Hey, pet photographers. Are you struggling to bring your vision to life? Do you long for creating a style that is true to you? Are you ready to leave the fads and trends behind and learn how to create a style that is uniquely yours so that your work can stand apart here at hair of the dog, we are hosting a free five day unleash your style challenge to help you do just that registration is open now. So go to www.hairofthedogacademy.Com/unleash to save your seat. We can't wait to see what you create. Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast. I'm Nicole Begley. And today I have not one but two special guests, and we are going to be talking about collaboration versus competition. Stay tuned.

Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast. If you're a pet photographer, ready to make more money and start living a life by your design, you've come to the right place. And now your host pet photographer, travel addicts, chocolate martini connoiseur, Nicole Begley.

Hey guys, Nicole here. Thanks so much for joining me for another hair of the dog podcast. I am so honored to have you here with me. Also pretty excited to share with you are two incredible guests. We have Holly cook and Marika Moffitt, both from the Seattle area, talking about how they have formed a pretty magical connection and, um, are making some pretty awesome things happen in the Seattle area. And we're going to encourage you to make some connections as well. Now, in order to make those connections a little bit easier, if you have ever been wondering, Oh my gosh, where in the heck are all the other pet photographers? I have this dream. Nobody understands it. You tell other people, your friends and your family, and you say, I want to photograph dogs. And they say, what? That's a thing. And you say, yes, why do you not understand? So if you want to find more people that understand, you definitely make sure that you join our hair of the dog podcast, Facebook group. We have over 13,000 people that will understand you there. And you can go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/fB group. And you can join us there. Of course, if you want to go even deeper on those relationships, you can also check out the hair of the dog Academy. We have. Wow. It's pretty much the best group on the planet. In my opinion, I might be a little biased. I don't know, but we have a ton of amazing, incredible pet photographers in that group. It's just so supportive and incredible. And we also have of course, a ton of content and ton of accountability and support in the Academy as well. So you can definitely check that at hairofthedogacademy.com/Academy. We hope you will join us. All right on with the interview. Here we go. Hi everybody. Nicole here from hair of the dog in today. I have not one but two special guests with me. I have Marika Moffitt from dirtie dog photography and Holly cook from Holly cook photography, both in the beautiful city of Seattle, Washington. Welcome ladies. How are you today?

How are you? I'm also good. Very good.

It's good. It's the sunny time of year. I guess your, your fall is probably pretty spectacular. I would imagine. Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. Well, yeah. Well, why don't you ladies introduce yourself, Marco. Why don't you go ahead and go first. Sure. Marikka, as we already know, I am the owner of dirty dog photography here in Seattle. I'm super focused on the story that my clients have with their pets. So that's kind of what I'm known for in the pet community is capturing stories of animals for the people who love them. Um, I'm also the cofounder of the limelight pet project, which shines a light on harder to adopt pets, um, in the greater Seattle area and the founder of Seattle pet collective. Yeah. Awesome. I love it. And you guys might recognize Marka because she was on the podcast is episode eight, talking all about collaboration in your market and collaborating with other businesses. And, uh, it's just, it was pretty magical. So you definitely want to check that out. If you want to learn more about collaboration, just kind of all we're going to be talking about today, but more friendship, collaboration versus business collaboration, which brings us to Holly. Hi Holly, go ahead and let us know who you are. Hi Nicole, I'm Holly owner of Holly cook photography. I focus mostly on dogs group work, and I like love to tell the stories about dogs who work. I am part of the Seattle pet collective with Marika and I'm also a partner of the limelight pet project with Mark. Awesome. That's I mean, yeah, that's awesome. Because truly, I think one of the most challenging things about this business is when we're working on our own, you know, we're working at home, maybe your spouse works from home. Maybe they don't see your home in your house alone all day, just you and your dog. And, you know, we all know we talked to their dog, our dogs a lot, but they don't always talk back. So we might need a little human companionship sometimes. So it's just so nice to be able to be friends with people. They get what we do, because how many times do we, you know, tell friends and family what we do. And they're like, Oh, that sounds fun. But they don't really understand anything of what we do. Especially when you start having like an online business thing, then they really don't understand at least pet photography they kind of get, but yeah, it's crazy. So it's gotta be so nice to have someone to bounce

Ideas off of. So how did you guys meet?

Okay.

Well, there are a couple of things I know we actually, I think we first, I know I first knew of Holly in the hair of the dog Academy. Cause I think you made a post one day about, Hey, I'm in Seattle dude, are there any other pet photographers in Seattle who might want to get together? And I think we connected on that post, but then we never got together. But then there was another time when I was involved with another organization doing the work like we do with the limelight pet project. And I was looking to start bringing in other photographers and I had put a post out on social media saying, Hey, I'm going to be looking for more people to help us do what we're doing. And you sent a private message and then we got coffee and we, and that was like a couple of years ago, hours ago. Um, and we just had a great coffee date. So actually it was a date. It wasn't strictly is their first day. And we just talked about all kinds of things, um, pet related and pet photography related. And then it got really serious last year. Yeah. And then, and then we just sort of stayed in touch online and then sort of things shifted in both of our lives where the opportunity was perfect to be like, we'll come and meet the people that I'm doing stuff with because you totally would fit in. I don't know. I don't know if you want to talk more about where you were at. Cause that's, we have totally different perspectives on it. Cause we were at different stages in our businesses and our, just our journeys in general, I was in a position where I had been creating and building these things and it was the perfect opportunity to recognize somebody who should be a part of it Polly. And so he was in a position where she was like, what am I going to do? Where do I want to go? I had accomplished a major goal that I wanted to accomplish, but unfortunately the relationship did not work out with that particular organization. And Mark has called to action was just like, Hey, we had had coffee, so let's have coffee again. And then that coffee turned into three and a half hours of coffee.

Yeah.

It's one of those things where like the stars aligned and we knew it was meant to be, and there was no end to the possibilities of what we could do together. So the conversation started there and then about two months later, I actually started, we actually started working together yeah. Months later. Yeah. So we had that one call that coffee. And then, um, with the limelight pet project, I had just launched the limelight pet project with my partners is about a year ago, the end of August last year. And I, we, so we had been doing the limelight pet project and I had mentioned to them, Hey, my friend Holly is no longer doing stuff where she was before. Can we invite her along to, I think it would be really great for her because I could also tell there was a hole in her heart where this other work had been. Yeah. So it was like, let's bring her, let's have her come in and see what we do. And then we that's when the three of us, you Tracy and I, after we did our limelight pet project segment for that week, we went and got coffee. Again, thought lots of happens over coffee that you are in Seattle. We are in Seattle and it was up Starbucks. We'll just say that we can flood start. But then we ended up having three of us together for a beer. It was like three hours. And just really, it was one of those opportunities where we, we got to connect with Holly on a level that you don't get, unless you take that chance to bring in. Cause like, I mean, obviously Holly and I are quote unquote competition. I mean, I say that with a look on my face, like that's a joke because we love each other so much. And we don't look at each other as that. We are, we are friends, we were family we're community, but we took that chance to be like, okay, let's be vulnerable and talk about what it is we really want to do in our lives with the gifts that we have and let's see how those things can fit together, how we can help each other and how we can help our community. And it's just been freaking amazing ever since that moment. And I love that so much where I had only been in Seattle at that time for four years and the Seattle freeze is a real thing. It actually does exist. And as an outsider, it was hard to make friends or even have someone even try to connect with you because I think there's a, uh, a transiency to the employment out here. So like if you come in and you work for Amazon or Boeing or Microsoft or whatever, you're only here five to seven years and then you go somewhere else. So I think part of that was the reason that people were not as accepting to me as, as I wanted them to be. And I did try to force myself into some situations and just put myself in a position where I wanted to be part of something and just, just never worked out. So what Mark offered me, it was just natural. It was just, it wasn't forced, it wasn't coerced. There was no trickery behind it because she can be tricky, but she gets me a lot of conversation at Starbucks. I didn't realize was Tracy and Lyrica trying to see if I fit with them. And to my surprise, I did. I think we both have had that. I think a lot of people have the experience of seeing an existing community or an existing idea. That's out there and thinking that you have to shift yourself to fit into that. And then when you try and it's doesn't work because it's not, it's not you, then you think, Oh no. Where do I belong? And that's such human nature. I mean, we are programmed to be part of a group and we are programmed to try to fit in with the group. And, you know, cause 10,000 years ago, if you didn't fit in with the group, you didn't survive. But now we survive, it would just be sad. And it kind of sets us up to then think that we're, we are all alone and that we can't reach out and it gives us, you know, one experience gives us an idea of how the next one is going to be. So I've always been a big fan of, if it doesn't exist, if what you need doesn't exist, then it's, that's a sign that you need to create it. And so that's what we've done is we've decided, well, we're creating this community and we're welcoming everybody and we're saying, Hey, we're weird. We're wonderful. Come join us, change the world. It's okay. If you weird, like they embrace my crazy dog lady. So I wear that title proudly now. I'm okay.

Yes, absolutely. I think a lot of our clients will also, you know, embrace the role of crazy dog lady. So, um, yeah, but right at home in the pet photography community. So tell us, um, ladies real quick, just for people that don't know what the limelight project is, just a quick snapshot.

Yeah. Okay. So the alumni pet project is a collaboration between our two businesses and pet connection magazine, which is our friend Tracy and, and, and our, our part, our media partner is a local news station called key 13. And so what we do is every Tuesday, we go out to one of our partner rescues and we do a video interview and take portraits, professional portraits of a harder to adopt pet. And we work with goats, horses, bunnies, dogs, and cats currently. And so what we, we do those interviews on Tuesdays and then Saturday mornings, our segment airs on the local news and it just it's for us, it's all about shining the light on these pets, but also on these organizations and the people who are doing this hard work. Like ultimately it's all volunteer. We don't get paid for any of this, but this is our heart work. It makes us so happy. And the relationships that we've built with the people in these organizations is everything. That's like, that's what we want. We want, we want to build them up and shine the light on the work that they do because without them, none of this gets done. None of these animals get help, right?

In those when you approach anything from that place of honest service and passion and wanting, um, the intention is just good that you just have good intention that you want these animals to get adopted. And these people to get more exposure, some more animals can get help. Then that just always comes back and gives back to our businesses in ways that we can't even imagine. And had you gone out to do this, just to get back for your business, it probably wouldn't give back to your business the way that it does when you come to it with such parent tensions. So yeah, I mean, if there's things out there, guys that you're sitting there have this idea of these ways that you want to help or build something in your community, just do it, just approach it and you don't have to think how exactly is this going to give back to my business because it just will in ways that you can't even admit.

Yeah. Yeah. I tend to, I still keep my business in mind when I do things like this, but the way that I it's for me, it's the long game. It's bigger picture I have for what I want for my business. And just in general, what I do in my community is, is to be that connector is to be that, to be, to provide that service for people in my community. And like you said, it might benefit my business, but it might not. But I just for, I think for anyone listening, if you, if you are afraid of, Oh, I'm not going to see an immediate thing from this, that's okay. It's this is how you build something that lasts is that you build relationships in your community, in, from your heart. And then the best part of all is when you get to collaborate with other people who share that same vision as you like, that's how I love Holly so much. Cause she's and she brings the thing is too that like there's things that I do that nobody else does. Cause it's just from my perspective. But then when I bring somebody else into the things that I'm super passionate about and they have so much more to give than I ever could, it just makes everything so much better at everybody benefits. And that's why it's so important to just take the chance on reaching out to another pet photographer in your area to see what you guys can do together. Because that's the thing like that there was no better person to understand you and your heart and what you're doing in your business than another pet photographer. Right.

A hundred percent. Yeah. So let's talk about this, you know, friendship over competition kind of thing. Cause I know a lot of people might be sitting back and saying, well, a couple of different things I want to talk about from the perspective of maybe a newer pet photographer that sees a more established pet photographer and is like, Oh my gosh, there's no way I can ever make a connection. Um, and then also before we get there, I want to talk about, I'm just looking at everything from this view of, of competition versus collaboration because Oh, you know, I don't know, even if you're in a small town, there's no way that one pet photographer can photograph every single dog. And I think so many people get scared that, you know, I want quite frankly, I'm not even sure what they're nervous about because I've always approached things from

Very abundant standpoint where,

You know, I'm very welcoming to, to make these connections and do these kinds of things because I just know there's more than enough to go around, but I know that not everyone sees that perspective right away where they get concerned that if they make friends with another pet photographer, they're going to steal their pricing or their clients or their style or their shooting areas or any of those things. But even if we're both pet photographers, we still are often very different. Our businesses serve even possibly different target markets. We have different work. We have a different experience. Even if we both shot at the same place, we're going to shoot different images from that same location. So it just brings more options to the market. And you're going to find your people that love you. And then they're going to find people that love them. And how nice is it to have somebody that when you're busy and you get somebody that contacts you and maybe they have a sick that you're going to be on vacation and you can't photograph them. You have somebody that you can say, Hey call. So, and so they're going to take great care of you and you know that you're giving them a great referral. Someone that can do a wonderful job for them. So, gosh, there's just so many more benefits. Um, I are both working on books right now in the book. Yeah. We have the same day we shot the same dog. I haven't shot them yet. I signed up for both books. She signed up for dog and one of her friends signed up for three dogs and goat for my book. Like she sent them to me, but I knew they'd fit in Mark his book. And so she signed up to be in Mark is, but so for me coming from the business background that I have and the business that used to own before, I know that there's abundance out there. And I know that there's more, there's more pets out there than I could ever photograph. My style will match. Somebody's Mareka style will match somebody. And then sometimes we even share sometimes. I mean, sometimes we share, if we're feasting, we share, if they're spamming, we share. It's just, it's just the way that we do things. And I can't wait to see the pictures that she took of that dog because, because her perspective is different than mine. So he's going to show up in a different way. And that's great for his mom because now she's got these two different images of her dog with two different stories from two different photographers. I mean, who has that? Right. So the best clients, I don't see a downside to that. Like I, I honestly don't see a downside to that unless you're making it all about money and then you're not in the right business. You need to go to wall street, you need to sell your soul. No, I mean, and, and truly the abundance, I even think the monetary abundance follows when you have a, you know, a mindset of abundance and you're approaching things with the proper intentions, you know, if you're approaching things just to make money, then those attentions are not always as pure, but when you have other intentions people, I mean, people are attracted to the energy and the intentions that we put out there. So, so yeah. So what you put out is what you're going to attract back and yeah. And the same kind of thing. Like if you're always worried about, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, I can't do this. Or I can't do that. Like, you're just gonna attract that kind of energy back to you. Yeah. So guys, there's so much more to go around and the benefits of, of making these connections in your community or even further abroad. I mean, I think I'm one of the luckiest people on the planet because I have pet photography, friends. Not that I can see any of them right now, but in every single city and like every single country around the planet, I can travel the globe for years and just like go photograph pets with other pet photographers that I know like all over the globe. And I think that is just the coolest thing on the planet. So yeah. Make those connections. Got it. So

To kind of circle back to your question about, for photographers who are just starting out and are experienced pet photographers, sort of how that works with reaching out to one another. Um, I think it all depends on the individual person, for sure. I know that when I, um, first moved to Seattle, I had an idea of like, I was looking into like, Oh, who's doing this work here. Um, and I felt very big winery. That's the word, even though I was not a beginner, like I had been out of photography school have been photographing dogs, but I wasn't doing it full time. So I didn't, I wasn't doing it to the speed that I, that I felt was necessary to feel experienced all of that stuff. Um, and so I never reached out to anybody cause I was afraid. I was like, Ooh, stepping on toes. But then when I went full time in 2017, I felt more like, okay, I could reach out and, and things like that. And there was, I did have a negative experience and that for me, like that was crushing. It was very disappointing, but it also woke me up to the coming back to that concept. That if there's, if it's not there, if it's doesn't exist, then you need to make it. And that's when I decided that I was never going to make any pet photographer, no matter what level they're at, feel like they don't belong because I, I just felt that in my heart. And so for no matter what stage you are in your business, you can change your mindset about that. And you can like, you can reach out and you can be welcoming I've and I've done that. And I've had some times the people that are unresponsive or, or whatever, and that's fine because they're going to be wherever they're going to be. But I, I still believe that just taking that chance is, is incredibly important. And then for now being where I'm at in my business, I look at it as anytime anybody ever reaches out to me for advice about pet photography. I'm like, okay, I'm going to answer because I get it. I know where you're at. And all, sometimes all you need is just one person to open some sort of idea or door for you. And then it changes everything for you. And I think, I mean, Holly, you have a perspective of what it's like to be, to be the new new person in town. Yeah. I was the new kid. Yeah. So I came to Seattle and picked up a camera. I decided to be a photographer and went to your workshop, Nicole here in Seattle. That's where I met you, which encouraged me to do things that I was uncomfortable with. And I ended up going in a direction that taught me a lot. I was uncomfortable with, but it taught me a lot. And I had had a couple of bad experiences with local and national publishers about writing stories, about working dogs for their magazines. And it just left a really bad taste in my mouth because I am passionate about working dogs. And I want to educate people about working dads and the resistance I was getting was, well, we're going to take your stuff and use it. And we're not going to credit you. Or, you know, I did all of this work and they're not, they're just going to take my stuff. So that, that was a, that was disheartening to say the least. So I thought that's what big cities were all about that stuff.

So when I reached out to America, that was a, that was a shot in the dark, but I figured she was in the Academy and I was in the Academy. I seen her work. I knew her through several different mutual friends that we had. And I thought, well, why not? Well, why not? I have to try otherwise, I'm going to retire. And I'm going to be at Boeing life for the rest of my life and that's just not going to work. So it was just, it was meant to be, it was meant to be, I think if America and I hadn't made a conscious effort to meet each other, we would have met each other eventually. And this would have happened anyway. I honestly, what we're saying is take action. I mean, what do you have to lose? Maybe, maybe you weave, okay. We can both tell you, we've both had our feelings hurt, but we're fine. Now you have to go through those little hurdles and then you're going to find your people. Yeah, yeah. Yes. And I think it's important to know that, you know, when you do reach out to someone or something happens and you get a less than desired response that, you know, it's not about you not to make it about yourself. Like it has nothing to do with you. It's just maybe that person's in a really bad spot right now. Maybe, you know, just who knows, who knows what's going on. Maybe they're just not the nicest person around, it has nothing to do with you. So let it off roll off your back. Like, you know, it was like, what is it, water on the back of a duck, let it roll off. And, um, and, and try again with someone else. One other thing I wanted to mention too, um, you know, advice for those of you that maybe you're more on the new, you know, just starting out again, don't take things personally. And then also for all of you more experienced pet photographers out there, I feel fairly strongly about this, that we have a responsibility to be stewards for our industry. And the more that we are able to help those that are coming in the door, the stronger the industry becomes because would you rather have someone, your neighbor that is, you know, if they have drive, they're going to learn to take beautiful pictures too. They're taking beautiful pictures, but they have no idea how to run their business. And they're like charging a hundred dollars or would you rather have a relationship with them and, you know, be able to offer them some advice or, you know, you don't have to teach them, but you can at least like, Hey, you might want to look into this. Here's some resources or, you know, send them some different ways, just be open and friendly and help people find a step up as well, because that just comes back to give back to you and the community at large. And you know, I get you guys are busy and I get that. You're not going to be like, I don't have time to take on a mentorship. And it's also okay. If, you know, if somebody is like, Hey, can you mentor me? And you want to charge them for your time? Like that's allowed, you know, it's, it's just for our friendship then guys, I'm just thinking for all the, all the, um, consent you, you know, once you're and you guys have probably experienced this too, once you become more known in your area or in the industry, you start to get a lot of requests. And, you know, I really wish that I could have time to, you know, do coffee with everyone or this or that, you know, just, but there's only, there's only so much time, but the being able to respond in a positive, supportive manner, no matter what the question is, is just, just go so far to, to bring you back more positive

To, to you. So, you know,

That's just my little pep talk for no matter where you are,

The industry, all of that gave me chills because I know it is. So is it really just calling out the more experienced pet photographers in the industry? Yeah. You guys were putting it on you. You need to take account of where you're at when the opportunity arises. When you can be a steward for someone who is entering it's, I'm not going to say it's bad if you immediately are like, if it's a new concept to you to be open and vulnerable. But look at that and think what I do when I get in those situations is I think, okay, what is, what is the best thing in the bigger picture for the community as a whole? And just take a breath and think about that, and then imagine what is possible. If you open this door and let somebody in and lift them up, like seriously, so much as possible. And most likely every fear you have, like what Nicola said earlier about, Oh, they're going to take my pricing. Oh, they're going to know my locations. None of that matters. I'm telling you right now, it doesn't matter because guess what? You can change your prices tomorrow. If they take your prices and they use, hopefully your prices are great. And then that lifts up the industry even more, right? So this is about building our community and collaborating for the greater community as a whole. We already have this incredible gift that we give to people by creating the opportunity for them, for our clients to stay connected to the pets that they love. It's freaking huge. It's a big deal, especially right now, we're in this pandemic. I can't even tell you the stories that I've heard of, how important people's pets are, are to them right now. That's the big, that's the big picture, what we do. And when we lift each other up, we get to do more of that work and make our world a better place. Like these are the things you can think about when you get that urge to feel competitive in a way that isn't lifting up. Think about, okay, how does this feeling that I have right now serve that greater purpose. It doesn't. And sometimes if you're really lucky, you get to do it together. Yeah. That's the thing like, so I have the limelight pet project. It's my heart work. I'm so passionate about it. And I'll be really honest. It wasn't easy for me to give up a big part of that too, to bring in another photographer within and say, Oh, you're going to do some of this work. That's a huge part of who I am. And I mean, like, it wasn't easy that like, I, it took,

It was a big vulnerable moment for me, but I couldn't imagine it turning out any other way because to see all these growth and to see what she brings to the project as a whole is absolutely incredible. She brings us energy and this knowledge and this light that wasn't there without her. And so that's, what's possible when you open yourself up to meet somebody who, who can bring that to the things that you already love. Yeah. I mean, cause we are just one person and we can only do so much on our own. All of this reminds me of, you know, in our elevate program, which Marca you're a coach in and Holly are a part of that. There is no way, no way I could do that by myself, that program by myself, I would be so resentful of just the amount of time. Cause I would like, I would feel compelled to make sure everybody gets their answer right then and there. And like, I want to help everybody because that's just how I am. Like I want to, to help everyone that, that I can just what I do, but you know, I would have to do it 24 seven and then, you know, you can't do anything 24 seven. So to bring in these other coaches that have been able to hold so much more space for all of our students than I could ever hold my own on myself, it's just magical. And so that's the same kind of thing you guys have going on with the limelight project. That's the same sort of thing, even if you're thinking, all right, well, I would just want to make some friends in the industry. I don't have this big grand idea for this special collaborative project. That's okay. Just think about how much more space you have for your business. If you just meet a friend for dessert or coffee or dinner, we actually have here in Charlotte, we had a little pet photographer group that got together. Oh gosh, it was like a year ago. Um, and then we were going to do it again and go get dessert. We got barbecue. And then we're like, Oh, let's go get dessert. But that was March. And that was when the pandemic started. We're like, Oh. And it was literally like March, like the week before things started getting really crazy. And we're like, well, we have in-laws coming next week. Let's just hold off a little bit. And I'm like, I don't know when we can, again, I know for my deserved because yeah, the one, the one I'm tired, one guy in our group, he was like, Oh my gosh, there's this place downtown. That called crave. It's all just like, I looked up drooling. It's like, Oh gosh, it's red velvet cake waffles with like ice cream. I need these in my life. But anyway, somehow podcast episodes always come back to food. Darren and I, when we had our podcast, we talked about food for half of it. Um, one of her quote competitors is like one of her, very best friends or industry, Alison and Taran in San Diego. They even stop you right there. I would never

Ever, ever say that Mareka was my competitor. No, he's not. She's your colleague. She's my friend friend. And I only want good things for her. And if there is an opportunity for me to somehow make the things that she's doing better or give her something that's good for her, I'm going to, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do whatever I can to do that. Like I've shared locations with her. I've shared, I've gone on locations with her to be her assistant, which is so much fun. Oh my gosh. If you ever get the opportunity to be the assistant for another photographer, do it. Lots of photos behind the scenes. Cause it was amazingly fun. And it was just, there's always magic. When you work with somebody who has the same heart that you, that you have. So I don't, I don't understand the concept of considering them a competitor when they share your heart like Mark and I shared, we also discovered we share a brain and it's like, are our Facebook chat threads with, um, Tracy, who's our partner with the limelight pet project. Sometimes we're like, Tracy, are you following along? Um, I wanted to say something about, uh, being a coach and elevate. Um, so we talked about how with experienced at photographers being stewards, Nicole, you did that for me as a coach because I, that was not on my radar to, to be a coach. I did not think that I didn't see myself as being able to do that. But you opened the door. You pulled me in and now I couldn't imagine not being one. Cause I love it so much. So it's the same idea that there are people who have the power and the ability to see potential in others. When those people don't see it in themselves and you just take that chance to give them that. And it's incredible. And, and to know that you are a part of that is a really big deal as well. So also thank you Nicole. Cause I love this one connections and collaborations and she just spins this wonderful web of magic and there's just, she's got, she's got connections everywhere. Like it's just like little magic fireflies everywhere. There's connections everywhere. And she makes them with her heart. She doesn't make them. I mean, she may have a strategy for it, but it's not an obvious strategy. And it comes from her heart. I want to do a good thing for you or I want to do a good thing for this dog. So her she's genuine and authentic. And I can say that cause I've been friends with her for a good year and a half and there is no agenda. There is to straighten your crown.

Yeah. It all comes down to your intention then. Yeah. I think that there's nothing more powerful than that for sure. Yeah. This conversation has been so good. I highly encourage all of you guys out there, you know, to make connections in person, make connections online. I can't you how many Facebook friends I have of other pet photographers that I have never had the chance to meet in person yet, but we've built a relationship online because you guys, this industry is not big. It is, it is pretty darn small, which is pretty awesome. Quite frankly, because you get to know so many incredible people. So don't be scared to make those connections. Ladies, do you have anything you want to add before we go? I would say, make, leave yourself open for those connections because we can make this industry an amazing thing. If we all work together, it's really aren't we all in this for the animals. Isn't that? What? This is really all about. We're doing this because we love animals. So let's love each other as well. At the top of my head, Holly welder, I'm gonna, my last thing is going to be a call to action. I'm going to love it. Tell everybody who's listening to this today. As soon as this episode is over, make a connection, reach out to somebody, whether you know them or you don't know them, you don't even have to ask them for anything. You can just tell them. I love what you do. Thanks for doing it. You inspire me like really? It's not hard to just reach out. And if you're afraid, that's okay. It's not, you're not going to die. Nope. It's not going to be a bear. Bear is not going to eat at the other end of that little Instagram DM market that if people need help or encouragement that they should reach out to us. One of us, you can always reach out to us. It doesn't count though, is you're reaching out to someone. You guys still have to reach out to somebody else too. I love it. And love a good call to action. Gosh, you guys, this has been so good. And I'm going to publicly admit this here, cause it's going to keep my feet to the fire in that one of the things we are trying to figure out the logistics of what exactly it looks like inside the Academy is to help facilitate ways for you guys to make more connections with each other. And here the dog Academy where, um, yeah, here it comes. It's coming out where people can volunteer to lead like a little meetup and you can get together and photograph a dog just for fun. Um, or get together for those red velvet cake waffles. Just a way to help you guys make connections and create a member directory. So you can see who else is in your area. So like I said, logistics are being planned, but this episode doesn't come out till the end of September. So I'm pretty hopeful. Cause it's now early, it's like four weeks away. Pretty helpful. Then by the time this airs that will have a nice little link in the show notes. And you guys can, um, can check out those details. I will, um, Mark you first, let us know where we can find you and follow you on the interwebs. And then Holly, you are upright after. Yeah. My website is www.dirtydogphotography.com. And that is D I R T I E. And on Instagram I am at dirty dog photography. Same D I R T I E and at Seattle pet photographer at the limelight pet project at Seattle pet collective. We've done this before. It's just so many things in the show notes guys. Yeah, that show note link. Hold on. I can tell you here in a second, we'll be [email protected] slash three, three is episode 33. So that is how you can find the show notes. Is that a lucky number? That's a magic number, magic number. You can find me on Facebook at Holly cook photography. You can find me on [email protected]. I also have an Instagram account, um, Seattle, that dog photography. Um, and usually you can, most people can DM me on Facebook. I think that's nice. And what's your, what's your website? Holly quick photography. Didn't have this conversation yesterday. WW dot[inaudible] dot com. That's two C's in the middle. Okay, perfect. Excellent. I love it. Thank you ladies. This has been an awesome conversation and I hope it's inspired so many of our listeners to get out there and make your connection. Cause remember Mark had called you to it. You have a call to action, make it happen. Talk to you guys all soon and we'll catch you guys next week. Thanks everybody.

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