Since the new website launch, I’ve had a few people ask why I decided to go with a Showit Website. Over any of the other options out there. Before I dive into why, I’ll start with what I was using prior, and the reason it was no longer the right fit for my business.

Since the very beginning, I’ve have used Shopify as my website platform. As an e-commerce shop, Shopify was always the best option. But over the years of growing my business, it became more difficult to build a space that really showcased everything I had to offer.

For years now, I’ve been making Shopify work, and for years I’ve felt held back as a creative. I’ve had to piece together apps in hopes of creating a space online I loved. Only to become frustrated with it a site that wasn’t a true reflection of my style and vision.

I KNEW IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE

Fast forward to this year. I knew it was time to make a big change. I knew I would still keep Shopify for the shop side of Modern Market, but wanted to find the right kind of platform that would make it easier for me to style and customize my site. After months of research and comparing different platforms I decided that Showit would be the best fit.

At the time, I was incredibly nervous about moving everything over. Especially since I had just invested over ten years into building my business on one platform. I knew that in order to grow with my business, I needed more. Now that the switch has been made to Showit Website. I couldn’t be happier.

The number one reason I was so drawn to Showit was the company TONIC, which creates the most incredible pre-made Showit Website Themes you’ll find online. After they launched their Paper Plane theme, I instantly knew it would be the perfect theme for me. It’s exactly what I had in mind for Modern Market. It’s literally like they knew what I wanted and needed and designed a site that was made just for me.

They have so many beautiful themes to choose from, which you can see HERE. If you see something you love, you can even use the code MODERNMARKET to get yourself 15% off!

Below I’ll share the top reasons I decided to go with Showit Website.

BEAUTIFUL DESIGN + FUNCTIONALITY

As I said above, the top reason I ended up going with Showit was because of the design company Tonic. Their website designs are so much more than just a pretty-looking site design. Now don’t get me wrong, of course, I wanted my site to look beautiful. BUT as a business, I needed something that helped me put my best foot forward. As a creative entrepreneur, I needed something to make it easy to showcase everything I have to offer. If you’re looking for incredibly beautiful + functional themes, look no further. I bet you’ll find your dream theme over at TONIC.

SHOPIFY INTEGRATION

Next on my list was that I needed something that would easily allow me to integrate within my Shopify store. This is where I host ALL my digital products, and it was an absolute MUST on my list. To my surprise, Showit makes this super easy. I love that I can have my main site. Which is finally 100% designed the way I want, while still selling through Shopify. I’ve been creating specially designed pages for each of my preset collections. This way I can really showcase the collections available. I’m so happy with how it all looks.

EXAMPLE:

• THIS is what my old product listing looked like.
• And THIS is the same collection designed on Showit.

My favorite part? I can finally show off those pretty before and afters!

EASY TO CUSTOMIZE

One of the main things I was concerned about was being able to actually customize the site and make it look the way I want. Have you ever bought something and then just get so frustrated with trying to use it? Yeah, you won’t feel this way using a TONIC Theme + Showit platform. Within two days of getting started with my theme, I was getting the hang of it. I have to say, the whole process was incredibly fun.

If you’re worried about making the switch over to Showit, and worried about not being techy enough to actually figure out how to do it, I highly recommend using a TONIC theme . Pretty much everything is ready to go and all you have to do is customize it to your liking. Showit support is also top-notch. The few times I couldn’t figure something out, they were super quick to jump in and help.

THE OPTION TO CREATE MORE PAGES

For those who have been following my business over the years, know Modern Market has A LOT to offer. Like a lot, a lot.

• We have beautiful presets.
• Launched over 700 digital products.
• Membership for social media captions.
• Software to help entrepreneurs manage their clients and business.

With offering so many different kinds of products and services, I needed something that would make it easy for me to design and create custom pages. This way, I could create an unlimited amount of special pages while still keeping everything on ONE site.

Before switching over to Showit, the second someone wanted to view our Social Media Captions Membership, they would get bounced off our main site onto another. That style-wise didn’t really match. And then if they wanted to learn more about our software. Again they would get bumped off our main site and to a new one.

Since moving to Showit, I can finally create pages specifically for different products and services. No matter where someone goes on our site, they will get the same style.

The biggest takeaway from making the switch over to Showit and using a Tonic theme is that I finally feel like the website I have, is a reflection of my style, dreams, and vision.

I couldn’t be more in love with this beautiful site we created with TONIC & Showit!

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QUICK LINKS

Tonic Site Shop offers beautiful, customizable website designs for entrepreneurs & creatives.

Paper Plane is the theme designed by Tonic that I used for our website. (Mixed with a few Greyhound Elements)

Showit is a drag-and-drop website platform that provides total creative freedom over the layout and design of your website, all without a single line of code.

An open community that’s built around your brand is the hub for ALL, and I hope that more business owners realize just how powerful communities can be. Maybe by the time you’re done reading this, you’ll be inspired to start your own community too. Here’s how to grow your community online.

If you have a business, you might be wondering how to start, and I’m excited to share some of my favorite tips on doing exactly that. This way, just like me, you’ll have amazing people who are delighted to be part of what you’re doing.

I’m talking about loyal people who value what you do, are excited about the things you are working on, and are the first in line to sign up or purchase your service or product. You are there for them, and they are there for you. I believe all business owners deserve to have that because let me tell you; it makes the world of working for yourself a whole lot more fun!

Ready? Let’s dive in!

DEFINING COMMUNITY 

Let’s define community first; a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

I have this sense of community woven into my business. On my website, social media, the newsletter, you can find it everywhere. Truth be told, I actually love the fact that I have a business that’s not all about ‘me’. It’s about the resources I share to help others. Creating a community feel around my business has always come very natural, because I personally want to include others in what I do. Over the years, I’ve used social media to connect to people, but quickly realized that the conversation can sometimes feel a little one sided.

The whole concept of speaking at people, rather than with people. If you have a business, with social media you probably know exactly what I’m talking about.

• Newsletter, YOUR sending an email to others.
• Instagram, YOU post your photo and captions.
• Facebook page, YOU post your status. 

SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS VS COMMUNITY PAGES

Now, don’t get me wrong. ALL these are forms of communities and a chance to connect with people, and that’s what makes them great. They are platforms built for you to share what you are most passionate about.

BUT…if we’re all being honest, it often feels like we’re standing on a stage speaking AT people rather than WITH people.

When I think of the word community, I think of like-minded people being together. Chatting about the things we care about and sharing things we love. It’s a busy, welcoming place to be and feels like our favorite place to hang out with people who simply get it because we have things in common.

For the sake of keeping things focused, I want to teach you how to build a community. A place for your ideal customers/clients to hang out and spend time. Where you can share the things you’re passionate about with people who care and connect with them on a personal level. Where you can have open conversations with people rather than being the sole speaker.

The perfect place for this is in a Facebook Group.

Maybe you’ve thought about starting one. Perhaps you already have one but are struggling to get it to grow with the right people. If that’s the case, I’m excited you’re here because I’m about to tell you everything you need to know to build your very own Facebook group community.

You’re probably wondering; How the heck do you build an online community around what you do, and have it grow into a space for you, your business, and those who will become some of your loyalist supporters?

I’m here to tell you, and it’s actually a lot easier than you might think!

FIND YOUR FOCUS

The first thing you need to do is figure out the focus of your group. If you have a business or a passion, you probably already know what you’d like the focus on. Ideally, you want to create a space where you can connect with people who care about what you do, the service you offer, or the products you sell.

What kind of community do you envision?
If you had to choose three topics as the focus, what would they be?
How will the focus benefit those in the group? How will it benefit you and your business?

CREATE GUIDELINES

For a moment, I want you to imagine that you had 10,000 members in your group. What kind of guidelines would you want in place? This will be your group, and you’ll be in charge of making sure that this space is the kind of space people want to spend time. Think about the groups you’re currently in. What kind of posts do you enjoy, and which ones make you want to leave?

Some of my guidelines are (and you’re totally welcome to copy paste these for your own group guidelines!)

GUIDELINE EXAMPLES

• This group will be a positive space to learn, grow, and share. Please refrain from venting, bashing, complaining. All negative posts or comments will be removed immediately.
• Always be respectful and helpful. I will personally help educate, others are welcome to give tips and advice. Please be sure to remain encouraging to others so they, too, can learn and grow.

WHY GUIDELINES MATTER

You probably noticed, but it’s VERY important for me to build a community that is a welcoming space for everyone. I want people to be able to learn, grow, and share what they love. I’m proud to say I get raves about it being exactly that all the time, and I couldn’t be prouder.

When someone joins the group and is quick to judge, bash, or be negative towards other members, they quickly end up leaving because they learn that my group isn’t the space for that. Even with a group with over 16,000 members, this happens maybe once a year…if that. I’m telling ya…it’s a whole lot of sweet people in my group.

Think about guidelines/rules as a way to ensure that the people in your group will remain happy there in the long run. Focus on what guidelines you feel are most important, and you’ll see how over time, those core values of a group just become stronger and stronger.

CONTENT STRATEGY

You’re going to want to come up with a game plan for content because let me tell you, being a group, where no one is active is not very much fun. The more active your group is, the faster it will grow. People enjoy spending time with other like-minded creatives, and a community group is a perfect place for that.

The best advice I have for your group is to come up with your content posts ahead of time. Post them in the group, even when there aren’t a lot of people. It might feel funny at first with a smaller group, but I promise, if you continue posting, others will as well.

Make a list of 7 types of posts, then use this as your weekly guide.
This could look something like

EXAMPLE

• MONDAY – Weekly Goals: Share what you’re working on.
• TUESDAY – Introductions: Tell us about what you do.
• WEDNESDAY – Share: Post some of your work.
• THURSDAY – Help post: Post about something you need help with.
• FRIDAY – Follow Friday: Post your social media account. Fun way to connect with everyone in the group.
• SATURDAY – Helpful Tip: Give your group a helpful tip.
• SUNDAY – Promotion Sunday: Promote one of your products or services.

Of course, you can alter these to match your services and products and create an environment for your community to engage and connect with topics that align with what you and your business are all about.

INVITE MEMBERS

Once you’ve started a group, you’ll need to start telling people about it. You can post about your group and invite people using your current social accounts or newsletters. Since groups have a much higher organic reach, they work better than Facebook pages and Instagram pages so it’s not a bad idea to try and get your followers/customers/clients into your group.

ENGAGEMENT

Now, this is often the tricky part of groups. Getting the engagement up. The truth is this; you’re group MIGHT be slow to start, and that’s ok. Consider it more like a very private hang out for your favorite people. I promise if you stick with it, it will grow, and engagement will go up as well. In no time, you’ll have a group filled with people who love what you have to offer.

ADJUST YOUR FOCUS

Now, as time goes by, don’t be afraid to revisit your focus. It’s normal and perfectly ok for you, your business, your vision, and your group to adjust as time passes by. Take notice of what people are posting in the group. What are the hot topics, and how have you been able to help those in your community the most? Try to incorporate these into your focus moving forward.

GROW YOUR COMMUNITY

Continue to grow your group and make sure to invite those that find you elsewhere to join you there. When it comes to social media, I put the most effort into growing my Facebook group. Even though it has fewer people than my Instagram and Facebook, it outperforms organic reach by a long shot. 

MAKE SURE TO GROW YOUR LIST

The backbone of my business marketing all comes down to my email list. Of course, I love my Facebook group, and social media pages, but since it’s not something I can control (Dear Mark could literally change the rules on all of us tomorrow), I always make sure to maximize the way I grow my email list. An easy way to do this is to include a freebie in the questions they have to answer so you can welcome your new members with a nice freebie, while at the same time growing your email list as your community grows!

BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY TODAY

So if you’re ready to start building your community with people who genuinely care about what you do, then start your community group today! You’ll be so happy that you did. Interested in learning more about Facebook group?

We’re celebrating because the new Showit website site is officially LIVE!

The process of bringing this new vision to life has been so rewarding. It’s been amazing to see everything come together so beautifully.

It’s been years of piecing together different things to get it at least a little bit how I wanted, and it feels incredible to finally have a website that is the 100% what I’ve always dreamt of having. A place for all my ideas, dreams, and resources. 

I spent months researching different platforms and decided to go with Showit Website. With Showit, I am using a theme from TONIC. I was completely blown away by how easy and enjoyable the whole process was. I’m working on a few articles and can’t wait to write more about the actual process of switching over and using a TONIC Theme for my new website for Modern Market. I’ll be sure to link those articles below when they are ready!

WHY YOUR WEBSITE MATTERS

Too often, we underestimate how important websites truly are. How they can completely change our outlook on what’s possible within the dreams, we pursue in life. It’s so much more than a website. It’s the place I get to share all the things I’m passionate in one place. While making an impact around the world.

So happy to finally share this new site with all of you. I’ll be writing a few articles on the process of switching over to a Showit.

This new launch has also allowed me to shift with my business. For those of you who have been with me from the very start know I got started as a portrait photographer who specialized in documenting motherhood. Later on, Modern Market was the place I shared the resources I used to grow my creative business. Over time it’s turned more and more into a community.

A community that I’m so honored to serve.

A NEW DIRECTION

Over the last year, I’ve done a lot of soul searching on the direction I wanted to go and knew I wanted to open the doors to more ways to serve. For years now I’ve found myself emerging in helping entrepreneurs with growing their business. I knew in my heart I wanted to continue building on to this community by including not just photographers, but all creative entrepreneurs.

My hope with this Modern Market is to continue to serve as best as I can, with the strategies and tools I’ve used to build my business from the ground up. A place I get to share my dreams, and goals while helping you with yours.

For a long time, I felt like the website platform I had was holding me back from growing my business. Now, with my new site, I truly feel like I’m no longer being held back. Instead, I feel more inspired to create than ever before.

SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS A FRESH START

This whole process served as a reminder that sometimes the things holding us back from building our dream business could be something as simple as our website. We put so much effort into so many aspects of our business. The marketing, the sales, social media, and all too often, our website is set up and left behind as we continue to grow throughout the years.

If your website isn’t currently living up to what you would consider your dream site, then maybe it’s time to make it happen and create a space that truly inspires you.

Today, I’m celebrating not just a new website design but celebrating all there is to come for all of us.

If you have questions about building a Showit website, just leave a comment below! I’d be happy to answer them.

Ready for more? Join my newsletter and be the first to know about new articles published on the blog, business tips, and of course, all the best strategies and free resources. There’s a reason this list is 70,000 strong!

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In the last week, more people than ever have reached out to me—friends, strangers, people I’ve known for years—all telling me the same thing: I think I’m done. I’m ready to quit.

I don’t know why so many people are feeling this way right now, but if you’re one of them, this message is for you.

You didn’t come this far just to come this far.

You have poured your time, energy, heart, and hard work into creating something for yourself. And right now, when it feels like nothing is working, when frustration is at an all-time high, I need you to remember one thing: You could be one day away from succeeding.

That’s the thing about chasing your dreams—you never know how close you are until you make it. And the only way to guarantee failure is by quitting too soon.

We live in a world where people spend more time planning for what happens if they fail than focusing on making their dreams a reality. What if, instead of wondering how you’ll recover if things don’t work out, you focused all that energy on not giving up? On finding another way?

Hard work doesn’t mean instant results. Some days, it will feel impossible. Some seasons will test you over and over again. But this is where grit comes in. You have to keep going, even when there’s no sign of progress. Because at the end of the day, the ones who make it aren’t always the most talented, the most connected, or the luckiest. They’re the ones who simply refuse to quit.

So many people are terrified of pouring everything into something and not having it work out. But here’s the truth: The only way to truly fail is to quit. If you refuse to quit, you refuse to fail.

No one is going to hand you your dream. No one is going to put in the hours for you. No one is going to wake up early or stay up late to build the thing that only you can build. If you really want it, you have to be relentless in pursuing it.

Do you know how wild it sounds when someone tells me they’ve been working on their business for three years and they’re ready to quit? You are building something meant to last a lifetime. And you’re willing to walk away because it hasn’t happened yet?

I wish I had documented those early days—when no one knew who I was, when I worked for years without anyone noticing. Those were the days that shaped me. The days that taught me to show up even when no one was watching. The days that built me into someone who does not quit.

And you can do the same—as long as you keep going.

If you’re chasing something bigger than yourself, I’m willing to bet you’ve got people in your life who don’t believe in you. Maybe it’s a stranger on the internet, or maybe it’s someone you love. Either way, it hurts.

But let me tell you something: nothing has ever motivated me more than someone telling me I couldn’t do something.

Tell me I can’t, and I will.

Use their doubt as fuel. Prove them wrong. Show up, work hard, and let your success be the loudest response.

Surround yourself with people who inspire you.

Find the ones who get what it’s like to pour everything into a dream. The ones who think bigger, push harder, and refuse to settle. Stop feeling guilty for wanting more than the average person, and go after it with everything you have.

Success isn’t luck. It isn’t magic. It’s how you spend your hours, your days, your years.

So when you’re thinking about quitting, remember why you started. Picture the day when you’ll look back at this moment and realize pushing through was the best decision you ever made.

You are closer than you think. Don’t quit now.

The reason it’s so difficult to talk about because I take it so personal and have poured 10 years of hard work into my business.
To have something like this happen…has been so incredibly hard.

SOMEONE STOLE MY DIGITAL PRODUCTS

I had someone steal my products, upload them for the world to download for free, and had to deal with the fall-out behind the scenes because of it for months. To say it was hard would be an understatement. For a long time, I had no idea this had even happened. It wasn’t until I suddenly saw a drop in sales that made me wonder what had happened.

I had a solid business, great products, and a killer marketing strategy in place. I built my dream business. Months went by until I decided to take a closer look at what happened and discovered the problem.

My best selling products, stolen by a stranger, uploaded for free, for the world to download.
This wasn’t the first time someone had stolen my products. Sadly, I see it happen all the time. It was just the first time this had happened and really affected how my business was doing financially.

HOW IT FELT  

First, I was angry, so angry. Angry at this person for taking what I had worked so hard to build. Then the sadness kicked in. Then doubt. Then some more anger. I questioned what the point was of building a business when someone could come in and just take what they wanted without any consequences.

THE TRUTH: THERE’S VERY LITTLE YOU CAN DO

There’s very little you can do when digital products are stolen, and the damage that occurs because of it happens so incredibly fast.
In the 10 years of being in business, it has been the HARDEST thing I’ve had to deal with, and I’ve never had something made me question what I was doing creatively as much as this.

After a lot of hard work and trying many different things, I managed to get my stolen products taken down. The sad part is that they were up for months without me being aware. Regardless, the damage from having this happened can’t be undone. The only thing I can do now is move forward.

The really sad part about it is that this site is still up, and this person if earning money by stealing other people’s products and letting the world download them for free.

As a creative business, it sickens me to know that there are people that think it’s OK to do this.

It also makes me sad knowing that there are photographers and other creative people that go to these sites to download products for free, knowing they are stolen instead of purchasing them from the actual creator who put so much time into making them.

THIS IS THEFT AND IT’S NOT OK

People might think it’s an innocent thing to do, that it’s just them doing it, but here’s the truth; I am a small business, and pour my heart into what I do because it’s what I love. My family of 5 depending on my business financially. This is not a side hobby, this is what we count on and I know so many other small businesses that are in the same boat. So when someone downloads something for free online…I hope they realize it will affect that creator in a negative way.

It’s not innocent.

It’s not OK.

And as someone who works in the photography industry as a photographer AND creator, I know how common it is for photographers to share digital products. To split costs and do a group buy. To trade preset packs and digital products. I’ve seen threads on Reddit from photographers, specifically asking for my preset collections and listing what all they would be willing to trade for.

I see it happen all the time and know that it’s not just happening to me and my business, but is a massive problem in the digital product world.

What bothers me most about it is because I know the people that are doing it, are photographers. Photographers who are also trying to make a living doing what they love. Photographers who want to be booked by clients who value them, their time, and hard work. I know how much it would hurt them to have clients who just took screenshots of the gallery instead of purchasing prints or digitals from them. They are no different than me. They want to be valued.

Sometimes I wonder how a photographer, in the same creative industry as me, would be OK with stealing from someone online.

THIS WASN’T THE FIRST TIME MY PRODUCTS STOLEN

The first time I found one of my digital items stolen and posted for free I remember reaching out to the other creators whose products were next to mine. I explained what had happened, how upsetting it was, I knew they would be just as upset as me and that if we all stood up together, we could make a change. maybe even put an end to it.

Sadly this is what she said;

“Don’t bother…There’s nothing you can do and talking about it will only make it worse so don’t bring it up anywhere”.

I left that conversation with my head hanging low because I knew they were right. There was so little I could do, and bringing it up could potentially make the problem even worse by drawing more attention to it.

But after having this happen, at such a large scale, I knew I was done being quiet about it because it’s a problem that affects so many small businesses, and I want people to realize it’s not ok.

I WANTED TO QUIT

I had days of wanting to quit because when you spend 10 years building something from the ground up and then have something like this happen, you feel so knocked down from it.

Then, after all the sadness and plenty of support from my husband, who I don’t know how many times had to lift me up over the last few months and remind me that I had it in me to do bigger and better things, I decided that he was right.

Just because something like this happened doesn’t mean that I couldn’t take what I had learned over the 10 years and apply it in a new way.

TIME FOR CHANGE

I took some time to take a look at my business and how I want to move forward and know in my heart that I want to make some changes. To focus not just on one aspect of what I am good at, but the many things I enjoy doing.

The truth is; there’s still plenty of sad days and a little anger towards this stranger, but more so, there’s a drive-in me to do something even more amazing. To use this to push me past my self made limits of what is possible and try something new.

Sometimes bad things in life happen, and they are out of our control. But deciding how to move forward will always be up to us.

CHOOSING TO SEE OPPORTUNITIES

We can choose to see the opportunities rather than feel defeated. We can see hard times as things that strengthen us in the long run.
I’ll continue working hard, just in a new way. I’m putting the days of sadness, anger, doubt behind.

CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE BUT NECESSARY

Here’s what I know for sure; Change is uncomfortable but necessary.
My biggest wish is for you to be here for it all. I’m turning a new page, with a new dream and, most importantly, hope.

The last few months were incredibly hard, but I’m more than ever excited about what’s to come. To each of you who have shown support to me and my business; thank you for always being there. You have no idea how much that means.

This wasn’t easy to share, it wouldn’t have been easier to just keep it all to myself, but I felt it was important to share what happened so I can truly put it behind me and move forward.

I spent the last week re-vamping my homepage and re-organizing the blog and want to put more effort into adding new content here to help all of you.

HERE’S WHAT I’LL BE DOING NEXT

After 10 years of being in business, I’ve built a striving photography business, a million-dollar e-commerce site, and The Essential Studio Manager, which is a software used by thousands of photographers around the world to manage their photography business.

Simply put; I bring a lot of knowledge to the table when it comes to building businesses, managing, and scaling. I love taking ideas, making a plan, and making it happen. It’s what I love to do, and it ties perfectly into what I love to do. Helping other business owners build and scale their own business.

There are big things ahead, I can feel it.

I can’t wait to share everything I know with you, so you can use these same methods with making your dreams a reality too.

Here’s to bigger and better things.

And to the person who stole from me; You’ll never personally know me. You’ll never know the pain you put me through or the struggle I had to face because of your action. Stealing my digital products seemed so innocent to you. You probably had no idea that my family was financially dependent on my business and that your actions would push us to have to move from a home we loved and start over again.

As hard as this was for me, I also know that I have I am strong enough to push past this and continue doing great things with my life and business.

As I was completing my monthly income report, I’m calculating everything, and that’s when I see it. $1,007,325. There are a ton of milestones to hit as a small business owner, and reaching 1 million in overall income was incredibly special to me!

Not just because of the money, but because of my own belief that it was possible. I am the only person who knows the hard work, dedication, failures, triumphs, doubts, and setbacks that came with making this happen — believing in myself enough to lose all sense of limitations and realize that the possibilities are endless for me as long as I never quit.

A girl with a dream who decided to go for it. These last few years have been absolutely incredible, and it seems like every day I wake up, something exciting is happening. 

I know we’re only two days into May, but I just hit my one MILLION mark, I am moving my entire business and life to Maui on the 29th. My family and I get to call Hawaii home, which means I get to explore a slice of heaven every day and finally live right by the beach. AND my 29th birthday is on the 26th. Whoever said you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too was dead wrong. 

To celebrate this little moment of my life, I wanted to write out some lessons I’ve learned in the last few years. I know at the end of the day I am no different than anyone out there reading this. Everyone has it in them to chase their dreams; at the end of the day it’s a choice you have to make. You might wonder, is it all worth it? Is it hard? Does this bring happiness? I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life than living it to its full potential. I love chasing my dreams.

Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned. I’ll start at the beginning.

1. SUCCESS HAS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

I will always consider this part of my life as a huge turning point in my life. I had to bike my daughter to school every single day because we only had one car, and my husband worked an hour away. Rain or shine, I had to bike to her school to drop her off and to pick her up. I’m sure most people thought it was because I loved biking. No. It was because that was my only means of transportation at the time. 

I remember biking that trip countless amounts of times with the hot Florida sun beating down on me, thinking to myself; this is it. THIS is your start. This isn’t going to always be this way. If you put your mind to it, you can make big things happen. I thought about how amazing it would be if one day I could look back at that time of my life and think ‘remember when.’ Today is that day. I told myself never to forget that time in my life. 

Those bike rides turned into a source of motivation for me. A way for me to think hard about my next move and focus on making the right changes to change my life. I learned to love the feeling of feeling defeated, that’s what gave me the drive to push harder in the right direction. I had to learn how to go into this as the underdog and build my way to the top.

The people who struggle, the ones starting at rock bottom have something others don’t. They have a fight deep inside to make things happen for themselves. Don’t ever underestimate that. 

2. HELP AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE

I had someone tell me to throw in the towel shortly after starting my photography business. It was a group of other photographers, and I understand why they said it. I wasn’t good at the time. I didn’t understand the business, or pricing, or any of that. I just had a little dream to do something I loved. They weren’t able to see the person I would become.

I remember thinking to myself; No. I will not throw in the towel. I WILL make this happen, and when I do, I will help others do the same. I will use my strength to encourage those around me, not tear them down. Helping others pursue their dreams is at the core of who I am.

I love seeing people succeed in something they are passionate about. I have coached hundreds of entrepreneurs in turning their business into a profitable business and love pushing them in the right direction with the same strategies I used to build my own business.

I am incredibly proud of those people, for making the decision to put in the hard work and chase their dreams. One of the people I’m overly proud of is my sister. She is incredibly talented in what she does as a graphic designer. And my husband who for years has stood by my side and helped me build my business is now going after what he loves with is web development. I love seeing that spark in people’s eyes when they talk about something they are passionate about. 

The amazing thing about it is this; everyone can pay it forward. The more people I can help succeed, the more they can inspire those around them to do the same. It’s a chain reaction, and I hope that my doing can help people all over this world go after their dreams.

3. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY; IT’S ABOUT FREEDOM

What’s more amazing than hitting one million? Being 100% in control of my life. Making decisions based on what I want to do, not on what society tells me to do. 

I created my own business. I work for myself. I can work from anywhere in the world. I spend every day with my husband and children. I love what I do. My husband was able to quit his job and is now going after his own dreams. We are moving our family to Maui, Hawaii because we think it will be fun to live on an island in the middle of the Pacific. 

I’m in control of my life, and that is priceless. 

Having built a business that gives me full financial freedom is why I work so hard. It’s not about hitting one million; it’s about being in control of what I do with the life I have. The possibilities are endless when you can create a life you love and be in the driver’s seat. I could care less about fancy watches, or clothes. The expensive things most people dream about getting if they made the money. I care more about spending the life I have doing something I love, with the people who mean the most to me. At the end of my life, that’s what I want to look back on. I’m not in this for the money; I’m in it for the freedom. 

4. I HAD TO DO IT ON MY OWN

Want to get there fast? Put in the hard work yourself. I know there’s all this talk about networking and mingling, and making the right connections with the right people that can connect you to other people who can help you get to where you want. Not for me. I know where I want to go and have done it by myself. I might be hardheaded with this, but I’ve learned that the fastest way to get somewhere is counting on yourself to get yourself there. Putting in the hard work and focusing on yourself. I can promise you that there is not another person in this world willing to work as hard as me on my business. Same goes for you and your business. Networking with others might be a great way to up our social life, but the truth is that you are the only person in this world who cares about the success of your own business. Learn to enjoy working by yourself, for yourself. Don’t expect others to be passionate about making your dreams a reality. 

Become a lone wolf entrepreneur and do the work yourself.

5. YOU CAN’T FAIL IF YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO QUIT

We live in a world where people prepare a plan for failure rather than focusing more on making their dreams a reality. Stop spending time thinking about failing and how you can continue after not making it and start focusing on not quitting. Focus on making something work and push forward. Re-train your mind to focus on continuing to work even when it’s hard. When you get tired, learn to take a break instead of quitting. 

Realize that making your dreams happen is supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to test you over, and over again. When you pour your heart into something and don’t see it happen the way you want, it’s hard. That’s how it’s supposed to be. This is where grit comes in. You have to keep going even when you don’t see any change at all. You have to have a special kind of vision in your head to continue something that doesn’t work over and over again until one day, it works. Believe in your dream, your vision, and keep going. 

Many people are scared of failure; the idea of not making it happen is often enough to get them to quit. The idea of putting so much time, energy, and effort into something they love and have it not be guaranteed can be paralyzing. But here’s the thing, if you learn to change your focus you’ll realize that the only possible way to fail is by quitting, then the solution is pretty simple; Don’t Quit. 

6. THIS IS JUST THE START OF IT ALL

I’m excited to see what my feature holds. Proud to have found this sense of freedom so early on in life. I’ll continue putting the people who mean the most to me first. Without them, nothing would matter. I’ll keep working hard on the things I’m passionate about, wherever that ends up taking me. I’ll try to help as many people around me so they too can go after their dreams. Focusing on what matters most & living life to the fullest. I’m just getting started. Think about it this way. If you get to 85 years old, how much more time do you have left? What do you want to do with that time?

7. BET ON YOURSELF. EVERY TIME.

Bet on yourself. Every time. Most people think it’s a safer bet to bet on someone else. It’s safer to get that job at that big company. It’s safer to go to college and get a degree. It’s safer to follow a path that many have traveled. The safest bet you can make in life is on yourself. You are in full control of what you put in, and what you get out. People might consider working in another company as the safe bet, but you’re leaving your job and future in the hands of someone else. Someone who might not even really know you. When you work for yourself, you’re betting on yourself. You can hold yourself accountable. You deal with failures and celebrate the victories. At the end of the day, I’m willing to bet on myself every time because I know I have it in me. 

8. TURN “I DON’T KNOW HOW” TO “I CAN LEARN HOW TO”

I can’t tell you how many times I hear the words. “I don’t know how to do this”. Everything you know how to do, you had to LEARN how to do. Just because you’re no longer sitting in a classroom with a textbook in front of you, doesn’t mean it’s time to stop learning. This is called life, and anything in life you don’t yet know how to do, you can learn. There’s nothing you can’t learn how to do. Think about ALL the things you know how to do…those skills didn’t just happen magically, you had to learn them, one by one. I didn’t know how to use a camera, I had to learn. I didn’t know how to do run a business, I had to learn. I didn’t know how to build a website, I had to learn. There are so many things I’ve had to teach myself how to do. The phrase “I don’t know how to do this” is going to get you nowhere. You have to change it to “I can learn how to do this” and you’ll quickly realize that you’re unstoppable. 

9. YOU COULD BE ONE DAY AWAY FROM FIGURING EVERYTHING OUT

If someone would have predicted my future, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. Life is funny in the sense that you never really know what lies ahead. Business is the same way. I spent years putting in the hard work and didn’t see any of my hard work pay off. Nothing seemed to be working, but I kept going. I told myself that struggle was part of the process and knew I wanted it bad enough to keep going. Then one week, I tried something new, I changed up my strategies, and all of a sudden it was like the puzzle pieces finally fit together and things were happening how I wanted them to. I felt like I unlocked the right door and I finally understood how business works. I continued with the strategies that worked and changed the ones that didn’t until eventually, everything seemed to run exactly like I had wanted it to. Here’s the thing though, the few months before figuring out the right strategies, I wanted to quit. I was so close in tossing in the towel because I felt like things were never going to change. I was working so hard, but somehow I wasn’t attracting the right clients, which meant I wasn’t making enough money and felt ultimately defeated. I had no idea that I was so incredibly close to figuring it all out. I now know that you never have any idea how close you are to figuring things out and that you could be one day away from that happening. So if you feel like things are just not working out for you, and you’re thinking about quitting, remember this; you could be one day away from figuring it all out! 

10. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE; IT’S TIME TO LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST

Everyone has the same 24 hours a day. And everyone only has one life to live. What matters is how you spend those hours, because that’s how you’ll end up spending your life. The thing is, you have no idea when your last day is, you wake up every day with time on your side until one day you wake up and you realize that you don’t have any more time left. You need to realize that every day you wake up, you wake up with a choice. A choice to live life on your terms, to go after things you want to do or continue letting your potential go to waste. 

Think about getting to your last day, and standing around you are your life dreams, the ideas you had, your talents, and ambitions. And for whatever reason, you never went after those dreams, decided to not act on your ideas, and let it all go to waste. What was the point? You only have so much time left, and you never know when that last day arrives. The way I see it is that life is made up of dreams. The thing you see around you every day, are there because someone had the courage to go after their dreams and create them. Learn to live life and stop worrying so much about the little things, because those things won’t matter when you’re no longer here. What matters is how you lived your life.

DON’T LET YOUR DREAMS GO TO WASTE.

YOU HAVE IT IN YOU TO MAKE THEM HAPPEN.

People might wonder why I this is so important to me to help other creatives in building a striving business and I wanted to try and put it in words so others can understand why I as a photographer, entrepreneur also find it so important to push people towards pursuing the things they are passionate about. 

There are certain events that happened in my life that gave me more drive to create something for myself. For me, it wasn’t just that I was incredibly in love with photography, or running a business, but it’s what I needed and valued personally to have the life I dreamt of having. My goal was living my life on my own terms.

When I first met my husband Jon, I was getting ready to start my first year in college, and he was in the Army with orders to deploy to Iraq for 12 months. He left four months after I met him, and I married him exactly two days after he returned home. Kind of crazy to marry someone after such a short time, but after being married to him for almost 10 years I know that out of all my life decisions, choosing to grow old with him was by far the best one yet. 

They say things become easier as time goes on, but the truth is, the next 12-month deployment in 2010 was even harder. Not only did I have to say goodbye for 12 months again, but I had to see him say goodbye to our daughter, who was a little over one at the time.

He missed an entire year, and I know how hard that was for all of us. We both knew that being together, truly together as a family was important. We just didn’t know how to go about making that happen. The idea of being together after going 12 months apart for each deployment seemed like a dream that was never going to happen. 

I got my first camera when he was on that deployment because pictures were the only way I was able to let him see into my world, and see his daughter grow up. I took pictures of everything and at the time had no idea the path it would take me on and the passion it had sparked deep inside my heart. 

Fast forward a few years, his contract was up, and he got out of the Army. We were together, but things were hard. Living paycheck to paycheck was our current reality, and as a stay at home mom, I didn’t have much that I felt could contribute to our family financially. 

Being a stay at home mom was important to me, and it’s something I’m so happy I have been able to do because my husband knew how important it was for me to be home with our kids. He worked nights at the time which was hard. Although he was home, he was often catching up on much-needed sleep, and due to our schedules being the complete opposite, it felt again as if we didn’t get to be together very much. 

I kept taking pictures and eventually started my photography business, used what I had and put everything I had into making my business work. There were so many sleepless nights where I stayed up till 4 am because it was the only time I could really focus on getting things done while my daughter was asleep. At this point, there were no guarantees that this would be the way I could have my family be together but I also knew that not trying wasn’t going to be an option. Years passed and although my business wasn’t the most stable, we decided to go for it full force. My husband quit his job to be home with me and our kids and for the first time, we were truly together. 

To us, that was our big dream, and I know there are others who want that as well. All too often we put the value on our job, and moving up some ladder and forget what’s most important in life, and that’s being together. Truly being there with the people you love the most. 

The reason I offer business coaching is that I know it’s possible to have a career you love, while being with your husband every day, and be a stay at home mom.  

People are told that they have to choose. 

Choose to go back to work, or become a stay and home mom and I’m here to tell everyone that you don’t have to choose anymore. You can have both. You can be incredibly successful in a career and be the stay at home mom you want to be. 

You can have a life where you have breakfast dates every morning with your husband because neither one of you has a job they have to run off to. 

You can have dinner as a family without feeling like you just got home and had to tuck your kids into bed to get ready for the next day to start the entire process over again. 

You can have a life where you’re not always running arms wide open to the things that you care most about in life because you’re forced to choose other things instead. 

It won’t happen overnight, but I know that there’s more to life than working at something that doesn’t make you happy. Figure out what you love to do, and most importantly what you value in life. The only way to get there is to decide that you want that change. Be in control of choosing the path you want to be on and then go after it. 

If it’s being home with your kids full-time, while also financially contributing to your family. It’s possible I promise. If I can do it, and my sister can do it, and hundreds of creates that I’ve seen turn their passions into a profitable business giving them personal freedom to prioritize what’s most important to them, you can do the same.