The
Alisandra Photography Blog

Today is Friday. There is snow on the ground. And I got home from DC last night at 3am. These three things alone make me want to stay in bed just a little bit longer. To soak up the feeling of sleeping in. But my alarm rang at 8am and I woke up to get things done [and make some much needed coffee] – trying to head the advice of some leaders in the wedding photography industry.

Yesterday, I hopped in the car with 4 other amazing photographers and we road tripped it up 95 to The Fillmore. This was the location of Justin & Mary’s latest stop on their cross country What’s Next tour. Instead of oozing about how amazing it was and how much I learned, how challenged I was and how motivated they got me for 2013, I want to share some of my favorite points on the tour. Mary is really good at making bold statements, so I’ll share what I learned in her fashion:

Ask yourself, “If I want ________, then I have to _________.”
Anxiety is experiencing failure in advance.
You WILL be criticized.
Ask yourself, “Who sacrificed for you?”
Maximize your outputs for your inputs.
Most bottlenecks come from places in your business you dread.
PERSONALITY isn’t enough.
Commit. To your craft, your story, and your service.
You don’t get a gold star for doing what you’re supposed to do.
Give them what they don’t know they want.

And with that, I’m off to DC again for a studio engagement shoot that I’m STOKED to share once it’s finished. I mean, how many of these do you see? Slim to none is the answer, y’all. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and if you attended last night’s event, what did YOU learn? What are you taking away? And if you haven’t gone, FIND A LOCATION AND GO!! It is SO worth it!