A Business Owner's Growing Season

In college I learned all about the seasonality of an agricultural lifestyle. If you know any farmers, there are many lessons to be learned from them. There are times to plant, harvest, and change fields to let the previous fields replenish themselves. We learned there were crops to grow, and certain times to harvest them, process them and feed them to animals for maximum gains and efficiency..believe me when I tell you there are page-long equations and big machines for measuring nutrients in feeds and how they effect the output of an animal.

I do miss those college days, but instead of applying all of that information I studied onto charts and long thesis papers, I have to apply those tid-bits of knowledge to my season of life I am in now.

What does that look like?

Well, I am a mom of 3, business owner, wife, home-caretaker and all of the in-between...most recently adding the title of "homeschooler" to the list.

We go on a lot of field trips and have a lot of picnics.

If you can't tell from the lists of blog posts on my site, I can tell you it has been a while since I wrote anything. I find it a tricky line between being personal in blog posts and being professional. How much do I tell? How much is too much? Do I have 100% confidence I can handle all of the demands homeschooling + business owning and family wrangling life is requiring right now? Not Always.

How's it going? Better than I thought it would.

I have changed my perspective on what the seasonality of life brings, and have learned to say NO! This is a constant battle as I see women doing things I want to achieve, but feel my "season" isn't taking me there quickly enough. Do you ever feel that way?

Whether your business is in the season of slowly growing, or replenishing your stores for future seasons, giving yourself space and time to say no is awesome. More than just saying no, saying "yes" to the right things is JUST AS important.

We have made it past the 3 months of promoting my yearly workshop which we just hosted that last week. 5 wonderful ladies from all parts of AZ came to tell their stories about their passions, and what they hope to do with their photography skills. A 2018 workshop is on the fence...I much prefer one-on-one interactions. Every creative is so different in what they want to learn and the road they want to travel with their art.

This season had me photographing approximately 15 homes/interior designs, several brand shoots for local bloggers, artists, farm events and website re-brands.

I have hosted at least 8 mentoring sessions with business owners, taught at Pinners Conference, shot freelance work for Amazon, and was published in the Sept/October issue of Click Magazine. These are things I have said yes to. Next year and future seasons will bring new learning experiences I can't wait to see unfold.