Nicole Begley (00:01)
I'm Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses. I believe that achieving $2,000 $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six-figure businesses.

that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place. With over 350,000 downloads, welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast.

Nicole (01:00)
Welcome back to the freedom focus formula podcast. I'm your host Nicole Begley and I am joined again with my most favorite favorite famous favorite famous special guest Heather Lahtinen. Heather is joining me again on the podcast. It's been a hot minute. Well, probably because I haven't been home.

Heather (01:10)
Right?

I know. You're always gone, number one. And number two, we're both having so much fun running our businesses that it seems to me that these weeks are really just flying by. Like, we're recording this on a Friday and I woke up this morning and I thought, how could it be Friday again? What is happening? It just seems like yesterday it was the beginning of the year and summer and we're already at the end of the year. Crazy.

Nicole (01:41)
Yeah, no, I feel like this year has gone fast and it's not just us. Actually, a lot of people that I talked to said that they feel like the years are going faster too. I don't know that's because as you get older, it seems to go faster or if like, I don't know, times and illusion. Is it really just speeding up? Like what's happening? you know, are we on a collective, time craziness? who knows, but it is going faster, at least to me. And I can't believe.

Heather (01:58)
Okay.

Nicole (02:08)
I mean, it's almost December, which means it's almost January, which I mean, as much as we love Mondays, I love January even more because it's like really a clean slate. Even though we can decide to start a new goal at any time of the year, like any day, October 7th, you can start a new like yearly goal. It doesn't matter, but there's something like so cathartic about changing the page on the new calendar and having the year of possibility.

I love possibility.

Heather (02:37)
Yeah, that's beautiful. It does feel like a clean slate, although you're right, let's not be limited to the calendar. But there is something about celebrating the holidays, coming back to work and thinking, okay, let's go. It's time to plan for the year. It's time to set some new goals and get really excited about the possibility of what you can create.

Nicole (03:00)
Absolutely. Which reminds me, we'll have to schedule a time in December to create a new year. you know, to start off this new year, right. With looking back and looking forward, but that's not what we're talking about today. we're talking about how time is going so fast and how there is something really exciting on the horizon. actually in March, which is, I mean, it's four and a half months away. It's going to be here really, really fast. And that is the one.

Heather (03:08)
Yes.

Nicole (03:26)
the only and the last in this format progress lab.

Heather (03:31)
What? Yeah, the final in the series, right? Yeah, that's a big deal.

Nicole (03:34)
Yeah. huh. Yep. Yes. Yeah. so as you guys know, like Heather and I are always looking at, our business and how can we best serve, you know, all of you guys, because that's what lights us up. That's why we do this every day because nothing makes both of us happier than we see somebody's win, whether it's a small win of like, my gosh, I finally figured out how to set up my domain email because

If you know, know, that is not for the faint of heart. And, or, or somebody that just had, you know, somebody in our elevate just posted last week that they had their first like $5,200 sale, which is amazing.

Heather (04:04)
Right.

Okay, actually, hold on. I want to expand on that for just a second. It was $5,600. And she had talked to me maybe two weeks prior, we had an Elevate Lifeline and she joined Elevate after Coach Week. So this was about a month and a half, maybe two months ago. And she said to me at the beginning of that Lifeline, she said, Heather, I am blown away by this program. I had no idea.

Nicole (04:17)
yep.

Heather (04:39)
that this is what I needed. I mean, I knew I needed, you know, some strategies and I thought I could also improve my work, but I am blown away by what I didn't know I needed that now I need that is creating these results. And then two weeks later, she has this $5,600 sale. And when she was telling me this, she had this look, it was funny because the look on her face was how I feel. She said to me in like almost a desperation, you have

got to figure out a way to communicate this to photographers because they are not understanding. She was admitting like because she didn't understand. She said they are not understanding how important this work is on your business. I said, hey, I'm with you. I am with you. Help me come up with the words so that people really get the importance and of what they are potentially missing out on or leaving on the table by not.

joining. And the shift for her and for several other people who joined Elevate that week was almost instant. Another elevator said it felt like some kind of magic. She's like, no, it wasn't magic. I did these things, but that's how it felt to me. And I said, that's the importance of this work that we do. And obviously we do this every day in Elevate. But something like Progress Lab is

Nicole (05:37)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Heather (06:03)
very, very impactful because it is complete immersion.

Nicole (06:08)
And three full days of that complete immersion. And yeah, no, I agree. We've had so many conversations about this. Like, how do we actually explain what this is? Because it's not, you know, the secret marketing strategy that we're not telling you until you come there. Like that doesn't exist. there, the secret marketing strategy that you think you need does not exist. You, you know,

Heather (06:10)
Yeah.

Yeah

Nicole (06:34)
what you need to do. And if you don't, yeah, we can help with some strategy, of course, but. my gosh. I mean, and I want to scream out of just frustration for them. Like, like they want it so bad. And I can see like just these little shifts in this weird kind of like esoteric, like vacuum of what's going on in your head is what will lead to the shift. And it's.

Heather (06:46)
Yes.

Nicole (07:03)
So hard to talk about because everybody just thinks it's that secret marketing strategy or, or that they just need to get better at their craft.

Heather (07:13)
Yeah, right. Yes.

Nicole (07:16)
And again, you guys, before you come at me, we're not saying like, doesn't matter who cares about what your quality of work is. Like you shouldn't try to get better. That's not what we're saying. We're just saying we see so many people that focus only on that and don't focus on the business side at all. And they wonder why they're not having success in their business, or they are under the impression that if they just made their craft a little bit bigger, then people would start lining up.

Heather (07:27)
Not at all.

Nicole (07:45)
But that is not the case. There are a lot of incredible, some of the world's best photographers that struggle to get enough people in to pay their bills. And they're doing this on the side. I mean, we're talking incredible artists. And then there's other photographers that are producing technically correct work, average work, just kind of normal photographic work. And they're killing it. They're making

plenty of money and reaching all of their financial goals. So I just want you to take a minute and, and think about that. Where is your belief in that? Like, what do you think is true? When I say the quality of your work is not what is, is not directly impacted to the financial success of your business. Can you say, yeah, no, I agree with that. Or does that like, does that trigger you?

Cause if that triggers you, there's definitely a thought there that you believe that and you're not ready to let that go. Or you need, we need to examine that.

Heather (08:49)
I think there's a lot of people that would be triggered by that and that their thought is, no, I just have to get better. I had someone say to me, we were having a conversation about growing our business and I said, what would you like to see happen here? And she said, I wish I could just put my images out into the world and people would just come to me. My beautiful photos, her photos were amazing.

Nicole (09:08)
Isn't that the goal, the wish of everybody?

Heather (09:11)
Yeah, and I said, no kidding. I mean, I would love to be able to do that. But the person that you are describing that produces, I'll say it, you wouldn't say it, but the person who produces mediocre work that is bringing in one hundred thousand dollars or more in revenue, that person was me. So I know from experience, both for myself directly and the hundreds of photographers that I coached, that this is very real. I was really, really good at business.

Nicole (09:26)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (09:38)
And over time, my work absolutely improved. But because I was focused on business and my mindset and my thoughts and my belief and my self-concept, I just like knocked it out of the park. And then, and yes, of course, of course I wanna get better as a photographer. And I did, but I knew, and you know how I knew that? Is because I watched a photographer, this is about a hundred years ago. I watched this photographer who was just like,

like killing it in every way possible. And his work was extraordinarily average. And I thought, how is that? He was so confident and so sure of himself and so good at marketing and business. And he was managing his mind around that so well that he was in multiple six figures. And I, as a new photographer, I honestly could not understand that. And then it occurred to me early on, I thought, maybe it's not about the photos.

Now I didn't have like anyone to bounce that idea off of the internet didn't exist like it does today. It was just a hunch I had and I thought could I grow my business without being you know quote the best and it was just an experiment and I did and then I got better and it worked out. But I think that we're under this misunderstanding that if I just had better photos more people would too to two part misunderstanding. One is if I had better photos.

Nicole (11:03)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (11:05)
and two, it has to be my pricing.

Nicole (11:08)
Yes.

Heather (11:08)
Yeah. And it's, it is neither of those things. And I think another reason that maybe we are challenged by the marketing copy that you and I create around Elevate and the Progress Lab is because on the surface, it might feel very intangible because magic is. then, and then when you experience, I always say, please just give me 20 minutes. Give me 20 minutes. You and I together.

Nicole (11:18)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Heather (11:38)
I can show you what this is about. You will be blown away and you will either join Elevate or you come to Progress Lab. And again, the thing about Progress Lab is, well, for anyone who's listening that has watched me coach, they've seen the transformations, but I just want you to imagine what it's like when I'm three feet from your face. Like it is a major shift and it's so immersive over those three days that it...

Nicole (11:56)
for three days.

Heather (12:04)
It is not an exaggeration to say that it is life changing.

Nicole (12:11)
Yep. No, Heather, I have taught a lot of workshops. mean, probably 25 maybe in my career and the two progress labs we've held so far have definitely been the most impactful. and I've seen the biggest transformation like immediately from our students, which has been incredible to be part of. And it's, it's just, it's just so hard to, to get people to understand what it is because it isn't again, we're not.

Like I said, we'll talk strategy. mean, we go over some pricing and we go over some strategic next steps. Like that is still part of it, but that's not the most impactful piece. The most impactful piece is the shift that happens in your head that allows you to move forward with those strategies in a way that you have been banging your head against the wall for years prior.

Heather (13:02)
Yeah, that's exactly it. I said the other day on a call, you can't read the label from inside the bottle. You need to have someone help you uncover your thoughts. So sometimes I'll be on an elevate lifeline and someone will say, I don't have anything specific to talk to you about today. And I'll say, then just tell me a story. Just tell me what's going on. And I'm able to pick up on the thoughts that are holding them back that they don't.

even realize are happening. Like if you have a thought about, I don't know, your pricing, the economy, what people can pay, how you're bothering people about meeting people, whatever it is your offer, your self concept, I am, I have become pretty adept at picking up on what thought is causing you to stumble. And you don't even realize it. And I have to say, I don't even think you could ever uncover it for yourself because

I haven't been able to do that. And even the world's best brain neurosurgeon cannot operate on themselves. You need someone. I always say my role as a coach is to show you your brain. Like you tell me what's going on, where your challenges are, or just again, a story about where you're at. And then I'll pull out these thoughts, like, and I'll just show you your brain and I'll say, isn't this so interesting? And then what we can do is get really curious.

about how that's impacting the strategy that you already have, by the way, you already have it. And the strategy or the action steps to get you the result that you want, you already have it. But if I can show you the thoughts that are preventing you from taking that action, that can free you, it can liberate you to take that strategy from a place of alignment instead of a place of resistance.

Nicole (14:48)
Yeah. we came into this, we sat down before this podcast and we're like, what are like the biggest, the biggest transformation benefits? So we basically had three and we're kind of going off on a tangent because that's just what we tend to do. And, know, that just happens, but we've kind of talked about this first one, which the first one, which I think is one of the biggest myths.

in the photography industry, which is that if you just improve your craft and the clients will come. we've talked about that. That is not the case. there's so many other things going on there. And then the number two piece that we want to talk about is, you know, just,

That this program or the, the workshop can set you up for this quantum leap in your business, but it can also with, without it have the inverse of like keeping you quote stuck. Like how many times have you felt stuck or how many times have you said like, okay, I'm going to do this or these are my goals. then the year passes or three months pass and you'd like, I'm still in the same spot.

It's because we're likely recycling the same thoughts. What's the, what's the status at like 60,000 thoughts a day that we have in like 59,000 are the same thoughts as yesterday. I might be messing up those numbers, but they're, they're about through. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So like we are thinking the same thing every day, like so many thoughts, 60,000, how many seconds are even the day? I'm not sure. That's a lot of thoughts.

Heather (16:06)
think it's- no, I think you're right. I think it's actually pretty accurate from my understanding.

Nicole (16:20)
If you stop for a minute and not to get all like, Hey, we need to all meditate and things like that. But it is helpful because one thing that meditation can show you is how many thoughts are going through your brain. That's why so many people say, I can't meditate because you're human. And the whole goal of that is to just sit down for a minute and watch your thoughts and

Heather (16:37)
Right.

Nicole (16:47)
Try to get to a place where you just focus on your breath or you focus on a sound or you focus on a tree and let everything else go. And then watch your thoughts march across your brain as an observer instead of reacting to them. So if you struggle with that, Progress Lab is essentially like, not that we're going to be meditating the whole time, but it's us being like the.

the expert meditator helping you pick out those thoughts as they're walking past.

Heather (17:21)
Well, and the problem is if they're repetitive and it's the same thought and you know that, okay, and you watch them march by and you get that, but you don't question them or you just straight up believe that that's the truth. I had an Elevate member email me a couple days ago and thank me for a Lifeline we did and she said, every call I've had with you has been absolutely huge and transformational, but this one blew me away. It never occurred to me.

Nicole (17:30)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (17:47)
that I could shift my identity or my self-concept to level up my business. It never occurred to her to even look at it. Well, then how could she ever do it? How could you ever fix something that you do not know is broken? Or how could you enhance something that you don't think is an obstacle or a problem?

Nicole (17:52)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Which is one of the hardest things because yeah, of course we have like, it's easy sometimes to find like a top level thought, but there are so many thoughts that are interwoven down so deep. mean, if you guys listen to, we did it a while ago.

It's just like that one podcast interview we did with Kerry over in the UK. I will put the link in the show notes of which episode that was, but she has been dealing and she knows she had mindset issues, like thoughts around money and around selling that just felt yucky. And she knew that they were somehow connected to her childhood, but she's been trying to figure that out for 20 years, go 40, 40 years.

Heather (18:46)
40. She said 40. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Nicole (18:48)
She's been trying to figure this out basically her whole life. And she knows that they were there and has been trying to dig and find and has hired other coaches has like read books has actually taken steps to try to, to get past them. And then in our, I think it was like a 40 minute conversation. She was like, okay, this is the most progress I've ever made on this.

Heather (19:10)
Yeah, she said she's been struggling with this for 40 years and I said, okay, 40 minutes, 40 years, we got it cleaned out. We uncovered a couple of thoughts that she was absolutely blown away by. She never made that connection or realized it. And it was hugely transformational for her. I gotta tell you, stuff like that just lights me up. To be able to see

Nicole (19:15)
Ha ha ha!

Hmm?

Heather (19:37)
Her face, you we were on video and we were recording that and she kind of like looked off in the distance and she was like, wait, what? She made that connection and it changed everything. And here's something I want to say about that as well. You don't know what you need to uncover. We help you with that. Obviously, that's our job. And things can feel very overwhelming and very hard. But when you work with me, things are hard until they're not.

and then they are easy for life. And furthermore, what you learn when you work with us, especially in person in Progress Lab, makes some things easier for life and they compound. They compound over time, which means we've seen this immediately after Progress Lab, people having their largest sale or even just growth over six months or a year and then having these continued transformations. So it's not about even just

Nicole (20:21)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (20:35)
the workshop where you're sitting with us for multiple days and what you're paying to be there, I want you to think about this investment. It's about making money immediately after because of that immediate transformation and then making tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of your photography business because of the compound effect from one freaking conversation. This is how I feel about my experience with my.

coaches, have multiple life and business. And I think to myself, I'll never be without them ever because the investment to me is not just about the immediate return. I think that's very short sighted of us. You have to think of the compound effect of what you learned and how that transforms you for the rest of your life. Not only in business, but personally, but certainly like as long as you continue to have a photography business.

Nicole (21:17)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (21:32)
something that we said or we connected with or shifted for you in Progress Lab is forever.

Nicole (21:39)
Uh-huh. mean, I still remember and it still changed my entire year in my entire life. The one conversation we had about my view on time. I mean, I I've struggled with time scarcity for a long time. And honestly, I was like a big shift then. And it's as my new subconscious wiring has accepted that thought.

Heather (21:53)
Yep.

Nicole (22:08)
It's like accepted now where I, Heather, honest to God, and I didn't even think about this till right now. And I started thinking about it, where this brought brought back up, but over the past several months, I've gotten more done in my business. I've showed up in a way, just like, let's just, let's just go. And I have had, I would say 1 % time scarcity issues.

Heather (22:33)
Wow.

Nicole (22:34)
Usually when it's like, coming up to like, I'm going out of town tomorrow and there's stuff that I just have to get done, but who doesn't have that? like before it was a daily struggle about a story of, don't have enough time. There's never enough time. I'm not going to get this done. And then I start to spiral of, I'm never going to get all these things done. How can I ever reach my business goals? What are the, the, and like, just goes into a bad place, but it was that one shift that had every turn.

Shortly after, but it's now after it's had months to settle in and get accepted. It's a whole new level, whole new level. Yeah. I have been home in a November, much to your chagrin. know I'm sorry. I'm home more in December and I'm home all of January. Then you'll be sick of me being like, I'm home too much. need to go somewhere. But anyway, I have been like busier than ever this year and away from my

Heather (23:08)
It's a whole new life!

Yes, yes.

Hahaha

Nicole (23:28)
my house more than ever. Like this month has just been crazy. And you know, they say when the kids are little, it's super busy, but yeah, it gets really busy when they get a little bit older too. It's just a different kind of busy. It's not so much manual labor is just like, just time sensitive. Like we're taking college trips, all those things. Anyway, it's unrecognizable. My relationship with time now.

Heather (23:50)
Yeah, you are benefiting from compound interest, which is the fourth wonder of the world. I think it was Einstein that said that. I want you to like compound interest is amazing. You you put in five dollars and then you have five million, however many years from now. And that's what happened with your shift. But I want you to think for a second about how much it was holding you back in compounding in the exact opposite direction.

Nicole (23:53)
Uh-huh.

Mm-hmm.

uh-huh.

Yeah.

Heather (24:15)
when you had it. Because when you had that time scarcity and you were thinking, my gosh, I don't have time to do this. Nothing's getting done. And you spiraled. I want you to think of what that did to your energy level, to your focus, to your ability to accomplish things, get them done. was constantly like this 100 pound rucksack on your back that you didn't even realize you were carrying. And it was compounding in the opposite direction. This like

Nicole (24:28)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (24:45)
quantum leap, that's a word that we use when we talk about progress lab. You have this quantum leap and then you have compounding interest. It's like saying, okay, the quantum leap is I'm gonna give you $50,000, but then, know, however many years from now, you're gonna have 50 million. So there's the quantum leap plus there's the compound interest. There is just no reason not to spend time with us at progress lab.

Nicole (25:08)
Yeah. Well, and the other piece of that, speaking about like the compound interest of this or the looking back of like what it was costing me to be there. I mean, it it was not just my business. It was all aspects of my life. Excuse me. would be more frustrated with my family when they would ask me. One million questions. I would not take care of myself. Like I wouldn't eat as healthily. I wouldn't go out on as many walks with the dog. Like just.

Heather (25:16)
There it is.

Anything? Yeah.

Nicole (25:37)
like every aspect of my life was affected by something that I thought was just business related.

Heather (25:42)
And you thought it was like, you probably thought, you know, I know I have this issue and it's annoying and I certainly would like to clean it up, but I just don't think either of us knew how serious that how seriously that was impacting your business and your life until it was cleaned up. And then you're like, whoa. So again, things are hard until they're not, and then they're easy for life or they compound. So this is like what I'm thinking about the investment in Progress Lab. And some people will say,

Nicole (25:48)
Yeah, right.

Mm-hmm.

Mhm!

Heather (26:12)
You know, I just don't have that money. And my thought is, but it's not about the money you're spending. It's about the money you are not making because you aren't getting the help you need that you don't even know you need. So you're missing out on the money you're not making. And it is not compounding in terms of like actual interest or just thought work that gets you to the next level. like, I get it. I get the, you know,

Nicole (26:21)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (26:38)
You look at your bank account and you're like, no, Heather, I like literally don't have the money. I understand that. But if you're listening to this or if you've seen us talk about Progress Lab and there is any little inkling of, I might want to do that, then you do want to do it because your brain offered you that. And then secondly, I would just ask myself, how can I make this happen? And I would get to freaking work figuring out how to make it happen, which you know I did when

Nicole (27:03)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (27:06)
I got my coaching certification and I hired my recent coach and joined a mastermind. I did not have the money for that. So, circumstantially, I could say, no, Nicole, I don't have the money. Look at the bank account. Here's the number and here's what this costs. But I knew I wanted to do it. I knew it would help me and that would quantum leap me to the next level in my business. So I said to myself, how can I make this work?

Nicole (27:09)
Mm-hmm.

Heather (27:32)
How can I make this work? And I just thought about it. And then my brain offered me ideas. And then I took action and I executed from a place. It was not of scarcity. It was a place of excitement and possibility. And I made it work because I believe if you want something and you know that it's for you, that you can make anything work when it there's always this. Yeah, you.

Nicole (27:44)
huh.

So there's always the solution.

Heather (27:59)
actually said that to me recently. were, well, you said it a few times, but one time I wrote it down. You said we were talking about a problem and you're like, well, there's a solution for everything. So we'll figure it out.

Nicole (28:10)
Yeah, there's always a slow. no, I remember what it was. It was the last progress lab house, the, that fiasco fiasco where they, basically pulled the house that you were going to use. And then they tried to offer me some very subpar houses that were going to cost like crazy amount and this and that. And so I was fighting with the rental company and, and I was like, and I had a minute. I was like, Heather, then I got to the point of like, it's fine. It's fine. Like there's a solution for everything. We'll figure it out.

Heather (28:18)
Yes.

Nicole (28:39)
Like this or something better. And it was, it was something better. had awesome house. Worked out really well. I, am.

Heather (28:42)
amazing. Can you actually speak more to the house because something that you do really really well at Progress Lab is create a luxury experience.

Nicole (28:50)
Yes.

Sure do. I sure do. You know, this is one of my, superpowers, you know, yeah. Is, creating amazing workshops. I've actually had several people tell me they're like, Nicole, I only want to go on a workshop if you're planning it. I've gotten them spoiled. I'm sorry guys, but I'm not sorry, not sorry. yeah. So we have a beautiful.

Heather (28:58)
Yeah!

True.

Nicole (29:19)
home just, gosh, a couple, it's walkable to the beach, just a couple little blocks back. in the panhandle of Florida, it is absolutely stunning there. If you guys have not seen the water and the beaches in this part of Florida, I mean, we're talking like Caribbean waters, white sand beach. take your family right to this part of the Florida every summer. Yeah. it is just stunning. And for those of you that are like, well,

Heather (29:36)
Yes.

Almost every year we go there. Yeah.

Nicole (29:47)
Why would I want to go to a studying location and not photograph a dog? Don't worry. I've got you covered. We're going to have a little bonus shoot. So, Hey, if you need to tell your brain that you're going to also improve your craft by going here, that's fine. I accept that. but yeah, so we, the great thing about progress lab too, is it's a, it's a smaller group. it's a much more smaller intimate group than any other workshops just because of the deep work that we do. and it allows us to like.

Heather (30:02)
Yes. Yes.

Deep.

Nicole (30:15)
really get into your head and your business and really help you. So we go out and make reservations at amazing restaurants and you will not be hungry. You will not be hungry.

Heather (30:25)
Eat so well. You won't. You know, our friend Amy had said at the last Progress Lab, she said it first of all, it was a shift for her just to just to join.

Nicole (30:37)
But to allow her to come, remember her big shift was like giving her the permission to do something for herself. Uh-huh.

Heather (30:43)
correct. And so she when she did that, when she clicked submit, she sent a message to her brain, multiple messages, but one of them was you're worth it. We're going to do this, we can make this happen. It just gave her this like jolt of belief that she was going to do something that was huge. That's actually huge for everyone. When you metaphorically swipe your credit card, you send a message to your brain that you're serious.

Nicole (30:53)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (31:08)
and that goes out into the ethers and then all of a sudden things start happening and you wonder why. Well, it's because you took it seriously, your business and yourself. But she said when she arrived at the house, it's so luxurious and so upscale that you're like, this is a new self concept, a new identity that I am stepping into as I'm actually an entrepreneur. I'm a real business person with a photography business.

Nicole (31:12)
Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

Heather (31:36)
I take it seriously. Do not underestimate the power of that in growing your business. Then again, the business and the universe and it's just like out there that, wait, this is a legitimate photographer who takes it very seriously. And then all of a sudden your marketing improves. You start getting clients, you get your highest sale. And like one of the elevators said last week, she said, it kind of feels like magic.

Nicole (31:43)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 100%.

It does. It does. And the other thing, I loved about it too, is that I remember, and you know, some of Amy's biggest shifts have been around this, like, no, I deserve this. And like the self-worth of like, I deserve to create this kick-ass photography business that's going to serve amazing people and also serves me because I love it. but like,

You kind of walk in and it's not just her other people have said this to her. kind of walk in and you're like, wait, this is nice. So like, maybe it starts to pull up a little bit of like, wait. And I know this happens to me and probably happens to you too, like in my mastermind room, especially when I first got in there, I've been, this is now going to be my fifth year in my online business mastermind. And I can say I'm a hundred percent a different person in that room and in my business because of it, because I started off at first like.

Almost a, you know, I had a thought of like, what am I doing here? I don't belong here. my business isn't where these people's businesses are still not. but, but my thoughts different now, like now I am more confident in my worth and like knowing that I can help them too. So it's now like this whole difference of, of how I show up, which by the way, also then reflects into my actual business.

Heather (33:18)
Mm.

Nicole (33:23)
And also then reflects into my life. Like it's all created or it's all related.

Heather (33:29)
Yeah, it is. It created, related, generated, cultivated, executed. All of the verbs.

Nicole (33:36)
We're gonna wrap now, we're gonna have a special wrapping section of Progress Lab.

Heather (33:40)
Yeah, yeah. It's that self-concept shift that I often talk about in believing that you're a professional photographer, you're an entrepreneur, you deserve to be here and you can in fact do this. It literally elevates your self-esteem and your confidence just by being around people who support you, who want to give you the possibility of you could grow a business to $100,000 or more per year.

I always say I have enough belief and confidence for all of us, so I'm willing to share it. But when you are around that level of energy, it is not just contagious, but it like seeps into your very soul, into your being. You leave there like, my gosh, could do anything. I promise you, if you are around me for more than a few minutes, you will feel a shift because my energy for you

is in complete belief that you have everything that you need. You are more capable, you are smarter than you think, there's more genius in you than you know, your photos are good enough, like that you are this close. You are just one thought away from a huge shift in your business. And because I believe that, you start to believe it. Well, because number one, I don't lie. So I'm not like making it up, you know. If you suck, I'm just not going to tell you. But you start to...

Nicole (34:51)
No.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (35:07)
You start to think like, maybe she's right. Maybe, maybe that is a possibility. I know for you and I both with our coaches and mentors, when they, they give us these thoughts that are possible for us, all of a sudden they become real. Like, whoa, maybe I could do that. And then you start, you just start aiming higher. But you know, I don't know if it was like this for you starting out. It wasn't horrible for me, but I could sense the people around me maybe weren't in

Nicole (35:22)
Mm.

Hmm?

Heather (35:37)
or they just didn't know what was possible. I don't think any of it was like ill intent. You know, they didn't understand or didn't know. You really need to be like infused. you could think of it as like hooking yourself up to some sort of infusion IV or something. Like with us, to have expert level coaches, like Nicole and I have a total of more than 30, 35 years of experience in the industry and teaching and helping hundreds of photographers.

Nicole (35:37)
huh.

See ya.

you

Heather (36:05)
to help you dig into the details of your business and then reflect it back to you and help you uncover what's really holding you back. I have got to tell you, and I believe this so like, I'm so like secure in this, that it is absolutely priceless. Like we can't even put a price tag on it because I believe that the shift is that monumental that it changes everything. And furthermore, like.

This is the last time we're doing it in this format and it's a limited number of people. So if your brain is like, I might want to do that. That means you do. That means you do want to do that. The next question is, how can I make that happen?

Nicole (36:37)
Mm-hmm.

so, so you're, going to want to come to this one. go to hairofthedog academy.com/progress. All the details are there. Reach out to either one of us. you have any questions at all, but I do want to mention one other thing. And that is Heather and I were talking about it because you guys were obsessed with your success obsessed, like go to bed thinking about how we can help you.

Heather (36:53)
Nope.

Yeah, yeah.

true.

Nicole (37:16)
wake up in the morning, think about how we can help you talk on boxer all day long about how we can help you. Like this, this is what we do. And this is, this is our, our dharma of what we want to do on this planet. But, I hear a lot of people like, well, you know, should I just do elevate instead of progress lab or what's the difference? Or if I'm in elevate, do I need progress lab? Or if I do progress lab, do I need elevate and listen? Here's the, here's the thing.

Progress lab is elevate on steroids because it's three full days in person. And there's something magical about getting out of your normal day to day, going to a new location and having complete focus. You're not on a call. Somebody's ringing the doorbell. The dog's barking at the garbage truck like just about to happen. Like none of that's going on. You can focus fully.

Heather (37:44)
Yeah.

Ha ha ha.

Nicole (38:09)
but then elevate is super important that you can continue the conversations and have support as you go. So we're like, how can we make this, this so supportive for people? So you guys, when you come to progress lab, you are going to get two free months of elevate. So $600 value, two free months. you can use it one before one after both after both before like.

Heather (38:15)
There you go. Yeah.

What? Yeah.

Nicole (38:35)
whatever you think makes sense. If you're already an elevate member, you will also just get two additional months before you need to renew. so you'll get two free months too. everybody gets two free months of elevate coming to progress lab because they work together so incredibly well.

Heather (38:51)
Yeah, there's one, mean, Progress Lab is super immersive and it's a condensed quick burst designed to give you this huge quantum leap. And Elevate is designed to be supportive longer term, allows for that trial and error, integration, application, growth, along with the support. I think there's a need for both. And over our past Progress Labs, 95 % of the people that attended were in Elevate and came to Progress Lab because they see

the transformations and they know the importance of doing this work. So we just wanted to up the ante a little bit for anyone who's maybe on the fence to try it out. And again, if you even have this thought that you might want to do it, that means that you want to do it.

Nicole (39:39)
Yep. Yep. So we have a couple of spots. it is March 7th through 10th, no, eight through 10th, eight, nine, 10, March eight, nine, 10, near the Panama City Beach area, like Rosemary beachish area. forget what the exact beach is called. I have to look it up, but it's right there. It's called beautiful. It's called beautiful beach Caribbean blue waters on a us state side. So anyway, let us know if you have any questions. let's just leave it with.

Heather (39:52)
It's called beautiful. It's called beautiful.

Nicole (40:06)
What do we want to leave it with Heather? Do you want to leave it with the final thought?

Heather (40:09)
Please, I beg of you. Just give me 20 minutes. And if you're really on the fence and you want to talk to one of us, we're happy to talk to you privately. Yeah, about what challenges you might be facing. I just I don't know if desperate is the right word. It's some version of that, that I am desperate to help you because I know what you can accomplish. And I believe in you so much. I just am.

Nicole (40:19)
absolutely.

And if it can help, yeah, which it can, but how it can help.

Heather (40:39)
it's a word like, it's not like anxious. It's like, like, come on, please, please, please let me help you. I know that I can help you. I know you can make this work. And it doesn't matter where you're at in your photography career. It doesn't matter if you just started or you're a veteran. We've had both. It doesn't matter if you're making any money or a ton of money. I promise you these shifts will make you money. They might make you a lot or a little in the short term, but I know they will compound.

Nicole (40:52)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Heather (41:07)
which means you'll make tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars over your career from spending three days with us. So is it worth it? yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (41:16)
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Spoiler alert. Yes. All right, guys. thanks for hanging out with us. And by the way, if you're still listening to this episode, you likely are interested in progress lab. go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/progress, check it out. Let us know if you have any questions. We're happy to jump on a quick, call to answer any questions if you have about them. and yeah, when you join, you're to get two months of elevate. and we hope to see you there.

Heather (41:19)
Ha

Nicole (41:43)
So see you guys in Florida.