17
Apr
2014
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A leap of faith. Announcing our 2015 Workshop Dates!

A leap of faith.

Making the decision to teach our business model to the photography community was actually the scariest leap of faith Shaun and I have ever taken.  Like poop-your-pants scary.  For the first time ever, we had to make a business decision based solely on our own intuition and the trust we had in ourselves and our purpose.  Now I see that the decision to teach was a defining moment in my life.  It always starts with a leap of faith.

“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” ~ Tim Ferris

Before deciding to teach I often considered the sacrifices we made to build our business in the first few years.  Being an entrepreneur is damn hard work.  I signed up to make money doing what I love.  I didn’t realize I was signing up to be a small business owner.  I lost myself in those years.  I never want to go back to that place.

When I considered teaching others, I was terrified.  Wanting to hold on to the “secrets” of our success came out of the fear of losing it all.  What if giving it all away left us with nothing?  We walked through the trenches and learned our business lessons the hard way.  We also had a few wonderful mentors who inspired us to be better and do better.  Now we know there is a different way to succeed in this industry.  Holding that knowledge tugged at my soul for a few years.  I was so restless even in our great success.  What was it?

While that knowledge was helping us build a very successful studio, I often looked around to the faces of friends in our industry and saw the feelings I knew all too well.  Frustration, overwhelm, and burn out.  Fear that there isn’t enough time, or money, or resources to do it all.  Sadness at all the time away from family that can never be returned.  Fear of failure.  The economy is bad.  The industry is saturated.  Everyone owns a digital camera.  Fear that photography was the wrong choice.  Studios are closing every day.  I knew a way out.

A little voice rose up inside of me and whispered, “reach out your hand and HELP.”

Each and every person I teach becomes a part of me.  We face the same challenges.  We share the same love of our craft.  There is nothing I have that you don’t have within yourself.  My job is to show you where to find it.  There is no magic wand or special sauce.  There is only hard work with the right tools.  I believe in the power of education to transform your journey.

I’m not in teaching because I need the money.  Our photography studio is on track to do $1,000,000.00 in portrait sales this year.  I believe that those who say it can’t be done just haven’t figured out how to do it yet.

I’m teaching because it is what I feel I was born to do.  I’m teaching for the thrill I feel when someone takes our workshop and then registers their business and meets with their accountant.  I’m teaching to watch them open the doors of their first studio or bring passion back to a business that they haven’t had for 10 years.  Every one of those successes, I get to celebrate with those photographers who have become my friends.  I celebrate because I know that they are boldly following their dreams and they have the tools to do it the right way.  Being an entrepreneur is hard work, but it should help you build a life you love, not take away from the life you live.

Our in-person workshops are nearly sold out from our small (but growing) newsletter list alone!  We are excited to publicly release them today!  This is likely the only chance to come and learn at our studio until 2016.  If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you already know the full story of why we’ve lifted the mileage restriction and anyone can come learn with us!

Learn about The 2015 Workshops here.

Check out our Newletter announcing our new Workshops  including what’s new and why we’ve lifted the mileage restriction.

 

We have another very exciting announcement in the works that you won’t want to miss.  It is the project I am devoting all of my time to this year.  Sign up for our newsletter for photographers to be the first to hear about it and to receive a weekly dose of inspiration from the hearts of the HHP studio to your inbox:

 

 

What is your leap of faith?  Have you already jumped?  Do you want to come learn with us?  I want to hear from you below!

Do you know someone who would love to come learn with the HHP team or might need a weekly dose of inspiration?  Go ahead and hit the share button!

 

“I cannot say enough good things about the Heidi Hope Workshop.  It was the first full workshop I have taken and I have since held every workshop up to it in comparison – and none of them have topped – or even come close to – my experience at Heidi’s.  What caused the HH workshop to stand so high above the others was a combination of the breadth of material covered (posing, shooting, creative but also marketing, business, and pricing), the organization and planning that went into it to create the best experience for the participants, the friendliness of the team, and the information communicated to the participants both leading up to the workshop and all throughout the workshop.  Everyone was an open book, very welcoming, incredibly knowledgeable and more than happy to share whatever they could with us.  It was hands down the best workshop I’ve ever taken which I have continued to tell attendees at every other workshop I’ve been to!  The others have been very good, with some of the other top photographers in the industry, but your workshop was truly amazing.  It has been four months since I attended and I still think about it, and the things I learned in it, on a daily basis.  I left more inspired that I thought I could ever possibly be.  Seriously changed my life.  Thank you!!!”  October 2013 Workshop Attendee