Why I Started My Business...

I knew from the moment that I got pregnant with my first son, almost 17 years ago (wow), that I would be a working mom. It was important to me to continue to bring in an income and to keep working even with a family. I grew up with a single mom and she is seriously amazing. But, we struggled. And I knew that I would always keep my resume updated and I didn't want a gap in my work experience.

The closer I got to having my son though, the more and more I wanted to ALSO be a stay at home mom. I knew I wanted to be home with my kids, but wasn't sure how I could have it all. Facebook had JUST come onto the scene and social media was new. It wasn't what it is today. But the closer I got to my due date, the more I felt like I needed to be home full time.

Then, three days before my due date, I was laid off from my job. So, there's that.

My son was 9 days late and I DID get a full paid maternity leave. But, I spent a lot of that time wondering what the heck I was gonig to do. How would my husband and I make ends meet? How were we going to afford life? It was 2008, afterall. Not a great time to lose a job OR start a business.

Nevertheless, I felt it in my heart that Jay and I should get a camera and start a photography business together; something we had dreamed about for a while. Both of us were nervous but we got a camera and jumped in, launching our business in May of 2009. The plan was for him to still work at the church we were at (he's a worship pastor) and for me to stay home with our first kiddo. We would photograph on the weekends, and I'd work during naptimes. Perfect.

But, we exploded. From May 2009 to December 2009, we photographed 150+ lifestyle sessions AND booked our first wedding. The rest was history. By the time we decided to pump the brakes on that business, we were photographing 35+ weddings a year, traveling nationally, and featured internationally.

Literally insane. And all because we just wanted to put our family first! It was a tremendous blessing until it became too stressful. By 2014, we now had 3 kids and our oldest was starting to go to school. We were working nights and weekends, which wasn't ideal with a school schedule so, in 2019 we stopped photographing weddings. This move was a blessing for our family, but in hindsight, I would have transitioned out of that differently.

It was hard. We had created a huge brand. I was burnt out, exhausted, struggling with depression, and other personal things that were really, really tough. At the time, stopping our wedding business not only seemed smart, it seemed necessary. I had started selling skincare products with a network marketing company that had taken off for me and it was the breath of fresh air I needed. We pulled back on our buisness so I could focus on that and so that I could be present with our kids.

I learned so much with the network marketing company, but I am glad I am not doing that anymore. But, because I stepped into building that business for a while, I realized that I have a passion for social media. Through the creation and tear down of many brands and ideas- The Content Maven was born.

All of that said (and to sorta sum it up because otherwise this could be long), there are a lot of things I would do differently if I could. But, going through all of it has grown, stretched and helped me to become the person I am today. And, through it all, God has been extremely faithful. He has allowed me to be a stay at home mom for all of my children's entire lives.

I'm thankful for our photography business. We still do lifestyle sessions and get creative bursts periodically. Also, we are teaching our oldest son, the one that we started the business for, how to become a photographer as well! What a full circle moment!

But, daily I now have moved to building this brand online and to helping encourage business owners and content creators to KEEP GOING. Content creation is a necessary part of running a business online, but it can be so discouraging.

Here's what I know today:

• If I was starting over now, I would have transitioned out of our photography business differently. I would have kept that brand going and reinvented ourselves in a different way that was more life giving for us.

• If I was starting over now, I would never have started in network marketing. I learned a lot. But, it came with some heartache that I was not anticipating. Plus, I was never truly building my own business while I was in an MLM and I know and understand that now.

• If I was starting over now, I would have begun building my email list IMMEDIATELY. I wouldn't have slept on that. Now, I use Kit for all my email campaigns and I send regular and helpful emails to my growing audience. (If you want to receive my emails, join me here!).

• If I was starting over now, I would have learned how to create content and schedule it out with Later so I wouldn't burn myself out. Especially during seasons when I felt overwhelmed by posting and wasn't sure what to post. Using Later.com would have been a gamechanger early on.
  

• If I was starting over now, I would have stayed consistent with building one, maybe two brands and not doubted myself so much. I still struggle with doubting myself, but if I could teach my younger self to believe in me more, business building might have been easier.

It wasn't easy to get where I am today, and to be honest, I am still not where I want to be. But I am moving forward to with goals to chase and hopeful for the future. No matter what mistakes I've made, I know that I've made my plans but the Lord has directed my steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

I am grateful that my business ventures have provided for my family and given me the opportunity to be home and present with my kids. I would do it all again for that and that alone!

Thanks for reading this far. I miss the good ol' days of blogging when people actually typed stories that people want to read. So, I'll be interweaving in that style here and there because it gives me life and helps me to feel like I'm a real human, writing to real humans on the internet- and not just for bots and the algorithm. So if this even encouraged or inspired one person, then it was worth it.

Love, Jess xo