Loyalty and Entrepreneurship

 Owning and running your own business typically begins with a dream. Sometimes the business plan is deeply thought out and intentional and other times businesses come about almost by chance. No matter how the business starts, the common factor among them all is that no business can succeed without clients; someone that finds value in whatever it is that you have to offer. There are many types of clients and the variety among them can make running a business an adventure of sorts but the most cherished client I have personally found is the loyal client. The majority of my clients when I was starting out were people that I knew before I began photography and those people most likely embraced my photography skills because they knew me as a person first. I knew that if my business was going to succeed I was going to have to branch out and serve new clients, people that I had never met and initially, that was so scary for the "people pleaser" in me. Last week I was listening to a podcast* on chasing your dreams, overcoming fear and running your own business when one of the hosts mentioned the benefits of a "super fan" and the impact that one passionate/loyal client can have on your business. Immediately I thought of  Sarah Herndon. Until the day I photographed her family, I had never met Sarah Herndon as far as I can recall. One thing that stood out to me from the very beginning was that Sarah is a woman who knows what she wants and she isn't afraid to tell you. From that first session, Sarah Herndon has been my very most loyal client and I am now so blessed to call her friend. Sarah has booked multiple sessions over the years, allowing me the privilege of documenting so many milestones for her family. I cant count the number of times that Sarah  has come to me with fun session ideas for her family and even helped me research mini session ideas to provide for all of my clients. It didn't take Sarah long to recognize that one of my many struggles was in following through on things, a huge flaw for someone attempting to run a business, so she stepped in to help me with reminders and keep me accountable on dates while simultaneously helping to ensure that I didn't get overwhelmed during the busy seasons when I felt like I was drowning in messages across multiple platforms. I cant count the number of times over the last decade that Sarah has let me know in various ways that she wanted my business to succeed. From conversations encouraging me about my photography skills when I felt like a failure to building me up in the moments that I allowed comparison to steal my joy, Sarah has spoken life not only into my business but into my heart. Sarah has trusted me with such a wide variety of sessions but the most precious to me was the day we took photos at the hospital, documenting a small glimpse into her lifetime with Cystic Fibrosis. I was able to step into such an intimate space for just a few hours but it was so enlightening to see things from her perspective and get the blessing of capturing those moments for her so that she could share them with other people. All of these things have made Sarah stand out, but the thing that Sarah did that stood out to me specifically as a business owner, is the fact that she sent every  friend and family member she has to me for their own sessions. Louder than any encouragement that she spoke, this act of passionately spreading the word about my business helped to grow my business more than any billboard or impersonal advertisement ever could. So, thank you to my most loyal client, my sweet friend Sarah Herndon, what a blessing that you have been to me <3.     

*The Christy Wright Show episode 47, "Is fear keeping you from chasing your dreams?" with Pat Flynn