(Thanks to Katelyn James for these photos of me!)

Back in July when I went to Justin & Mary’s Lighting Workshop here in Richmond, before they launched into lighting techniques, they shared a little bit about their business and their motivation behind why they shoot. They said they had boiled down their business goal and purpose to a few sentences, and everytime a business decision came up they would hold it up to that purpose and see if it aligned with their business, or not. I had heard of having a “mission statement” for your brand and business, but for some reason the way they explained it suddenly brought it to life in a whole new way for me. A much more important way than just finding the “3 key words that summed up my shooting style”, or my brand “feel”. But at the same time, it almost paralyzed me to think about being able to put into words what my “why” is. What if I didn’t know? How was I even going to begin finding the words for it? 

Well, no sooner had I started drifting off mentally and over-analyzing HOW to write my Why, Mary announces that “We’re going to give you a few minutes right NOW to jot down the first things that come to mind when you think of your why.” And basically it was ready, set, GO! Of course, being a classic over-analyzer it can be really hard for me to just go with my gut and not think too much. But here’s what I wrote back on that day in July:

My why: To document love, beauty and happiness on a day that can never be re-lived. To do it in a soft, whimsical way – not art for art’s sake, but an artistic spin on a true moment. I want to help draw out the emotion that’s already there, not create [a false] one. Genuine joy. I want to be true to the subject each time. Casual, approachable.

Not a bad start, for sure. I knew all of that was a big part of it. But I have been mulling over it and processing it further since then. I knew that I wanted to be able to share it, at some point, but I also have this perfectionistic tendency to not want to really commit to something or share it for all the world to see until it’s, well, perfect. But I could be re-thinking wording forever. And I’ve realized it’s so much less about having the perfectly worded and most brilliantly concise Why as it is about just having one and knowing what it is. Having a deeper purpose that you filter all of your decisions through. A deeper, underlying goal so that the way you serve clients means something.

I’ve realized, as I reflected back over my own experience as a bride, that sentimentality and nostalgia are HUGE to me. I wore my grandmother’s wedding dress, not just because it was vintage and lace and beautiful, but because it was beautiful AND had sentimental meaning to me. It has a whole story and history of it’s own, and I was becoming another part of that. I love that. When that same set of grandparents pulled out their wedding album on their 50th anniversary and were able to show it to us grandkids I realized THAT’S why I do what I do, and THAT’S what I want to be part of – artfully preserving and documenting memories to show the future generations. We marveled over the old style of their clothes and how young and handsome/beautiful they were. I loved seeing what photography was then, and knowing how it’s changed over the years. But regardless of those stylistic changes, we were able to see and hold the story of their once-in-a-lifetime day from 50 years ago. And that’s priceless to me.

So how do I sum that up in a few sentences, that reflects my Why and my style for achieving that? I’m still working on that part. My “mission statement”, which is what I’d call the more concise version of my Why is still in the works. But that’s ok. The important thing is that I know and grasp my motivation behind what I do and that it’s reflected in how I shoot and how I interact with my clients, and therefore creates and maintains consistency.

So, what about you? Have you found your Why? I challenge you, even if you’re not a photographer, to figure out Why it is you do what you do. Until you have something to base every other part of your business off of, it really can feel impossible to truly achieve the brand consistency that you want (trust me, I know). So take some time to think through it, even if it feels like you’re coming up blank at first. It may not be easy, but it’s a very rewarding process of self-discovery. :)

More to come in the future as I continue to find the words to sum up my style, mission statement, etc….