Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sara “Bish” Bishop. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sara “Bish”, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
When I made the jump to full time entrepreneur my business was thriving, but I was failing – physically, mentally, emotionally, all of the above. I had just left a 10 year abusive relationship and marriage. And 3 months after that I left my full time job to pursue full time self employment.
The freedom to create my own schedule combined with the adrenal burn out and overall fatigue resulted in a schedule of sleeping past noon, working at the computer until 3am and repeating the day over and over. I had created an even more over-worked self as a full time entrepreneur than when I was working multiple jobs. And worse than that – I was proud of it! I was the poster-child for burn out.
So when and how did I fix it? I’d love to tell you I’ve figured it out, but I am still learning! The greatest lesson has been my mindset. I have shifted my focus to myself. Learning who I am, all the dark parts too. Leaning in and allowing myself to fail, to let go, to stop controlling, to quiet the perfectionist chattering in my brain and allow the artist and creator to have more room to breathe.
It’s taken years to get the vantage point to see my burn out for what it was. Creating a life with A LOT more boundaries has definitely helped to shape a life less prone to burn out. Small changes sometimes don’t feel like they’ll have that big of an impact in the moment. But, years later you’ll see that choosing that one thing that makes you feel great over the thing that makes you feel shitty will build up to create a huge mindset change.
Now, 6 years into this journey, I remember I’m not just a business owner. I’m also an artist. And for my artist to thrive she needs solitude, meditation, journaling, fun, play and creation for no reason other than to create. Discovering life’s richness as an artist has made the side of me that is a business owner so much more relevant, productive and happy. Saving myself from burn out and still growing my business looks like putting myself first. But it didn’t happen overnight, and it is an on-going fight. Isn’t that the beauty of entrepreneurship?
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
As long as I can remember I had a passion for art and storytelling. As a sophomore in high school (in 2002) I fell hard for photography. It was my first photo class, black and white film to be exact. I was hooked the first day of class when our teacher showed us a video of different photography careers. If you remember the GAP ads at the time, black and white on a white background with white tees and jeans – that was the shit. I was sold. I’m going to do THAT!
As the year went on every part of the photography process intrigued me. The way the camera worked, the smell of the chemicals in the darkroom, it all allured me. Obviously I am not a commercial photographer for GAP. What I do now is so much better! Telling the story of YOU, unapologetically.
We call this the #CelebrateWithBish experience!
The #CelebrateWithBish experience is relaxed, without preconceived ideas of how your photos should look. You will never feel stiff or bored. During our portraits I will guide you and give you direction while letting natural moments happen in front of me. This is movement based photography. This is story-telling. This is art and you are too!
The #CelebrateWithBish wedding experience is unlike any other!
You’ll feel the difference from our first emails. I’m genuinely excited and can’t wait to celebrate with you!
#CelebrateWithBish is more than just a hashtag. It’s my whole philosophy. Your wedding day is a celebration and it should feel like one! Pop the champagne, drink it from the bottle, dance all night… we’re here to party!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Being a plus sized, color-obsessed photographer in a image focused, neutral-loving world has had it’s challenges. Overall, the three skills or qualities I think have been the most impactful in my journey have been: 1. Radical acceptance and celebration
2. Advocating for oneself
3. Resiliency
Radical acceptance, to me, means understanding that life isn’t going to go the way you want it. But, there will always be something to celebrate! Accepting everyone exactly as they are, right now and celebrating it. This lesson has been really hard to learn. As a recovering perfectionist, I always wanted everything to be “correct” or “right”. But, my version of correct is going to be different than someone else’s. Being overtly body-positive and inclusive also means accepting that everyone’s version of life is different. The only way to truly accept and celebrate all parts of life and all humans is to be radically accepting.
2. Advocating for oneself is a life lesson everyone needs. I wish we could all learn it really young, I think we’d have more fulfilling lives. But, I learned it late in life. It’s the big lesson. The one that dictates how we’re treated and what we’ll put up with. It also goes hand in hand with radical acceptance. I will not be mistreated by someone, but I CAN accept that version of them. It doesn’t mean they stay in my life though.
3. Resiliency. This one. This is the skill that once practiced enough can become a habit. You just keep going. There’s so many quotes and nursery rhymes about it. Dorey from “Finding Nemo” had the catchphrase “just keep swimming”. And she’s right. If we want to accomplish anything at all, if we have goals of any kind, we just have to keep working at them.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
In recent years I’ve been working on my need for perfection. It’s a journey I’ll always be facing, but I am constantly improving. Recently I read “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brené Brown. The entire book was full of incredible knowledge and I really enjoyed the researched based stories and experiences in this book.
One of the lines that really struck me while reading was “fitting in gets in the way of belonging”.
We think that fitting in and belonging are the same thing. When actually they are not. When we are striving to fit in and doing out of character things to feel that sense of belonging, we don’t actually belong. We’re losing ourself.
Belonging is the feeling that we are accepted for everything that we are. We are our true selves and because of that, we belong.
Contact Info:
- Website:sarabishop.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/sarabeebishop
- Facebook: facebook.com/sarabishopphoto
Image Credits
Sara Bishop Photography
