I still can’t believe that we are in May. MAY. For a while, time seemed to drag on and on, but now that the world is beginning to regain some normalcy, it feels like we are on a hyper-lapse and time is flying. My weeks have been so busy with client work lately. I’m so happy that I get to work with people that are friends as well, so we always get to celebrate with each other, so I get to enjoy a bit of play while I work and I LOVE that.
In spite of all of the world’s craziness, I’ve been so blessed to be able to thrive in the last year. When Covid hit last March, my schedule altered a bit, but I never really stopped working because of the type of photography that I do. Things went so well that I was even able to get a new car last May after 16 YEARS of driving the same one. I never shared because I didn’t want to appear insensitive, but I was so happy to finally knock a major goal off of my list and couldn’t believe that it happened during a pandemic. Another major goal was to move hen my lease was up, but that fell through. The apartment I’ve been in the last 7-8 years has served its purpose (I moved here to be closer to work at the time and live (safely) below my means while I figured out my career/what I was doing and I’m in a great position now), but we have one more year to go. The new search begins!
Because so much has changed for me since last May, I’m taking this to be my reset month: a month for me to figure out what my next moves will be, any changes I will make for myself personally, etc. One thing I’m hoping to do this month is blog more. At one point of time I was churning out 2 posts a day 5 days a week, yall. While I don’t want to get back to that (I was trying to create content as if I was at the level of other sites that actually have contributors. Crazy, I know), I do want to get back on a schedule because I really do still love to do this. I’m learning to find a better balance in my schedule so that I still have the time to create and share content vs. focusing so heavily on my client work. Outside is opening back up as well so I’ll be able to share more small businesses, restaurants and hopefully events soon.
Speaking of clients, I’m continuing to streamline my offerings and be really selective with who I work with. I really love the niche of people that I work with, and I just want it to continue to grow while we all work to get better. I never wanted to work with everyone; my goal has always been to be consistent with a great roster of creatives and small businesses so that we could really build brands together. I’ve been so blessed to have a handful that I can CONSISTENTLY do that with, and now I just want us all to increase the output and maybe take on 1-5 more new clients before the year is out. There are a few photographers that I follow in larger markets that shoot similar clients as I do, so I know that it’s possible to be successful having this type of client roster vs. shooting with any and everybody.
I also want to do more with my photography “brand”. Everything still goes under my name, but I purchased the domain name and secured the IG account for something a few years ago that I need to fully flesh out this year. I had another epiphany about what I could do with it the other day so I know that it’s definitely time to put things in motion.
On the personal tip, health, well improving it, it a focus daily. I had a health scare at the end of January that could’ve been really, really bad, but things have been on the up and up and I’m really proud of the lifestyle changes I’ve made thus far. I can actually see progress this time around, and while it’s slower than what some other people might be going for, I knew that I couldn’t do a cold turkey, all or nothing type switch and actually maintain it. I’ve been enjoying adding more movement to my schedule and being more conscious of what I put in my body. I finally feel normal again, so I know I’m on the right track.
Travel, reading more, and doing more culturally fun things are high on my priority list as well. I’ve purchased so many books over the last few months that are going to be on my Summer reading list so that I can finally knock them out, and I also have travel plans set. I’m going to Miami in July with a friend group, and NOLA has been brought up as well. LA with family in December is on the agenda as well, and I need to finally plan a trip to Charlotte to visit my cousin. I want to take some smaller, quick road trips as well. I know that we aren’t completely out of the woods yet with Rona, but there are still things that we can safely do to keep life interesting.
Anyhoo, I’m using this month to plan and reset, and I’m really happy with how things are going. I’m content with myself and my situation, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be grateful and still continue to strive for more. Life has been good, but it can always be better, ya know?
What are your plans for the season?
