At 16 I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I had interned with a renowned wedding photographer and fell in love with the self-employed lifestyle. The flexible schedule, the creativity, the chic home office, I wanted it all.

At 21 I became self-employed with my own photography business. It was the year I photographed 12 weddings and discovered that I didn’t want to photograph one ever again.

I felt lost, scared, and even ashamed. I had achieved my ultimate dream and realized it wasn't what I really wanted. So now what was I supposed to do?

I pivoted.

At the time I was also taking on small business clients on the side. The work started as press release writing then evolved into social media marketing and even website design. I discovered that I didn't love photography, I loved being in business!

So I pivoted towards working with other small business owners and have never looked back.

But in the three years since, I discovered another calling, something I believe with every ounce of my being is what I'm meant to do in this lifetime. And that dream is going to take some serious time and energy.

I'm guilty of piling too much on my to-do lists and having sleepless nights wondering how I'm going to get it all done. I've been so close to burn-out and I never want life to get so stressful that I walk away from everything I love and worked so hard to achieve.

You cannot do it all.

So last year I rebranded. I married my first business (MegaBug Photography) with my marketing business (Nutmeg Media) to form Miss MegaBug. I let go of wedding and portrait photography and focused on marketing, commercial photography, website design, and branding.

Around that time I had also co-founded the Posse of Proprietors: A Self-Employed Support Group. Each meeting has left me inspired and proud at what I was able to offer.

And it clicked.

I love marketing and I love working with small business owners, and what lights me up most is empowering them that they can achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.

Because of this epiphany, I began offering marketing classes both in person and online. I piled more, more, more onto an already busy schedule.

I've taken a few steps back over the past few months and came to realize that it's time to prune.

In order to do what I'm most passionate about in my current business (empowering small business owners to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true), and the dream of my lifetime (more on that later), I have to pare down.

My first cuts were branding projects and social media management. Then came in-person classes. (I still have several AWESOME classes available online, though.) Then a few weeks ago I decided to cut photography and that hasn't been so easy.

Photography was my first passion in business. It's what I'm most known for. It’s also been one of the service offerings to cause me the most stress.

Equipment is expensive and I haven’t had the time to continue expanding my skills. Shoots often bring me outside of the studio and editing takes waaaay longer than you’d think.

And then there’s the fact that when I’m home the last thing I want to do is pick up a camera, even if the sunset is gorgeous outside or my cats are doing something cute.

Photography just isn’t fun anymore.

Just like with wedding photography, I looked at the proverbial “ladder” and realized that I don’t want to climb it. I don’t want what comes with a successful photography career.

And that’s okay, but it’s still super hard to let it go. It’s like breaking up with a comfortable relationship. You’re content, you know leaving will shake up your world, but the end result will be better.

Last week I told my biggest commercial client that I was no longer offering photography. I said no to money. When you’re in business, aren’t you supposed to say yes to it?

No.

I believe that we need to reorient our mindsets of being in business. We are primarily in business to make money, yes, but we could make money working for someone else. The reason we’re in business is for the flexibility and the chance to do work that lights us up all the time. In order to get there, we need to know what brings us joy and say no to what doesn’t. It’s not easy, but it leads to less stress and greater happiness in the end.

My next phase of business is to do just that. And as for photography, I’m looking forward to feeling the way I did when I first picked up a camera. Inspired, in the moment, taking pictures just for me.

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