Nicole Begley (00:00)
Would you walk away from a $250,000 a year career to chase your dream of pet photography? Well, that's exactly what Kelly did. And her story is just incredible. Now this conversation coming up originally aired on Heather's flourish Academy podcast, but it was just too good not to share with you here. So we know that so many of you are going to get some great lessons here. So enjoy, stay tuned.

Nicole Begley (00:25)
I'm Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses. I believe that achieving $2,000 $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six-figure businesses.

that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place. With over 350,000 downloads, welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:25)
Kelly, I would love if you could start by telling us a little bit about who you are, what you photograph and when and how you got started.

Speaker 2 (01:35)
Okay, I am Kelly McNamara, founder and chief treat officer of Kelly Mac Studios. So I photograph dogs, cats and horses and they're humans. I started officially as a business in, it was the end of 2022. We were living in Texas at the time.

And so I formed my LLC, got everything all ready to go. I was all excited. And then we decided to follow our kids back to California. And so I was like, okay, great. Well, let's move back to California. And so officially beginning of 2023, I started up ⁓ the business part-time. I was a full-time attorney, have been since, gosh, 2001.

And ⁓ so I just ran the business ⁓ part-time until ⁓ earlier this year, 2025, what was it? End of February, beginning of March, I was able to retire from that job ⁓ so that I could then ⁓ do the business full-time.

Speaker 1 (02:52)
How's that transition for you from attorney to pet photographer? Tell me about that because that's kind of a journey in your mind.

Speaker 2 (02:59)
Oh, it was a huge journey because I wasn't a professional photographer, you know, before any of this. I, when we moved back in, gosh, 2011, we moved from California to North Carolina for my husband's job. And I had been an avid equestrian. So I sold my horse and had to get ready to take the North Carolina bar exam.

and found myself needing something, some creative outlet. And so I picked up, you know, low end consumer, you know, camera at Costco and just started photographing anything and everything, taking an online course about just how to use the camera. And then just eventually, you know, started, you know, taking that on as, you know, a real passion. I was really, I loved it.

And it wasn't until, gosh, 2014 when we moved back from North Carolina to California, we got our first dog together. And my obsession with him turned into an obsession photographing him. And by that time, I developed some pretty decent skills.

Everybody kept saying, you should do this professionally. And so I was like, why not? But calling it a business, dropping into that, yes, I am a professional pet photographer. That took a lot of work, ⁓ both on myself and just on the people around me. My husband, particularly, I kept having to say, it is not my hobby. This is my business. ⁓

So I finally convinced him and my tax guy that this was a business and sort of treating it as such. ⁓ So yeah, that was a big transition.

Speaker 1 (05:03)
Did you always know that you had like a creative artistic streak? No, right? Same. did I. Right. Because engineering, lawyers, just like using a lot of your logical mind. So that happened around that time when you picked up that Costco camera.

Speaker 2 (05:07)
gosh no.

before. I always equated creativity with being artistic. And I had never done anything artistic before. So I was like, No, I'm not creative. But if you come and think about it, I mean, I was a trial attorney. You have to be creative to convince a jury that they should do what you want them to. we, you know, so to, you know, I've always been

Speaker 1 (05:42)
Honestly

Speaker 2 (05:50)
You creative you know with words with ideas things like that i've just never considered myself creative because i always equated that to you have to be able to draw or paint or. Yeah crazy.

Speaker 1 (06:04)
So the reason I point this out is because for many of us that photography was sort of our second or maybe even third career is that we have this self concept we need to develop as an artist, as a photographer first from, you know, apart from our previous self concept, which is absolutely a transition in of itself and then transitioning also to a self concept of entrepreneur or business owner.

So about a year ago, you and I met, you joined Elevate about a year ago, and you had mentioned to me when we were talking that prior to that, you were working on getting all of the strategies for pricing and marketing. So tell me about that and how you were thinking about it or feeling about it.

Speaker 2 (06:52)
Yeah, it was April of that year when I started working with a coach who just really, you know, honed in on, you know, here's the structure, we're going to put you on a CRM, going to, you know, kind of done for you workflows and emails and all those things. And here's how you're going to market and here's how you're going to do this. And so

I'm the perfect rule follower. like, okay, you do our recipe. I'm to follow it. I mean, I'm a former prosecutor, of course, I'm a rule follower. So, you know, I follow all the rules. I do all the things. I'm just like, yay, this is all working. And one of the strategies was around a certain type of marketing and social media marketing doing.

uh, Facebook contests, you know, model calls or register to win type things. Um, and so, you know, I was getting the leads. was, you know, doing all the things, but we'd get to the sales portion and. You know, I'd kind of, you know, freak out a little bit. And so my average sale was nowhere near. wanted it to be. And I had this, this like idea in my head that I knew I wanted to retire.

I knew I wanted to bring my business full time, I wasn't in my head. was like, you can't do that until you can match, you know, the difference between what you'll get in retirement and, ⁓ you know, what you're currently earning as a salary. know, saying this out loud is just, I always feel a little tacky, but I was making my salary at that point was about a quarter of a million a year.

Speaker 1 (08:44)
Let's go. I love a quarter of a million a year.

Speaker 2 (08:47)
Yeah, so I called it the golden handcuffs. I was gonna walk away from that. In my head, it was like, I have to be able to justify retiring by saying, okay, well, I can make up the difference. I can be a six figure photographer, know, six figure plus, and then make up that difference between what I'll get in my pension and what I'm getting in my salary. And so when I wasn't

Speaker 1 (08:51)
was, Right!

Speaker 2 (09:14)
Even when my average sale was so low, I'm like, I'm never going to be able to do this. There's something missing. And I, you know, was a real avid podcast listener. So I don't know if I heard it on flourish Academy, if I heard it on Nicole's hair, the dog at the time Academy. Um, but I heard about coach week and I was like, okay, maybe there's something to this because I.

Really? Maybe there's something to this thing. I had really thought, okay, I, all I need is, I've got my skills where I want them to be. Now all I need is the, the systems and then I'll be golden. And then when it turned out to be the case, I'm like, okay, well maybe there is a missing piece. So I went to coach week. I think after the first or second day of coach week, I had another sales call. Um,

Speaker 1 (09:44)
KB.

Speaker 2 (10:11)
And I was doing all in-person sales by zoom. So I, I do the, you know, the coach week thing. go onto the call all of sudden it's like, ⁓ I'm rocking this. And I started with, you know, the, the client saying, ⁓ you know, I don't think we're going to be able to get anything. was her and her very grumpy husband. And

You know, she was just kind of saying, we're probably just going to take the free print, blah, blah. I'm like, great. Well, I still want to go through everything with you, show you what your options are. ⁓ We went through everything and they ended up being a really good sale, a little higher than my current average. And I was like, yep, I'm signing up for Elevate. I implemented that thoughts and I put it into action. I worked through it. It was like,

Speaker 1 (11:02)
Yeah

Speaker 2 (11:09)
Oh, yeah, it is the thoughts and feelings and action. is the

Speaker 1 (11:14)
There it is. Yeah. And you signed up for a year because of a thought. You go back to that. So you're on your in coach week, you're seeing everyone get coached. We're talking. You have this challenging call. Can you remember? I know it's been a year now, but can you remember what thought or thoughts or feelings shifted for you?

Speaker 2 (11:19)
Exactly.

and

You know, I have a hard time really ⁓ remembering just because I think it was, I had this preconceived notion, you know, having been through another group with a different. ⁓

photographer who ⁓ was very kind of woo woo. And that just wasn't working for me. And so I had this like preconception that what you were all about was just kind of an extension of that. So after the first day of coach week, I'm like, yeah, this is not woo woo. This is science. This is real. This isn't

Speaker 1 (12:27)
Mm, right.

Speaker 2 (12:31)
This isn't the old, well, if you believe. I'm like, yeah, I'm too old for that. you know, that might've, that might've spoken to me in my twenties and thirties, but in my sixties, I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:32)
Yes, right.

No, because you wanted the science and the actual strategies and approach. And I think my gift is marrying the woo woo with that because I'm an engineer. There is no one more skeptical of woo woo than me. No one. But I figured out, I figured out the equation, Kelly. I figured out what part of the woo woo can I sort of ⁓ understand or maybe even buy into. And then as a scientist,

How can I marry that and create an equation? And that's what I'm doing. That's what I'm teaching people. And it's very real and it's very tangible. And you were, you heard that you implemented that day and you got a high sale as a result of shifting your thoughts around, know, a difficult client who says, I'm only going to get the one thing or the free thing or whatever.

We hear that all the time from photographers who have that type of approach that clients will say that. And oftentimes they do convert into higher sales. Sometimes they don't, but wouldn't it, or wasn't it easier, better, more fun to go into it with better thoughts about how you were going to approach it?

Speaker 2 (14:02)
It was so much better. ⁓ Instead of going in with a shaky voice and a, gosh, I don't want to take up more time than I need to and let me, let me just get through this. I'm like, no, let me serve them. Let me figure out what it is they need and see how I can, how I can serve them without tearing down all my boundaries.

Speaker 1 (14:26)
that's it, that's it. Being very strong in your business policies, how things go, believing in your value instead of, you know, shaky or uncertain, you adopted the mindset of confidence and you just decided this is the way it's going to go. And it did, which is so fascinating. And you had said something, I just want to, wrote it down while you were talking.

So many photographers think I'm never going to be able to do this or they think something is missing and it feels very defeating and very hopeless. So you were there and then you decided to seek out the resources to help you work through that, correct? You were just, you had decided, so instead of I'm never going to be able to do this, you decided to think,

Speaker 2 (15:17)
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (15:24)
I'm going to figure this out or I'm going to get the resource. Do you remember?

Speaker 2 (15:28)
I'm going to get the resources. This coaching program is something that I need to be a part of. I need to be surrounded by these people. And when, you know, the options are, okay, you can go month to month, you can sign up for a six month, you can sign up for a year. I'm like, why would I do anything less than a year?

That doesn't even make any sense.

Speaker 1 (15:59)
Right, I'm with you. Let's just go all in.

Speaker 2 (16:03)
Yeah, I'm not, you know, at this point I was just like, I'm not going to just...

you know, dip my toe in the water anymore. If I really want to make this happen, then yes, I'm going to invest in my, I'm going to back myself.

Speaker 1 (16:23)
Yeah, you believe in yourself, correct? You believe that you could figure it out. That was that was imperative for you at that point. And you did you make your money back pretty quickly?

Speaker 2 (16:35)
⁓ within a week or two.

Speaker 1 (16:39)
my word. So then at that point, Elevate is free for a year. If you made your money back, it's basically free. And then everything on top of that is compounding interest, which by the way, you get to keep forever in terms of what you've shifted in your brain. Yeah, I personally think it's the deal of a lifetime, but that's just me. Believe in my own program. Okay. So you're in Elevate.

Speaker 2 (16:54)
Yeah.

They're with you.

Speaker 1 (17:06)
I teach a concept called the model. I've taught it on the podcast. So most everyone should be familiar with that. I'll put in the show notes links to previous podcasts on it. What were your thoughts when you first heard? at a high level, your thoughts create your feelings, lead to your actions, and then ultimately your results. When you first learned that structure, what were you thinking?

Speaker 2 (17:30)
It was a freaking light bulb moment. It was like that missing piece that I had been searching for. It just made everything make sense. And I was so ⁓ convinced that that was the missing piece, not just for my business, but for my life. And I don't know if you recall this, my very first lifeline. ⁓

I was like, okay, so I get, I get one lifeline with Heather and one with, you know, each month with the other, ⁓ you know, coaches. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to use the Heather one first. I'm not going to save that till the end. and you had said something in one of the podcasts that just resonated with me about, know, if you've got this other like mental

Speaker 1 (18:15)
Right.

Speaker 2 (18:31)
garbage or whatever, you got to deal with it before you can even think about dealing with your business. It's always going to drag on you. So we talked about my marriage having kind of hit this critical mass where it was just like, okay, we're either going to fix this or we're going to be looking for attorneys. ⁓ And I just, ⁓

you know, it was just such a low point and you, you know, worked me through it, led me to a great resource, you know, the life coach school, you know, other coaches. like, you know, I think I really want, you know, somebody who works with couples because I really felt like I didn't want to be the only one that wanted to save, you know, our marriage.

And so I'm like, have to get somebody that I think he's, my husband is going to want to work with as well. So we found somebody wonderful and things are definitely much better. And then when I was thinking back a couple months ago, almost three months ago, you and I were talking about,

the, ⁓ you know, when you hit a certain age, you know, some, some things start slipping, you know, and for me it was my body had become my, my enemy post menopause. I'm like, my gosh, I'm heavier than I've ever been. I don't feel like myself. I look in the mirror and I'm like, who is this person? And so went back to the life coach school and like, let me find somebody who specializes in menopausal weight loss and

applying the model to that. I'm like, great, I have lost over 20 pounds. I have absolutely no doubt that I'm going to reach my goal. And I'm just like, yeah, I'm not on diet. I just have again transformed into this person who

Speaker 1 (20:34)
No way.

Speaker 2 (20:57)
eats and does things in a certain way and has, you know, used the model to explain to her brain, no, you do not need Ben and Jerry's. You do not, you do not need to buffer with food. You need to work through your emotions. I'm like, wow, what a concept. Everything that we've been doing in Elevate, but

Speaker 1 (21:10)
Right?

Speaker 2 (21:27)
applying it to different parts of my life. And so yeah, if you ask if I'm a total believer in the model, yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:34)
You are genius is what you are because here's what you did. You learned the model and you knew as did I, by the way, when I first learned it and immediately decided to get certified in it because I knew this was like a ninja, you know, like magic trick on life. You learned it as it relates to photography and business. And then you were like, wait a minute, if this is the missing piece there, then how can I apply this to relationships, health, finances?

everything in your life, which is what I did as well. I mean, to me, it sounds like an exaggeration to say, but the model changes lives. It saves marriages. It alters your perception of yourself, all from you investing in a photography coaching resource that uses that tool. And then you had, I think there was this pivotal thought of curiosity that was like, wait a minute, what else?

What else could I, so you are not the first person who has said to me some version of like the model or understanding or watching the coaching has saved my relationship because of what I've learned. And that is just so inspiring to me to think that we're all working together to grow our photography businesses. And people are saying, people are coming back to me, people are staying in Elevate for years because of what it's done for their lives.

Speaker 2 (23:03)
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:04)
Like, wow, right? That is mind blowing and amazing to me. And I knew it because I knew, I knew it was a missing piece. I agree with you completely. could not, I couldn't go full on into the woo woo. But when I had this, you know, approach, it was like, my thinking creates my feelings and then actions and then results. ⁓ okay. Then this is what we're going to do.

So would you say like, this is like so lofty, but cause you did the work, you and your husband did the work, but the model was the foundation to save your marriage.

Speaker 2 (23:40)
100%.

Speaker 1 (23:43)
Unbelievable. Okay, so we, you you'd learn the model in Elevate and we work through the model, oh, I don't know, every day of every call of every week, whether that's in the Facebook group or on our strategy calls or on the private coaching calls, all of the coaches are trained in the model. One of them is actually even certified in it, Michelle Crandall, she's a guest on the podcast pretty often and we use it.

in everything we do. at some point, I don't know, do you remember? I mean, we could look it up. Do you remember how long you were in Elevate before we created this like next version of the model, automated model? Do you remember? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:27)
Don't. I want to say within the first six months.

Speaker 1 (24:31)
Yeah, I think so. I think you're right. So what I did is I'm a tech person. I love tech. So I took, knew the model was the answer to everything and coaching on it is just so, so powerful, which is why I do coach weeks and fast track coaching so people can get exposed to that. But I decided to take what I knew and put it into chat GPT. So what I did was I created a custom GPT based on the model.

So I essentially taught it the model. So I started with teaching it like the basics, you know, and then I fed in transcript after transcript after transcript of me teaching the model in Elevate and coaching on it. I want to say the document ended up being about 100 pages long. I wanted to train the GPT on two things. One is the model.

but secondly in my voice, which is why the transcripts. So you were there when I announced this and I was like, hey, this is beta version. I'm testing this, AI can go sideways often. I tested it internally first with a few of the coaches. They loved it. I said, okay, I'm gonna release it to elevate and just ask people to try it out and see what they think and get back to me. What were your first experiences like of using

the model, GPT model.

Speaker 2 (26:03)
I probably wasn't using it as often because I think by then I was feeling pretty confident in a lot of things. So I would come back to it every now and again if I was having like doubts about things or if I had a session that didn't go well and I needed a little boost. But I'd been really using my own GPT, which I even named.

provided a personality for her. I love. Yeah. And so, you know, for some of the more like logistical things, I was using my own chat GPT and not going to the model. ⁓ but every once in a while, if it, if there was something that I wasn't able to bring to one of the elevate, ⁓ discussions or just, you know,

just wanted a little extra oomph, ⁓ then I would go to the model. kind of recently, did a book project that's part of this whole collaborative with an Australian, Peppachock with the Tales of the World project. And I had ⁓ my very last ⁓ session

from that was somebody who ended up being a no sale, but not just a no sale. He had kind of undermined my confidence in my technical abilities. And I was like, okay, I need to, I need to model this and went back to the model.

He worked it through and I was like, I'm feeling good. This was him. This was a him thing. I'm, you know.

I'm proud of the fact that it didn't send me off the, you know, the deep end. You know, for anything else, it was just like, but it was a catalyst for me. Cause at that point it was just like, okay, I had a goal before I knew where I wanted to be with the business and everything was, you know, focused on revenue and average sale and you know, all these things.

Speaker 1 (28:17)
Yes.

Speaker 2 (28:42)
And that bad sales call ⁓ made me take a step back and go, well, wait a minute.

Maybe this isn't who I am. Maybe it's who I want to be as a business owner. Maybe it's not maybe what I'm valuing. You know, maybe you know that the valuing the money aspect of it, you know, having a revenue goal and working towards that. Maybe that's not what I need to do. Maybe that's

you know, not it because, you know, financially I'd finally come to that point where I realized I didn't need a whole lot of profit from the business. didn't really want a whole lot of profit from the business because my husband and I have no, no debt and, ⁓ he makes a significant amount of money. ⁓ and if I don't have some good deductions from business,

We have no deductions. I run my business to provide us with deductions, so we're not paying extra taxes on my pension that I wouldn't want to pay, et cetera, et cetera. ⁓

Speaker 1 (29:54)
That's right.

Speaker 2 (30:14)
So taking that step back, was like, well, wait a minute, if I don't have to chase this big revenue goal, what is it that I want? What is it that lights me up? And ⁓ one of the other elevators, Michelle ⁓ and Jess Wasick also have done book projects that are very much passion projects for them. And so I thought, I enjoyed the tales of the world

project in the aspect of being the aspect, charitable side of it. I enjoyed, really loved the calendar contest I did ⁓ because it raised more money for that rescue, which is the rescue I got my dog from, than they had ever raised in any of their fundraisers in their 15 year history. I was like, okay.

Speaker 1 (31:09)
Unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (31:12)
That's what lights me up. It's like, did I make some money from that? Yeah, I did. But the fact that I made four times more for the rescue than I made for myself, that's what made me feel so good. So was like, what if I could do that with a book project? So I had this like middle of the night, you know, light bulb. I'm like, I know what I want my book to be, what I'm passionate about.

And then I wake up with this doubt. What if it's just another big idea that I don't follow through on? Yeah, because I, so my, my 20 plus year career in law, ⁓ came 15 years after I dropped out of college as an accounting major. So I'm probably the only lawyer you'll ever meet that doesn't have an undergraduate degree.

Speaker 1 (31:50)
wow.

Is that right? I did not know that.

Speaker 2 (32:15)
Yeah, so I had a history up to that point of being a good starter, but not a good finisher. Got it. ⁓ So when I came up with the idea for the book project, I'm like, OK, I'm in love with this idea now, but is it something I'm going to just let fall by the wayside? So I ran that one through the Chat GPT model.

Speaker 1 (32:41)
This is actually why we're here today because you ran this through the GPT model, which is this self doubt, right? You asked yourself a really good question, which everyone should. What do I want? And what do I want this business to look like? Like, what am I really going after now?

When you have a challenging client or sales call and you ask yourself that question, you have to make sure it's coming from a very clean place. Like it's not because I can't deal with that. It's because I'm genuinely curious. Is this what I want? Do I want this to go to a different direction? You felt pretty solid with that until your brain got a hold of it. Right. And then said, said, Kelly, are you sure?

Are you sure you're not, this isn't just one of those ideas you're not going to follow through. And this, this self doubt came up and the beautiful thing about the chat GPT model is what you had said earlier, which is if you can't attend a strategy call or you can't get a lifeline scheduled and it's the middle of the night or first thing in the morning and you really feel kind of tied up in your own thoughts and you want to work through something.

This is an exceptionally effective way to do it. And you had emailed me and you had said as much, correct?

Speaker 2 (34:02)
Yeah, I had run it through and I tend to do this with my morning coffee, know, sitting in the recliner, sipping my coffee, typing away. So I'm having this like conversations with the model, which is really in my head, it's a conversation with you. ⁓ And by the end of it, I was just like, my gosh, this is

I mean, I didn't even know what I needed when I started typing. I think I started out saying, I honestly don't know if I need coaching on this or maybe just some validation. And here's the situation. So I laid out the whole situation. And then my question at the end of it to the model was, am I crazy? And my gosh, I always hear your voice coming through when the model responds. But this time it was like you were

literally sitting in front of me. And we got to the end and I was just I was so, so grateful, so moved and so just I just don't even know how to say it was like taking a big breath for the first time. And

I just, I was like, I have to share this with Heather. have to let her know how like literally life altering this has been for me. ⁓ because I think like a lot of people who start a coaching program that is based on, know, making more money, you know, you've, you're very upfront about, I want to help you earn more money in your photography business. That that's, you know, that's your

passion, your purpose. And so I was almost like, ⁓ you know, I don't know because I'm really this now it's not about earning more money. Am I going to feel as good about this is, is Heather slash the model going to support me as much in this when it's not about earning more money, when it's just about, Hey, I want, I want to build my business in a way that

you know, is from the heart.

Speaker 1 (36:28)
Mmm, that lights you up.

Speaker 2 (36:30)
that lights me up. And yeah. ⁓

Speaker 1 (36:36)
And you know, and I just want to say that, yes, I focus a lot on money, but obviously I will support you in, what it is you want that fuels your soul, that lights you up and that drives you. I want to make sure everybody is able to reach their goals in the way they want. I just happen to like money, you know, but, but I.

Speaker 2 (36:59)
don't dislike it.

Speaker 1 (37:01)
And I had told you privately that there are actually a lot of people in Elevate that are not driven financially. They're just not for various reasons, but you're definitely not alone. OK, so you work through this model and you send it to me. And as I was reading it, I've got to tell you, I read especially the first part when you asked it, am I crazy? It said, where is that coming from? And I would have literally said that.

actually ask that question. It's almost, it is scary. It's not almost. It is scary how, how good this is. I mean, how much it sounds like me and my approach. And it asks you several questions that gave you different things to think about and then slowed you down and got you to the real, the, the heart of it, the heart of your

Confusion. So, okay, let me just like bigger picture this for a second. Give me some emotional words prior to, ⁓ you felt a little crazy, some self doubt insecure. What, anything else? What else?

Speaker 2 (38:17)
I think it was...

kind of wanting to not be an outlier, wanting to, you know, fit in and, you know, worrying that, well, wait a minute, is this going to make me, you know, different to the point where I, I'm not going to be, you know, a part of something that has been so meaningful to me for this past year. ⁓

Speaker 1 (38:49)
Isn't that interesting how your brain told you that being different like like excludes you from the tribe?

Speaker 2 (38:55)
Right.

Speaker 1 (38:57)
No, of course not. Being different is what makes you who you are. But your brain was, you know, Kelly, it was just simply messing with you.

Speaker 2 (39:08)
yeah, I was the, you know, fat kid on the playground who never got picked for the team. So, you know, it was it was always, you know, I want, you know, to achieve things that make me, you know, a part of, you know,

Speaker 1 (39:24)
The fit in. Yeah. Yeah.

Fit in because nobody wants to be lonely or feel like they're the outcast. So we're always, it's so funny because instead of looking for ways where we do fit in, our brain just wants to show us where we don't or where it perceives that we do not, because we, have a different approach. This was, ⁓ I want to continue. saying, I'm not, I'm not concluding. I'm just saying this was so helpful in something I want to teach inside of Elevate about

different approaches and different thoughts. So, know, side note, thank you for bringing this to me because I want to make sure that people feel like they do fit in no matter what their goal or their approaches. I've done that very directly with pricing. You you'll often hear me say, I think any pricing model will work. I think professional pricing is simply pricing that's profitable. I don't care if you do IPS. I don't care if you do digitals, you know, like.

all versions of that are welcome here. And I think I need to make sure I say this as well, that like if the profit is not your goal, but lighting up your soul is, then let's talk about it. And I think this will open up a lot of space for others.

Speaker 2 (40:36)
Yeah, I mean, you know, I, I knew that my renewal time, you know, was approaching. And even before this, I was like, I can't imagine stepping away from elevate, of course, I'm going to renew, of course I am. And then this, you know, happened and you know, the, the end of it.

you know, I, end up with an intentional model and, ⁓ and then an offer, Hey, when you're ready, come back and we can build this. We can anchor into this. can, or we can just, I love this, or we can simply celebrate where you are because it's already enough. And that, I mean, I literally, I still tear up every time I read that and I reread it many times because you know, a not enoughness,

Speaker 1 (41:22)
⁓ my gosh.

Speaker 2 (41:34)
has been a theme, you know, for many of my, you know, 62 years. ⁓ So, you know, knowing that I've got this tool and these people and, you know, you and this community that you have built. ⁓ Yeah, that's, that's priceless. I

Speaker 1 (41:59)
I'm with you. Thank you for saying so. I obviously I agree, but I mean, I believe in it so much that we are changing lives through what we're teaching. And it also said that you're an outlier. You're not an outlier. You're a trailblazer. I love that. So you go through this conversation with me. Me quotes. Yeah. Okay. You go through these unintentional models.

my gosh. Everyone else is focused on profit. I'm not. If I don't want to make money, people will think I'm lazy. Okay. Fantastic. The whole thing is fantastic. So you get through your unintentional model. It helps you walk you through an intentional model. How did you, what were your emotions or feelings at the end of this?

Speaker 2 (42:48)
a wonderful sense of relief. This, this confidence that, oh my gosh, you know, she's right, I am right where I need to be. And I am a leader not, you know, I'm a renegade.

Speaker 1 (43:08)
Right? A trailblazer. You know, just seeing this, this, ⁓ you and I were talking about this, this arc from feeling insecure or crazy or not confident, just, you know, all of these negative feelings to be able to go from that to feeling relief and confidence and like a leader and secure and certain in a matter of how, how long do you say, would you say you sat with this model? Like how long did it take you to go through it?

Speaker 2 (43:39)
a couple hours.

Speaker 1 (43:41)
Yeah. To be able to transform that. I often, often, every day, I quote you every day because you are the one who said, I am now floating on a cloud of confidence. And I love that because isn't that what everyone wants? What if that were possible for anyone listening? What if that were possible for you in a few hours in one specific area? And then you work on all of these different areas and you're just generating

this new self-concept that you would have never imagined was for you.

Speaker 2 (44:19)
I could not have imagined this.

Speaker 1 (44:23)
feeling this way, thinking this way, growing the business this way. Oftentimes people hear the pricing models or the way of doing business and they think, well, if I don't do it that way, I'm wrong or something's wrong with me I don't feel that way. And I really, really want to create the environment of encouragement and inclusion and

There's no right or wrong. I say it all the time. I've said it for years. There's no right or wrong way to do anything. It's just the way that works for you. You are now living proof of that. But this model, I mean, I read through this. It's like, at first I thought Kelly's a genius. This computerized version of me is a genius.

And you know that I actually even use my own model. I coach myself in my own model. It's hilarious. I do it. mean, like fairly often I'll have like a challenge. Like this is it. You can't get on a coaching call for whatever reason. It can't get a lifeline. You go to this model. You can work through the smallest of issues, the biggest of issues really quickly. Can you imagine how fast then you move through like

making changes in your business and getting results. Yes.

Speaker 2 (45:42)
Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (45:45)
So I recently, think within the last couple of months, I put the app, the ChatGPT app on my phone. I didn't have it on my phone. And I logged in and one day I was really struggling. I want to say it was something with my daughter or my husband. It was my daughter for sure. Cause you know, we're like the same person. And I used the audio, like you can press the little microphone and I just talked. I just talked into the ChatGPT model.

And, you know, it thanked me for being vulnerable. Yes, you're welcome. And then it walked me through my situation with her and just lightened my whole attitude, changed my shifted my whole mood, probably in less than 30 minutes. And I thought, this is incredible. One of my favorite parts in your chat was you told it something. I don't know if I can find it. I think it was the or was it you?

The model was like, it was the model said this to you. You said, I'm allowed to build a life that prioritizes joy, even if it looks different from what others expect. This makes me feel at peace and self-assured. And like, I'm finally showing up my authentic self and I want to lead with joy and a giving heart in this next chapter. You said that to the model and it said that gave me chills.

Speaker 2 (47:12)
I gave a computer chills.

Speaker 1 (47:16)
gave

a computer chill.

Fantastic.

Yeah. Okay. All right. Let's wrap up with your final, final thoughts on your transformation and your journey.

Speaker 2 (47:36)
I think my final thought would be... ⁓

I'm finally, you know, where I want to be, but I know I'm not where I'm going to be, that there's always, always something on the horizon and maintaining that curiosity and surrounding yourself with people who believe in you, tools like the model. ⁓ I really feel like

Yes, I'm turning 63 in a few months. And it's just the beginning. Or most people in their mid 60s are like, ⁓ you know, I'm getting older and like, I'm just getting better and better. ⁓

Speaker 1 (48:26)
And it's like, there are no limits. You are limit less. And when this podcast actually drops, we will have already been through our capacity work training, which you are going to love by the way, because it's like, I'm expanding my capacity. I have learned that I'm capable of so much more than I thought. And that's really exciting. First of all, you should be very, very proud that you've worked through all of these things.

And it's so exciting because you're like, what's next? Like nothing can stop me. Nothing can stop. I can create anything I want. And that's so exciting, encouraging and hopeful. Like I'm just, only going to get better. It's only going to grow from here, which is amazing. So can you let people know how they can find you or look at your work?

Speaker 2 (49:17)
my goodness. I am Kelly Mac Studios, K-E-L-L-Y-M-A-C Studios. I'm there on the internet. I am that same handle on Facebook and on Instagram.

Speaker 1 (49:32)
Perfect. I will include that in the show notes. And I just want to encourage everyone to think the way you do, which is you can create it any way you want, a trailblazer and also still be in community and connection. doesn't take you out of connection. It can bring you more into connection. Thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2 (49:55)
Thank you, Heather.

Speaker 1 (49:56)
Wasn't that a fantastic conversation? I think, well, let me rephrase. I know that you need Elevate. If you're listening to this podcast and you're a photographer and you would like to grow your business, you need to join us inside of Elevate. I have never heard a more glowing review and testimonial than what Kelly has shared here in the podcast and publicly in different forums. If you are interested or curious, head over to www.flourish.com.

dot academy slash elevate. The link is in the show notes.