Handling it All

I get asked all of the time, "How do you keep up with it all? Especially in the busy season of summer." While I often feel like my head is spinning with the endless to-do list, I do feel like we have set up a great structure for all four of our businesses to run. 

Whether you are a freelancer with one brand or a few under your belt, here are some tips on how to keep it all together:

1// Self Discipline - Absolutely none of the other words in this blog matter without self discipline. When you run your own business, you simply have to be self-motivated. I laugh when people say "it must be nice to write my own schedule." It is nice and sometimes has its perks, but it also means that I have to be real with myself when it is time to rest and when it is time to continue the hustle. 

2// Work Smart - Creating an efficient structure around the studio has greatly helped with our workflow and the production time that it takes after a shoot is complete. Time management is essential (along with self discipline as noted above) and structure (yes, and all those google docs) really help our studio go-round. We try and stay focused, yet flexible with our work days. Lets break this down a bit:

• Focus - Our production deadlines and turnarounds are quick. When I am working on a job, I definitely focus on the edit immediately afterwards. I like to turn around complete editorial projects in 1-2 weeks and wedding edits in 4-6 weeks. A strict timeline like this helps us to stay on top of the work and our clients' deadlines, but it also allows us to not get buried in production. I like to work in the present and not feel like I'm behind. This is challenging sometimes, because the various distractions in our lives (the internet, social media and phones) are just waiting to pull us away from the hustle. We're not perfect, but we do try and stay focused. 

• Flexibility - Every day around here is truly different. We stay very flexible within our structure, so should a meeting, new job, or urgent deadline happen, we can accommodate accordingly with our clients. It is a WIN when we leave the studio feeling entirely accomplished. But we also know how those days go when you come into the studio, your internet is down and you need to re-think ALL the things you were going to get done that day. 

3// Build Your Team - Whether it's bringing help into your business through an intern, hiring your first employee, or simply outsourcing certain areas, building your team is essential to your sanity and your growth. Here is some of the roles we have to make our business happily function: 

• Editor: Outsource editing, both weddings, editorial and commercial work 

• Studio Manager: Social media support, behind the scene work and special projects. 

• Bookkeeper: We meet once a month to reconcile our books and pay taxes.

• Photographers: All independent contractors full of talent to help assist and to lead our Rivets team. 

• Producer + Agent : Our agent is pounding the pavement every day to show our latest work, while our producer helps write estimates and produce commercial shoots.

• CPA: For help with all those taxes and corporate filings every year, while also assisting with financial planning. 

• Lawyer: I am going to say this once, if you have a business, please, please, please invest in a good business lawyer. It matters to protect yourself and your business. Creating strong contracts and having someone to bounce legal advice off of when needed, is essential. 

4// Communication - Our team is in constant communication with each other. During our busy season, we are all very clear in communicating about how everything is going. Whether it is one of my own shoots that I need assistance for, or a Rivets shoot where I need to give support to our team, it is incredibly important for me that all of our team feels supported. If our team is happy, our clients are definitely happy, so that is a major priority for me. We have a monthly email that goes out to our crew as well, keeping everyone up to date! 

5// Know When To Take A Break - Work hard, play hard. Some work days for us are 15 hours. others are 2 hours. We know when we need to push it and we also know when we need a break. As the owner of this operation, I need to often remind myself that a break is necessary. When we rest, we refuel, and are ready to go for all of our clients! 

6// Give Yourself A Boost - Seriously, everyone deserves more high fives in life. Yoga is a luxury for me, so I make the effort to get there when I can. Earlier this year, I also set aside two whole weeks for myself in Tulum, Mexico -- just to relax. This was the first time in 10 years that I had done such a thing and now I am a believer. 

7// Look Ahead - I keep a quote on my phone as a reminder that says, "Be Proactive, not Reactive." I love this quote; it reminds me to always look ahead and think about what is next. A lot of our job is reacting to others' requests. We could spend ALL day taking care of others, and though that is an important part of our job, we also have to look at the big picture of the work we are doing and make sure we are happy. We need to make sure we are pushing into areas that are inspiring to us and helping us grow. 

8// Have Fun -  My work is my life, but I also have a life outside of work. I feel so very grateful to wake up every morning and be SO excited about going to work. I am surrounded by THE most amazing artists, clients, and freelancers who I am lucky enough to collaborate with on a daily basis. The longer I do this, I am slowly but surely finding a balance between my work life and personal life - both of which are amazing. It's so important to let loose and have some fun. For me, there is nothing better than booking a plane ticket and seeing the world! 

I know a lot of these tips might be common sense; however, as I kept getting asked this question about "how I manage it all?", I realized this: 

The secret to 'doing it all' is that there is no secret. You just actually have. to. do. it. You have to wake up every morning with that self discipline, determination, and desire to pursue the dream. 

It also takes way more than just yourself. It take the support from those around you to help realize the dream every single day. 

So, find your people. They will be your greatest asset. 

And then figure it out.

Little by little.

And then one day you wake up and realize you are 'doing it all' and absolutely living the dream.

LOVEe 

Why I started a wedding studio vs hiring associate photographers

I want to preface this post by noting that if you are not a photographer, this can also apply to you! Whether you are a designer, writer, or any type of freelance artist, I encourage you to think about the following points as is fitting for your business!

At a certain point in any photographer’s career, we start to think about hiring others to help us. Whether this means outsourcing editing, adding on assistants or signing up an intern – when business expands, so does our team around us. Today I want to talk about hiring on other photographers as Lead photographers…otherwise known as Associates versus creating a wedding studio. For the record, I really loathe the word ‘Associate’. Personally, I think it sounds like ‘second best’ and if I am going to hire anyone to be a lead photographer, they are not just going to be good-enough, they are going to be the best. However, for lack-of-a-better-term, I’ll use that phrase throughout.

Six years ago, my prices started reaching a more luxe price point for the Minneapolis market and I found myself turning away a ton of work. At the same time, I had a couple of assistants who were really starting to grow exponentially and were clearly on a trajectory to be amazing wedding photographers on their own. I decided to start another wedding studio, called Rivets and Roses, instead of having ‘Associates’ under Photogen Inc. I did this for several reasons, which I will get into later, but I first started the brand with one photographer and three years ago, we officially hired on five more artists to make Rivets and Roses an official wedding photography studio. I have to say, having a second brand, or really our sister company, has been nothing but a positive experience and I wanted to give some advice to those of you considering bringing on other photographers as Leads. Here are 5 things to consider when starting a wedding studio or hiring associate photographers:

Rivetsandroses.com

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 NUMBER ONE // Structure Your Business Right from the Beginning:

If you are going to hire on photographers to work for you, it’s important to think about how you want your business to be structured in the long run. If you take a long, hard look at this at the beginning of this journey, it will totally benefit you in the end, rather than having to restructure your business twice. Many photographers have associate shooters under the same company name and this works for them! However, when it came time for me to make this decision, I chose to start a completely different brand. Why? There are a few reasons:

• What if it failed? I was a little nervous about the idea of having other photographers and it not going so well. What if it was too much? What if they did a bad job? I didn’t want that coming down on a company that I had worked so hard to build, so separating the two brands made sense to me.

• I didn’t want our photographers to feel like they were second best. I felt like if they were shooting under Photogen Inc., clients might think of our artists as ‘the discount photographer’ or even ‘second best’ to myself. I wanted to give them more freedoms to be their own individual artists and thrive under a studio name, rather than my name.

• I wanted to start a studio that was different from a general photography studio. I really do believe that brides and grooms should be able to find their perfect photographer, no matter their price point. I also feel like it is important that they get the top-of-the-line experience. Money is always a factor in clients decision making but when it comes to a wedding day, everyone deserves an amazing experience. The goal with Rivets and Roses is to provide an experience for both our artists and clients. For our couples, we want them to come to the website, browse thru our photographer’s portfolios and really choose the person that they connect with – both thru their images and personality – the most. Once their wedding has taken place, our studio continues to take care of all of the post processing, album design, etc. I have the highest of standards, and everything meets those requirements before it leaves the door! For our photographers, they are able to strengthen and grow their talents while being supported by our studio. It’s literally a win-win for everyone!

Now, with this said, there are many photographers who choose to have photographers under their name and it works perfectly for them! This has just been my experience. If this is something you are looking to doing, simply look at your business from all angles to see which model is right for you!

Image by Ryan Stadler

NUMBER TWO // Build it Slow:

When I first started Rivets and Roses, I had only one photographer at a time. I am SO happy this is the way I chose to start this brand, because I learned SO much. Growing our sister company slowly has helped us build a fantastic reputation with the local Minneapolis market. Building this over a couple of years has also helped me solidify my visions for the brand and where I wanted to take it. There was a little ‘gut feeling’ I had a few years ago where I KNEW that it was time to take Rivets to the next level. I decided to ‘put it out there’ to hire on more photographers and make it an official wedding photography studio - and it was a little scary. I didn’t know what kind of people might apply or what people might think of me doing this, but I was blown away. We had SO many talented photographers apply to be a part of Rivets and Roses and I felt so humbled. This is also when I realized that this was going to be a big success. I am SO impressed with the quality of our team and just how amazingly they have come together to build up our brand and also create amazing work for their clients!

Image by Maggie Witter

NUMBER THREE // Empower Your Photographers:

This is so so so important. I am a pretty hands-off boss lady when it comes to our photographers. I’m here to structure things, guide them, critique their work and give advice…but I also want to empower them to be their own artists. I want them to have their own ideas and handle their clients in their own way. This approach is one of the key reasons why I think we have such an amazing crew. Each of our artists feel like they ‘own’ a part of this brand and every individual has so much to offer and bring to the table. Our photographers are in charge of answering their inquiries, setting up client meetings and being the leader on the day-of.  In other studio situations, clients are simply ‘placed’ with photographers and compensated on a per-hour basis. When I started Rivets and Roses, I wanted to make sure it was worth everyone’s while. Our photographers are compensated very well for their work and we sat down with each individual artist to make sure their rates made sense and also that their editing style can be processed by our editor, so their unique processing is true to each individual artist. If everyone feels like they have ownership in a dream, it’s going to soar. As the leader, I don’t want to overly-control too much. Passion is a strong, beautiful force that can take an idea and make it brilliant.

Image by Jackson Faith

NUMBER FOUR // Set Expectations:

Obviously, there needs to be structure in a business with 6 photographers under it. When we launched Rivets and Roses with more artists, we sat down and really nailed down our workflows to make sure that there were ‘routines’ in places. Every one of our artists follows the same workflow from start to finish. Of course, this also takes time to train in and get everyone on the same page. Some things to consider are:

• Who books the clients?
• How do you organize your inquiries? (I highly recommend Shoot Q!)
• Who books your assistant for a wedding?
• How much does the photographer get paid and when do they get paid?
• How are the files managed?
• What are the expectations in dealing with clients? (Literally– how do you answer the phone?)
• After the photographer’s contract is done, do they get any of the images for their portfolios?
• Who makes the contracts? Who’s in charge of the money?
• What is the goal for both the artist and the studio?
•  What are the specific roles of the artist and the studio?

Know that if you are starting a studio, you need to take the time to invest in your photographers, setting expectations for them and making everything clear. If you are clear in the beginning about everything – even the uncomfortable things like money, photo rights, terms of contracts, etc. this will save you a potential headache and heartache later on. Invest in a lawyer and make sure you have a solid contract. All of our photographers are contract for a minimum of 3 full wedding seasons and after that they are welcome to stay or some are ready to take the leap and go on their own…which leads me to….

Image by Thea Volk

NUMBER FIVE// Be OK With Change:

Whenever you decide to hire people, whether that be a studio manager, editor, and assistant or another lead photographer, know this: people are always going to eventually leave. In my opinion, if I am doing my job right, eventually every one of my photographers will eventually be strong enough and prepared enough to be amazing on their own. With that said, there are certain personalities who are perfect for working for a studio and others who thrive to be on their own. Honor this. Honor the needs of your staff and understand that they need to go where their heart leads them. Artists always want more and we always strive to be better. Change in inevitable in business and as entrepreneurs, we need to be accepting, ready and able to deal with change in a positive way. Change moves us forward and helps us gain momentum for bigger and better things.

Image by Bryan Blumenschein

Image by Melissa Hesse

To learn more about Rivets and Roses and our team of photographers, visit our website and blog!  If you are considering hiring more photographers under your brand, there is a lot to think about. My goal with this post is to encourage you and give some helpful tips on the ‘big’ things to think about! Hopefully this helped; however, if you have additional questions on running a studio, you can always reach out or schedule an official consultation to discuss the specifics of your business! Email me at: eliesa@eliesajohnson.com

You can also check out Rivets and Roses on Facebook.