Wow… my mind is STILL reeling from attending Justin & Mary‘s What’s Next Tour on Wednesday.  I drove up first thing with 3 other wonderful ladies and on the way back we were amazed at what we had experienced that day.  So much so that even though we didn’t get home until 1:30am, I could NOT shut my mind off to fall asleep until much later.

Mary Marantz is a story teller.  If you hop over to their blog for a few minutes, you’ll be able to see this in no time.  And she uses that gift to tell it how it is and how we WILL fail.  I know, so encouraging, right?  Well, it’s the truth.  The only way we won’t fail – ever, at anything – is if we hide under our blankets and never get out of bed.  But then she used her gift to lift us up, give us hope, and encourage us in moving our dreams and our businesses forward.  Yes, it’s scary out there.  It’s scary to do things we’ve never done before, it’s scary to ask for things and put ourselves out there when we have so many hopes and dreams riding on that question!  But what she said is that through all of that, even and especially the failures, we will SURVIVE.

This industry is ever changing and what was working a couple of years ago, the things I’ve been using to market myself and my business, aren’t going to work for much longer.  So what am I going to focus on?  How am I going to present myself and what I do?  How am I going to stand apart from this growing photography world?

I’m going to focus on what I love.  And I’m going to work hard at it.  And I’m going to keep getting better at what I love to do.

And all of that is really scary because gosh… do I have my work cut out for me!  But that’s where Mary continued to use her gift of storytelling and speaking.  She not only encouraged us to reach for our dreams, but helped us see how we can actually get them DONE.  No more fear of not getting it perfect and not getting it right the first time because it’s possible that we ARE going to fail that first time.  But you know what comes with that failure?  Lessons.  Lessons learned on how to do it better the next time.  Lessons on how to tweak it for the future.  Lessons that make us stronger and more confident for the next opportunity that comes around.

I’m super excited – and trying not to let fear get the better of me! – for what’s ahead.  They were right on the money when they decided to do this tour in January, at the beginning of the new year when hopes are still high and we may not have hit our first road block yet.  So, if you have the chance… GO to one of their last stops.  Don’t think about it, don’t question whether you should or shouldn’t, because the answer is YES.  You need to go.  I promise that you won’t regret it.

We didn’t know we’d get to help out with the What’s Next Café!

The bonus of going to a workshop with a bunch of photographers… having some off-camera light at just the right time.

Y’all… she’s adorable.  And dang it if she didn’t make me cry at least 3 times during the night.

Justin showing off the new PASS!  Can. Not. Wait.

And before we knew it, it was time for Justin to do his thing with lighting.

Gosh, I love these ladies! Kristy, Kim and Amy, thank you for such a fun day!

Then, it was time for a little demonstration.  Sara Jane was one of the attendees and volunteered to model.  And she was a pro.  No really!  Justin’s images of her were stunning!

So… what’s next for you?  And how are you going to get there?

Happy Friday, everyone!