FULL TRANSCRIPT: Please note this transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors.

00:00:00:21 – 00:00:37:09

Welcome to the Portrait System podcast. I’m your host, Nikki Closser, and this show is here to help you succeed in the world of photography and business, to help you learn to become financially free doing what you love and so much more. With over 1 million downloads, countless photographers have taken what they’ve learned from both our episodes and from theportraitsystem.com. And they have grown their businesses, quit their day jobs and are designing a life of their dreams. We keep it real and share stories about the ups and downs that come with running a photography business. You’ll hear real life stories of how other photographers run their business, and you’ll learn actionable steps that you can take to reach your own goals.

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Thank you so much for being here. And let’s get started.

00:00:40:28 – 00:01:14:28

Hi, everyone. It’s Ashleigh Taylor, and I’m so excited to introduce you to this week’s Clubhouse Edition of the podcast. This week, Kevin and I spoke with portrait and editorial photographer Aaron Jay Young. In this chat, we talked with Aaron about his approach to portrait sessions, how he works with the team to make sure his images and marketing are the best they can be. And we also talked about his journey of battling money blocks, burnout, and anxiety and how he has worked to overcome them.

00:01:15:19 – 00:01:28:04

It was a great conversation that left Kevin and I wishing we could speak to Aaron for a whole other hour. So we can’t wait for you to hear this interview. And let’s get started.

00:01:28:25 – 00:01:58:28

Welcome, everyone, to the Portrait System Podcast Clubhouse Edition. My name is Kevin Conde and I’m here with my co-host, Ashleigh Taylor. If you are not familiar with The Portrait System, we are a portrait photography podcast that is powered by Sue Bryce. Nikki Closser hosts our Monday episodes, and Ashleigh and I co-host our Clubhouse Edition, which is live here on the Clubhouse app every Friday at noon Pacific. And then our episodes are released on Thursdays. You can tune in on your favorite podcast app by searching for The Portrait System. Ashleigh, How are you doing today?

00:01:59:14 – 00:02:37:09

I’m doing great, Kevin. I’m excited to be here with you and Aaron Jay Young, who is our guest today. And I’ve been wanting to interview Aaron for a long time, so this is very exciting. But before we dive into it, I just always like to let our listeners on Clubhouse know that for the first 30 minutes, Kevin and I will interview Aaron. And then at the halfway point, we open it up to your live questions. So if you do want to ask a question, all you need to do is hit the hand icon in the lower right hand part of your screen and we will bring you up on stage to state your name and ask the question.

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And if you think of a question too early just jotted down, so you don’t forget.

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Thank you, Ashleigh, and welcome to the podcast.

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Thank you, guys. Thank you for having me.

00:02:48:21 – 00:03:05:16

So we you and I have never personally spoken before today, but being around this community, I am constantly hearing your name brought up not only for your amazing work, but for the person that you are. Just compliments all around from everyone.

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So right.

00:03:06:23 – 00:03:07:25

Wow. Thank you.

00:03:07:27 – 00:03:38:20

That’s awesome. So because of that, we, we wanted to have you on like, oh, my God, we need to talk to him. And after looking at your work, I was blown away by your images and just how expressive people are and how you connect with them, as well as all the different self-portraits that you yourself create. So we want to get into all of that. But before we do, we want to talk a little bit about your artistic style and how it incorporates into your business.

00:03:39:09 – 00:03:47:24

So how would you define your style both in the way you approach your work, and how you handle your clients?

00:03:50:12 – 00:04:20:13

So, I mean, like the words that I use often to describe my style are timeless. Elegant, authentic. Soulful somebody reasonably a friend of mine. I used the word poetic, which I had never thought of, but I actually I like that word because I’m always trying to capture an energy in the work and in each photo that I guess really would be poetic in a way.

00:04:20:15 – 00:04:27:17

It’s like it’s got a little extra something more than just having like a person sitting, staring into the camera kind of thing

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and.

00:04:33:00 – 00:04:57:17

You know, now, at this point in my career, that’s that’s pretty much what I get hired to do. Like, oftentimes the conversations I’m having with clients leading to a photoshoot is that they really want to be photographed in a way that’s going to capture that authenticity and that sort of humanity and honesty that they see already in the work. And they’re interested in kind of seeing that come out in themselves.

00:04:59:09 – 00:05:09:14

You know, so in developing my own style over the years, the way that I have, I’m grateful that at this point, you know, it’s like the thing that people are actually interested in me doing,

00:05:11:00 – 00:05:16:04

which is, you know, as a creative person, that’s awesome to just have people seek you out for the thing that you are already doing.

00:05:16:23 – 00:05:55:11

Yeah, I really love this because I feel like in a lot of portrait photographer businesses, including mine, it’s like people are hiring you because they just want to look amazing. They just want to look the most beautiful. But I like the, like, twist of like, no, I just want to be myself and I want to see, like, my personality or my authenticity. Like, through your eyes. Through Aaron’s eyes, you know? So I find it. Do you do you find that people a lot of glamour and stuff still because your work is very fashion inspired? Or are they really just wanting to strip it down and be as like real or let you just guide the whole process of how you see them?

00:05:56:27 – 00:06:27:12

It honestly just depends on on the client more than anything, you know, because when we’re discussing the vision for the shoot, the styling and all of that, it it becomes really clear. Like if they have the hope that we’re going to do something that’s going to be a little bit more fashion, a little bit more stylized in terms of the wardrobe, or they might just be somebody who naturally, you know, it could be a woman that doesn’t wear a lot of makeup naturally.

00:06:27:19 – 00:06:43:19

And so to to all of a sudden, you know, do a bunch of makeup and to do her hair a certain way would just not feel very authentic to her. So some people specifically don’t want that and they really just want something that has a little bit more of a raw feel to it.

00:06:45:15 – 00:07:01:11

And then for other people, they, you know, they love the aspect of having hair and makeup and focusing more on the styling, because some people also will say that they want to dress pretty simply. You know, they’ll say like, oh, I want to wear like a black turtleneck and I want to

00:07:02:26 – 00:07:05:12

do something that’s going to be timeless but sort of simple.

00:07:06:27 – 00:07:23:21

And then other people just have a different idea of what that means or a different expectation of what they want to create. And, you know, so I’m happy to do anything that my clients want me to do. And I love the collaborative process of actually working with other people to make a shoot happen. Like

00:07:25:08 – 00:07:29:06

The times, whenever I’ve been able to put together an entire team, which has usually been,

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you know, more in the commercial side of things, but that’s always been really fun because I get to actually collaborate with hair, makeup, stylists, you know, even sometimes like a lighting type and all these people. To me, that just elevates everything into like a, you know, a new realm. But then there’s a time everybody wants it to be really stripped back, and it’s just me and the clients in the room and that’s, you know, and that’s all it is.

00:07:57:27 – 00:08:05:23

So Kevin’s cat came crawling on in for people who aren’t like seeing this, I was right now, so it was hard for me to follow there for a minute.

00:08:05:25 – 00:08:15:07

Like when I saw the cat, it just a messed with my head for a second because I my dog is somewhere in the background about the same size as the cat. So I was like, wait, is that cat? Is the dog on me?

00:08:18:10 – 00:08:18:25

Yes.

00:08:19:10 – 00:08:25:00

He is. He is seeking attention at the moment. I’m trying to keep my own goofy, sir.

00:08:25:27 – 00:08:34:27

So sorry, but. And having video is a whole new ball game

00:08:34:29 – 00:08:49:26

I love that answer, though, Aaron. And that actually is as a question that I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time, is like what percentage of your work is like commercial fashion work and what percentage of your work is just like people wanting portrait commissions.

00:08:51:25 – 00:08:54:23

The majority of my work is still everyday people.

00:08:57:02 – 00:09:10:00

A lot of it is. I would fall under the umbrella of, I guess you could call it personal branding. You know, it’s a lot of like I photographed authors, architects, interior designers.

00:09:13:05 – 00:09:13:22

I’m trying to think

00:09:15:13 – 00:09:20:06

sometimes if it’s somebody in the entertainment world, a hair and makeup artist

00:09:22:23 – 00:09:40:21

that I’ll photograph. And so sometimes the photos are for PR related kind of purposes. Sometimes it’s just like if they have a small business, you know, it’s great for that kind of a thing. And then more and more, I’m getting more work that that would fall into like editorial, commercial

00:09:42:06 – 00:09:48:03

kind of world. But that’s like a big goal, like an ongoing goal to kind of move more and more into that world.

00:09:48:25 – 00:09:49:10

Yeah.

00:09:50:03 – 00:09:55:01

So, you know, it’s just it’s just a process of, you know, just continuing on that journey.

00:09:55:24 – 00:10:08:21

As like a business owner, do you think it’s is one path easier to pursue than another? Like, do you have any advice for someone who wants to transition? I know you’re in the process yourself, but who might want some more commercial work?

00:10:09:25 – 00:10:44:04

I would say it’s probably easier to get like a portrait studio business off the ground or to get that kind of work, because it mostly involves talking directly to the client and with commercial work or editorial work even. There’s just more people at play. You know, there’s like there’s the people who are hiring you that are working with the client. And then there’s like. And. Half the battle sometimes is just getting the contacts to reach out to to get in front of,

00:10:45:27 – 00:11:19:13

you know. So it’s just like there’s like there’s is more people involved and it’s, you know, with, like a with a portrait business. It’s like at this point I have a marketing team. And so, you know, we’re always running ads on Facebook, Instagram, whatever, and they are seen directly by the client. Client directly reaches out and it’s just, you know, much, much more streamlined, straightforward, much faster to book those people unless it’s somebody who has an assistant or something like that and they’re reaching out on their behalf.

00:11:19:15 – 00:11:24:12

But still, that’s a lot more streamlined than, you know, going to the commercial route.

00:11:25:12 – 00:11:26:10

Yeah, totally.

00:11:26:13 – 00:11:39:23

What one of the things you just said a little bit ago was you enjoy being able to work with the team and everything you just pointed out that you have a marketing team? What makes up your business? What is everything that is assisting you at the moment?

00:11:41:06 – 00:11:58:24

Okay. So. I have a I have a marketing team that I implemented just out of lockdown with COVID. So like right when we came out of lockdown as I took the lead to actually get a marketing team on board. Up until that point, I was trying to kind of do all of that myself and.

00:12:00:09 – 00:12:16:22

Just generally in life like it. I’m struggling to be passionate about some aspect of what I’m doing. It’s really hard for me to to then take all the action necessary. Like, I was like that in school. Like I wasn’t interested in the subject. Like it was so hard for me to learn and.

00:12:18:11 – 00:12:38:23

So when it comes to marketing, that’s kind of been my relationship to it. I tried to learn and it just I get overwhelmed. And so I just I finally was like, you know, it’s worth it to just outsource this and it’s been incredibly worth it to do. They’re doing all kinds of things that I just don’t think I could do on my own.

00:12:40:08 – 00:12:53:07

So that team that’s always at play, they’re always doing things in the background and then I have, you know, some hair and make people that I’ll bring on for these sort of everyday photoshoots that are like my go to people.

00:12:55:08 – 00:13:25:28

I had an assistant in the past. I currently don’t have one right now. I think I need to actually find somebody again and this time  like I want to find somebody who’s really good at like the marketing aspect as well in terms of like being on the phone with potential clients, taking inquiries and just doing all that stuff. Because the busier I get, the harder it is to just balance everything out time wise.

00:13:26:15 – 00:13:46:03

Yeah, I mean, there’s always like something that’s falling by the wayside or whatever it is. So yeah. So that’s, that’s pretty much like my team. And then if there’s something that’s out of the ordinary, like I had, I was working on, I did a project with a non-profit like maybe six months ago and

00:13:48:01 – 00:13:53:01

with much bigger budget and that you normal portrait shoot and so for that we had.

00:13:54:23 – 00:14:30:22

I had a couple assistants. I brought on a lighting tag and a movement coach, which was really cool because I clearly somebody who is a choreographer who has worked on other shoots, just kind of helping with the movement aspect and the body language aspect. It was really helpful because I was working with a bunch of people who are not used to having their photos taken and. It was helpful to just kind of have that delegated to somebody who was specifically paying attention to that. And it just became even more of a collaborative kind of project.

00:14:30:24 – 00:14:31:24

And it was super fun.

00:14:33:24 – 00:14:46:09

So if I get if something shows up, that’s like something I’ve never done before and I have to put together a team of people I’ve never actually worked with, and I just kind of figure it out like I have my freak out moment

00:14:48:21 – 00:15:00:09

where I’m just like stressing about everything and like, and then, like, you know, I just. I just figure it out and just, like, do whatever needs, whatever is necessary to kind of plan and be ready for when the day comes kind of thing.

00:15:00:11 – 00:15:05:24

Gotcha. The idea of a movement coordinator is a very interesting

00:15:07:22 – 00:15:17:06

idea. Where did you where did you go about finding someone that does that or were you introduced to someone and how is that into a little bit more?

00:15:17:25 – 00:15:42:09

Yeah. So I’ve done this person through a photographer who is like an acquaintance of mine and is a mostly editorial kind of work and. On Instagram. I had seen him tagging a couple of people as like the movement coach and and there was this extra element of that sort of. There’s extra flair in those photos that I really love. And

00:15:43:29 – 00:15:48:11

so, you know, on Instagram, you can have like little folders of things.

00:15:49:26 – 00:16:07:09

So I just I just I have a million followers, so I will just have like people to potentially work with on a photoshoot. And I’m just like, if I see somebody like the folders that the time comes and I’m like, Who was that person I saw six months ago? That’s like doing movement stuff. Then I might be able to find them much easier.

00:16:09:11 – 00:16:19:18

And so I just reached out to them on Instagram and we sent it out. You know, it wasn’t cheap. I mean, their day rate was, I think, $750.

00:16:19:20 – 00:16:21:08

So not cheap at.

00:16:21:10 – 00:16:52:28

All, you know. Yeah. And we were I mean, like that that at the time, I think was the biggest job I had ever done. And our budget was like ten and $12,000. So like I could actually delegate that kind of stuff out comfortably. And yeah, that’s another reason why I chose to do that. Obviously, when it’s a much smaller budget, it just doesn’t make sense. I’ve heard of photographers. Going into debt is just like putting all their own funds into photo shoots they’re getting hired to do because they want it to be amazing. And like, I’m not crazy about that idea.

00:16:53:00 – 00:16:56:16

No. So I wouldn’t recommend that.

00:16:56:26 – 00:17:00:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. So but it’s only when the budget allows for it.

00:17:00:25 – 00:17:20:29

So I would I was wondering like when you did work with the movement coach obviously like you hired them because you were delegating and you were trying not to maybe pay attention as much or have to pay attention as much to what they were doing. But I’m wondering, like by hiring them, did you learn anything that you could take to your next shoot? Because I would feel like that could be like a really cool way to learn, too.

00:17:21:29 – 00:17:57:21

Yeah. I mean, one thing I noticed him doing that was really interesting that I had never thought of doing was. So when he was kind of just making suggestions to people in terms of like how they would be like sitting or whatever, he would often tell them like just take a nice deep breath and then just sort of like relax into that what you’re doing sort of thing. And that’s something that I do now that’s really helpful to just I don’t know, does that idea of just like taking a deep breath and just relaxing because that’s my work is all about getting people to just relax and to not feel like they’re performing.

00:17:58:03 – 00:18:06:03

Yeah. And so that was that was it was interesting just watching somebody else actually, you know, interacting with people in that way and.

00:18:07:27 – 00:18:32:12

And we were actually photographing families. So it was like fathers and their kids. And so that’s another reason why I was stressing about this whole idea of like, okay, remember, it was it was like ten different groupings of people in a single day and it was anywhere from like two people at a time to like six. And so I was just like that just seemed like a lot. And yeah, you know, I ultimately just wanted to create the best end.

00:18:34:15 – 00:18:45:02

Product possible. The best the best part I could. And so I just knew that like bringing people on that had expertise in certain areas, would be able to elevate it beyond what I could do on my own.

00:18:45:14 – 00:19:23:12

Yeah, that’s really smart, though. I think it’s like we can always learn and grow. And sometimes when we have those opportunities to learn something new or make a little investment and put out the best thing, obviously that’s great for our client and then we’ll probably get more work from it. But I think it’s also something that like you took this breathing technique, like there’s just so many little techniques we can pull and then it moves on to the next shoot in the next shoot. So I think even if like someone’s listening and they’re like, I would never be able to hire a movement coach, like there’s still things you can do in each little shoot to take from it, invest in it, learn from it the next time and keep progressing.

00:19:24:03 – 00:20:00:15

Yeah, absolutely. And also like when it comes to putting together teams of people to do things like. If you can find really good people like I’ve worked with people who have two days ago, I work with a makeup artist just for like a one on one photo shoot with somebody who is an actor. And so he brought on his hair and makeup person who’s done hair and makeup for Michelle Obama. Oprah, like all these people. Right. And you would never know it based on personality, you know, he’s like the most down to earth, easy to work with, like willing to collaborate kind of person.

00:20:00:24 – 00:20:31:21

And so those are the kinds of people that I always want to work with. So that atmosphere is always just really good energy and that we all just feel like we’re having a fun time and we’re all coming together. And it’s not about egos and about trying to make sure that the thing you want it to be the way that you want it. Because when you if you just have people that are really good at what they do and they have the same goal in mind, then it’s just great energy on set. It’s just because, you know, you just leave, like having the best day ever.

00:20:32:02 – 00:20:32:17

Yeah.

00:20:34:21 – 00:21:10:06

So let’s, let’s talk a little bit about the way you run your your sessions. As I was doing some research on you and seeing your images, one of the things I saw is that you photographed Saray Taylor Roman, who was one of the mentors in the portrait system community. And in response to the portrait that you posted on Instagram, she wrote, At first when I quote, At first I felt so weird not being directed. And it was it wasn’t until I was okay with my silence and yours that this image took place.

00:21:10:26 – 00:21:28:08

So how are you directing people within one of your shoots? Are you allowing them to move until they get into a position that they’re comfortable in? Or are you directing them into different poses that you are comfortable with?

00:21:31:25 – 00:21:51:13

Like one thing. And one thing I often do is, let’s say I’m gonna have somebody sit on a stool. I’ll tell them, Hey, have a seat on the stool, and I just want to see what you naturally do, because I want the body language to reflect who that person is so like I use my intuition to.

00:21:53:21 – 00:21:59:10

Guide me, I guess, in terms of when it feels to me like that person or being themselves

00:22:00:27 – 00:22:01:15

and.

00:22:04:04 – 00:22:39:23

You know. So I may have only met somebody 5 minutes ago. But if I. I don’t know, they’ll just do. Do something with their body language or mannerisms. And I’m like, that feels like them to me. You know? And so I will that’s the thing I want to capture. So I always want to start with just seeing, you know, what they naturally do. And then I’ll sort of I’ll make suggestions. I will. I find if I am too, directorial things just start to look posed. And that’s something that I think is so cool about a lot of the characters I know is like, that’s something I remember.

00:22:40:07 – 00:22:46:10

I don’t know how many years ago, like probably eight or nine years ago, the first time I ever saw Sue’s website when

00:22:47:26 – 00:23:11:29

I think she was still in New Zealand at the time. And that whole thing of like being able to take a woman who has no experience in front of a camera and then just pose her in a way that actually looks and feels very real and authentic. And I’ve never been good at that. And so, like, I would love to be like, I would love to be better at that

00:23:13:15 – 00:23:22:07

because there are times when that would be helpful. Even in what I’m trying to capture. I just I’m just not great at it. And I,

00:23:24:04 – 00:24:14:26

you know, I’m just trying to capture something that feels really, really authentically that person and something like that. Oftentimes, I’ll capture somebody doing something that I could have never thought up in my own head to do, because it was just it was just a natural moment that happened. Um, so, ah, so I’m not, I guess my answer is I’m not directing people at times, but I’m making sort of suggestions and then really trying things. And if, if somebody gets to a place where they feel really comfortable and they realize that it’s not about being like a persona of themselves and not about like trying to be something that they’re not, then most people will start to kind of open up in a way where they’re they’re going to naturally start trying things on their own that look really interesting and really good.

00:24:14:28 – 00:24:18:21

And, you know, this is the product of them feeling comfortable, feeling safe in the space.

00:24:21:04 – 00:24:36:24

So, you know, it’s also can be a little scary because it’s like, okay, I’m going into this not knowing exactly what the end result is going to be. They don’t have like an arsenal, like, okay, like pose like this, pose like this, pose like this. I know we’re going to nail it every time. It’s more just like I’m not sure what this person is going to do and.

00:24:38:10 – 00:24:43:04

You know, I’m always a little nervous about that going into a shoot because I’m just not sure what’s going to happen.

00:24:44:00 – 00:25:09:23

But, I mean, it’s really full of discovery, which I love. I love that your shoots sound like they’re just like this whole journey of self-discovery that someone can go on and you can go on as an artist. And there’s something to be said for not having a play. I mean, there’s something to be said for having a playbook, like yeah, and then there’s something to be said for also just being open to whatever magic wants to unfold.

00:25:09:25 – 00:25:35:29

I mean, honestly, probably like having a balance of both is probably the ultimate situation. Yeah. Just like how like, you know, you learn all the technical stuff about lighting and then toss out the window and you can just experiment and like, you know, so it’s like you can pull from it when you need to, but then you can also like not just heavily only rely on that kind of thing. So what I’m saying is I’m like, I should probably put more effort into practice in that.

00:25:37:12 – 00:25:37:27

I was going to.

00:25:37:29 – 00:25:40:02

Say, I’m sorry. Well, yeah.

00:25:40:15 – 00:26:14:15

No, I was going to say even I mean, I know you say you want to get better at that, but it seems like the manner in which you run your shoots and just allowing them to get into the position that is comfortable is where you’re getting those very emotive portraits of people. Because if obviously if you’re saying, okay, put your hand underneath your chin and now over here and tilt your head and then moving through a flow of like poses, you’re probably going to miss that.

00:26:16:03 – 00:26:17:01

That, you know, I.

00:26:17:03 – 00:26:48:24

Mean, again, again, like watching like Sue do that with somebody. I’m like, that’s amazing. I love actually observing it. I will be like, Okay, what if you put your hand up and then I’ll tell people the basics? Like, Don’t press too hard on your face so that you don’t, like, make weird things happen with your skin. I know, but then I want to see, like, where do they put their hand? Do they put their hand here? I just knock my headphone out. Do they put their, you know, like where do they like what are they going to have to do? And then sometimes people make really like not visually appealing choices.

00:26:49:15 – 00:26:50:00

Yeah.

00:26:50:21 – 00:27:20:07

So, like, if that’s happening, then then you do have to kind of make more suggestions because I know that there are certain things that just aren’t going to really translate. And, you know, so oftentimes, like a woman may have her hand too far, like on her face kind of, and it’s just not looking great. And I’ll say, what if you just kind of slide your hand back and slide your hand back a little bit further onto your neck like that? And then it might look really natural and it might work, and then it might look like I just told somebody to put their hand on the neck and

00:27:21:22 – 00:27:24:25

neck and we just have to completely switch it up and try something out.

00:27:25:13 – 00:27:25:28

Yeah,

00:27:28:04 – 00:27:49:03

I love that. Before we open it up to audience questions, I did want to pivot a little bit and ask you about some of your personal projects. I’m not sure if they’re nonprofit work or if it’s just personal projects, so I would love to know just like more about how they come about. But I have to say, like some of your most moving work has been these

00:27:51:06 – 00:28:11:25

personal projects that you have done over time and series of images, and it’s just really, really inspiring. So I love you can tell us like how how do these ideas come about? Are you working with non-profits? Like, is it something that you’re doing? Like, I don’t know what the right word is like as a charity, like a free thing. Is it something you get paid for? Like, how does it all work?

00:28:12:29 – 00:28:44:24

Sure. I mean, so. It depends on the project, but I have there are things that I’ve just had an interest in doing. A few years ago I started photographing drag queens at Drag Queen at RuPaul’s Drag Con in L.A. and then did it in New York. And like, I had like a goal in mind when I started doing that. One day, maybe having coffee table book or something. Yeah. Which I can’t completely talk about yet, but. Things are happening and that will brown hopefully soon as well.

00:28:45:17 – 00:29:04:28

Yeah. So like. That was totally just, you know, like, I want to photograph these people and I’m going to try to make it happen and no money involved just for the fun of it. I’ve worked with a couple non-profits before that were paid jobs

00:29:06:19 – 00:29:16:05

where like they wanted to do a project with me and then they had a budget for it. And so, you know, it ends up being a paid thing and.

00:29:18:12 – 00:29:35:15

I, I don’t know. I mean, at this point, like, I, I feel good. I mean, I always have, like, money goals and, like, business goals. Yeah. You know, like, I’m always, you know, feel like I’m kind of just getting started and and, you know, trying to reach further and further in that realm. But

00:29:37:03 – 00:29:54:29

ultimately, like, I’m good with money right now. I’m good with that aspect of things right now. So I feel like I have a little bit more freedom to just, like, pursue things and not have to really worry about the like. Is this going to be a paid gig or not? Is it going to be? You know. So I’m just like, I’ll reach out to people. I will.

00:29:57:12 – 00:30:01:15

You know, just try to set things up that will that that just interest me.

00:30:03:02 – 00:30:03:20

And,

00:30:05:22 – 00:30:10:19

you know, if it turns into something paid that’s awesome, but it doesn’t really have to necessarily.

00:30:11:26 – 00:30:28:15

We had seen like on your website some of the other things that you’ve done. We have something called the Anti Recidivism Coalition. Beautiful immigrant. And those were some interesting projects that we were looking like. I think that’s what Ashleigh was kind of looking at.

00:30:30:12 – 00:30:34:07

How do you get started in, say, those projects?

00:30:34:23 – 00:30:37:07

So both of those projects were.

00:30:39:27 – 00:31:17:13

They were also the anti recidivism coalition project that came about through a connection that I made and as an author, Shak Hussein Horar, who he used to work with them. And so I photographed him a couple of times. He connected us together. And then that’s how that project sort of came about. We got we were connected. They had this idea to do a Fathers Day, formerly incarcerated fathers with their kids project.

00:31:17:24 – 00:31:51:09

And so it came through that sort of connection and that introduction. And that was a paid job. That was actually a job where we were working with a vitamin coach. Oh, yeah. And then for the Beautiful Immigrant Project. My partner is a journalist and he was working on a project with the Weather Channel, doing a short form doc about how climate change was affecting prolonged drought in Central America.

00:31:51:11 – 00:32:02:05

And that was the reason why some of those folks were joining the migrant caravans back in 2017. I think it was back when Trump was in office and he was

00:32:04:03 – 00:32:20:05

saying a bunch of crap about them. And so he did that project. And the very last time that they went to Mexico, I went along with them and then just got to photograph the people. Yeah, I technically got hired by the Weather Channel, but I had like, no,

00:32:21:26 – 00:32:25:09

there was nothing technically that I had to create for them, which is awesome.

00:32:25:11 – 00:32:26:04

That’s pretty cool.

00:32:26:16 – 00:32:49:04

Yeah, it was like that was actually really cool. So I got to I had total creative freedom and I had an idea that it’d be cool to turn this into an exhibit at some point. And then that ended up happening a few months down the road and. You know. So sometimes it’s just like this weird, not weird, but like these connections that are made that then turn into something else. Yeah.

00:32:49:29 – 00:33:01:02

Yeah. The immigrant one in particular was just very, very moving. I remember at the time seeing it and just being like, Wow, that’s so cool. Like, I want to be that cool one day.

00:33:03:25 – 00:33:32:00

I want to do cool things like those. So moving and and being like, yeah, just like, like seeing the bodies, like, crying and like being so moved. And I don’t think, like, I don’t think I’ve ever had an opportunity to take a photo except for, like for someone’s wedding where there was like a personal story behind it, where I was like, Oh, this photo was like very like personal and moving and like just on that level and like impact and can change hearts and minds. And it just it was very cool to me.

00:33:32:02 – 00:33:34:03

So thank you. Thank you.

00:33:35:18 – 00:34:03:22

Well, we will still continue to ask questions. But I do want to give the Clubhouse listeners the opportunity to get their questions answered as well. So if you are listening on Clubhouse and you have a question for Aaron Jay Young, you can go ahead and raise your hand by hitting the hand icon in the lower right hand part of the screen. And Kevin will bring you up on stage to answer ask your question.

00:34:05:11 – 00:34:10:12

We do have a question and go ahead and bring them up. We have Michael Pedit on stand.

00:34:10:26 – 00:34:16:11

Who, Michael? We love you, Michael. I ask the best questions.

00:34:16:13 – 00:34:22:29

I think that I’m trying to get better at asking questions. I’m not very good. But good afternoon, Aaron, Kevin and Ashleigh.

00:34:23:08 – 00:34:23:23

And so my.

00:34:23:25 – 00:34:26:04

Question is, when you were talking about marketing, Aaron,

00:34:27:19 – 00:34:39:12

before you decided when you made the decision to outsource and maybe I just I didn’t hear. Right. So I apologize if you answered it already, but at what point did you make that decision? Were you already like.

00:34:39:27 – 00:34:40:28

Bringing in regular.

00:34:41:00 – 00:34:44:27

Clients and having that money flow come in? And or were you kind of.

00:34:44:29 – 00:34:46:10

Like at a point where.

00:34:46:12 – 00:34:56:18

You’re like, you know what, maybe I’m not getting as much work as I would like and I know I’m not really good at this. And so decided to make that ask because I stink at marketing for sure. So thank you.

00:34:59:12 – 00:35:11:21

Yeah. I mean, I was I was I was bringing in like regular clients and income, but it was pretty irregular, I would say, you know, like it would just ebb and flow a lot more than I wanted it to and.

00:35:15:20 – 00:35:19:19

Yeah. I guess I was sort of at a loss for just like, okay, what? How do I do this better? How do I.

00:35:21:15 – 00:35:29:06

How do I really get in front of more people to be able to bring in more inquiries to then convert to more actual paying clients and.

00:35:31:15 – 00:35:34:15

So, um, originally

00:35:36:11 – 00:36:14:21

I, I did a course that was with the same marketing company and this is like learn how to do it all yourself kind of a thing. And that was helpful to a certain degree because like I created a second website, like a studio website because my website, you know, like a lot of photographers is like they have zero calls to action and you just go on as is a portfolio of work and then there’s like contact and then it’s like, hey, get in touch with us that you are interested in the photo shoot kind of a thing. And that’s what I had always had. And little did I know that that’s like not really marketing yourself, you know? And it’s not like, it’s like leaving everything up to the potential clients.

00:36:14:23 – 00:36:48:13

Like, they have to seek you out there to find you. They have to figure out if you do photoshoots with everyday people and then they have to reach out and it just like too much work for somebody to like I think to to to put into. So I created a second website, a studio website with the sole purpose of lots of calls to action and just making it very clear to any everyday person that would stumble on to this website that like you can absolutely hire us to take your photos. And so that’s something that I learned with sort of their help.

00:36:48:15 – 00:36:59:00

And then when it went beyond that to, you know, Facebook ads and Instagram ads and all this stuff, I just got really confused and overwhelmed. And,

00:37:00:21 – 00:37:32:00

you know, it cost money to put up the ad. And I was like, not seem to return. I was just like, I don’t know what I’m doing. So that’s whenever I decided to take another leap and invest even more and just have them take control of it and. And it was hugely I mean, it was it was hugely worth it. I mean, it’s it created a huge leap in my business, I would say. And when when you first did that, did you see that return pretty quickly

00:37:33:25 – 00:37:36:24

from that from from outsourcing and hiring them to do that for you?

00:37:39:19 – 00:38:00:29

I, I, I got overwhelmed very quickly in terms. I just I just wasn’t used to juggling as many things as I. All of a sudden it was juggling. And so that’s the first time I brought on an assistant because I was just like, you know, like, I’m burning out and I’m not. And it wasn’t that I had a ton of stuff going. I was just. I just wasn’t used to it. So.

00:38:03:21 – 00:38:07:01

And everything’s a process of just getting used to when it’s unfamiliar. So

00:38:09:14 – 00:38:12:18

yeah, I would say pretty, pretty quickly. I mean, I just started to.

00:38:14:12 – 00:38:23:21

Getting more inquiries. I mean, it’s always trial and error. There’s any time that I’ve tried to do some sort of a campaign has always fallen pretty flat.

00:38:25:10 – 00:38:31:04

I tried to do a Soulgenic series campaign with the idea of like, you know, creating ads around

00:38:33:05 – 00:39:04:23

for people who have, like, really interesting life stories and come in and photograph you and hopefully convert that into a paying client. And it didn’t go anywhere. I mean, it was like I talked to a lot of interesting people, but like not a lot of people that were interested in pain. So it just was like it just didn’t it didn’t go anywhere. The biggest success I’ve had with like ads is just generalized ads that talk about capturing authenticity or capturing that that don’t really hit on any sort of a specific campaign.

00:39:05:12 – 00:39:12:00

And that’s where I’ve seen the most success personally. Awesome. Thank you. I appreciate your time answering those questions.

00:39:12:12 – 00:39:13:13

Sure. Thank you, Michael.

00:39:13:20 – 00:39:31:13

I’ll just ask a follow up question from everything you talked about with Michael. So I just wanted to be clear, like you’re working with a marketing agency, right? So they’re hired, like they’re handling multiple types of ads. They’re running the ads. They’re managing the ads. And do they do, like, social media stuff for you or? They.

00:39:33:01 – 00:39:36:23

could do more than then what we’re currently doing, I think. I mean, I

00:39:38:11 – 00:39:49:19

again, once I get an assistant on board, we can implement more things. But I mean they’ve, they’ve made adjustments to my website. They’ve.

00:39:51:07 – 00:39:54:29

You know, since it’s a little bit into the new year, like,

00:39:56:20 – 00:40:03:12

you know, they would update my website if I wanted them to create a newsletter.

00:40:04:28 – 00:40:40:03

And then they add, I would say the biggest thing they also set up like a like a project called like a funnel, basically, like, you know, through different, different, different websites that I had never used before that I just had to get a membership on or how to use that. They set that all up for me. You know, so they’re doing a lot. It’s also there’s probably cheaper ones out there, honestly. Like I’m investing about $3,000 a month in marketing and a thousand of that is just the amount of money that’s being put into ads that are on its Facebook, Instagram and Google ads.

00:40:42:03 – 00:40:53:25

And you know, I haven’t done a lot of research honestly about like who else is out there and make sure we can bring out. So there’s probably more cost effective people, I don’t know. But you know.

00:40:54:03 – 00:41:00:12

That like market rate for an agency, most agencies have $1,000 a month ad spend, plus you have to pay the agents.

00:41:01:12 – 00:41:10:10

Yeah, it’s like, yeah. And it’s, you know, as long as you’re seeing a big enough return and, you know, you can justify the expense and it’s. Yeah.

00:41:11:12 – 00:41:36:09

Yeah, totally. Especially if it’s not your wheelhouse. And you learned all the DIY things and it’s just like bleh. I’m, I’m a big proponent of the DIY because I’m like, Oh, I’ll spend $30,000 a month if I can just do this myself, but I mean, I can also see like that for some people, it’s like, that’s not how their brain works. Like, I feel like my brain works a little bit more business than like art and some people’s brains. Like a little more art.

00:41:38:07 – 00:41:38:23

Yeah.

00:41:39:23 – 00:41:40:12

Business.

00:41:40:18 – 00:41:54:12

Oh, yeah. I’ve been told before that like by people in the marketing team and other people like you would do the best if you could just literally like pick up your camera and be in charge of taking the photos. And then you have an entire team that like does everything else.

00:41:55:10 – 00:41:55:25

Yeah.

00:41:56:21 – 00:42:15:07

I think, yeah, that’s probably true. I mean, one day, you know, that’s the goal to just delegate everything out to everyone. But yeah, I just think, yeah, there’s just my brain is not it’s just hard I guess to for me to get really excited about like the marketing aspect.

00:42:15:16 – 00:42:16:15

Yeah, for sure.

00:42:18:18 – 00:42:51:11

So, Aaron, you have brought up money a few times within the conversation. And one of the things I saw as I was looking to you was you had made a post within The Portrait System Facebook group at one point, and I found the quote very interesting. I wanted to talk a little bit about that, which is money is no longer this giant dark energy of a cloud that is bigger than me and that I am a slave to its power, which is how I used to feel.

00:42:52:01 – 00:43:07:00

I’ve realized that I am much more powerful than it, and that it is me who decides how much I make. The power is in me and money is a tool and something that I get to be in control of rather than the other way around.

00:43:09:12 – 00:43:18:16

With that. Can you talk a little bit about what your experience was with money before and how it’s kind of grown as a business owner and how your mindset has changed?

00:43:19:24 – 00:43:25:15

Yeah, it’s funny. It’s interesting you bring that back. I was like, Wow, that person was feeling really confident that day.

00:43:27:12 – 00:43:32:09

Yeah. No, I mean, I do actually remember writing that, though. I just forgot about it.

00:43:34:03 – 00:43:34:29

Yeah, I mean it.

00:43:37:25 – 00:43:45:26

I would say the most it’s changed the most over the last probably like even six months. Oh, it’s been around there.

00:43:47:17 – 00:44:02:17

But I mean, it’s a never ending journey. You know, like when I first started doing photography, I remember, you know, charging like $250 for the shoot and my cover and the images and like feeling like, Oh, my God, that’s a ton of money. Is anybody gonna want to spend that?

00:44:04:02 – 00:44:26:12

And then, you know, discovering Sue. And that was the first time I’d ever heard anybody say that. You know, I remember one thing that she was like, I was on YouTube at the time. I don’t even know if Sue Bryce Education existed yet, but it was like I remember her saying, like, my time is worth $500 an hour. And I remember the interviewer looking super uncomfortable.

00:44:28:09 – 00:44:39:18

And it was it’s comical now to think about because I was like, I was super uncomfortable but I was like, well, I liked it. I mean, I loved hearing that. I was like, okay, like that’s, you know, hopefully one day I can get on board with that because that would be amazing.

00:44:41:03 – 00:45:02:29

Yeah. So like, it’s, it’s just been like over the years, like something I’ve just been continuing chipping away at and trying to grow and change the way that I perceive money. And what is a lot of money to me has changed drastically. You know, like at some point along the way, I just sort of reduced.

00:45:05:06 – 00:45:46:00

You know, I like the idea of $1,000, let’s say like $100 instead of going it’s 100. I would just say it’s like one. They’re just like, there is something about just like reducing the idea of this big number down to a smaller number that started to shift what I perceive to be a lot of money, which then has shifted, you know, how I am able to charge within my business, um, how I can, you know, sometimes I’m still nervous to, you know, like, I don’t know, sometimes telling people that I have a session fee for an everyday shoot of 490 is like, I get nervous and I’m like, Sometimes I’m not nervous at all.

00:45:46:02 – 00:46:16:02

Sometimes I’m cool. Like the other day I had the biggest job of my career and I had to send out an invoice for $21,000. And I was like, Wow, I actually I just took a deep breath now. But like, in the moment, I was like, wow, I actually feel okay about this like, I’m good. Like, I’m grateful that I’m actually okay withlike, with, wwith asking for this much money. And I’m excited to make this much which, you know, a few years ago I wouldn’t have even dreamt of that. It would have never seemed like this.

00:46:16:08 – 00:46:18:03

Oh, my gosh. Yeah, but it’s so far fetched.

00:46:19:29 – 00:46:32:08

And so I would say that’s probably the area that Sue Bryce education has been the biggest help for me personally, has been in the area of money and self value

00:46:34:02 – 00:46:49:25

because, you know, I’ve just I’ve grown a lot in that area and that was the first resource I ever came across that even introduced the idea of having like a much higher standard for what we, you know, for what we do and.

00:46:51:25 – 00:47:11:17

It’s it’s interesting that you say with your for 90 session fee, you have nervousness behind that. But then you’ve also dealt with your clients have huge budgets far greater than what you would get from an A, your average portfolio or even your average photo shoot.

00:47:12:04 – 00:47:12:19

Yeah.

00:47:13:13 – 00:47:15:15

So what?

00:47:15:17 – 00:47:36:29

It just depends on the day, honestly. Like, you know, like the last couple of days, honestly. Like, I don’t know, this week I don’t know why, but I’m just, like, feeling a little insecure compared to the way I was last week. And, like, I started coining that, you know, like, if you have a pet like a dog, they start like running around the house and they go, You call them zoomies?

00:47:37:01 – 00:47:37:16

Yeah.

00:47:37:18 – 00:47:40:01

Yeah. So I started calling this the doomies.

00:47:41:02 – 00:47:42:05

Oh, it’s just like this.

00:47:42:07 – 00:47:54:11

Free, this free floating anxiety. Feeling like something bad is about to happen. Like that is happening. Like, not sure why you feel anxious or uncomfortable, like, but it’s just they’re kind of things that I just because of the degrees and

00:47:56:00 – 00:48:24:28

you know that they’ve been in like yeah I mean and it changes and it’s never it never lasts forever and you know, like. I would say in the last six months, for the first time in my life, I’ve had more calm days than I’ve had anxious days, which I’m not used to. So I just run really high with anxiety. Generally speaking, so am I. I mean, to have days for the first time in my life, I can wake up in the morning and I sit up in bed and I’m like.

00:48:26:23 – 00:48:59:07

Like I feel okay. Yeah. I’m just like, this is incredible. Like, even if I feel neutral and I’m not so excited for something, but I’m not just feeling like something bad is about to happen. And I just, like, you know, I just feel relatively fine. It’s like I’m very grateful for those moments. And, you know, from from what I’ve heard and from people I’ve talked to who are further along in their own journeys and live longer, whatever they say, you know, like it’s like it’s possible to get to a place where you have more of those days and then you have days that are, you know, challenging, just like anxious days.

00:48:59:09 – 00:48:59:24

So,

00:49:01:09 – 00:49:36:08

you know, so I don’t know. I mean, it just it’s all relative to that, I guess. So, you know, there’s days where I’m just more uncomfortable talking to people and more uncomfortable saying, you know, prices out loud. Or even if I’m talking to somebody on the phone, it might just be specific to that person, you know, like that for whatever reason, like something’s coming up in me that’s this, like, anxiety about talking to that specific person and then other people. You know, if I get on the phone with somebody and I can just tell from the get go, like they’re like, I love what you do. And like, I’m getting the idea that money’s no issue and they’re just on board from the get go, it’s much easier to just be like, Hey, that is why I charge.

00:49:36:10 – 00:49:38:09

And they’re like, sweet, like, let’s book it. Okay.

00:49:39:02 – 00:50:13:07

Yeah. No, I can relate. I ended up putting on my website like a checkbox that said, like, I understand that sessions start at x amount and include this but can go up to this. And like that was a huge anxiety reliever for me because it made me feel like, okay, well they had to have like check this box to submit the form. So they must have some understanding before we talk. So it’s not going to be this like you get through a 20 minute phone call and you’re kind of at the part where you set your prices and now you have no idea how this is going to go down.

00:50:13:09 – 00:50:13:28

And you just.

00:50:14:00 – 00:50:15:16

Like that all time talking to them.

00:50:15:22 – 00:50:26:29

Like, well, makes my anxiety. And sometimes like even with the check box, like I’m going to lie. Like there are some people who you start talking to them on the phone and you’re like, Oh, and you just you still get a little bit nervous.

00:50:27:01 – 00:50:27:26

Totally, yeah.

00:50:27:28 – 00:50:50:22

You didn’t really read it. I thought they did, but they had to literally check. But I would say, like just that small, very small action has helped me a lot with talking about prices with someone on the phone because now I don’t feel like it’s some secret. I think before I felt like, gosh, if I told people on my website, they never contacted me and then

00:50:52:27 – 00:50:56:12

I’m so I better keep it a secret. You know, I’m on the phone with them and.

00:50:56:18 – 00:51:07:25

Felt like and or it wasn’t a total secret because it was like somewhere on my website you kind of had to dig for it. And so I was never sure if people actually like made it to that part of my website. So it.

00:51:07:27 – 00:51:08:24

Just yeah.

00:51:08:26 – 00:51:09:11

Like.

00:51:09:23 – 00:51:50:09

And it’s also like it’s a business, right? I mean, it’s like I could have a day where like I had a day like this a few weeks ago. I had just completed the shoot where like my client was somebody who is literally worth, I think, over $200 million. Okay, so there’s that. And they’re like, money’s no object. Like, I just love what you do let’s do a shoot on location with my family, everything or whatever. And it’s like and then 5 minutes later, you can be on the phone with somebody who is like, Oh my gosh. Like, did you charge a 490 session fee? Like, I actually only have a budget of $150 and they want literally the same photo shoot, but they have a budget of $150 and $100 is a lot to them.

00:51:50:22 – 00:52:25:03

And it’s like it’s just business. I mean, I think like business is getting used to just the law of averages and people just, you know, I take pride now in being turned down because I’m too expensive, you know, like that’s the number one reason why people don’t hire me. It’s not it’s like it’s they just either don’t want to pay what I’m charging or they can’t afford to pay what I’m charging. And it’s like, that’s cool, you know, like, that’s okay. Like, I would rather feel good personally about what I’m charging and then have some people fall away into like, really, you know, wish I was charging more.

00:52:25:05 – 00:52:40:26

I don’t feel good about that, but. Yeah. Like I’m getting more clients. Like, it just, you know. And that’s been a journey, too, of, like, really, you know, being okay with not having people hire me. Yeah.

00:52:41:08 – 00:52:47:20

Yeah. I think that’s I think that’s the journey that everyone that goes into SBE or Portrait System has to go on, right?

00:52:48:00 – 00:53:14:21

Yeah. And honestly, like, it’s easier to say this when you’re busy and when you have work coming in and when you just had a great month and it’s so much easier to be like, Yeah, it’s okay if I did get that job. But I think it is more challenging when it’s like when it’s, when maybe you’re not bring in any work at the moment and you’re like, there’s that intensity that like every single call feels like it’s the end all, be all, and you need to book that client because you don’t have anybody else in the pipeline.

00:53:15:00 – 00:53:15:15

Yeah, I.

00:53:15:17 – 00:53:31:10

Think and that’s a hard place to be like I think it can be, you know, some people probably have an easy time with it. I mean, it’s challenging for everybody. But, um, you know, as long as you don’t give up and you just keep moving forward, if you’re determined enough and you’re just.

00:53:32:03 – 00:53:42:03

Not going to give up no matter how, you know, no matter what your brain tells you and how difficult it feels on certain days, then I feel like eventually you will. Get to the place you want to be.

00:53:42:16 – 00:54:16:13

Yeah. And I think there’s always a way, right? Because, like, what you just mentioned is like. Yeah, like, if you’re in that place where you don’t have enough clients coming in, then it’s like, okay, well, you need more leads coming in, you need to work on your marketing. And even if you’re like in that spot where you’re like, I’m not a marketing person and I don’t have clients coming in, so I don’t have $3,000 to hire an agency. It’s like, take a breath. What can you do? Can you do a trade with someone? Can you trade someone photos for their time, like making an ad for you? I mean, like, I’m sure there’s different things that people could really do if they, like, stop.

00:54:16:15 – 00:54:38:21

And like, Sue always says, like, drop and give me 20 when you’re, like, stuck. And that’s something that always like has that with me because it’s like, okay, you could sit there and you could have your anxiety attack and you can ruminate and you can like spin out or you can drop and write down 20 freaking ideas to bring money in the door right now and then take action on like the ones that seem the best of that 20. So.

00:54:38:29 – 00:54:39:28

That’s yeah.

00:54:40:08 – 00:54:45:02

Yeah. For anyone who is struggling, I would say the reason is to draw.

00:54:46:16 – 00:55:23:06

I think my number one battle with myself. Not? No. I mean, I have multiple battles in my life. I don’t know why I’m saying, like, this is the only thing, you know, like. Yeah, but this one’s big. It comes almost on a daily basis, which is just a feeling of over overwhelmed. Like, I can go from feeling okay to feeling completely overwhelmed with life, like in a, in a second, you know, and that gets in the way of everything because when I feel overwhelmed, then I am much more likely to actually not take action on things and to I’m like, Oh, I have it feels like I have a million things that I have to do and learn and be and whatever.

00:55:23:08 – 00:55:39:17

But I’m going to scroll Instagram and say, you know, yeah. And it’s like, but and that’s just out of that overwhelm. And one thing I found incredibly helpful, I was in therapy, you know, not that long ago, and it just hit me in a deeper way than it ever had before that.

00:55:41:11 – 00:56:11:18

There’s no there’s no medal to actually win. Like, if you accomplished all the things on your to do list today, if you were to be the perfect specimen of who you think you need to be today? Like you still don’t win a medal for it. You know, like, and I realize that, like, I’ve always operated from this perfectionistic space of, like, as though I’m going to win some medal every day if I just accomplished enough, if I am enough by whatever. And so I’ve been reminding myself.

00:56:12:16 – 00:56:18:15

Constantly. Like, there’s nothing to win here. Like, nobody actually gives a shit how I run my business except for me.

00:56:20:03 – 00:56:49:06

Nobody cared if I accomplished ten things on my risk today or if I decide to take the day off. It’s totally up to me. I get to have my life the way that I want. And. Like I’m not going to win anything for doing it a certain way. And that’s helping to kind of like take the pressure off and like put down the overwhelm a little bit and then sometimes just like put some things down and not have to feel like I need to accomplish so much. And it’s helped me to actually accomplish more because I’m coming at it from a much calmer space.

00:56:49:19 – 00:56:50:04

Yeah.

00:56:50:15 – 00:57:06:15

That is such a like an aha lightbulb moment. You saying that? It’s like, look, at the end of the day, regardless of what you do, there is no last place. There is no first place model. You’re just living your life and you know, yeah, that’s it. And I was.

00:57:06:18 – 00:57:41:15

Like, I asked, like, I just turned 35 and I’m like, you know, been reflecting a lot on just like, you know, time going by seemingly faster as I get older. And like the one big thing is like, I don’t want to get too into my life and have regrets, especially regrets that are only based on the fact that I was just scared to try something, you know, because that seems like such a ridiculous reason to ultimately be the thing that stopped me from doing something that I really wanted to do. And currently, as I say, that like, I could probably come up with a list of things that I’m too scared to actually take action on.

00:57:42:12 – 00:58:04:26

But like, maybe today is not that day, you know, like I’m taking action on a lot of other things that I one time was scared to take action on. And, you know, I’m just going to continue to kind of put one foot in front of the other. And one day those things will happen, you know? And it’s like that. Yeah. I don’t know. It’s just like it’s such a, it’s such a journey of just, like, showing up every single day and like.

00:58:07:01 – 00:58:23:24

And even just asking yourself, like on a given day like today, like, okay, like if I were to get everything done today that I think I need to accomplish and I was on my deathbed tomorrow would I really look back and be like, Good job. You completed anything on your list yesterday. Like, that’s so valuable. Like, no one cares.

00:58:23:26 – 00:58:24:11

I don’t think.

00:58:24:13 – 00:58:49:12

I would care. You know, like, I don’t think it would actually matter so much. And I try to remind myself that because things when I’m feeling overwhelmed can feel like it’s the end all, be all, and, like, you know. Yeah, and it just kills all the joy, it kills all the fun. And it’s like, why? Why are we even doing this thing of, like, business and, you know, being artists for a living? And we’re not even going to let ourselves enjoy the process. You know.

00:58:50:15 – 00:58:54:05

That is a mess, right? So like mic drop on that.

00:58:55:24 – 00:59:28:16

Right? We there is just such a wonderful more conversation to go with in that unfortunately we did. We are coming up on the one hour mark and I feel like we can continue this conversation potentially on a different episode. But for now, I think we’re going to go ahead and, you know, call it there, unfortunately. And Aaron, before we let you go in all of this, you know, if you can please share with us where other members can go ahead and find you on line.

00:59:29:10 – 01:00:04:23

Sure. So my name, Aaron Jay Young with my middle name is spelled out JAY just like my clubhouse handle. And so that’s my Instagram, my website. That’s more like an editorial kind of base website is energy. And then my studio website is Aaron Jay Young studio dot com, which honestly, if you’re like struggling with like how do I make a website that might be good with Call to action is that just mimic that website like and you might have something because you know I just took from other people’s experience to to create that

01:00:06:20 – 01:00:13:15

and what else I mean those those are the main ones. That’s that’s really I think the main places you can find me.

01:00:14:10 – 01:00:21:23

That’s fantastic. Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s been absolutely wonderful conversation and hopefully get to have another one at some point.

01:00:22:16 – 01:00:24:13

I’d love to thank you.

01:00:24:29 – 01:01:03:15

So everyone, please, please, please be sure to go follow Aaron and also make sure to follow The Portrait System on Instagram and on Facebook as well. Also, be sure to check out the blog posts that are associated with our clubhouse interviews at SueBryceEducation.com/blog. You can follow Ashleigh on Instagram at Ashleigh Taylor Portrait that is A s h l e i g h. And you can find me there as PopLight_Photography. If you are a member of the portraits system and you have any more questions for Aaron, Ashleigh, or myself, go tag us in a post in The Portrait System Members Only Facebook Group.

01:01:03:27 – 01:01:19:09

And if you are not a member of The Portraits System and you are interested in learning more about how we can help your business succeed, reach out to Ella on our support team by emailing support@SueBryceEducation.com. Thank you again for joining us and we hope you can join us next week.

01:01:19:27 – 01:01:55:15

Thanks again for listening today. And don’t forget, you can listen to either me or our special guests every Friday on Club House at 11:00 a.m. Pacific. Thank you so much for listening to the Portrait System Podcast. Your five-star reviews really help us to continue what we do. So, if you like listening, would you mind giving us a review wherever you listen? I also encourage you to head over to SueBryceEducation.com, where you can find all of the education you need to be a successful photographer. There are over 1,000 on-demand educational videos on things like posing, lighting, styling, retouching, shooting, marketing, sales, business, and self-value. 

There’s also the 90 Day Startup Challenge, plus so many downloads showing hundreds of different poses. We have to-do checklists for your business, lighting PDFs, I mean truly everything to help make you a better photographer and to make you more money. Once again, that’s SueBryceEducation.com.