Passion to Profitability Workshop Review // Morgantown, WV

On Friday morning, my whole weekend changed.

It was my birthday weekend & I had nothing on my calendar – the first empty weekend in months. We weren’t traveling, I didn’t have any photoshoots scheduled, it was going to just be a quiet weekend at home, celebrating my birthday. Or so I imagined. I had even gone so far as to give myself permission to only work “a little bit” over the weekend – only while Braelynn was napping (if you know me, I’m a bit of a workaholic, especially when I know I have friends awaiting their edited photos!) But then everything changed.

For starters, I got the text from my sister that I talked about in last Abby’s Saturday post – the one where she let me know the details of the wedding we were shooting together on Saturday? A wedding I had no idea about? So, suddenly my Saturday went from nothing to a wedding day! That’s okay though, I love weddings, and this one sounded particularly unique & fun!

I was trying not to even think about the workshop. Rewind a few months: Callie Lindsey announced that she would be doing a one-day workshop on October in Morgantown, WV. I remember getting her newsletter & reading all of the details of the event: it sounded amazing. I knew that my business was needing something: a boost, a kick in the butt, something! And I talked to Derrick about attending this workshop. It was close by, taught by a respected photographer, was only one day, and wasn’t over-the-moon expensive. We talked about it, and talked about it, and talked about it, and eventually came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the right time.

I mentioned that it wasn’t super expensive, but I didn’t exactly have the budget for it. My business is doing fine, but with the changes in PA Sales Tax law this year, I’ve had to eat a ton of taxes that I never intended to pay & I didn’t feel was fair to pass on to my clients who had already signed contracts with me that didn’t include that extra tax. Also, with relocating across the state, let’s just say, I didn’t hit my booking goals for 2016. I still did well, but there wasn’t any extra room in my budget for a workshop.

So, I let it pass by. Fast forward a few months: on Tuesday, I saw an Instagram post by Callie saying that she felt like there was someone out there who was supposed to be at her workshop but who hadn’t signed up. And she wanted to give that person a scholarship to come. I think my heart stopped beating – that person was me. I was supposed to be at her workshop & hadn’t signed up – I just knew it. I followed her instructions to enter the giveaway and waited. She promised to contact the winner on Thursday.

Here’s the thing: Thursday came & went and no contact from Callie came. I tried not to be obsessive about checking my phone, but my excitement got the best of me at times. As the day wore on, I began to feel a little bit like, well, maybe that person isn’t me. Maybe there’s someone else who actually should be there on Sunday instead of me. I wasn’t angry or upset, just resigned that it truly wasn’t meant for me to go & that was okay.

I still kind of hoped though. Not gonna lie. I really wanted to go! We went to bed Thursday night & nothing.

Friday morning dawned & still nothing.

So, we’re back to my “omigosh, I’m shooting a wedding tomorrow with my sister” story – I actually thought to myself, It’s probably a good thing I didn’t win that workshop seat, because if I shoot a wedding on Saturday, I’m going to be tired & just want to hang with Derrick & my baby on Sunday. And that’s when my phone dinged.

I had just laid Braelynn down to change her diaper, when my phone dinged .. and then dinged again. Assuming it was Ellen and something about the wedding the next day, I looked at my phone, and there it was: a message from Callie: YOU WON THE SEAT!

If my heart stopped when I first read about her giving a seat away, it definitely stopped again when I read her message. I had literally just given myself a pep-talk that it was okay, it wasn’t meant to be, that the logistics would be challenging to figure out, it’s best if I’m at home, and with a deep breath, put the workshop out of my mind. And then I saw her message. I was shocked, amazed, humbled, blown-away, emotional, unable to quite process it. Braelynn took advantage of these moments of shock & rolled away from where we were sitting to change her diaper & took off to play with her animals.

In the space of an hour, my relaxing birthday weekend at home turned completely around & became just as crazy as every other weekend on my calendar. But in an utterly amazing way!

I can’t even begin to explain how blessed I was by Callie – not only with her giving my seat to me, but by the entire day she had put together for her workshop! She is an incredible woman & I was so blessed by everything she did & said! She was 100% authentic and honest with us, explaining some of her biggest mistakes and her biggest wins. She gave us an inside view of her business, how she runs it, and how she has produced viral work (she’s the one responsible for the hedgehog in the red Starbucks Christmas cup, and most recently – as in this past week – the anniversary shoot where the bride & groom dressed up in their wedding attire & went to Target!) She is a fabulous teacher & speaker & I wanted to soak in every drop of information! I took pages and pages of notes, got to meet and get to know a few other amazing photographers, and really truly enjoyed every moment of the day. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I was determined to soak in every single moment.

So, the events of the day were all scheduled out, we had several sessions before we headed out to our styled shoot, and then we’d come back & have dinner and have several more sessions. Secretly, I wished Callie would speak way past her projected ending time, because even though I had a 90 minute drive home and I was tired, I just didn’t want to leave! She was such a fountain of information & encouragement & joy that I wanted to stick around all night. Like a good teacher though, she ended right on time.

I left feeling so refreshed. I had so many ideas running around my head, so much joy and encouragement had been poured into me, it was exactly what I needed. My burnt out, overwhelmed soul was in dire need & Callie’s workshop rubbed salve into the burns & took burdens off my shoulders I didn’t even realize I was carrying. I left rejuvenated and excited for the future.

I had originally intended to post photos from the styled shoot in this post, but since this is already crazy long, I’ll save those for another day, when I don’t have quite so many words to get out! I will leave you with a few behind the scenes photos from the day! The teaching part of the workshop was held at the beautiful Erickson Alumni Center.

The styled shoot was at the Core Arboretum! And as if everything wasn’t beautiful enough, Callie ordered this dreamy, amazing light for golden hour – well, not really – but we literally couldn’t have asked for a better evening!

Omigoodness – so these photos make it look like there were 300 of us there all fighting to get our shots – I promise it was not like this at all! HAHA Everyone was super polite & wonderful to each other, I promise! It just looks like mass chaos – it truly wasn’t!

A shakey selfie – AGH! Just minorly starstruck! Then the food – which was to DIE for – so good!