Are you ready to put yourself out of your comfort zone in your business? In this episode, my guest Amanda Burman talks about her ups and downs in almost a decade of creative entrepreneurship. Creative business owners who are just getting started, especially photographers like Amanda, can learn from her experiences to grow in their own entrepreneurial journeys. 

The Branded by Bernel Podcast is brought to you by Bernel Westbrook, lead designer and founder of Branded by Bernel, a design studio dedicated to building strong brands and Showit websites for creative entrepreneurs.

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“I want people to know, there is alway room at this table. So many times people are busy looking up and forward, that they actually forget those a few steps behind them. I will never forget you, in fact, this job can be lonely, so join me!” -Amanda Burman

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

When Amanda started as a photographer eight years ago, the industry looked completely different. She had to learn about running her business from the blogs of successful photographers. In her first few years, she experienced many setbacks and felt like there wasn’t a seat at the table for her. 

Things changed for Amanda when she started to purposefully put herself out of her comfort zone. She went to conferences that helped her grow her business sense and network, and she sought educational opportunities to grow her photography skills. 

Getting outside of your comfort zone is key to growing both personally and professionally. The positive experiences and the community you build will help you keep going when you feel like you are experiencing setback after setback.

“Investing in Yourself is Never a Loss” -Amanda Burman

If you’re torn about whether or not to hit the purchase button on that conference ticket in your cart, you should go for it. Putting money into educating yourself and growing your skills may feel scary, but you are worth the investment. There is also a return on your investment when you invest in yourself.

Make an Exit Plan, and Then Take a Leap of Faith

Amanda worked her business part-time while teaching high school for several years. At the beginning of 2020, after going over her budget and meeting with a financial advisor, she decided to go full-time with her business. Then the pandemic hit. 

Amanda’s exit plan from her teaching job allowed her to take a big leap of faith into full-time photography, even in the middle of a pandemic. Despite the events industry taking a major hit, Amanda doubled her profits from 2019 to 2020. 

Amanda relied on her community and business mentorship group to make it all work. Another major part of her success was selling online courses. Amanda combined her love of teaching with photography to teach newbie photographers, especially busy moms with new cameras, the basics of getting started with photography.

3 Actionable Steps from Amanda 

1. Plan your content in three-month increments. If you want more peace of mind about your social media content, think three months out instead of weekly. Planning out your posts and promotions in advance will help you stay on target with your marketing plan. 
2. Plan your breaks. As an entrepreneur, it’s hard to give yourself time off, but no one else is going to do it. You can’t be “on” for 52 weeks a year, so you need to plan in time off work to spend with your loved ones and get reenergized.
3. Plan to outsource one thing every year. You don’t have the capacity to do everything for your business. Outsourcing tasks can help keep your business running while you focus on what you love and launch new ideas. If outsourcing overwhelms you, start small and increase what you outsource every year.

Get to Know Amanda

Amanda is a photographer and mentor who focuses on Senior Photography, Engagement + Wedding Photography, Newborn Photography: some of the most important, beautiful life events our girls and women cherish.

She also offers Commercial Photography, Photography Courses and Workshops, and Presets to help other photographers feel accepted in photography. As a former dance teacher, her background reflects her talent for seeing beautify and fostering development in others.

Connect with Amanda

Instagram: @burmanphotography

website: www.burmanphotography.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/burmanphotography

Connect with Bernel

brandedbybernel.com

instagram.com/brandedbybernel

Review the Transcript:

Bernel
Hey, welcome to the Branded by Bernel podcast. I’m your host, Bernel. Now, you may know me as the branding and web designer who obsesses over the details so you don’t have to. We all desire to be great at what we do. Although once we get there, no one seems this off about the messy middle. This motivated me to set the table and invite industry peers over to share stories about living and working in the creative world. So grab the OJ and champagne, pull up a chair, join the creative community and be prepared to build a brain you fall in love. This is the Branded by Bernel Podcast. Hi, Amanda, thank you so much for being on the Branded by Bernel podcast this morning. How are you?

Amanda Burman
I’m wonderful. How are you this morning?

Bernel
I’m doing well. For everybody listening out there. This is Amanda Burman. And she’s a photographer who really focuses on the woman’s journey. We had the opportunity to work together in 2020 when she was adding educational services to her website in branding. Thank you so much for being here. Amanda.

Amanda Burman
I’m so excited. Thank you for having me. It’s fun to work on another project with you.

Bernel
Yes, indeed. So let’s start by telling the people how long you’ve been in business.

Amanda Burman
So I have been officially in business for eight years. But I have been doing this on the side like a little side hustle for almost a decade. So yeah,

Bernel
well, almost a decade. That is incredible. No doubt the industry today looks very different than it did a decade ago, I’m sure.

Amanda Burman
Oh, so different, so different. And in a good way. I find it to be more accessible and welcoming now than it was when I started. So I’m excited about that for the newbies.

Bernel
Oh my goodness, yes. It’s wonderful that it’s more accessible. Accessibility is so important to helping your business to thrive. So along those lines, what access did you have to mentors and peers in the field, when you first got started when you were a newbie,

Amanda Burman
you know, when I first started, I would say one of the biggest things that photographers can do to learn, or just small businesses who want to be creative was to go to blogs. So there wasn’t a platform for coaching or or mentors. So oftentimes, I would go to local photographers blogs, and I would see what they were doing. And oftentimes it was just kind of like looking at their work. So I didn’t have somebody to bounce off ideas, or to say maybe I should LLC this year, or I just didn’t have a core. And to be honest, a lot of my early days, those first couple years of wanting to turn a profit. I had doors closed on my face, or very much like there’s no chair for you at this table right now get better. And then you can come here. And I it was very discouraging. And I was thankful because at the time. For those listening, I was also a teacher for 10 years. So I taught high school, English and journalism and photojournalism and graphic design that was like, I’m so thankful I still had another job to bring in income, because it wasn’t welcoming. I felt like okay, this will just forever be a side hustle that I’m going to have to figure out slowly. And I did. So it was not accessible. It was a lot of Googling, a lot of hoping, you know, throwing whatever throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks kind of stuff. Whereas now, I have a business coach, and I’m all about having a team that I can turn to because it can be lonely being in Korea, and you would know that it can be super lonely having a creative business.

Bernel
So oh my goodness, yes, I definitely understand that feeling. The creative journey feels like something you’re walking on alone. And so thank you so much for sharing that aspect of your story. So you were looking at blogs, you blog was huge and huge at that time, it was kind of new on the scene. And then that’s where you could get a lot of information for people. So you went to these blogs, what were some of the things that you were looking for.

Amanda Burman
So as an educator, myself, I know to look I was honestly looking for a lot of lighting instruction. I think lighting was something scary. I always called myself a natural light photographer because I was terrified of flash and all that stuff. So I would open these blogs and a lot of times the blogs weren’t necessarily educational. They were, you know, fancy wedding on the north side of Fort Wayne or you know, something like that. So they open it and I would look at the posing and I would say Okay, I like how her hips are forward or I would look for the shadows. So it was a lot of me digging through the images looking for tips on what to do for myself, not to recreate the images, but go Oh, I like how the light is coming from the right and there’s a little bit of shadow. So it was a lot of nitpicking. There were several times swear, if I say fall in love with a blog post, I would email or, you know, Instagram was just coming out, message them saying, Hey, I loved your work, and I was returned several times being blocked. And that just really hurt when you’re first starting off. And I think, you know, the even now looking at new photographers that are not in my opinion that are great and not charging enough, you want to wring their neck and say, Come on, you were worth so much more than that. I wish somebody would have said that, if that were the case for me, you know, six, eight years ago. But blogs, when I was first digging through them were not what they are. Now I feel like blogging now can be a source of education. And you notice from helping do my website, I have like a tab for just education. So photographers could go and click that and see oh, this is why you should have headshots or this is why you should send thank yous. There’s those are not the kind of blogs I was getting into. I was just getting into the blogs that were showing off work and learning the work. And then a lot of my business education came through fire trial error, fire trial error.

Bernel
Oh, my goodness, yes. I think that all entrepreneurs can relate to that process. It’s literally like, Okay, we walk a little bit, we fall down, we walk a little bit, we fall down. But it definitely sounds like you got the hang of walking and now running. And so it’s incredible. The education that you provide on your blog, there’s so much valuable content there. If you’re listening to this, and you’re a newbie photographer, or even a seasoned photographer who’s looking for things that really go beyond just posing and lighting, but really talk about what it’s like to run a business, then Amanda’s educational component on her blog is excellent. That is an excellent source. We talked a little bit about that struggle of looking for the community aspect. And so that’s huge for a lot of people listening at home. So tell me where that changed. Where did you find this creative community?

Amanda Burman
You know, I actually had to leave my town. I don’t necessarily live in a saturated area. I think there are several really good photographers in my area. I’m lucky to have like inspiration right around the corner. I joke that like my crush photographer is now one of my best friends. So that is something really neat for me now. But when I was starting people, I mean, I was competition. I was the new person. So I actually had to leave my town. And I went to a conference and I it was a leap of faith. Nobody around here was going to conferences. No, but that was a no thing. I can’t even tell you how I stumbled upon it. But I stumbled upon the reset conference. And the reset conference is amazing. I love it. If you’ve never gone this is my shameless plug. They’re going to be at hopefully, you know, pandemic pending, which is like the new hot word pandemic pending. They will be at Waco, Texas this fall in September. So I really encourage you to check it out. But when I first went, it wasn’t Indianapolis. So it was only an hour drive. And I went, it was a three day thing. And I went alone. And I just took it all in and I could so much from that one conference springboarded me into taking my business more serious. It helped me meet my now business coach. I met Meredith Gradall, who is the CEO and founder of Iris works, which is my back office. I met Todd Watson who then is now the owner of show it and he like I remember he was there talking and they had someone helping show website stuff. And I was sold and I actually won through like a raffle like a year subscription to show it. And that’s how I started it there. So just like so much. Just information business wise came to me from the reset conference.

Bernel
Oh my goodness, that’s incredible. Yeah, putting

Amanda Burman
myself out there and going something to be very uncomfortable in person was what I had to do.

Bernel
I love that you said putting yourself out there and getting outside of your comfort zone. That is huge, great things happen right outside of the comfort zone. Okay, so you’re rocking this conference alone. You’ve went and you’re looking for your community. Tell me a little bit about that feeling when you walk in.

Amanda Burman
Okay, so I think it’s it’s important to know, I am not shy, I think being a teacher to high schoolers. And if there’s a more evil age from the age of 14 to like, 18 I don’t know what is. So I am used to putting myself out in front of these kids who think I’m stupid or lame or whatever. I usually win them over. Not a big deal. But I walked in there and I was very intimidated. And it takes a lot to say that because I played water polo at Purdue University, an individual an athlete and I was a teacher like there was a lot I knew I was good at I was but I walked in and I was very intimidated. And I learned that RIP to bring friends because people came and it was kind of clicky at first. Actually what made me fall in love with my business my now business coach them and Wolf because she was my first breakout session. And somebody was being nippy. Or you know, you get more than 40 women together in a room and we get a little catty at times it’s it’s a thing. Anyway, she just nipped it in like the most just the nicest way. And she just gave me faith in business after that breakout. So yeah, it emanated I was, I didn’t feel good enough. At the very first like opening. I think they made a joke. The two ladies that were leading it, Rebecca, and Kelly, they made a joke about Yeah, I remember when we just shot in JPEG only. And I was like, Oh, you shouldn’t do that. It was just such a novice. I was so new. So I learned so much from just going but I was very intimidated. I felt not good enough in that moment. And then by day three, after going through enough breakouts, I was like I’m actually doing okay, like I’m, I’m on the right path for where I need. So if anything, I mean, I got lots of tips, a lots of applicable tips. Like I went home, I remember I did the SEO course and like, redid all the describing on my images so that I was caught it like the website spiders could go through and better understand my images for Google ranking. I blogged more. I made sure that my ledger at the time, I was only doing a yearly ledger because I was part time. And now monthly. I’m very, like I have to hit certain numbers each month, but it was eye opening that I was like okay, and I I am my other I would I wouldn’t call him a business coach. But it’s somebody I’ve turned to legal stuff. Joey Vitaliy, he just had his first podcast in 2020. But he did a spoke on LLC. And it was when I started having the ball roll on LLC. So it was, it was what I needed. I had mastered, in my opinion, to the point where I needed to photography, it was either now make it or break it either take pictures of your friend’s kids for the rest of your life, or like, make this a business. And that was that that conference had both it had tips on photography,

Bernel
there’s so much value in that story. So so much value, because I feel like that’s where a lot of people are, they’re sitting at these crossroads of it’s time to make it or break it in their businesses. So they go online, they’re looking for educational resources, they look at these conferences, and you look at the pictures and the testimonials on those websites. And you’re like, Oh, my goodness, I really want that I really want those results. But I don’t know anybody who’s gonna be there. Or I don’t have any friends who are business owners that I could take with me, who would I even mentioned this to or who would relate to where I am. But the fact that you stepped outside of your comfort, the fact that you stepped outside of your comfort zone, and you put yourself in a place where you can not only learn and gain education, but you also gained inspiration, a word that really stuck out to me was you said faith, they gave you the faith to really step out and make it a business, they gave you that comfort space. So I think that’s incredible. Thank you so much for sharing that part of your story. Because I see a lot of people have tickets to conferences sitting in their carts right now. So go ahead step outside of your comfort zone.

Amanda Burman
And purchase. You know, and I will say this too, about if conferences or courses, investing in yourself is never a loss. So I was it was more money than I think I was comfortable spending because I didn’t buy it early. I bought it last minute my ticket. But what I got out of that is what I now can reap the benefits of like, even just building out a small community of people that I met when I was there. And then when I came back, and I was finally I wouldn’t be saying I wouldn’t say people took me more seriously, but I had like I had tips for people and I had ideas and people started listening and it gave me a little bit of like a Oh, I am I am good at this. And I just really needed that like investment in myself to really take my business serious.

Bernel
Oh, I love that. Invest in yourself and you will never be disappointed. There’s always a return on this. The ROI is high. Do it. Yes, the ROI is high. So that brings you up to feeling confident enough to start a business. That’s the point we are in your story. But when we spoke in 2020 You were getting ready to do another huge leap. You were getting ready to go full time in your business. Or you just went full time when you reached out to me. So tell me what led to that decision. I

Amanda Burman
could cry this whole story. It was big. I love it. I loved being a teacher. I don’t ever if anyone’s listening to this and you are a teacher, you were grossly underpaid and underappreciated, but I love you like I, I love teaching students were so much to me it was like it is a hole in my heart not having them every day. All right. But because they are so grossly underpaid and overworked, I was being burnt out. And I got to the point where my photography business was almost more than my teacher salary. And if you live in Indiana, or the Midwest, specifically, and you’re listening to this, that year, let’s see 2019, there was a huge rally for educators. And we were ignored, essentially, we didn’t, we didn’t get money. We like Indiana was one of the lowest teacher paid states ever. It’s sad. And it was just really heartbreaking to like be in a profession where I was giving so much to my students, and they appreciate it. Like I have students that I still talk to today. But it got to the point where like, it was just not a good mental space for me or my children. I had two small kids at the time. So my husband, I sat down and he’s a numbers guy. And he did he said, Okay, we need to make X amount. Can you do that? I’m like, Oh, I’m already making that much like, like, Oh, you look at my letter, I’m already doing that. And so then after that, we even sat down and met with our financial advisor. If you don’t like I wouldn’t just say just do it. Like, I think that’s probably the worst thing to give to somebody. That was in my ninth year of teaching. And we went with our financial advisor. And he’s, I was like, I’m ready to just stop now. Like, that was the year we didn’t get the funding and teacher pay went down more. And he is if you could just hold on one more year, in the state of Indiana, if you are like us, I want to say civil servant. But like if you work for the state or the government for 10 years, you’re vested, so you can take your retirement, you can’t have it, you can’t touch it, but you can take it with you and put it in a different font and let it grow. So I would have lost money had I left at nine years. So I stayed one more year. And so that whole year, it was very, very clear that I would not be returning the year after even my principal knew my students knew I had a junior who was going to be a senior. And she said to me, she’s like, Can I be your intern? I was like, Sure. So we already had planned, like, you’re gonna be coming to my house two days a week to do my Pinterest, you know, like, I was, it was very clear. And then COVID hit. So I taught my last class and didn’t even know it. And that was really, that was heartbreaking for me. I said goodbye to my freshmen on a Friday the 13th see on Monday, and never saw them in person again. Oh, wow. So that was a really hard even transition. Just because I was like, do I really want to be done teaching? Like, do I want this to be the end of this legacy. And I mean, I, I didn’t mind teaching virtual I taught virtual before, this wasn’t anything new. But it really was not what I was looking for. So

Bernel
that’s incredible, had really planned and had a strategic exit strategy for going

Amanda Burman
full time. I did. It did. And you know, and something to mention, if you’re listening to this, and people have talked about like the, the pain and the frustration of COVID because I do not bring that down at all. Because it was it was very hard for everybody in the wedding industry, especially because weddings are my main, my main income generator. And I had already planned to have March and April off. And that was because I was in charge of prom. I taught dance. So I had a dance recital. So like I had already taken those months off. So people were when people were up in arms and upset and freaking out. I felt so thankful that I was teaching at that time, because I had already planned to have that time off. I had already budgeted and I had already hit the monetary things I needed to hit before those two months, months happened. So when they shut down, I didn’t feel it. It wasn’t something my business felt because I almost had it planned. So that was one huge lucky break for me. Time. So anyway, that long story short, it was a several years in the making lots of budgets with the husband, meeting with a financial advisor. And then when I hit the ground running in the middle of a pandemic, you know, because starting your own business in the middle of a pandemic is a great idea. For me it was but I I just didn’t it felt right. I have not regretted. I have not had any regrets about leaving teaching.

Bernel
Yes, no regrets on being an entrepreneur. Oh my goodness. I love hearing that.

Amanda Burman
And as I sit here and I tell my husband who is still in the education world, he is an administrator. He comes home and tells me you just seem happier you just and like we joke like we have home titles like my title at home is director of operations like I groceries and food and laundry and like I still do those things and they’re getting done with a more grateful heart on my end that I can still hit my monetary goals. And you know what I have found that not teaching has helped me be there for my clients. It’s in a whole different way, including some of my new mentor students that are dabbling, and I’m helping them get their business going. So because I’ve stopped teaching, I’m able to be more present for the people who also need me that aren’t just high schoolers. So that has been a blessing.

Bernel
No, this wonderful. So yes, COVID definitely threw some curveballs into entrepreneurship. And it’s amazing, though, to see how your business really thrived during that time period. And so I’m so happy for you. I know what COVID 19 did to your teaching career, but what kind of community did you find in 2020, that helped with your business career?

Amanda Burman
So Oh, my community was amazing. I don’t know how I would have gotten through COVID Had I not been part of a group. So in early 2020, it was actually at the end of 2019 into 2020. I had joined a, like a mentor group with my my coach, and it was about 16 women that were all different entrepreneurs. So we had like a florist. And there was a wedding planner, and, you know, portraits and family videographer. So we had all these different vendors and different entrepreneur adventures. And we were all already in this business group. And we were talking things like Pinterest, and we talked about all the business things and then COVID hit. And they were there for me when I, you know, tearfully was like, Should I leave teaching, and they were like, oh, man, this has been the plan. This has been the plan for before COVID. This was the plan like that, just having a group that reminded me how much work I had put into this decision. And it didn’t need to be emotional. This business can seem emotional, but there is a plan. So you don’t have to be emotionally, you can just stick to the plan. And it was all women, which made it great, because if someone was PMS, saying like, maybe it’s your hormones, maybe you should give it a week. You know, and because we lived all over the United States, like we there’s only three of us in the Midwest, Midwest, some of them were in Seattle, some of them were on the New York. So getting to hear how COVID was affecting each person was good. It was very humbling, because like I said, we weren’t filming it quite yet, in the Midwest, we weren’t. I’ve only I only had two weddings Cancel for the entire year. So I still shot 20 Plus weddings this year. So I felt so lucky having those women and I knew my luck, like I knew how grateful I needed to be and not be rubbing in people’s nose. And just having that group who was also navigating how to be present on social media, during social unrest in different parts of the country, it was also humbling. So having a group to turn to enemies very high tension, you have well meaning comments, but you know, to bounce them off before you just throw them out there. I was so thankful for that group. No. And if I hadn’t had a group, I think I would have stayed with teaching, I would have just stayed with the safer option, which now in hindsight, it wasn’t the safer adoption. Like do I want to be in the schools right now? No, no, I want to be recording a podcast with this awesome woman.

Bernel
That is so awesome. Yes. I mean, it really does sound like having that community is what helped you get through that year. And it’s just incredible that you had that communication with other people. And so now pure happiness is important. I’m all about loving what you do. But people who are listening to this are probably asking, How does she pay her bills? Because she quit her job. So did you make a profit in 2020?

Amanda Burman
I doubled my profit from 2019 to 2020. So yes,

Bernel
oh my goodness, that’s incredible. You doubled your profit. Yes. So you guys hear it firsthand that you can not only take a business that will make your life happy. But you can also do it while finding a profit. So that is incredible. I’m so glad that you mentioned that. Something that you said it really resonated with me. It was the statement where you said I can’t bottle this up and sell it but I can share what I have learned and how I have achieved what I’ve achieved. And that really hit home with me your love of education and coupled with the journey of being an entrepreneur.

Amanda Burman
Yes. So something that when I was a teacher and there are different types of teacher because there are different types of students right. I never saw myself as the keeper of information. I was not the keeper I was the guide. I will open the gate I will show you where to look and you need to be the one to do the hard work or it will never stick. Okay, that was always my like, my go to with teaching especially seniors who wanted to be baby fed. No, you go in the library. Here’s the books and then you open and read them. How so I can’t bottle my success and sell it to you because that’s my success. That’s my hard work. That’s me walking to the Liberian figuring it out, right? But I can show you the steps I took to get here to feel confident to not be afraid to pay my bills and to invest in myself and how, what tournaments I took to get here. So I have four courses, I would say two are like my MIDI, like, if you’re ready to learn, these are the two that you need. And then I have two that are a little bit more lighthearted, just watch and learn kind of thing. It’s not so much you don’t need to digest so much. So I, I’ll start with my two lighter ones. My first one I have workflow, I think I call it it’s editing workflow and delivery. Oh, my, and it’s a video of my, my desktop while I’m editing, I get a lot of questions, after someone has taken like a course on how to shoot is how do I deliver, like, what does it look like when you sit down after a session. So I literally turn on record and push record, as you watch me put the SD card in, and then how I call how I you know, put a call it then I upload it and I edit it and I deliver and even show you the email templates I use when I deliver. And I talk a little bit about posing. So it’s just a nice little catch all for someone who is charging money for pictures, but you’re not quite sure if your workflow is solid after the pictures. And that is very helpful. I wish I could have watched something like that in my early years because this has been that was very difficult to find that flow afterwards for me. And then I have one that’s just wedding day timeline. Because I was a teacher for so long. I feel like my timelines and my like I call them like, learning objectives. They’re very strong. I think that you know, I’ve been to hundreds of weddings as a photographer, I know wedding timeline and flow. Hopefully this bride is only going to do this one time. So let me share with you my knowledge. So it’s mostly aimed for wedding photographers that are just starting out. And they need to be able to build a timeline with their couple. So I tell the three questions that I prompt every couple with and then my filler questions on to that. And it’s a little short video plus a huge packet. And then I also include a lot of sample timelines that I’ve actually built. They’re not just like, leave 10 minutes for this. It’s like no, you see how much time a lot of each exact thing and then the notes I gave to the brides and grooms too. And I also this is funny too. I don’t think about this. But I gave a quick lesson on Google Docs, and loom, which is their two apps that I use for timeline building, because they’re interactive, and people need to see faces, and have that connection. So I give a quick lesson on those two things. And those are my lighter weight courses. And then the two heavier what my two heavy like heavy hitters that took a lot of time. And the two heavy hitters were actually both workshops that I did, and 2019 and 2018. And I had planned on continuing that but again, pandemic. So I changed them digital courses. One of them is how to shoot in manual. I had to be able to teach high schoolers because I taught photojournalism in yearbook, how to shoot in manual quickly, like we had two weeks to learn. So I came up with a method I called the Berman method real original. But I give you a mnemonic device. And there’s three things under each device that’s like, I don’t want to give it away and want you to buy it. But there’s three little things.

Bernel
Okay, guys, you heard it, you have to actually purchase the course to see what the pneumonic devices.

Amanda Burman
It’s very good. High schoolers can learn it, so can you

Bernel
it sounds very, very content packed very valuable and very interactive,

Amanda Burman
I would say that this is very much centered toward maybe a mom with a new camera or someone who wants to start shooting professionally. So it’s really capturing and freezing memories. I’m more of a journalistic photographer, or you know, getting reactions and things like that not posing terribly a lot. So, I do give scenarios I used to give homework, okay, like Alright guys, we’re at a basketball game. It’s about to be the winning shot. What should your ISO be? Like quizzing the students? I do that in the course as well. You know, angry hungry dad is underneath this swing set with their kids, where should you be standing in what should your I sob and we go, you know, we learn through that. And then I also have building your business with Berman which would probably be what I would say is the most valuable course I have created. It is a lot of my face. It’s notes, it is everything I would have done had I known I would be a full time photographer now. I wouldn’t necessarily ever go back and change anything about my journey. But now knowing that I probably would have LLC earlier, I would have had a separate account earlier. So it’s things that I did, but I would have done earlier. So but that’s just the tip of the iceberg like when I talk about why it’s so important to do set up your workflow for you and to make boundaries and again this was A workshop that I did that lasted a whole day. And I would say that was probably the most beneficial to aspiring creative business owners. It is not just for photographers, it could be for videographers, it could be florists, it could be wedding planners. Anybody who’s doing creative business would really benefit from that course. Oh, that

Bernel
is excellent. It definitely sounds like you have something for everybody. So unfortunately, Amanda, it does not look like the pandemic is going anywhere, anytime soon. So, if you’re if the people are listening at home, and they want to invest in something, what I’m hearing is business education is huge. That is something that we all really need to invest time and money in, honestly, to continue adding to our wheelhouse of services during this pandemic. So those are amazing that you have these courses. So something I wanted to ask you about, I get this question a lot. As a web designer, I talk to photographers, and they come to me weekly saying, I offer multiple types of photography services, should I sit down and just do one? Or should I keep them off my website? Or do I put them all on there? So I really wanted to ask you as someone who does multiple types of photography, what do you think,

Amanda Burman
when we talked about like trial and error, right, and I start I think a lot of photographers office senior photography, because we all know somebody that’s gonna graduate. And I that’s essentially kids and seniors are where I started. And as I kept shooting, and being asked to shoot more sessions, I found a love for telling a woman’s story. And I think it’s important to know that I taught high school, obviously, that but I also coached women’s swim. And I was a dance teacher. So I was around young girls a lot. And that was a huge undertaking, I took it very seriously, I wanted to help these women grow into strong, stronger women, and they already were. So as I got to love that part of my job, I found that same sentiment, you know, coming into photography, so I love girls, seniors, I love shooting engagement, I’ve actually had one person now that I have shot senior engagement, wedding, newborn and family. So that was like the full circle, which I just loved. That I would say the woman’s journey, just because that just really floated over from what I was already doing. And I felt very strong. And I, I think my next big adventure will be talking about post client care, because these women who have been with me as seniors, and now our new moms were texting, they were clients, and they were friends, but we were texting now at 2am if they need help with a newborn, because baby’s not latching you know, like I am helping beyond because that’s my calling, that’s me using my gift to really pour into people. And, um, you know, messaging, after a mom has had a loss, maybe a miscarriage, and I’m talking like I understand, I’m not just a photographer, I want you to know that. I’m thinking about you, because you are you’re coming into people’s most intimate times, and usually joyful times. So like, I just take that very seriously. And that was kind of how I figured that out. I will say that I shot a lot of large family sessions to realize I hated it. So. So like your reflection, I would say reflection is very important. After a session like what did I like about that? Was it the lighting or the people? Was it? You know, I just really reflecting after each year, I would reflect and I would also look back at the numbers. What was I making most money in? Like, look at my ledger. Okay, I made the most money in photography for weddings. Why I love weddings like that made sense. Like, okay, that I want to keep doing that. So how do you feel? What are the numbers saying? I do, I would say I wouldn’t say niche like, because I wouldn’t say that. Usually you’re just a newborn photographer, or you’re just looking back. I do offer family portraits, but you won’t see that on my website, because I don’t necessarily enjoy doing a lot of them. So what I do instead is I have an email list, and I email mini session announcements to people who have been past clients and I only shoot for past clients for family sessions. And you know, that’s like my thing. I just I don’t want to have a bunch of new people and I’m 30 spots filled up this fall for me. I didn’t have any problem filling 30 spots of past clients for family sessions. And I didn’t have to meet anybody new.

Bernel
Well, that is incredible, Amanda and it really does speak volumes. So your client experience and your client process that you create for them this amazing, memorable experience working with you because you have a lot of repeat clientele. So you offer senior photography, engagement, photography, wedding photography, and then also newborn photography. That’s a lot and it’s incredible that you can continue booking for all of those services. So you’re right, you walk with women through each phase of this journey. I love that I did.

Amanda Burman
I’m not pivoting by any means but I We’ll say in 2020, something I’ve really, really enjoyed. It’s not on my website, it will be soon, I’m sure was commercial photography for women owned businesses. So I’ve worked with three specifically. And it has been so much fun. For me, I have just loved pouring into these businesses as I see them going through the same path that I did, but I’m also doing their product photography and just chatting about the business life. So it has been, that has been something it’s very giving to me too. It’s like a whole nother step beyond that women’s journey. It’s like going into business ownership, and helping them thrive through photography and videography, too. So that’s been really neat, too. Oh, my

Bernel
goodness, yes. That is so incredible. Supporting Female entrepreneurs. I’m here for that. It’s more than just a hashtag, you guys, it really does mean something to have a strong, strong supportive team as a female entrepreneur. Okay, Amanda. So this is my favorite part of the podcast. If you’re listening at home, go grab your journal, go grab your pen, you know what to do. We learned your story. We heard what you’ve been through and how you’ve triumph and how you really give back to the community through your educational resources. But can you give the listeners at home three actionable steps that they can take today that will propel them forward? All right, drop those gyms, Amanda.

Amanda Burman
All right. So like I said earlier, I am not the holder of all the information like you have to work. So my three things that I did think about because this was a question that I was not planned for, but I knew it might come up. It’s plan, the word plan is gonna come up a lot. My first one was plan out your content in three months sections. So I focus on my whole year in quarters. So I think about the first three months, I’m going to run this promotion, I’m going to work on these three, you know, these three things, I think about three month increments, not weekly, months. So when I sit down to do my social media content, I use an app so I don’t have to actually post anything from my phone in live moment, I think three months out, I don’t think weekly, I think three months. And that helps give you peace of mind, what we will call batch editing or batch work to really work so that you can have free time later. So think in three months sections. I have for everything, blog posts, quarterly mindset, money wise, all of it. That’s number one. Number two is plan breaks. Okay, and I don’t I that was hard to do in 2020. Because I had planned a whole week off in October, which was totally shot because all the weddings moved to October. So I had zero break in October. But I do try to plan breaks, you need you time, you need to feel energized, you need to be functioning at 100%. And you can’t do that if you’re on all 52 weeks. So I actually plan breaks in my calendar for a week off, which means I’m off, I’d put my phone away. I you know, I’m not on social media. I do Ivan plan breaks on Sundays, it is very unlikely that you will see me posting on Sundays live anything of my face. Because I’m with my family, I plan that break. So plan your content, plan your breaks. And number three is plan to outsource one thing each year. So I go back to 2017. And I started outsourcing a couple things at a time. All right. So I outsource my Pinterest growth for three months to see how it worked. And I gave it to my intern and she had me up to like 60,000 views, like that month that I was like, dang, I can’t keep that up. But like that was wonderful for me to see that when I just get hand over the reins, somebody else can do it better than I can. So I outsource Pinterest, I outsource my wedding editing now. I outsource my web design to the amazing woman right here. And we’re calling you going hey, I got this great idea but I just don’t have the mind capacity or time to do it right now. And you’re like give it to me. I got it.

Bernel
Yes, it was all your vision. I just brought it to life. Who who launches

Amanda Burman
for courses and a website and their busiest season me that’s who didn’t plan that one out correctly. To be fair, when I planned that out and my three month thing, the pandemic was not there.

Bernel
Yes, right. But it still turned out to be an incredible year for you. It did and it

Amanda Burman
and I’m very thankful for that. So that was those are my three things plan out your content and three month sections, planned regs for yourself for your mental health. Okay, and then plan to outsource one thing this year.

Bernel
Yes. I love that. I love that so much.

Amanda Burman
I don’t and I think when I heard the word outsource I heard it the first year I went to a conference I was like what could I what do I have to outsource? Oh my goodness. There are so many things you can outsource and I think it took my business coach telling me Amanda you can outsource somebody was cleaning your house like that’s an outsource because it’s freeing up time for you. So I did I ever hiring a housekeeper for a couple months just to give me I work from home like I needed a clean home. So just Isn’t that mental space and capacity back? Outsourcing my editing this year was probably one of the smartest things I have ever done. Like I feel bad for women who are I said women photographers who are holding so tight to that because I was, but it’s like detrimental to their mental health. Like do it, just outsource it. And that was the smartest thing I could do this year giving up. I love show it I love how easy it is to act, you know, work with and you and I have talked about this before, but I knew to do it correctly and knew what I wanted. I needed somebody else to do it. So you just knowing how good it can be if you hand it off to somebody else, outsource one thing.

Bernel
Yes, it’s so good. So my outsource item. Well, actually, I outsource a lot of things in my life. But my favorite thing currently that I outsource is meal planning, I actually have someone who does meal prepping for me now. So it’s not something that I have to worry about every day. And it really did help my mental health. It’s not a business, outsource but it’s a life outsource. To have healthy meals prepared for me, all I have to do is pop them in the oven or heat them up. But so many things in your life that will make your day to day life easier. Those are the things that you can outsource because that’s what’s gonna allow you to really have space to show up as your best self for your clients.

Amanda Burman
Yeah, I have a lot of I think I have I know. No, there’s no I think or I had I definitely did have a lot of guilt at being a mother of small children. So my kids are now both in school. So my youngest is in preschool, and my oldest is in second grade. So I like childcare was a big thing. I felt guilt to be hiring a babysitter until I realized like how much they love my babysitter’s like I have a very deep bench of babysitters because teaching high school did that for me. But like they loved spending time with those girls. And it was beneficial to me too, because I could if I hired them for three hours, but I only had one session I would sit in my car, my makeshift office for all you mompreneurs out there and I would edit in the van just even childcare I think that was needs to be plugged in and childcare. outsource it. It’s not a big deal. It’s a big deal. But you can do it. Um, yes,

Bernel
that’s incredible. So you heard it here plan to outsource. So thank you so so much, Amanda for coming, and taking time to really pull up a seat at the table and to show your heart and your passion. And just to tell your story in hopes that it will inspire someone else’s story. I mean, your love for teaching others is is amazing. So where can people find you?

Amanda Burman
I do have an obsession with Instagram. So Instagram is a great place. I have a wonderful website that was built by this beautiful woman called WW Berman photography.com, B u r ma N. Yeah, those are the two places I would say come find me. Let’s chat. I want to know more about you. I love when I have new followers and get to learn about them. It’s not just one way. So I’m excited to see you. I’m excited to see what all you do this year to you. We’re just taking off amazing work and doing.

Bernel
Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Amanda. Yes, we have a lot of fun things planned this year, not just the podcast, but a few other educational components as well that I’ll be dropping throughout 2021. So I truly do believe that entrepreneurship is made better with community. And that’s what I’m here to do. I am here for that. So thank you so much for being here. And you guys who are listening at home, go follow her girlfriend her go check out her website. There’s tons of great stuff there. Thanks, Amanda.

Amanda Burman
Thanks.

Bernel
As always, thank you so much for showing up in my little corner of the internet. I would love to hear your thoughts on the show. So please, please subscribe, leave a review and share what you learned with friends. Some of the best things in life are freebies. So don’t forget to head over to brandedbybernel.com to check out our free branding goodies, the show notes and more educational resources.