To everyone else, it looked like we had it all.
A happy marriage.
Healthy kids – and one of each at that!
A successful career.
But something inside of us wasn’t satisfied.
We were grateful, of course, but there was an insatiable desire for something more.
So that’s when we did it. We said goodbye to a steady, consistent career of seven years, sold our house, moved back across the country with what we had saved up and started our business. We were always grateful for those closest to us who believed in us, but if we told you it was all positive feedback we’d be lying.
We get it – what we did was crazy. Some could even say it was reckless. To us, it was a well informed, thoroughly prayed over decision that while requiring a lot of faith to execute also felt strangely peaceful.
“So, this photography thing is all you are going to be doing?”
“Do you think there is really a strong enough market for that?”
“But I thought Jon had a very successful job?”
“Did you know most businesses fail in the first couple of years?”
“There are too many other photographers out there already.”
Those were just some of the questions and comments we fielded as we broke the news and started out on our own path. Combine that with the thoughts of self-doubt already in our own heads and it stacked up to be a bit of a doozy to reckon with.
The truth is, the condescending questions and comments didn’t stop there and they probably never will. As we’ve moved through different iterations of our business and refined our vision and place in this industry we’ve only had more thrown our way.
But here’s the best part. Other people’s opinions don’t pay our bills. If we let the opinions of others dictate our decisions, then they would have been right. We would have failed out of fear. Jon would be back at a job he hates and we would have been labeled failures. Instead, we trusted what we knew in our hearts to be true. We committed every decision to prayer and set out to carve our place in the market and it worked.
Today we shoot for household brand names like the Chicago White Sox, Shasta Pools, and Snuggle, just like we set out in our minds to do.
So, next time you are tempted to let the opinions of others direct your path just remember, those opinions don’t pay your bills. And they don’t define you unless you let them. You’re in control – now go prove them all wrong!
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