After our first year in business, we were so ready to hit the ground running and really get this little business going! However, it seemed the universe had other plans…

To be honest, 2011 was a dismal year for us. We shot 0 weddings, 0 portrait sessions, we had a few inquiries that came our way but none booked! It was terrible. We started blogging but it felt like no one was paying attention, and since we had such little experience or sessions to blog we had no posts to make. After 6 months we were starting to lose hope that we could do this and we almost called it quits.

But, we didn’t give up. We put all of our effort towards learning all that we could about photography and all the little things that it takes to manage a business. There was so much we had no clue about, mostly on the business side of things. Even then technology was advancing so quickly that using CDs to deliver images quickly became outdated and USB drives were the new “it thing”. After months of frustration, we had hit a wall.

Eventually, our 3rd member left our team and so Dani and I were left to make some decisions. Should we put our best foot forward, put all of our time and effort in and keep trying? Or should we throw in the towel and close up shop? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open. We couldn’t let our business, our dream, and our passion be just another statistic.

So we continued to chug along! Even though our website was a tad bit…thrown together… and we only had one wedding to show for our portfolio, we waited and worked so hard to consistently show up on social media and blog as much as we could. I remember being so proud when I searched for “Sacramento Wedding Photographers” and we were on page 6 of Google!

Our mantra became “we just need one couple to take a chance on us!” And we waited a whole year and half to get that chance.

So since we have no pretty images from this particular year to look at, we just wanted to take this time to send a message to anyone reading this who has struggled in this way as well. Whatever your case may be, we know it can be frustrating when you’re so excited about chasing your dream or following your heart and you’re met with rejection or silence. Please, don’t give up! There are so many people out there who want or need to hear your story or to empathize with you. To know they’re not alone and to be inspired to follow their hearts as well. Even if you’re just one person, you can make such a positive impact on the world. Even if it’s in a small way that only affects just a few people, it’s so worth it to try. Even if you fall flat on your face and look like a fool, at least you could say you tried your best. Most people are too scared to even get that far. So if you’re struggling too, especially during these crazy COVID times, know that things will get better and you are so worthy of success.

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