my last. real season and I would take weddings off my my website and I was going to focus fully on portraiture because I just felt like the pressure and the idea that like, you know, I think with weddings I really struggled with because I didn't have a business that had associate shooters. It was under my name. I felt like they were hiring me for me that like if something were to happen, if I wasn't to feel good,
00:18:54
Speaker
if I was to have an emergency with my kid or something like that. Like I was committed to being at that wedding yeah and I could really risk my whole business if I didn't show up. And that just, I really buckled under that like pressure. And in hindsight, I think about all these different things I could have done. Like I could have gotten associate of photographers. I could have i'm made my business less about me and more of a brand of of like umbrella photographers who were- It's okay, you did the right thing, girl.
00:19:24
Speaker
It all worked out, but yeah at that time, I was just like, I got to get out of it. So that's how I ended shooting weddings, which was um by the time i like my last real full season was 2016. And I have not shot, I mean, maybe like one off and like elopements every once in a while if a good portrait client asks, I'll do it. But I basically haven't shot a wedding since then. so Wow. I mean, I was there with you, like your pivot, like you went really full and all into these portraits. I'm on your website. You say I create magazine worthy portraits for powerful women who want to celebrate themselves or be captured with their loved ones. So I love that. You just make women feel beautiful and powerful. Tell me about that first year, like how you tapped into this market of
00:20:16
Speaker
portraits for a woman. What was it like? So, I had been doing this like, it wasn't, it wasn't out of nowhere. I had been doing this as like a small portion of my income or business. um I had a brick and mortar studio. I started that in 2013. I got to in 2013, May, I got to meet Sue Bryce, who I've had seen online and stuff. She was having an in-person workshop for 10 people. It was at the time for me an extremely high investment. It was $2,500, which like in retrospect now doesn't seem that big of a deal, but it was like, oh my God, I'm going to pay $25. I'm going to pay for my ticket to New York. I'm going to pay for my hotel.
00:20:59
Speaker
like, it felt really, really scary and risky to do. But she was like, my icon, my hero, I wanted to do what she was doing. I wanted to have a port, I like just, I had watched her and I was like, that, that is what I want to do. So when she opened it up, That sets her still. Yeah, I like, I know in hindsight, right? Yeah. At the time I just hit like she didn't even have like a way to check out online. It was like you had to email her, you find out. Like it was really stressful and I got a spot, I paid and I met her. It was obviously a very life-changing experience for me. And within a couple months of that workshop that was in May by July, I had a studio that like a
00:21:45
Speaker
commercial space that I was leasing um and I had my my wedding business at this point was like I thought of it like my day job my portrait business was like the little thing that can I make this work um so it wasn't like in 2016 like I didn't have any experience with the portrait business or I didn't have the studio. But what it was, was I realized like I was in those three years not able to take the portrait business as high as I wanted to because weddings were so much time and work. And I saw that as like I needed, if I didn't have the income from the weddings, like everything would fall apart and I would prioritize that. So the minute I took that ah away, all of a sudden all this time freed up
00:22:33
Speaker
And I had the time and I had the pressure again, like I cannot succeed here. So at that point, I just really dove into networking, making connections with other local businesses, like just really pounding the pavement and making every connection that I could. I gave people vouchers to such sessions, with which is a thing that Sue Bryce taught heavily at the time, like give people the experience essentially for free and a credit toward buying the images so you don't give the images for free the images yeah separately you just give a sitting fee for free and you kind of take that risk that they are going to love their pictures so much that they are going to hire you and you do all the steps and um you know i stumbled in a couple times but then i learned my lessons and it just started picking up and um yeah it took uh i guess
00:23:31
Speaker
like all of 2016. But by the end of 2016, I had replaced like 80% of my wedding income, wow hundreds and then the next year I was able to grow on that. So um yeah, I ah ended up growing a six figure portrait studio. Again, I haven't had to go back to weddings. So it's been a journey, but it's been really rewarding. And I love I do love this so much more than weddings. It's like so much more soul fulfilling. Yeah, I'm jealous.
00:24:03
Speaker
You know, that's awesome. i'm I'm so, it's so hard to like give up, you know, the the wedding money and then take the money else. But sometimes you just have to like release it you know to let doors open. I'm a big believer of like the concept of in manifestation of like making space so like if you want to bring new things in you have to clear the space to for those things to come in because there's like no room for it in your life you can't have it kind of thing so um I literally had to take weddings off my website and stop advertising with wedding wire and why aren't doing all those things and cut all those cords but
00:24:45
Speaker
It worked out. It was a big risk, but i again, sometimes I feel like we're most successful in business when our feet are to the fire and we have no choice but to make something successful. you know Otherwise, what you I'm not going, i don't I'm not employable. I have never yeah rob had a real job. like I don't think I could get a real job anywhere, so I need to make this work. Thank you. The only thing I would hire someone would hire me for is maybe like sales, but then I, you know, I still really have experience. I wanted to ask one more question before we kind of switch gears into a hot topic. It's kind of similar, but kind of not, but um tell the audience like what it's like working with you for someone hiring you for to get their portraits done.
00:25:34
Speaker
Yeah, so I really love what I do because I get to know each client super intimately. And I have like a system for working with them. But um within that, I always feel like everything we do is a bit customized to their tastes and their preferences. So the minute that they contact me, we have a consultation just to explain my process and how I work and go through pricing because I do essentially in-person sales where the pictures that they order, that's not a pre-sold thing. It's something that they order afterwards, if that makes sense. so um it can They could spend $2,500 with me. They could spend $7,500 with me. It's really about what they love, what they're going to get, and I need to make sure that they understand that. um and so If at that point we're all good to go,
00:26:20
Speaker
Then we book in, we book the date, we I book my makeup artist in for their shoot. Before their shoot, we have ah what I call a wardrobe consultation, but it's kind of like a design your shoot consultation, where we um really go through like they're in I have them go to my website and get inspiration images from my website because it's more helpful than if they I mean sure they can add some from like Instagram or whatever but it's more helpful if it's like something I can actually achieve in my studio so I have them like tell me their favorite shots from my website. We talk about clothes. We talk about, do they want boot? Because, I mean, for me, it could be boudoir. It could be personal branding. It could be glam. It could be mother-daughter. It could be some sort of weird combination of all these things in one photo shoot. We talk about, and that's really determined by what outfits they bring in, basically, in my opinion. so
00:27:12
Speaker
We talk about what they want to wear for they have four to five different outfit changes in the time of our photo shoot. um We talk about their goals for the pictures. Do they want wall art? Is this for their website? Is this ah for their branding? So I have a really good sense of their vision. And then at that point, you know, a few weeks later, we have the photo shoot, it's about a three and a half hour process, they get their hair and makeup on by my my hair makeup artist, um we I pose them, I guide them, I direct them, I light them, different visions for different people. I've had several clients who are on their third or fourth shoot at this point. And, you know, they're always looking for something different from their last photo shoot. So challenging to do something creative.
00:27:55
Speaker
yeah And then we sit down either immediately after the session or within a few days on Zoom, it's kind of up to them and what their schedule is like. um And we go through the images in their raw unedited form. I explain to them like all the editing that's gonna happen. um We choose which images, I help them call them down. We choose which images they really love. At that point they're presented with what package, if they want Waller, all the things. they pick, I total up their order, they pay or do a payment plan. I edit the pictures and maybe order whatever prints or things need to happen. And then it's just deliver everything. So um yeah, it's a really fun process. I really love it. I really love getting over with people multiple times. um though That's my favorite is when I get repeat clients.
00:28:45
Speaker
um And I love having, um yeah, I just love having the opportunity to work with so many different women of so many different back backgrounds and just getting to make them feel beautiful, whether it's like a boudoir shoot or something for their business. Yeah, you definitely made a name for yourself in industry. So your work is incredible.
Spain retreat for women
00:29:05
Speaker
I'm sure people that are listening probably already know who you are. yeah But yeah, so something huge is like happening in your life in your career.
00:29:18
Speaker
Um, you could talk a little bit about it. And then, yeah, tell us a little bit about what's going on. So, um, I always loved traveling in addition to all these other things. I've always always always as like kid to adulthood loved traveling. um And I decided that I was like, how can I mean, I've been doing, I've been dabbling. I guess I could say like I've been doing Paris photo shoots since 2018 where I would book a trip to Paris for whatever personal reason or sometimes a work reason like I used to help Sue Bryce with her Italy workshop so I'd be like oh I'm already gonna be in Italy so I'll add on five days in Paris and then I would tell my clients and network hey I'm in Paris if you want to book a photo shoot and every single time one or two people would actually
00:30:04
Speaker
book a photo shoot with me and come out to Paris and let me for you know, pay me not just let me photograph but pay me to that's always like a pinch me moment because it's like, you're letting me do that like you're paying for you. Um, but then I really is like I could take it up a notch. So um this year I launched and I am hosting a retreat in Spain and southern Spain for women. um Right now it's I have there's seven seats available because of the way the house is. So everyone stays in a house for five nights. I have tons of like events, workshops for people, and then I offer every or I create a photo shoot for everyone. So right now three of the women signed up are past portrait clients of mine. um One woman found me through social media and I'm just
00:30:54
Speaker
in awe of the magic of her trusting me to come all the way to Spain when we really have only talked on the phone before and that she just found me through social media. And one woman is a friend of another woman who's a client who's attending. So im it's it's really exciting. um It's a super high, like I shouldn't say it's a super high ticket. It's really valuable like, I think the value is 100% there for everything that I'm providing, but um it like is some of the highest ticket item service that I've really ever sold um so it was a bit scary for me and it was a big huge risk because you have to put down deposits on everything before you can book people in right like you have to know you have the house for those days and then if no one want is interested so it was it was probably the biggest leap of faith I've ever taken wow um I have two spots left um it's not not open to photographers but it's not a
00:31:52
Speaker
um It's not a photography education retreat. It is the house we are staying in I chose because it is lake. a photographer's dream house. I can't explain how magnificent this house is. um like um It's in southern Spain, which used to be ruled by Morocco. So this house is 500 years old, been restored. It is built in the Moroccan style because of it was built during the time that Morocco ruled Spain. So it looks like you are in Morocco when you are there. It has the tiles, the painted ceilings, the chandeliers.
00:32:28
Speaker
i the walls are like brightly painted colors. It's just really like to me I was like ah stained glass windows everywhere I was like this is a place like I as a photographer want to take pictures. I'm excited to share with you all about our first Get A Heck Yes sponsor, Seventeen Hats. I've been using the CRM company for over a decade and I've been referring them to all my frienders for all this time. I always know when I'm going to get paid and most importantly, I get paid. So here is a question. What is holding you back? What's keeping you from finding success as a small business person?
00:33:08
Speaker
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00:34:02
Speaker
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00:35:14
Speaker
So that's why I chose this location. It's also like in the historic center. So on free time, people can literally walk 10 minutes anywhere and be in the center of town, be at other historical sites, be at restaurants. um so It's I calling the retreat the retreat for women who are ready to step into their next chapter. So that could be any woman that could be a photographer, it could be a business create a business owner, it could be a woman who has a career, it could be a woman who's retired and that is reflective
00:35:45
Speaker
of the women who are ah none are photographers but everyone some people have businesses some people are looking to retire and write a book their memoirs some people are um just not sure what their next step in life is going to be but it's everyone who's attending is like ready to step into something bigger and claim their vision for their life and I think I have been really great in life at seeing something big for myself and saying like I'm ready for that and I'm gonna step into it. So I'm teaching workshops and doing coaching around that aspect of like the confidence and the clarity and the vision that you need to have to achieve your dreams. So it could definitely apply to photographers, but it's not like um
00:36:29
Speaker
to not technical photography information or anything like that. And then of course, I'm doing photo shoots for everyone who attends my house. And so they will walk away with these portraits that I hope will empower them and give them the memory that um like, this is the badass woman I was in Spain. And like, this was the vision I had when I was there. And when they see that picture, they'll like every day be more motivated to achieve their dreams is my hope and intention with the portrait session. So, um, and we're going to do lots of like fun cultural stuff too. We're going to do like a flamenco, go to a flamenco show and go to the Moroccan, uh, baths, which is basically like a spa where you like soak in all these different temperature pools and then get a massage. And we're going to do a tapas food tour. So it's like going to just be such a fun experience. And I'm just really excited for it. And I'm really excited to only have two spots left and to see people come through for that.
00:37:27
Speaker
That sounds amazing. um Are you taking your family too? Nope, it's just it's just me because um, yeah, I'm gonna be working so. Yeah, I mean, even before you talked about like your big vision, I that's that's exactly what I was gonna ask because you like talked about manifestation and like I've seen your growth and like you always were like kind of like a visionary in the industry and you didn't do what everyone else was doing.
Future vision and risk-taking
00:37:52
Speaker
So maybe like tell the audience like how you visualize like the next maybe three years of your life and like how you gain that confidence to take the leap and then how you make it happen.
00:38:08
Speaker
um um well i think for me like i want to keep doing the things that I have been doing, of course, like I teach photographers, I have courses for photographers. um And I obviously want to keep photographing people in my studio. But my next real big chapter, I think is trying to grow this retreat side of my business, I would like to have retreats be a huge part of my business where I'm people can like maybe I'm doing two retreats a year I don't know yet what it's gonna be um but maybe that people can get that from me so I'm really hoping that that will be something that's the next chapter and I guess like how you have the confidence for it um I think I don't know like it's the it's it's this weird thing of like you have to
00:39:03
Speaker
be so committed to the vision that you have and be so energized about it and so excited by it that, like I said, you're kind of earlier, like you're willing to do whatever it takes when it happened and you're willing to take the risk. And I think as you take risks in life, you kind of grow your container for the kind of risks you're willing to take. Like I know people who take risks that I'm not comfortable taking, you know, I and that always surprises people because they're like, you do so many amazing things. And I'm like, Yeah, there's still things I'm afraid of. But for me, I felt like, I guess with this retreat thing, I had the same feeling in a lot of ways that I had about starting my photography business where I was like, why not me because every time I plan a girl strips for my friends,
00:39:55
Speaker
Everyone has the best time. And everyone is like, you're so good at this. you wish If you weren't a photographer, you should play on trips for a living. And like I love it. like It's so fun for me. And I love traveling. And I love showing people the things that I love. And I love them loving it. I know that sounds weird, but I love it. And I'm tweaking people to a restaurant that I think is delicious. And then watching them all be like, this is so good. And I'm like, I don't know. showing people like experiences like that. I think I have really good taste and I'm a really good curator of like experiences and things so I was just kind of like I don't know why not me like other people are out there posting retreats and making money doing it.
00:40:40
Speaker
so yeah have that why not no energy yeah i mean in my head i'm already like saving for your next trip we how last so i don't know what you're doing this october
Time management and mindset
00:40:52
Speaker
7th through 12th payment plan before the end of july so just say I'm sure once I post this, like you'll get your two. The energy is super high, super high. um I guess next question would be, like how how do you manage like your time? like What's like your you're daily plan? like in like How do you execute your day? like Having like these big, big visions, and then how do you like not get overwhelmed? or um
00:41:27
Speaker
i'm I'm sure you're good at like making systems for yourself, but like what? I know, but I'm not. I'll just be really real. Like, I mean, I think I, um I'm very self motivated. Like I know what I want to do and I obviously like I make to-do lists and I calendar everything and like in that sense. um I also think, you know, just like every creative person, um I struggle sometimes with, like the busy work so one thing that ah I have done and I've seen so much exponential growth in my business since I started doing is I did hire a virtual assistant to help me with some of the really just not fun things and it's yeah nothing better than saying like can you email so-and-so this or can you reply to this email for me because I just don't like that and so that leaves a lot of
00:42:20
Speaker
that takes a lot of time away from that stuff that's not fun, that I can spend my time doing more high level thinking or strategizing things that I i find are my skill set what I'm good at. Yeah, there's been so many business classes about like a zone of genius. So I try to follow that as much as I can. I also like I'm very like if you can't tell like, kind of woohoo and like I've gotten into like human design and I'm certainly not like a master of it. But like I'm a generator and like I'm supposed to do things that light me up, which Obviously you can't like only do things that are fun when you own a business. Not fun things and that's part of life, but I do try to like understand that like my energy
00:43:03
Speaker
I've noticed this, like my energy can greatly impact whether things go well for me or not well for me. And when I am like truly joyful, grateful, excitement, and enthusiastic, good Ashley energy, like it just seems like things like happen for me. But when I'm like grumpy, things don't. So I try to start my day as much as possible with like calmness and getting the fun things like starting with the fun things and then letting and like if you are woo woo and listening to this not everyone is a generator so there's like i don't know about all the other types so my way of doing things like if that's not your human design might not and also you might not believe in this but like yeah caveat like what works for me might not work for you but um even things like sales calls like i've noticed
00:43:57
Speaker
If I go onto to a sales call feeling like this person doesn't seem super interested or this person, there's no way they can afford this thing or they gave me the run around already. So I'm annoyed at them. Like if I go in with any iota of like human negative energy, which is super normal to feel or have, but if I go into that, I'm almost guaranteed not to book that client. But when I go into calls where I'm just like super excited, even if it's not like that I'm attached to them booking or anything, but I'm just like excited to get to know them, excited to tell them about what I do and that feeling of like, I'm just so excited about this and I'm so excited to tell you about it. And even if you don't book, maybe you'll tell a friend, then they always a book. Like, so i dont know like my energy is everything and like,
00:44:49
Speaker
I even have like post-its that are like protect my energy. So I just need to like set my business up in ways as much as possible. And that constantly evolves, but where I am trying to as much as humanly possible. We're all humans. We're all bad days, but like keep myself in a positive. I don't even want to say positive mindset because I can be a real negative Nancy. Um, like, uh, joy, like a grateful and joyful and like, even if things are going my way, like that trust that like things are gonna work out and that I, when I think about how lucky I am to not be at that desk in the cubicle that I was sitting in in 2009 wondering if I could be creative with my life. Like I need to sometimes just reset and recalibrate to like that gratitude. This is such a fun conversation.
Advice for wedding professionals
00:45:40
Speaker
um
00:45:42
Speaker
Just one last question before rapid fire questions, but you said so much. And I didn't even have to ask like the questions because all of those things you said were like, and much chatty yeah, you're a firecracker. But, um, I guess you speak to the hearts of wedding pros, maybe struggling right now to get leads or they're too slow or or they feel like they have to go back to the cubicle. Like, what would you tell them today to like, Light the thing under the bus. Light the fire. Photographers, I am so thrilled to announce my new sponsors Aftershoot, an AI editing company. They do AI editing, unlimited cropping and straightening. I am seriously blown away by the precision and five hours a week I get back in my life. My life is so much better and I literally don't have any more anxiety. It's so crazy.
00:46:38
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. Yeah, and I want to say like one thing, like there's no shame in needing a day job. Like I've definitely, because I coach photographers too, and I've definitely coached people that I'm like,
00:47:32
Speaker
I hear them and I hear how scared they are because I actually like going back to the energy thing. I really do think energy is everything and if you are so scared and such in a place of fear and survival is like you do need to survive at the end of the day and like that is at the forefront of your mind like there's there's the pressure that can motivate you and there's the pressure that can crumble you and I do just want to say for anyone listening if you're in you can only discern for yourself but if you're in the place where the pressure is literally crumbling you and you don't know how you're gonna get out of it like there is no shame in and getting a temporary job or perhaps like
00:48:11
Speaker
There's so many ways we can think outside the box. Like maybe you're really good at social media. Could you run another photographer's social media for them and get paid? Or could you be a like my VA is another photographer whose business hasn't quite gotten to the level. Like eventually his business will get to the level where I'll have to find someone else. but he needs extra income so it's great for me and it's great for him because he needs that money and he knows about this business because he runs the same business it's great for me because we have a shorthand together so maybe it's a nine to five job maybe it's some other kind of temporary situation but first of all i would say there's if you are in the position where you're crumbling there's no shame in being creative and making money because at the end of the day like you do need to survive and i don't i don't like when coaches are just like
00:48:58
Speaker
you can do it and like just ignoring the reality that like times times can be challenging, inflation is real, i'm not everyone everyone is built differently, sometimes things are hard and sometimes people operate better from like a sense of security and and everyone's tolerance level is different. But for the person who's like scared but like they know they can do it deep down inside, I would just tell you to You need to stop hanging around people who don't believe in you. Like if you have parents, I mean, obviously you have to love your parents, but if you have parents, family, friends that are like, you want to charge what now for doing what? That's not normal. Like you need to hang around other photographers, other business owners who are in the trenches who know that this is possible because
00:49:47
Speaker
Seeing to believe is so important in I think the manifestation process, but also like just in the being confident to do something like when you see that someone else was able to grow a wedding business. from scratch or many, many people were and they're making multiple six figures, then you know that this is this is possible. It is doable. And you just need to do the steps that you need to do every day and walk that walk. wow Surrounding yourself with photographers, people who are making it happen, positive community, people like Carissa, like listening to this podcast, listening to other success stories, like filling your mind with understanding that this is possible,
00:50:32
Speaker
I think will light the biggest fire under you because that is, that is actually how I started like reading people's blogs. It really helped me see like, these are real people. In my opinion, living the dream, why can't I live the dream? So just have that like, why not me? I love that. I want to give you a steady motivation, but we're going to go to rapid fire questions. um You're, you're into ads, but what's like your in a quickly like ads hack. Google ads. a quick ads hack to be honest with you. Like you need to, um, you need to know what you're doing. I guess like the hack would be take a course, even if it's not my course, take a course because you'll just throw money away if you don't understand the right process and set up for you. Um, and a lot of YouTubes aren't set up for photographers specifically. So it's really important to understand like what you need to do as a photographer to make your ads work. So take anyone who has a
00:51:27
Speaker
well-reviewed course, whether that's mine or someone else's. What's your favorite shaha um travel Travel hack is to pack light and bring layers and be prepared to like wash your clothes in the sink or something because there's nothing worse than not being able to get your suitcase up like three flights of stairs in Europe. Totally. I was there when college. I was like the weakest lane glue. Someone that was in college at the time but What's your favorite mom hack? Mom hack? Oh my gosh. I'm not sure I'm good at this one. Mom hack. Or wife hack. I would say, okay, I know my mom hack is like just being willing to make
00:52:15
Speaker
like say sorry and own up to your mistakes and like know that you're not perfect and that's okay and that like if you yell or lose your temper that's like obviously not ideal but it means so much to your kid to say like when you're calm like hey I should not have talked to you that way I lost my temper this is what was going on with me and I'm sorry because I feel like at least for my generation I don't know a lot of parents who did stuff like that and I think it's so important to just model to your kids that we're all human and have bad days but we can apologize and we don't have to be stubborn about it. I love that. Um, last question. You talked so much about it, but like, what's your biggest manifestation hat? Um, yeah, I mean, that seemed to believe one is really important. And then also taking a line to action, like doing the steps, like doing
00:53:08
Speaker
doing the work because manifestation sounds all great and sometimes real magical stuff does happen like the woman who booked my retreat after one phone call after seeing a post on social media that someone else shared and I don't even know her like that is to me magic but a lot of times things happen because you did the work and like I in that sense I still did the work like I did the call I did the post right like you have to be out there taking steps that make sense toward your vision. Visions don't just fall down from the sky. i knew So do the work because that is part of like, there's that phrase, pray and move your feet. I don't know who said it. It's someone else's quote. But you got to do that. You got to have the vision and you got to do the work. Well, actually, I love this conversation. Where can everyone find you and sign up for your retreat in Spain?
00:53:58
Speaker
Yeah, so AshleyTaylorPortrait.com, my name is spelled weird, A-S-H-L-E-I-G-H is the Ashley spelling and then the rest as it sounds, TaylorPortrait.com has like, there's a little bar at the top to link to the retreat sales page. There's i'm all the info about my like, for photographer stuff, my actual photo shoot stuff. So that's really the main hub or my Instagram too. Again, AshleyTaylorPortrait.com best places to connect with me. I love this conversation. I want to give you a big hug. Thanks, girl. I want to give you a big hug too. It's so fun to be on this podcast with you.
00:54:42
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.