HAPPY NEW YEAR! Honestly (and oddly enough) it’s hard for me to believe that 2020 is already over! Yes, some months felt like their own years in itself but as a whole, it feels like it went by so quickly. Now that it’s officially 2021, I want to set apart some time to reflect back on 2020, both in business and our personal lives, sprinkled with some BTS from the wedding season!
So let’s start off with the most important part of 2020: my amazing bride & grooms. Prior to covid, I did not have as busy of a year planned which, now in hindsight, was a blessing. Two of my sweet couples ended up completely rescheduling for 2021, two couples downsized to very intimate weddings and the rest had their full days as originally planned.
My heart broke for all of them as they all faced very hard decisions with an additional layer of stress. But as I knew they all would, because they’re that amazing, they handled it like champions. Filled with grace and strength, they pushed through and I know that regardless of when they have their wedding, it will still be the best. day. ever.
STATS
Here are a few fun stats about this year:
- photographed 5 weddings (my smallest season yet), 5 engagement sessions, 3 family sessions, 11 mini sessions, 1 maternity
- edited & delivered 6,407 images
- published 29 blog posts
- drove 3,049 miles
- completed roughly 51 hours of capturing weddings
Earlier in the year, I started a list on my office wall of any business or personal accomplishments that I wanted to complete and also remember how far I’ve come. Which looking back, I’m SO glad that I did. Right now, I encourage you to do this! You’ll thank me later! Previous years I would often feel like I didn’t accomplish “anything” because I didn’t track what I did accomplish. Also in the moment we always think we’ll remember later, but you know how that always goes. So now I get to reflect on the things that I did accomplish (and didn’t).
PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- DIY Painted our kitchen cabinets
- Refinanced our mortgage (praise!!)
- Sold two of our cars for an upgraded one
What we didn’t accomplish: was purchasing a boat (2021 goal hah!) or a rental property
BUSINESS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Hosted my 1st styled shoot with another photographer friend
- Launched an Amazon store with links to all of my favorite amazon things
- I hit 2k followers on Instagram
- I was published in Pennsylvania Weddings twice! My styled shoot and a wedding I was a part of.
- Hired a business coach to work with (favorite thing of 2020)
- Launched an Education shop with new additional KRP services!! (And wrote a post about it too)
- Launched a newsletter list (grab this freebie and join the party here)
- Had a $15k month in sales
- Designed and launched my first PDF
- Launched 2 rounds of mini-sessions and sold out! (Maybe this will be something new to KRP??)
- Celebrated 9 years of being in business!
- Booked my first $6K wedding package
- Outsourced my monthly accounting (which I think has been the biggest blessing of all)
- Currently ranking at the FIRST and THIRD spot for Longwood Garden Engagement Sessions on GOOGLE & have generated income from those bookings.
What I didn’t accomplish: Creating and launching a course, hitting a specific money goal or hit my wedding booking goal.
While I certainly don’t say any of that to brag or pat myself on the back, I am extremely grateful and credit the Lord for the opportunities that he provided. Of course it was not all rainbows and sunshine. In full transparency there were months at a time where I had brought in zero income and it was only because of Zach’s job and our previous savings that we were able to continue pushing through. I say all this to say, that while it seems like it was only a year of hardships and loss (which yes, it was!) there was ALSO a lot of blessings and things to be thankful for.
Word of the year
I believe 2020 was a very challenging year in many different ways for everyone! I know for myself, that it really made me reprioritize and evaluate many different areas of my life! I believe a lot of those accomplishments were also stemmed from my word (well, technically a phrase) that I had this year.
tunnel vision
It came to me early in the year that I felt myself focusing too much on what was going on around me and what others were doing, instead of just keeping my vision focused straight ahead of me. I needed to put my blinders up, so to speak, and only be in competition with myself.
As I reflect over the last 12 months, I believe that it truly helped with keeping my focus straight. It challenged me to start overcoming fear, to start taking more action and to grow as an individual. I’m excited to be sharing my new word next week for 2021 as I believe it will also play on this, but take things to the next level.
So, THANK YOU, whether you’re a KRP client, friend, family member or follower. I continue to feel overwhelmed by the love and support that you continue to show me, year after year. The people that I get to interact with and build relationships with is the biggest blessing of it all. I’m so thankful that you’re here, a part of my journey, and that you’ll continue to stay around to see what 2021 will bring.
Here’s to you, setting and accomplishing new BIG things this year. You were made for success and growth, and I believe in you! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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