Hey guys, welcome to the Podcast. If you’re brand new to my world, my name is Jena. I’m your host here, founder of Senior Studio Success and my signature business coaching program, Studio Secrets, which is opening up again next week for another round of amazing photographers.

Confession time: I snagged you in with that title. If that’s why you’re here, good. You need to hear this. We all need to hear this, myself included. Fair warning. Today is a little bit of tough love. Why do I do that? Because I love you. Because I want to see you succeed more than anything. Being a coach is kinda like being a parent. Sometimes you have to say things you don’t wanna say, but you know you have to. Why? Because we love our kids & we want the best for them too.

So here goes.

We all want the easy way. We want the magic bullet, the new marketing strategy that’s going to bring in clients on repeat.

The easy way to success doesn’t exist. It’s an illusion. And if you are listening to a coach that tells you to just do these 3 simple steps & you’ll have a fully booked six figure business, you are buying into a lie.

It takes work. It takes hard work.

It takes showing up consistently & paying your dues. Yes, there are some overnight success stories or what may look like at least. But I bet those success stories have years of late nights and long hours of putting in the work to make it look easy now.

I’ll be honest. I only work 12 - 15 hours in my photography business now. Yeah, some weeks it is pretty easy now. Not always. I’ll get to that in a minute. But that’s because I’ve put in 18 years of hard work to get to this point. I’ve built the systems. I’ve built the team. I only do the things that I have to do now - shoot, sell, market & plan. Those are the things that bring in the money, so that’s where my time is concentrated.

The truth is that it takes hard work to be a leader in this industry and in a local market. Difficult moments don’t just disappear because you get a little success behind you. I still have clients who need to rearrange payment plans. I still get no shows to consults. I still hear the word “no” a lot.

The belief that you get to put in a little hard work & then the tough moments disappear when you get to this magical mountain top of success will cause you tons of frustration. Get that thought out of your head dear.

I still have to show up on a consistent basis. When I don’t, I see the same dip in inquiries that you probably see when you don’t show up.

Success isn’t easy.

It’s hard work.

And there are moments that hit us like a ton of bricks in our businesses. That’s when having some emotional maturity will save you. The business owners who last are the ones who can manage their time and more importantly, their minds.

I’ve worked with photographers who want the easy road. They want immediate results. They just want the answers, the 1, 2, 3 steps without learning the skills to find them on their own and the patience to do it. These people often struggle with personal accountability, with taking ownership.

Typically those photographers bounce from coach to coach because it’s always someone else’s fault, never their own. And when they find themselves in my space, sometimes they want to bail on their payment plans a few months into a year-long program because they haven’t gotten immediate results. I don’t do short cuts. I don’t take the easy way out. And I have the same expectations from both my coaching clients and my photography clients. I expect commitments to be kept because I keep mine, even when it’s hard to do.

Business is hard. Right now as I’m recording this, my makeup artist of 8 years has completely ghosted me on my new season of sessions starting next week. I can’t get a confirmation response from her. I am scrambling to find someone to replace her for the sessions I have on the books. But I’ll be damned if I let down that teenage girl who’s gonna be in front of my camera next week. I will find someone for her.

Business is hard. Growth is hard. Success is hard. Some people can’t handle that. Can business be easier? Absolutely! Get the right systems, strategies & mindset in place and it definitely can be easier.

I believe that every single person has the ability to be successful. The problem is that every single person isn’t willing to do the work to be successful.

We talked about this on my last coaching call in Studio Secrets.

I don’t sell easy results. I do sell simple systems, but those have to be built. And building something takes work. Please don’t buy anything from anyone who promises you easy success. And don’t go into a program expecting someone to make your success easy either.

In business you’re going to find yourself up against some big challenges. People will complain. They will not show up. They will let you down & disappoint you. They will bail on their commitments.

So many things can & will happen in business, but you can handle the unexpected. You can do hard things. You can get blindsided & get right back to work. Why? Because you are fully capable of it. You don’t have to buckle under pressure. You don’t have to let one client completely change the way you do business. You don’t have to snap at your kids when the stress gets to be too much.

I can show you how. Because your work has a purpose. Your business has a purpose. Don’t let the hard parts of business keep you from the impact you were meant to make in the world.

Next Wednesday, I’m hosting a live training that you need to be there for called Unshakable.

Some of you know my story about how my dad taught me how to ride horses. That was definitely hard work. I would get bucked off or I would lose my balance & fall to the ground. I ate a lot of red Georgia dirt. My dad would always tell me to dust myself off, get back on that horse & show it who’s boss.

I want to help you get ready to dust yourself off this year - no matter what comes your way. You can do hard things. You can handle the unexpected. Be there with me live next week for this event. Unshakable. Wednesday, May 15th at 12pm EST.

www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/unshakable

Ok, that’s it for this one. I know this wasn’t an easy one to listen to. But I hope you got something out of it. I hope it made you think. More than anything, I hope you’ll show up for yourself next Wednesday. The link is in the show notes for you. Let’s continue building more profitable, productive & purposeful businesses so we can spend more time doing what we love with the ones we love.

I’ll see you LIVE next week.