My Time... & New Changes....

I am a wife, a mom and a business owner... I hear daily when people hear that I have 5 kids and own my own business "How do you do it all?" I laugh because many days I am not sure how I make it all work..... And... Some days I don't make it work... and it's usually that I am home but I am not really there because I am working...... And, lately I have been struggling with trying to be everything to everyone and keep everyone happy... My husband, my kids, my extended family, my friends, and my clients... It hasn't been easy- and I think that I have excepted that I can not make everyone happy all the time... although it still consumes me when someone isn't happy.... But, I can only be in one place at a time.... If only I could clone myself... LOL This is where my AMAZING assistant Colleen comes into play- with her I have gotten a tiny bit of sanity back.... I honestly don't know how I survived before her.... She is on top of things and the fact that she puts up with me... well that alone makes her a saint... ha ha... she knows she's a great value to me... A mom herself she has thrown herself into being there for my clients often taking away time from her own family on a Sunday afternoon to answer a email- even when I tell her she doesn't have to... she's pretty dedicated... I am not sure did I mention how amazing she is???

What I am struggling with most lately is the sad reality is that I feel like I am missing so much at home... I am at the studio 4-5 days a week.... and then when I am home I am doing all the behind the scenes work that goes into making the final product my clients see...I have blinked and my baby boy is 2.5 already...  I was photographing right up until days before he was born, and back shooting when he was 2 weeks old... I never even took a real maternity leave- because my clients are so important to me... But, where have the last 2.5 years gone??? And I just took my oldest to get a dress for the SR Prom with her boyfriend this year.... YIKES... when did my Baby girl grow up....

So, I am working to try and figure out the best way to juggle it all and not miss out so much... I had said that starting in the new year I was only going to take new clients that were newborns... but the inquires that I get daily for sessions it was so hard to say No .... But now I need to stick to that.... I am sad to not be able to take new clients but I need to be home and more present for my kids and family.... I want to be able to just take a day off and be a mom... that feels so lost to me right now.... I understand peoples time is valuable and I shoot M-F right now and daily get requests for weekends... With five kids... sports, dance, along with many other commitments we have... I just can not do weekends and I often get so much grief... with the common comment of "I find it hard to believe she does not have 30 min on a weekend" I can't tell you how many times Colleen and I hear that in a week...
I love all my clients new and returning... But.... now.... it's time for me to value MY time....
I want to be there each and every day for my kids and sit and eat dinner and tuck them into bed... I honestly am beyond grateful that my husband has become Super Dad taking over those duties daily after working a 10 hr day.... but I miss them... I want my kids to have those memories and not just me home, working each and every night... and even on weekends most Friday, Saturday & Sunday evenings that's where you will find me.

What most people don't realize is how much work goes into me being able to do what I do... I could sit here and talk about what I pay alone in taxes per session because I am a small business, or rent for my studio, insurance for owning my own business, all the cute props and things I have to make each session successful..... or what I pay my sitter to watch my kids so I can work.... But that is besides the point.... I have prided myself in keeping my prices reasonable and competitive with other photographers in the area. I do believe you get what you pay for and those of us that are a little more expensive are priced that way because of experience.

So all of my ramble is leading to the announcement that in order to be more present at home... to be able to be a mom and wife that also works and can juggle it all... and to have the time to work on some other projects I have had on the back burner I will be cutting back my work schedule. I will be focusing on newborns as my specialty. I will continue to offer smaller sessions to existing clients because I do cherish watching all the kids grow. But I will only be taking new clients that start at newborn. I will however offer a few times a year Special Occasion sessions where new clients are able to schedule.
I have also worked hard to develop new Collections that will be offered starting this month. I am excited that these new collections will offer some great products and prints for an affordable price. In the digital age it seems so many people buy the images and never do anything but look at them on their computer - so this is a great opportunity for the to have heirloom prints and products to share.

So here is to some new great changes and more family time!!

~Kelly