So... back in May, at the end of the school year, at a job I TRULY loved, I made a difficult decision, but one that I felt was best for me and my family....I decided to resign from my job as the School Counselor at Handley Elementary School. It was such a hard decision, but I felt very blessed to have the opportunity to be at home more with Lyla, and be able to take part in the preschool experiences that she would be part of in the upcoming school year. So with some tears and mixed emotions, I said goodbye to my tiny but cozy office at Handley and began my "job" as a full-time, stay at home/work at home mama.
I decided that I was going to dedicate more time to my BeautiControl business, which I was very passionate about, but had little time to work the business like I wanted to. One of the biggest perks of working this business is the flexibility... I can work it around my family's schedule, and do work at home while I'm with Lyla, so I wouldn't be away from my family as much. So the summer started off strong, I had high hopes for myself and for my BeautiControl business, and I went to work.
In the meantime, you may remember awhile back, I posted about my new hobby of photography. It started out as me saving up my money to get a nice camera so I could take more memorable pictures of my beautiful daughter. I really enjoyed having a hobby that I could do while I was spending time with Lyla. And of course, she was a gorgeous subject for me to practice on :)
I was extremely flattered when friends & family started asking me to take some pics for them. Although I knew I wasn't "there" yet, or even close (there being at the place I wanted to be as a photographer... and I am still a very long way from it!)... I was excited to have some new subjects to practice on. Every great photographer had to start somewhere, right?
So I started scheduling a few shoots for my family for practice, and that was good. I learned more with each new shoot. I got excited when I would get facebook messages from people asking me if I did pictures. I of course explained that I was still very much in the learning process, but would be more than happy to practice on them, for an extremely low price. I knew I wasn't at the point to make money off of my hobby yet, so basically I was just collecting some pocket change for the time involved.
So as this was going on, I was still taking lots of pictures of my beautiful girl Lyla, but I stopped having time to edit them and have those memories like I originally planned on when beginning my hobby. I started booking myself a little too thin with these photoshoots (which, don't get me wrong, I really LOVE doing!), and started neglecting the other areas I told myself I wanted to focus on (my daughter, BeautiControl, my husband, oh and my housework...)
Editing is still new to me, and while I understand it much more than I did a few months ago, I still get overwhelmed at times. Shooting the photos wasn't too bad, that part didn't take much time and I felt like I understood my camera well enough to take the pics. Editing takes me a lot longer. So I started spending every waking moment on my computer working on editing pictures. And I would edit them, and like them, and save them, and come back later and think "oh my god what was I thinking when I edited that?", so I would tweak them and repeat the process. Over. and Over. and Over again...
I started pushing my BeautiControl stuff off to the side; the time that I used to dedicate to that business was now being taken up by me trying to edit pictures. The time I wanted to be spending with Lyla was getting smaller because I was trying to do too many things at once. I was starting to not feel like a stay at home mama, like I planned....
Wait, those few things don't sound too time consuming yet, do they? There's more. I went to a Norwex party and fell in love with the all natural, chemical free cleaning products. There was a ton that I wanted, and when I learned that you get your Consultant Starter Kit for free as long as you do $2000 in sales in 3 months, I thought "Well I can do that, I don't work so of course I have plenty of time to do a few Norwex parties!" So I also joined Norwex so I could get the free supplies that I wanted and share a great product and make some money at the same time.
So where am I going with this??? I made some decisions in the last few days, and I wanted to share them with anyone who is willing to read them....
1. My MAIN focus is my FAMILY, first and foremost! Taking care of them is my #1 priority.
2. I have big plans with BeautiControl. I see myself promoting to Director and earning the perks that come along with it (can we say free cars, trips, jewelry, and MONEY!?!?) So this needs to continue to be my main focus as a business, and where I spend the majority of my time that I set aside to do "work." Which will be while Lyla is at preschool, or sleeping. So there still isn't much "free" time, but I am going to do it! I would LOVE to schedule a spa or makeup consultation with you!
3. I need to slow down on doing photography for other people for awhile... I never planned to make a business of it when I started, and as much as I love taking pictures and learning, it has been taking the focus off of the other areas I want to focus on. I want to continue to practice on Lyla, and eventually get around to editing, printing, and displaying some of the millions of pictures I have taken of her. I want to be able to take my time learning, and develop my skills before I jump into anything more with it. I am blessed to have plenty of other shoots lined up for awhile... so if you have spoken to me about pictures, or if we are already scheduled, this will not be changing!!! If I am still working on editing your pictures, rest assured that I will get them done as quickly as possible, but I also want to take my time on them to assure that the work is to the best of my ability! I am VERY blessed to have some opportunities to shadow a talented photographer while doing some second shooting at some weddings this fall.... so I know this will take up a lot of my time as I work on editing those pictures and developing my skills as well! But in the meantime, please understand that I will not be booking any more sessions (unless, like I said, we have already talked about them! We are still on!)
4. I do still want to earn my Norwex Kit for free! I did one party, and it was pretty easy so this doesn't take up much of my time at all, so I am confident with still doing this on the side. If you are looking to save time, money, and reduce the amount of chemicals you use in your home, contact me to set up your Norwex demonstration!
So I think that covers it... thanks SO much for listening if you got this far... :)
xoxo
yahoo!!!!
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