As women, I bet we can all relate to analysis paralysis, or fear of making the wrong decision. But life keeps going, so we have to figure out a way to trust ourselves along the way. Enter: Liz McShane.
Creative Agency owner, photographer, wife, mama - and in our opinion - queen of the pivot - Liz knows a thing or two about how to make a well-informed, risky decision.
You might not know, but Liz and Brittany actually go way back! Growing up in church together, they had a lot of mutual friends, and then reconnected after college when Liz moved back to town after a stint in Boston. However, the entrepreneurial life was not always Liz’s plan. During her time in Boston, she was a labor and delivery nurse and then decided to become a full-time, stay at home mom after 6 years.
But, as a true Enneagram 3 wing (are you familiar with the Enneagram personality test?!), she knew she was missing having a career and creative outlet. Not knowing exactly what to do next, she decided to purchase a used camera off of Facebook Marketplace and see how it felt to take pictures.
Now, in our opinion, we think this is where a lot of people can get stuck in their personal development process. Either they know they were created to do something different, they just don’t know what, or they make one small step and then a little thing called IMPOSTER SYNDROME creeps in.
Here’s where we can take a chapter out of Liz’s book: She took action before she knew the full story.
She didn’t know if she would be good at photography or not. But she was willing to try. And to overcome the Imposter Syndrome of taking on clients, she started out by offering her services for free. And THEN from there, demand grew, but it wasn’t until she took messy action that she was able to gain clarity on her calling.
Liz shares her full story in this episode, from going from a stay-at-home mom, to an in-demand photographer, to now a creative agency owner, but the theme of taking the risk rings true throughout. In this episode, you’ll hear:
- How Liz continues to overcome Imposter Syndrome
- Her 4-question framework on how to make decisions
- Her best advice for any upcoming photoshoots
You’ll hear in the episode that she chats about the Best/Worst Analysis on taking risks. And this is how she eliminates analysis paralysis in her life. Created by neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson, here are the 4 questions to answer before your next risk:
- What’s the best thing that could happen if I take the risk?
- What’s the worst thing that could happen if I take the risk?
- What’s the best thing that could happen if I don’t take the risk?
- What’s the worst thing that could happen if I don’t take the risk?
Tune in to hear how she applies this to her own life and get inspired to put yourself in the arena. Grab a cup of coffee and press play!
Transcript
This podcast was transcribed using Rev.com. Please forgive any typos or errors.
Brittany:
Hi friends. Welcome to the Life with Loverly podcast. I'm Brittany— a wife, mom, and lifestyle entrepreneur here to help you discover your best daily style and encourage you to try new things when getting dressed each day. I took a tiny following on social media and turned it into a community of over 1 million amazing women, and I am so glad you're here. I'll be sharing my heart with you beyond the 15 seconds on Instagram. So we'll be diving into things like personal growth, friendships, motherhood, marriage, and of course the business of blogging. Really, this space is here to serve as your go-to resource to building a life you adore while sprinkling some kindness to others along the way. Grab an iced coffee and let's do life together. I'm Brittany, and this is The Life with Loverly podcast.
Brittany:
Hi friends. Welcome back to the Life with Loverly podcast. Today's episode is a fun one because I'm inviting my friend and podcast photographer Liz McShane. Beyond photography, Liz is the owner of the digital marketing agency On Trend Creative Studio. Liz is a wife, mom, and entrepreneur who left her nursing career after six years to pursue a dream of owning her own business. What I love about this conversation today is that we chat about how she made decisions along the way to create a life and business she loves, and how you can do the same. I see a lot of women, myself included, getting stuck in the weeds of the never ending mountain of decisions we have to make in a day—from business, to parenting, to friendships. But Liz continues to innovate her business while also being present with her family, and a lot of that comes down to how well and how quickly we can make decisions. So if you aren't exactly sure what you're passionate about or maybe you're trying to figure out how to turn a hobby into a passion, Liz is here as the friend and guide we all need. Here's my conversation with Liz McShane. Hey Liz. Hello. How are you?
Liz:
I'm good! Thank you for having me.
Brittany:
I am so excited to just dive in a little bit more and talk about your entrepreneurial background and hear your story. Before we get into it though, Liz and I go way back. We literally grew up in church together. I think that's the first time we met, at Prince Avenue Church.
Liz:
Yeah. I think I remember you in middle school. Did you cheer?
Brittany:
I did.
Liz:
I feel like I remember that.
Brittany:
So you're a year older than me and your younger sister was good friends with Jarryd and John, and obviously they're married now, but I went to Prince Avenue and then we all just kind of had friends in the same circle. But you guys moved away after college and moved to Boston, right?
Liz:
We did. Which is where Chris is from. Right? Yeah, because we talked about that once.
Brittany:
We connected that and I was like, whoa, this is wild. Okay. What was it like living in Boston?
Liz:
It was really cold. We lived in the city and we had our first baby up there, so it was an experience.
Brittany:
What took y'all to Boston?
Liz:
Patrick's job. He worked at a bank. I actually got to work at Harvard teaching hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the country. Saw some crazy things.
Brittany:
I can imagine.
Liz:
It was great for my resume, which obviously I'm not using that anymore, but it was good. I learned a lot, so it was good.
Brittany:
That's so exciting. Okay, so you currently own On Trend Creative Studio here in Athens, but life hasn't always looked like that for you. I know you just mentioned that you worked in the teaching hospital, but you were a labor and delivery nurse. Go into a little bit more about that, and then I know you kind of shifted from being a nurse to a full-time mom. What was that work-life balance like for you?
Liz:
So before we had kids, I was all-in on nursing. To rewind a little bit, when I was in undergrad, I went to school to get a child and family development degree. I wanted that MRS degree. I wanted to get married, have babies. Then after I graduated, I felt like I wanted something more, so I went back to school. I got a master's degree in nursing. I was like, this is it. Did that for six years. I loved it. But when we started having babies, I was like, I want to be a stay at home mom. So I hung up the cleats for a little bit, never intended on hanging them up for good and was always planning on going back. But after we had our second baby, I remember leaving my family on Thanksgiving to go to the hospital and thinking, this is so hard. This is just not for me. I kind of want to take a risk and see what it's like just to stay at home. So I was home for a little while and that itch came back. I was like, I've got to do something. So that's when I picked up my first used camera and taught myself how to take pictures, which now is more like a hobby because I've streamlined it. It's fun. I know what to expect in almost any situation. So it's more of a hobby, I should say. It's a little less challenging now, so it's just fun. But then that led me to digital marketing, which I'm all in on now.
Brittany:
Which is amazing timing getting in when you did. So after y'all were in Boston, you had your first daughter, right? Your oldest is a girl, and then did y'all move back here and then you had your second? And you've got family here, and where does Patrick's family live?
Liz:
Rome, Georgia.
Brittany:
Okay. So they're all here. I can only imagine leaving on those holidays and it just is like, wait a second. These are not the memories I was hoping to create.
Liz:
Exactly. It was tough. I tell people all the time, my path to entrepreneurship, to where I am now, was so crooked, but it was still my path. And so every piece of the puzzle I say is a stepping stone, and it just wasn't straight for me. But without all of the decisions I made leading up to where I'm at now, I would never be here. So honestly, being a nurse has created a lot of connections for me. I know so many — I mean, I still see patients in Target. They'll be like, you delivered my baby, and I'm like, hi, I don't remember you, but great! But it really allowed me to meet a lot of people,and also showed me how to deal with people in really stressful situations. There's never been a social media emergency. Maybe for you there has been, but to my knowledge, there really has never been an emergency in this industry.
Liz:
So I've learned to cope with stressful situations a lot better. And then, just like I said — dealing with people, conversing with different types of people. That's something I had to do as a nurse. So a lot of those skills are transferable to what I'm doing now. A lot of them aren't. But at the same time, I think it also gave me a lot of confidence. I proved to myself I can do this, and then I can go do something different. So I don't think people need to put themselves in a box and say this is what I have to do forever. You can pivot and go do something different if you feel like that's what your heart is telling you to do.
Brittany:
Yeah, I love that. So I think we've got something in common. We love being moms, but we also love working. I feel like you are one of the hardest working moms I've seen in a while just because of us working together. Knowing the photo studio and obviously you've shot a lot of our behind the scenes stuff that we do here at Loverly Grey. So I feel like I've gotten to see that working side of you a little bit more. But tell me about some of the struggles you've experienced after leaving nursing and then just even as an entrepreneur mom, it's different than being a stay at home mom and it has its own challenges because you're trying to grow and run a business, but you also have such a passion for your kids.
Liz:
Going back to just the stay at home mom phase— that was honestly one of the most difficult things I've ever done because I like to feel like I'm contributing financially, and I also need a creative outlet. And so as much as I loved being a stay at home mom, I just still felt like I wasn't living up to my fullest potential. So kind of like what you said, I think what gets me out of bed in the morning is working hard. I tell people all the time— I mean, God gave us certain gifts, he made us certain ways, he made animals a certain way. So I like to compare myself to a golden retriever chasing a tennis ball. Literally that's me with work. I wake up and I'm ready to go. And there are some people who, they're the bulldog—they want to just chill all day, and that's just not me. So I think honing into how God made me and then figuring out, okay, now that I understand how I'm wired, how do I use those gifts to bring him joy? Because ultimately I think what brings God joy is seeing us use the gifts and the talents that he gave us. So I think that's kind of where I'm at in my life now.
Brittany:
Well, and there's nothing wrong with whatever path anybody chooses as long as you're living out your God given talents. And really pouring into those. I think that's just what makes humanity, humanity. Everybody's doing what they feel like they were meant to do. Okay, so you talked about a creative outlet. I hear from a lot of people, especially moms, they aren't really sure how to be creative or what they're passionate about. I mean, even just think of working and then being a mom; being in these phases of newborn and all these phases of life. But then you want to get out of that and get back into what you are passionate about, and it feels like you don't have time to figure that out. How did you figure out you had an underlying passion for photography? Or was it just something you always had and is there any advice you could give to somebody maybe in a similar position?
Liz:
Yeah, I think I've always had a creative side. I think it was a little, not frowned upon, but a little risky to not go get your undergraduate degree. And so I was always just checking the boxes and then ultimately I got to a place where I was so unfulfilled that I really needed to introspectively look at myself and say, okay, who am I? Why am I this way? What do I not know about myself? And I actually took — as simple as it sounds — the Enneagram. I then listened to, what's it called? It's a podcast. It's a Christian podcast. I'll have to go look it up. It's called the Enneagram Summer. Okay. Anyway, it just kind of talks about how intertwined spirituality and the Enneagram really is and how God made us a certain way. When I really looked at it from that perspective, everything clicked for me, and I was like, this is why I feel this way. This is why I want to do these things. So I think understanding yourself— that's something I tell the girls that work for me all the time— is get to know yourself. I mean, that sounds silly, but when you understand what drives you and how God made you— because he doesn't give us a blueprint; we're not all the same. So you have to actually put in the work to understand yourself, and then you can really apply what you've learned to your life and start making decisions based on what you've learned.
Brittany:
I love the Enneagram. I feel like anytime I've ever done reading on it I feel so validated. I'm Iike, that is me!
Liz:
Are you a three?
Brittany:
Yes— are you?
Liz:
How did I guess? Two, three.
Brittany:
Okay— really?! Helper—I love that.
Liz:
I think I flip back and forth between the two.
Brittany:
Yeah—I go three-wing-two—which I feel like those are very common wings. I kind of appreciate also having a little bit of a guide. I read this Bible study— or it was a devotional book once— and it was the Enneagram three and the Bible. Or maybe it wasn't the Bible. But it was something about devotions related to being an Enneagram three; so many of them I was like, wow. I feel like now I know the path. I mean, not that I didn't before but..
Liz:
I think about the word validation. Because you don't even know what you need to feel validated for, but then suddenly you do and you're like, oh, it all just clicks. So I actually tell my team to take it and I send them the podcast. It's by Annie Downs. I just remembered it— Annie Downs. Because it really helps to learn about yourself. And I think ultimately it sounds silly— I'm 36 years old, but I'm just now getting to the point in my life where I understand what drives me.
Brittany:
Well, it's interesting too, because I feel like people who are wanting to maybe find what their purpose is or figure this out, sometimes it just feels like our society has made it be like, well, you need to figure it out right now, or you're going to get left behind. And we've kind of adopted the process of let's slow down to speed up and really kind of normalizing that if we don't figure this out, then we're not going to be good at it in the future. So just kind of this question for people who might feel like they're in this position, or they just feel like there's something more. Don't make it harder than it has to be. But just like you said—get to know yourself—and I think some of those answers will come. It's very interesting being a woman—all the things that go on. Anyway okay, did you ever experience imposter syndrome when you first started out as a photographer?
Liz:
I still do, yeah. Honestly. I definitely did in the beginning. I think one way to combat that was that I wasn't even charging for sessions in the beginning. So I was like, well, if they suck, it's fine— you didn't pay me any money. But still to this day, I think, gosh, I bet people are looking at me and thinking, who does she think she is? What does she think she's doing? One thing, though, and it's funny— I really do try to talk to myself like I would talk to a friend. So if I'm thinking things about myself, I say, okay, Liz, what would you say to so-and-so if they said this? And one thing I always have to remind myself of is— have you heard of the spotlight phenomenon? Pretty much everyone is self-centered, and that's just how God created us. We always think people are looking at us; losing sleep over what we did, what we said, what we posted on social media— that doesn't happen. Nobody loses sleep at night because I posted a story that was just dumb. Nobody cares really. And so when you can adopt that mindset that the spotlight is not on me, the spotlight is on everyone's selves, then you can really do a lot more with your life. So having to get over that has been a challenge, but I'm actively working on it every day. But to answer your question— absolutely, but that's just one way I kind of combat that.
Brittany:
I love that because the people pleaser in me definitely struggles with like, oh, they're probably still thinking about that. And it's like, no, no, no. You are just thinking about that when it's really a mindset shift and something I know I'm constantly working on. But I'm going to look more into the spotlight syndrome. That sounds like it could be very beneficial for me.
Liz:
It's a real thing. Yeah.
Brittany:
It's interesting. Okay, so obviously you're a very successful photographer now. Do you have any photo shoot that made you think: yes, I am living out my purpose and my passion? Is there one time or is there a series of times that you're like, okay, this is it?
Liz:
Well— the word purpose— I feel like I do need to explain this. The name of my photography business is actually Repurposed, and I've actually never explained why I named it that. I had an epiphany one day when I was starting this business. Because I was going from nurse to photographer, ultimately what I wanted to do was almost have a blog and tell people's stories; I wanted to be repurposed. And so that's kind of where the name came from. But what I've learned is my favorite sessions are the ones where a family might be going through a tragic situation. I'll give you an example. There was a little four-year-old girl—and I have a five-year-old— and she was leaning over a candle and caught her hair on fire, and it burned third degree burns on her head. She lost a lot of her hair, and the mom was so strong and so sweet. She actually wanted to capture her daughter in that phase because her daughter was so strong through it all, and she wanted to remember her daughter like that. And I was like, I have to do a session for you. And so I got to style them and take them out and do a family session, and she sent me the nicest letter. It was right then I was like, I am living out my dream. This is what I'm supposed to do. But then obviously photographing births, I don't do weddings, but your house— events like that are just once in a lifetime. The fact that I'm there to capture what's literally going to be your memories is the best thing ever. Really is.
Brittany:
Just from somebody who's been on the receiving side of that— I know you just did this for me this weekend, and I've already looked back over the photos and I feel like I'm remembering my emotions as I'm walking around. You caught my first look into the room, which I would've never seen that of me to remember just the gratitude that I was feeling. Photographers are just the most special people to me. I mean, obviously I'm in this industry where I do a lot of photos and there's pictures and all sorts of things, but having people who really care about that and who care about that for their clients is so important and such an amazing trait.
Liz:
The heirloom pictures of the kids is like, oh, that's one of my favorites. Because you think you're going to remember what your kids look like at a certain age, but you really don't. I know that sounds bad, but you really need to document it. And so those are some of my favorites because you can just kind of watch them grow throughout the years and it's so sweet.
Brittany:
And you do those at your house?
Liz:
Yeah, but I can do them anywhere. I just got a mobile setup.
Brittany:
Okay. That's great to know. Yeah, bookmarking tha information! Okay, so as clients keep coming, do you find it harder to have a work-life balance?
Liz:
Definitely. But I will say—and it might've been Chris, your husband, that said this— I kind of do everything I'm doing at one hundred percent. So when I'm “on” at work, it is a thousand miles an hour. Same with being a mom. I mean, this weekend I really didn't pick up my phone. Patrick was out of town and we just had fun. We went outside. So I think just trying to be mindful of giving a hundred percent to whatever I'm doing, in the moment, because if I'm sitting there and trying to work and trying to play with the kids at the same time, both things are suffering.
Brittany:
I feel like once I learned that I needed a day of rest— we take off Sundays. Everybody here—nobody is posting or doing anything. I don't do any social media or anything on Sundays— that was just such a breath of fresh air for my family to have a day that is dedicated to whatever you want to do. I'm not worried about, hold on, I know we're running out the door for church, but I'm finishing this Reel.
Liz:
And I've definitely been there. I've done that.
Brittany:
I think you have to kind of suffer through those times of like, okay, this isn't really serving me or working for my family. And then you realize. But it's hard. You have to go through those to get there and be like, okay, this isn't right. And I agree— I think if people look at it, if you're giving 100% to this and then you can stop and give 100% to that. Obviously it doesn't always work like that, but you have to find balance.
Liz:
Yeah, I was about to say, very rarely does it ever perfectly balance. I mean, we try our best, but if you're at least mindful of it and you try to set up those boundaries and perimeters, then more than likely you're not going to suffer.
Brittany:
Right, totally. So once demand continued to grow, this is when On Trend Creative came about. Tell me just about the gap in the market that you saw. I would love for you to tell us about On-Trend Creative overall. I know before we got started in this conversation, I was like, I think this person could benefit from your services. So I would love to hear everything On Trend Creative.
Liz:
Yeah! So... with photography, I was working with businesses. I remember the actual business I was at and I said, you should start letting me come back every month to do monthly photo shoots for you so you can use it on social media because that's where I feel like you should probably be marketing your services. And so we started to do that, and I didn't see any of the photos on their social. They weren't even posting on social, and I asked them about it. I said, is there a reason? Is it the pictures? And they said we just don't have time. And so that's literally when On Trend was born. I said, okay, well there needs to be somebody that can take this off your plate. Not only create the content, but post it for you, caption it, hashtag, do all the research, the strategy. I didn't even know this was a thing.
Now there's several agencies doing the same thing we are. We've bootstrapped this whole thing. Somebody asked me last week, have you learned all this from a course or did you go to a seminar? And I said, I haven't had time to take a course or to go to a seminar. These are strategies we've learned and that are specifically focused on businesses and how they can market their product or services. So working with an influencer, obviously you don't need our help, but you have more of a niche market and a niche style. And this is more for—we work with a lot of med spas, or vet clinics, or just doctor's offices — you name it. We can really help them because ultimately they need a presence on social media. I mean, how many times do we really go look at a website anymore? I mean sometimes, but usually not.
Brittany :
...It’s opening up Instagram and being like what are they doing there?
Liz:
Exactly.
Brittany:
Their validation or their credibility is what their social presence is.
Liz:
Exactly. If they don't have a social presence, you're like, is this legit? So that's kind of where we come in and we can work with anybody, anywhere. So when I first started this business, I hired a few undergrads at UGA who are still with me today. Two years later they graduated, moved off to different parts of the country and they're still working for me. But we were just servicing Athens clients—people that I knew. And now, we have clients all over the United States, which is crazy. We have a team of 12. Our office is right across the street from you, which is convenient, because I use the studio all the time. But yeah, it's just been crazy and it's been so fun to scale it. And I've learned, kind of back to what I was saying in the beginning of our conversation, how photography is more of just a hobby. It really is now. It's a creative outlet. Sometimes when I'm editing or I get into this flow state I'm like, this is so fun. This is really just so fun. It doesn't feel like a job— On Trend is more of a job. I'm managing people, dealing with different client issues. And so it's probably a little more stressful, but it's scalable. It's really been honestly a dream come true.
Brittany:
Yeah. Well, and it's interesting because earlier you mentioned your path to get here wasn't just a straight path. And I think, I know for me, I never thought I would be the CEO of a company managing people underneath me. I just wanted to share outfits. And it's so interesting how these paths that you take can really lead you to here, but also can really pull on some of those things that you're really good at that maybe you just weren't in touch with or you didn't know that, hey, you do have really great leadership skills. And this is where you're applying them.
Liz:
I feel like there's always signs, and maybe we're just not leaning into that, but I really think there are always signs.
Brittany:
Alright. So I know you've had a lot of big pivots in your life. From going to nursing, moving back to Athens, picking up a camera, starting On Trend Creative. Tell me your thought process around making a big decision.
Liz:
So I can't take credit for this. Actually, before I went to nursing school, I read this book and I still utilize these four questions today. It actually helped me make the decision to go to nursing school because you have to think— at the time I had just graduated. Do I really want to go back to school, take on that financial stress, go back into debt to get a master's degree in nursing? So I read this book by Ben Carson—he was a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins— pediatric neurosurgeon. So imagine the stress of that job. But he wrote a book and the name of it is Take the Risk. And he has what he calls a best-worst analysis. So it's four questions that you ask yourself when you're facing a big decision. And it's really simple, and I've literally remembered this one part of the book for the last 10 years. And it is: 1. What is the best thing that can happen if you take the risk? What is the worst thing that can happen if you take the risk? What is the best thing that can happen if you don't take the risk? And what is the worst thing that can happen if you don't take the risk? I can't tell you many times I've written that out on paper. You also need to be doing that for people that are close to you in your life. So for you, you would want to also ask those questions in regards to Chris and your children. And so asking myself those questions has pretty much always ended up with me taking the risk. And I'm not saying to go make an uncalculated risk decision, but for the most part, I think the only thing we're really guaranteed in life is that we're all going to die. Not to get morbid on us, but we are. And so when I really started thinking about my life in that way, I was like, what do I have to lose at this point? If I have a desire or God has laid something on my heart, I'm going to go for it. And I still live by that mentality, and I honestly think that's why On Trend is here, because I just kept trusting that and kept taking the risk.
Brittany:
That's awesome.
Liz:
That's what I use.
Brittany:
That's probably the nuggets that you guys need to pay attention to when you're listening to this episode because I feel like those four questions alone can help so many people just with any decision that they're making.
Liz:
I mean, he used it when he was deciding whether or not to separate conjoined twins, and I'm over here using it to decide whether or not I should go back to nursing school. So it can really be used in any situation. That's what I love about it is it's so simple and so applicable to anyone.
Brittany:
I love that. That's a great little nugget. What would you say is your favorite part about owning a business and what's the hardest part?
Liz:
My favorite part is probably the comradery of the team. That is my favorite part. I just love being able to pour into, I call them girls but they're young women. They're a lot younger than I am, but I just love being a part of their lives. We do something called On Trend development meetings where I get to spend time with them once a month talking about everything except for On Trend. So how can I pour into them and help them develop as young women and entrepreneurs outside of their job? If that makes sense— I don't want everything that we talk about to always be related to only On Trend. That's something I'm really passionate about and what I love about the business I'm in. And with photography, it's just a one person show, so I don't really get that part of it.
Brittany:
What would you say is the hardest part about owning a business?
Liz:
Making the big decisions. I mean, we make it sound simple when we break it down into four questions. But I really struggle with, and I'm working on it—I've finally hired a business coach, and that has been the best thing for me. But trusting myself and the confidence to make the big decisions is something I've almost always needed a sounding board for, because I think I have a lot of insecurities in making the wrong decision, but I'm getting better at it. That's the hardest thing for me— making the executive decisions.
Brittany:
Well, there's a lot of things riding on that. I mean, you have employees and you're not just making a decision for yourself, it's for everybody who's part of the brand. So I definitely can relate to that.
Liz:
A lot of it's experience too. I mean, I think one thing I'm starting to realize is the same situations always kind of resurface. It may be within different people or in different scenarios, but it's the same situation. And so once you deal with it once, it's like, okay, now I know how to deal with that because it's going to happen again. So I'm just kind of building my toolbox and it does get easier, but that's always been something that's been really difficult.
Brittany:
Yeah. Well, I feel like you've got some really great tools to continue to be successful. So while the hard things can be hard, the great things about being an entrepreneur are really great.
Liz:
They outweigh it, for sure.
Brittany:
Yeah. Okay. Let's get a little tangible here. Photography and social media management are service offerings of On-Trend. Can you give us your number one tip to show up on socials and your number one tip for anyone with an upcoming photography shoot?
Liz:
First of all, I can't believe you're asking me this question. So what I tell our clients is, have you heard of the KISS method?
Brittany:
I don't think so.
Liz:
Keep It Simple, Stupid. Okay so, keep it simple. I mean, honestly, I think people try to overcomplicate it and it just gets so messy. And I'm like, who cares if this is off a little bit? Just go with it. Just be you. And back to the spotlight syndrome. I think if people can get over that, that’s a big part of it. So if I'm talking to a client, the hardest thing to get a client to do is to take a video of themselves or be on camera. I don't think you struggle with that, but a lot of people really do, and that's the hardest thing— to teach them, hey, this person who follows you, who have never met, isn't going to lose sleep over the video you just posted.
Brittany:
They're going to love it.
Liz:
Exactly. They're going to be jealous they don't have the confidence to do that. So those are probably the two biggest things that I give our clients.
Brittany:
And then if a photographer, maybe a new photographer, has an upcoming shoot, what's your one piece of advice for that?
Liz:
A new photographer? You just have to throw yourself out there. I work with a lot of new photographers and I actually send them my calendar and say, you can come to any session you want and you can go practice: hands-on, manual photography with no pressure. Don't charge people if that's what it takes to get out there and to learn. So that's what I tell them.
Brittany:
I love instilling confidence, because with so many things, you just have to try it. But even trying it can be scary.
Liz:
Yeah. Don't be afraid to reach out to other photographers and say, can I just learn from you?
Brittany:
I know you learned a lot. You took one of Naomi's classes, which, this is the circle of connections in the creative space, it’s just so small. But then you've also done some really cool projects and shoots with other photographers, and have taught people. Didn't you guys go to Alaska?
Liz:
You're probably thinking of Aspen. That was crazy.
Brittany:
What was that for?
Liz:
A client wanted family photos, and of course, yes, I'm going to figure out how to get out there. And so we did. And I mean, yeah, photography has taken me to some amazing places. We go down to 30A and while we're there, I'll offer up two to three beach sessions. And that also gives me a creative outlet because I'm able to shoot in an area that I don't normally shoot in. It's so fun. I mean, I learned just last week that you don't shoot in winds over, I think it was 10 miles per hour, 15 miles per hour. It was horrible. This poor family. It was so windy, but I was like, I don't know how I was supposed to know that.
Brittany:
Yeah, we were down there right after y'all. It's actually funny, I saw Anna at Chick-fil-A on the way.
Liz:
She said, Brittany just said she was texting you. I was like, yeah, we were talking. I don't even remember what we were talking about.
Brittany:
So weird. But yeah, the winds were crazy. I always think of Heather, who's the photographer that lives down there, and I'm like, she always knows the perfect time. But that's her environment. Just like you know the perfect times to shoot other places. You just kind of get used to that. But I'm sure it's like sharpening your swords when you're in a different environment and you can try something new and shoot somewhere else.
Liz:
Back to the whole premise of this conversation, I think that being a nurse, I understand that the literal worst thing that can happen is I just really don't deliver. You know what I mean? Nobody's going to die, hopefully. But ultimately, because of these photos, there's not going to be an emergency. So I think when you can just not stress so much about it and just throw yourself out there.
Brittany:
It's so true. I mean, I've had times where I'm overcomplicating a brand collaboration and I'm like, well, should I try this new thing or should I talk? Should I not? And then I have to be like, okay, what got me here? Do that. Keep it simple. Take it back to the basics. Keep it simple. I'm going to start using the KISS method.
Liz:
I'll have to send it to you, it was by a Marine. There's a whole lot more to it than that, but I've always just said, let's just keep it simple.
Brittany:
Okay. One last question for you, and this is one that you'll hear over and over on this season of the podcast. What was the most meaningful act of kindness someone has extended to you that had a lasting impact on your life?
Liz:
That is such a big question because there are so many. There's so many. The one that just for whatever reason sticks out is when I did want to go back to nursing school. I mean, it was so expensive—getting a master's degree was thousands and thousands of dollars. I just couldn't afford it. And someone—I still don't know who it was— completely covered it for me.
Brittany:
Really?
Liz:
And had they not done that, I would not have gone to nursing school. Had I not gone to nursing school, I wouldn't have done photography. Had I not done photography, I wouldn't be doing On Trend. So it's back to the stepping stones. I mean, I don't look at that as a waste because had I not done that, I wouldn't be doing this. So I think probably that was shocking and just whoever did that, thank you, because I wouldn't be doing what I love.
Brittany:
That's amazing. Wow. I love that. Okay, where can everybody find you?
Liz:
The best place is probably Instagram— On Trend Creative Studio. We're pretty active over there, so come say hey!
Brittany:
Love it. Well, this has been such an amazing episode. I feel like I have learned things in this episode, and I hope that our listeners have too. Friends, until next time.
Hi, friend. Ever wonder if you've missed a recent episode? Well wonder no more. Go hit that follow button on your podcast app to ensure you never miss a beat. See you next week. This season of Life with Loverly is produced by Elizabeth Evans Media Productions.