There are a lot of titles and descriptions that can be applied to me. Wife. Daughter. Sister. Middle Child. Photographer. Business Owner. Fashion Lover. Tea Drinker. Homeowner. Cat Enthusiast. Blogger. I am all of those things – or rather, all of those things are part of who I am, but none of them in and of themselves encompass me fully. No one or two of them define me. In fact, none of them truly define me, including “photographer” and “business owner”.

Marvelous Things Photography is only officially comprised of me. I have no other full-time employees. And we’ve heard it said a lot that the only thing separating us from other photographers is, well, US. Who we are, the one unique thing that we can bring to the table – ourself. Our personality. Our creativity. Me. So yes, in very many ways I AM my business. My branding happens to be very tied into who I am as a person, and my particular interests. No one else can be me, and that’s what makes MTP unique from other businesses.

But I think an important distinction should be made and remembered (often). In an industry where so many businesses are tied very closely to individual people – where MTP feels like just an extension of me – it can be easy to get entirely too wrapped up in what we accomplish (or don’t) as our business. It can be fun to be completely consumed with it when all is going well, and you’ve shot your dream weddings, are getting published all over the place, and have 100% client satisfaction. But what happens when you get a “no” from a publisher you really wanted to work with? What happens when a client is disappointed even when you gave your best effort? What happens when you thought you had a booking confirmed, and they decide to go with another photographer to save money? In the moments of disappointment or failure, it can be paralyzing to feel like I’m tied to my business and all of it’s successes and failures. If I’m not able to step out of my office at the end of a day and know that no matter how wonderful or difficult my day was, that I’m still an individual person of worth, and that I’m NOT defined by the work that I do, then I think my perspective is off.

I know that my true worth comes from the Lord, and who He says I am. But there are days it doesn’t feel like it, when I let my focus become “Tori the photographer” or “Tori the business owner”. Even “Tori the wife” fails and disappoints sometimes. But interestingly, God doesn’t define me by any of those titles. And it’s a good thing, too, because none of them are guaranteed to stay around forever. If I hold too tightly to any of them, I’ll be lost when the day comes that I no longer am one of them. It doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them to the fullest, but I don’t want to lose sight that I am much more than the work I do, much more than the business I own. And so are you.

As you go about your work today and this week, may this serve as an encouraging reminder of what’s true.