For nearly six years, we had the same crumpled piece of paper sitting on our desk.
Here it is 👇
It wasn’t a grocery list or a random note we’d forgotten to throw away. It was a podcast idea. Not just a passing thought, but an actual plan. We had topics outlined, a vision for where it could go, and a clear sense of why we wanted to create it.
And for six years, we didn’t.
Like most unfinished dreams, we had plenty of reasons.
There wasn’t enough time. We weren’t sure how to start. We had other projects that felt more urgent. Every year we’d tell ourselves we’d get to it after we finished the next thing, and every year that piece of paper remained exactly where it was.
Over time, it became more than an idea. It became a reminder.
A reminder of something we hadn’t done…something we kept postponing, and at least on the surface – it felt like failure.
But recently, we realized something that completely changed how we see those six years.
Maybe it wasn’t failure at all…maybe it was protection.
The Difference Between Delay and Failure
One of the easiest mistakes we make is assuming that anything that doesn’t happen on our timeline must be a failure.
If the business doesn’t grow fast enough, we think we’re falling behind. If the opportunity doesn’t materialize when we expect it to, we assume we missed our chance. If a dream takes years instead of months, we start questioning whether it was ever meant to happen in the first place.
We’ve certainly done that.
Looking back now, it’s easy to see how frustrated we were by the delay. We knew we wanted to launch a podcast. We believed we had something valuable to share. Yet year after year, it stayed on the back burner while other parts of life and business demanded our attention.
But hindsight has a way of revealing things we can’t see in the moment.
If we had launched that podcast six years ago, it would have been a completely different conversation than the one we’re having today.
At that point, we hadn’t experienced many of the lessons that now shape our perspective. We hadn’t navigated some of our biggest business pivots and personal life journeys. We hadn’t walked through seasons of uncertainty, burnout, growth, and rebuilding. We hadn’t lived through the experiences that give context and depth to the stories we’re sharing now.
At the time, the delay felt frustrating, but today, it feels purposeful.
What we interpreted as being stuck may have actually been preparation.
Some Lessons Can Only Be Learned Through Time
One of the hardest truths to accept is that some growth simply cannot be rushed.
There are lessons that can only be learned by living them. There is wisdom that only comes through experience. There are perspectives that only develop after you’ve spent years wrestling with questions, making mistakes, and navigating seasons you never would have chosen for yourself.
Had we launched our podcast years ago, we could have talked about business strategies, photography, and entrepreneurship.
Today, we can talk about something deeper.
We can talk about leaving security when it felt terrifying. We can talk about taking leaps of faith that made no sense on paper. We can talk about the seasons where we questioned everything and wondered if we were heading in the right direction.
Most importantly, we can talk about what those experiences taught us.
That’s why we no longer see those six years as wasted time.
They weren’t empty years. They were formative years. The lessons we learned during that time became the very foundation of what we now want to share.
Maybe Your Dream Isn’t Dead
As we’ve reflected on this story, we’ve realized that almost everyone has their own version of that crumpled piece of paper.
Maybe yours is a business idea you’ve been carrying around for years.
Maybe it’s a book you’ve always wanted to write, a ministry you’ve wanted to start, a career change you’ve been considering, or a dream that feels further and further from reality as time passes.
The longer something remains unfinished, the easier it becomes to assume it’s over.
But what if that’s the wrong conclusion?
What if the delay isn’t evidence that you’ve failed?
What if you’re being prepared for something you can’t fully see yet?
That’s not an excuse to avoid taking action. There are certainly times when fear disguises itself as waiting. But there are also moments when life is shaping you in ways that only become visible in retrospect.
Many of the things we’ve been most grateful for in life required a level of growth we didn’t yet have when we first desired them.
Why We Finally Started the Podcast
Yesterday, we launched the project that sat on that piece of paper for nearly six years.
Our new podcast, Beyond the Camera.
While photography and business are part of our story, this podcast is really about something bigger. It’s about building a life with intention. It’s about faith, family, purpose, entrepreneurship, and navigating the tension between ambition and what truly matters.
In our very first episode, we share the full story behind that crumpled piece of paper. We talk about the major leaps of faith that changed our lives, the pivots that felt impossible at the time, and why we now believe some delays may actually be forms of divine protection.
If you’ve been wrestling with timing, purpose, uncertainty, or the feeling that you’re somehow behind, we think this conversation will resonate.
Because sometimes what feels like failure isn’t failure at all.
Listen to Episode 1 of Beyond the Camera
In Episode 1, we share:
- The six-year story behind the podcast
- Why we walked away from security to pursue entrepreneurship
- The biggest leaps of faith we’ve taken
- The moments we nearly quit
- How we’ve learned to view delays through a completely different lens
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