Freedom Focus Photography

178 - Do you know what the biggest difference between DSLR and mirrorless is? There's no mirror! Ummmm … duh, Nicole. That's why they call it "mirror-less."    But really, when you make the switch to mirrorless, you might even be holding your shutter release button down and thinking the whole time "I got a lemon! This thing isn't doing anything." Meanwhile, you j...

177 - Heather Lahtinen likes to save money. She doesn't like to spend money. She's an accumulator.  Heather is back for another episode to talk about money, mindset shifts and how she was convinced to spend $18,000 on coaching for herself.    Oh yeah, that does sound like a lot of money, doesn't it? I mean, it's a new compact car. Or a travel trailer to go see the world. Or a m...

176 - I promise today's episode about end-of-life pet photography isn't as depressing as it might sound.  So many of us dive into pet photography with the vision of rolling around on the ground and having some serious snuggles and giggles with happy, healthy dogs and horses and all the animals.  That's what Angela Schneider thought, too, even though she had been through the agonizin...

175 - Are you tired of setting goals that never happen? Are you ready to create a clear plan? Boy oh boy, you gotta listen to this episode. It's just me this week, all by myself. But don’t you worry, I have a ton of goodies for you. Whether you're just starting out or have been in the pet photography industry for a while, this episode can help you take your business to the next level. To...

174 - I heard you groan. Nicoooooooole, I don't wanna blog. I don't know what to blog about! I don't have time to blog!  Trust me, I feel your pain. Blogging isn't one of my favorite things to do either. I would tell you all the reasons you should be blogging but I'm going to get my friend Tavia Redburn to do it instead.  Tavia joins me on the podcast this week to talk abo...

173 - Oh boy. If you've been listening to the Hair of the Dog podcast for any length of time, you know that systems are one of my love languages.  Yep. If you want to get me all excited, start talking about ways to streamline your business and automate stuff.   So, when Shanice Miller of Taskly Group dropped an email into my inbox that said, "Let's talk systems," well, friends,...

172 - This is going to be short and sweet. Just like the episode you're about to listen to. 2022 has been another wild ride, and it seems like it went by in a flash. However , I had such a great time recording podcast episodes every week.  That's right. Every week this year, the Hair of the Dog podcast brought you fresh content to get your mindset, your life, and your pet photography bus...

171 - Life becomes different when you've seen it all. War. The Great Depression. Pandemics. My gramma has lived to 106 years old and is doing "incredibly well." No, really. That's her thing. Ask her how she's doing and she will tell you she's doing "incredibly well." In today's episode, Heather -- yes, her again, for the fourth week in a row -- and I ta...

170 - I did a thing. OK, Brett and I did a thing. We bought a house, renovated it and rented it out.  Whoa, Nicole! That's a huge thing, you might be thinking. And you know you're a little right … it can be really intimidating. Especially if your name is Heather Lahtinen. It's true. I've found something that actually intimidates our fierce friend, Heather.  For this week's...

169 - If you aren't human, don't listen to this episode.  If you are, buckle in.  We are about to jump into another episode with Heather Lahtinen. And today we are talking all about keeping momentum going in your business … even when you've decided to take time off.  I mean, come on. It's the holidays. We all want a little extra time to spend in our flannel jammies, egg nog in...

168 -There's nothing quite like a ranting, raving Heather Lahtinen. You get that woman excited about something and She. Goes. Off. Arms waving in the air, talking about six-figure businesses and what do you want to do with your life … the whole nine yards. And I love it.  Heather, the incomparable guru behind Flourish Academy and my business bestie, is my guest on the podcast this week.  We t...

167 - One day, Kristy Trick was standing in the middle of her living room, surrounded by a mountain of dog toys.   Some of them still had their tags attached.   She canceled her subscription to a monthly dog treat business and started her own.   In addition to managing Central Bark Photography, Kristy fulfills the dreams of dog moms across the U.S., who are looking for fun activities to do with th...

166 - Sometimes, you just need a change. The world around you isn't feeling right -- kinda like that pair of undies that keeps jamming up your arse.  You have your goals set for your professional pet photography business. You see the change you want. But dammit, how do you get there? That's the hard part. Or is it? What if you had a way to visualize the road map to get there? Oh now, don...

165 - If you've listened to the news lately, you've probably heard the economy is basically a flaming dumpster fire: sky-high inflation, a looming recession, and mortgage rates rising like an early-pandemic sourdough. To all that, Heather Lahtinen says, "So what?" When it comes to what the current economy means for your business, Heather—who's adding Certified Money Coach...

164 - If only being a pet photographer meant dealing with just the pets. Turns out, being a pet photographer involves a whole lot of human interaction. And every time we interact with humans, there's an opportunity for communication lines to get crossed.  The culprit for crossed lines is often a simple difference in communication styles. This week, guest Dorie Howell helps us decode our clien...

163 - Money is energy—nothing more, nothing less. And the thoughts you hold about money are often the very thing that affects how much of it you have.  This week, I'm replaying my talk from the most recent Hair of the Dog Summit. Together we explored how past experiences can shape your current relationship with money, and—more importantly—how to uplevel that relationship to better meet your g...

162 - Courtney Bryson has seen this story too many times in our Hair of the Dog Circle community: A pet photographer hoping to partner with an animal-rescue group reaches out to them, and gets totally skunked. Emails are ignored; offers to help are declined. What gives? This week, Courtney—whose rescue involvement led to her pet photography career—gives us the scoop on getting started working with...

161 - Consider me a CloudSpot fangirl. In the two years I've been using the gallery-delivery software, it's become an indispensable part of my business. It's how I share my location guide, deliver client galleries and let folks order reprints—and with the epic new feature that's about to launch, it's going to play an even bigger role in my pre-session consult.  This week,...

160 - Until COVID hit, photography was very much just a hobby for Tacoma, Washington-based Marie Wulfram. After kicking around the idea of a pet photography business for six months, she finally went for it in late 2020.  Fast-forward two years and Marie just logged a $20,000 month. 😯 This, despite the unconventional approach she takes. ( "I don't do phone calls in my business." ) F...

159 - This week we draw back the curtains on one of Heather Lahtinen's coaching calls inside the Elevate program. In this one-on-one chat with a seriously stuck student, Heather offers a new way to think about to-do lists, and a practical tool for tackling them efficiently.  What To Listen For: The thing that slows you down and saps productivity What to ask yourself when you're drowning...

158 - The last few years have thrown a lot of curveballs at Michigan-based photographer Michelle Crandall. A full calendar of dog-sports event photography was washed down the drain by COVID, prompting a pivot to private sessions. Then a simple dog-safety concern spiraled into Michelle organizing her own event—a massive (and unexpected) undertaking that thrust her business into the spotlight.    Wh...

 This week's episde was recorded specifically to tell you... don't listen to this week's podcast! Today is the first day of our live Hair of the Dog Summit online, so we're currently over there, soaking up all the trainings from our fantastic summit speakers. Won't you come join us ?  What To Listen For:   Creating Dreamy Dog Portraits with Monica van der Maden Editing Com...

As you might have heard by now, the Hair of the Dog Summit is coming back from Sept.13-15.  But in the meantime, I thought it would be really fun to replay some of the podcast episodes of some of our Summit speakers. In this replay, we bring you another incredible episode from one of our regular coaches inside the Academy, Kim Hartz of Kim Hartz Photography. ---- 140 - Chances are, you have a lot...

157 - Good things come in threes , they say, and with Heather Lahtinen on the podcast for a third week in a row, I'd say they —whoever those mysterious, omniscient minds are—are spot on.  This week Heather reached out for my help. When we hit "record," I had no idea what was coming. Turns out, the problem Heather's wrestling with is one I'd wager is familiar to many of you...

Final planning for the Hair of the Dog Summit (Sept 13-15) is well underway and as I was putting our final list of speakers together, I realized quite a few of them have already been on the podcast and some of those were some of your favorite episodes! So what better way to gear up for the Summit is to re-release them! In this particular replay, we bring you back one of my favorite podcast intervi...