I had just given birth to my second daughter and I needed a way to be home more for my family. But at the same time, I still needed to contribute financially. We were deep in the trenches of debt with 6-figures of medical bills that we would never have paid off if I kept doing what I was doing.

So, I started searching for time management tools. I thought that if I could be more efficient, then maybe I could take on more photography clients, bring in more income for the family, and still be available to take care of my girls.

What I ended up finding, was SO much better than that!

Advice from one of Brian Tracy’s videos on how solopreneurs need to create passive income in order to achieve work/life balance led me to discovering Amy Porterfield.

Courses! Yes! It made so much sense! They would give me the time freedom & financial freedom my family needed AND, maybe most importantly, I could build a community of photographers that I could serve and make an impact in their lives with what I know.

But two major things held me back from joining:

1. The investment was a lot of money for me and we already had a mountain of debt weighing us down.
2. The truth is that I didn’t really feel like a professional photographer and I knew I wasn’t a teacher.

You see, I had just picked up a camera one day and started offering family & newborn photo sessions to my local community in Rockland County, New York (AKA: no formal training). I got better and better over the years—actually, it was over 10 years and I had “shot” over 5,500 families—but the imposter syndrome had its hold on me!

Then, one of Amy’s last videos of the series spoke directly to me. She was like ‘You can teach! Go for it girl!” And I believed her. So I decided to create a course, Vivid Studios Photography Academy, teaching hobbyists the basics of photography.

Once I got inside, the lay out of the material made everything so dang DO-ABLE. The course creation framework was specific, concrete, easy to follow. I realized…I actually can do this!

Even though I started with only 200-300 people on my email list, and honestly, I did such a bad job at emailing regularly, I guarantee they all forgot I existed…

I used Amy’s organic Instagram strategy, and 4 months later, I had 1,200 engaged subscribers—NO online advertising.

And then there’s the launch. I made $63,000! I’ll also say this…

• I’m able to make heavy monthly payments towards my 6-figure medical debt!
• I’m available every day at 4 P.M. when my daughters get home.
• We just closed on a new home.
• I hired a VA to take some of customer support off my plate—giving me even MORE free time.
• And I now have the LUXURY to say “no” when a request for photography work comes in. (Instead, I refer them to one of my students and I focus my time on serving my students and being around for my family.)

A year ago, my constant recurring thought was “Who am I to do this?”, but then I found Amy. I got access to her amazingly supportive online community of entrepreneurs. And I didn’t have to do it alone anymore.

What’s been most life-changing is the realization that the second I decided to stop living in a scarcity mindset, clipping coupons and saving every penny I could—thinking there would never be enough money to go around, and instead I decided to invest in myself…

My mindset shifted to abundance, prosperity, and the money FLOWED in. All because I decided I was ready.

UPDATE: I've been focused on up-leveling my marketing strategies and the result is my revenue has tripled to multiple 6-figures since my first launch! My photography community is thriving, there's so much fulfillment in my career and just hired my second team member!