The past year, I’ve been in a mastermind group with five other photographers from across the country. It’s a group that meets via Zoom calls once a quarter to encourage, challenge, chat, give advice, teach on topics and cheer each other on. We just had our last meeting with all six of us before it ends. Let me tell you a bit about each of them, and follow up with 3 benefits of joining a mastermind group!

Caitlin and Luke are the brains behind this group. They reached out very randomly (still don’t really know how they found me, haha!) but it’s been a gift to learn from them. Their style is very warm, vibrant and joyful, and that leaks into their personalities and interactions with clients. They love well and are intentional about how they invest time.

Kayla Denae is a California girl. She loves her husband, her boys (and another baby boy to come!) and has such a heart for ministry. Her photography is light, airy and elegant… just like her! I love following her Insta stories because she’s honest about life but chooses joy.

Rachel Lynn is a rockstar. She crushes it in her business, booking tens of weddings every year, and just welcomed a baby girl into the world! Her photography style is jaw-dropping and hard to peel one’s eyes off it! It’s really cool to be in a group with someone whose business exploded in the best way.

Amanda Fothergill and I had a very random previous connection, so it’s been fun to be in the same group as her! She lives in Knoxville with her husband and two children. With so much knowledge about finances, efficiency and in-person sales, I’ve loved learning from her!

Here is how I benefitted from this group in 2019:

Free education isn’t the point of the group, but I’ve truly enjoyed being challenged by each person in the group. Each photographer has fresh ideas, things that work in their market, different approaches to marketing and freely shares their successes. Being in a mastermind with people in the same city can be constricting, but being in a mastermind with people cross-country is low-pressure because clients don’t overlap! Over the past year, we’ve talked about time management, marketing and inquiry processes.

I know that once a quarter, I’ll give an update to this group. So it makes me push through on some goals to keep me plugging away! This mastermind is full of achievers, and I find it really motivating to have people around me (though half way across the country) who are also working toward goals in their business.

If you think about it, photographers don’t have consistent coworkers. Unless a photographer has an assistant or is on a team of associates, one can be hard pressed to find people with the same job! I’m very thankful for the photographer community in Birmingham – everyone is friendly and I often meet friends for coffee – but it’s great to have people outside of the city cheering me on.

I’ve enjoyed this mastermind a lot! If you’re considering pushing yourself in your business, getting advice from others in the field and cheering one another one, do it! Come up with helpful topics — whether you grab them from Rising Tide Society or create your own curriculum — and make the time for encouragement and challenge.