So today is May 1st, Happy May Day! For me today comes with a little extra excitement. And no, it isn’t because after weeks of seeing Justin Timberlake’s predictions, it is finally May. I am excited because in mid-April 2008, with only a camera and a dream, 19 year old Kait registered a website and put Photography by Kait Rose in motion. Which means that today is the first day of my full month of being in business 9 years. (Say that 5 times fast.) But seriously, NINE YEARS! And you know what caused me to start a business when most people that age are just appreciating the freedom of adulthood. This little creature below.
Isn’t she magnificent? To be fair that’s not what she looked like when I started. She was less than a year when I opened shop. But I knew as soon as she came that I needed to do something that allowed me to be there for her whenever I could. And also, if I am being 100% honest, I always wanted to have my own business. And as an artist. I wanted to be a ballerina. Or a Rockette (until I discovered I would never make the height requirement) or a tap dancer or a singer. I wanted to be myself, making art, doing what I loved. And my dad (AKA Mark my lovely assistant/second shooter) had his own business when I was young and it was so awesome to watch him do his thing. And my mom helped out with the business and we would sometimes tag along to jobs and that family involvement was so appealing to me. And I have no shortage on family now. Fast forward 9 years…
We’ve added a few little ones since I started. And that’s just the most obvious growth. There have been so many new couples, new families, new friends met and moments captured. More than I could possibly describe. And as I stand at the precipice of my 10th year I find myself asking where do I want to be at year 10. And next summer is even more so than just year 10. It’s also the year I turn the big 3-0. So seriously, that’s a pretty daunting precipice. I have one year to hit all of the checkpoints I wanted to achieve before 10 years in business AND all of the “Before I Turn 30” goals. As I considered all of that I thought, what are my goals. There are obiviously a lot of things I want to acomplish this year but what are some biggies that speak to the things I truly value. And once I had them, I had to throw them out into the world because everyone knows that nothing drives a goal harder than knowing people are watching the progress. So without further ado, my top 5 things to accomplish by May 1st, 2018:
1. Make people smile
Okay so I know goal setting tip numero uno is be as specific as possible and this seems pretty vague place to start but I promise I am going somewhere specific with this. I want to volunteer. I want to surprise people with delicious baked goods. I want to make my kids eyes light up with fun adventures. I want to spoil my clients with a photography experience that is personal, luxurious, and lovingly created for them. And sometimes I will even make myself smile with a trip down to my favorite chocolate shop in Oregon, The Chocolate Caper, for some chocolate covered candied orange peels. <3 (Look at them! SO DELICIOUS!)
2. Quality Time with my Family
I want to take the kids on an adventure and see a state we haven’t seen. To try a food they haven’t tried. To teach them something new. I want to explore life with them in a way that grows them as people because they are starting as the most amazing little people I could have ever asked to Mommy.
3. Run a 15K
I have a bunch of health goals but this pretty much is the end game of them all. I have taken part in a 5k in the past and they have a 15K with a medal shaped like a bar of chocolate at the end. And if you see the post above you will note that I enjoy chocolate so I figured that’s the 15K to run. This is me and one of my besties at the event a few years ago. Gotta love when its cold enough to wear an eskimo hat when you run!
4. Create a photography experience that is more than just photography
This doesn’t sound as glamorous as some of the others but it is SO IMPORTANT. I want to create for my wonderful, amazing, unlike-any-other clients an experience that is everything I always wanted to do for them. I want every step to feel like more than you expected. Just like the goals above I want to make you smile and take you on amazing photographic adventures. But don’t worry I won’t make you run a 15k. (Although it would be memorable and unexpected…) I want to have every client I work with getting to enjoy only the best I can provide through every well planned step of the process. And oh the fun steps I have planned for you! But most importantly, I want to create images that gush with emotion and feeling captured in my own unique Kait style. Because that is why I got this whole crazy train rolling to begin with and why you bought a ticket to ride.
5. To plant to foundation for our next big dream
If you know anything about my family (and if you have talked to me about my family for more than 5 minutes you probably know our life story) you know that we love the outdoors. Morel hunting in the spring, boating in the summer, hiking in the fall, we love it. And to accomodate better for the lifestyle we have decided that our next big leap will be to buy a little farm. Something with some wooded acreage where I can take photos on my own gorgeous turf and my husband can raise turkeys (because it makes him happy and I don’t like to judge) and my babies can have a pony. By the end of this year I would love to have a foundation in place so that I can show my children I am working towards that for them. Not eventually, but soon.
WHOO!
So that was a ton and it is CRAZY to lay it all out there but I wanted to share it with all of you wonderful people who are following along for the ride. I hope I get a chance to make you smile, take you on an adventure, and help you with some of your goals this year. Throw me a comment below or below the post on my Facebook feed with what you are striving for this year, I would LOVE to hear about it!
XOXO
Kait
