Better to give...

This blog post is going to be a little raw- and maybe rub a few people the wrong way, and that’s okay. I’m sitting here making plans for what will be wedding season 13 for us here at KKP. What a ride it’s been. Over 500 weddings, 15 states, 4 countries, it’s just crazy. And honestly- no formal education or training in it. I get the question a lot of what it takes to make a successful business. How are you booking SO many weddings and I can barely fill a calendar? How are you getting so many destination weddings? How are your couples all so amazing? How do you get it so they don’t laugh off your price? How? How? How?

I’m an avid reader- I love to read and do it frequently. I love to read business books and self-help books. One of my favorite books (and authors for that matter) is Dave Ramsey. That guy has his stuff together. His teachings helped my hubby and I make some big time decisions in our life and I’m grateful. Beyond his money strategies though- I love his leadership strategies. One of my favorite of his books is called ‘Entreleadership’. I read it a few years ago and within the first few paragraphs- it already shook me. In it, Dave says about running a successful business “As a Christian I made the decision to run every area of my life as consistently with the Bible as I could….I decided that I would follow the spirit and the direction of Scripture to operate our business. I am convinced that those principles, woven into the coming pages, are the reason we win.”

Me too Dave. Me too.

There are people in business everywhere, and photography is no different, where they look down on those of us in the industry who ‘give away our goods’. I can’t disagree more. I live very strongly to the belief that God gave you gifts and talents so that you may use them in a way to glorify Him. Not yourself. Not for the money. I truly believe that if you use your gifts to bless others- you will be blessed in return.

Today I had an opportunity to do just that. A bride reached out to me a week or so ago in need of a photographer for just an hour for a wedding today in her living room. Her dear momma is sick and they needed to get married today so that her momma could be there with her. When she emailed and asked for a quote, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. And I wasn’t going to charge her a dime. Her response was heartbreaking- she said she wept when she got my email and just was so so grateful that this incredibly important moment would be captured. This is absolutely one of those moments where you DO think about value, but not yours. You think about how valuable those pictures will be to this family. How your gift will be a gift to them. And you don’t even question it. So today I had the honor of shooting an incredibly beautiful wedding in the living room of an incredible family- with the bride and groom, her parents, and her sister. And it was perfect.

Please don’t think that I’m saying that if your business isn’t doing what you want it to that you’re not Christian enough. Please don’t make that jump. :). What I am saying is this:

To anyone out there starting a business- my biggest piece of advice is to figure out right away how you can give back. It doesn’t have to be money. It doesn’t necessarily have to be time if that’s hard to come by for you. But something. Figure out a way you can give of yourself- and I have faith that your business will profit in return.