Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Perkins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sarah, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Imposter Syndrome never will really go away, in fact, it’s something you learn to live with and often, to ignore. It takes a change of mindset to “overcome” Imposter Syndrome.
Everyone is the hardest on themselves. It doesn’t matter in what field you end up, often time we tend to criticize our work the harshest. We look at others and compare our weaknesses to their strengths. It has little to do with the quality of work we put out, and more to do with feeling inferior because social media is a highlight reel of someone’s best work and endeavors. When we started our business it was a constant game of keeping up. Finding whatever was new and exciting, and staying on top of the trends. In my experience, that’s one surefire way of burning out and constantly feeling like an imposter.
Limiting our time on social media also helps curb imposter syndrome. On socials we see someone elses’ strengths and notice that we may not have those same strengths. Cutting back the time we spend devouring someone else’s content and ideas helps remove yourself from the “I vs Them” mindset that really drives imposter syndrome. I always try to remember that we don’t see everything from our screen. We can’t see the nuts and bolts behind someone’s successes from the outside. They may have more time, or a team to help them, they may have studied in this particular area, or have spent hours honing in the skills they need to succeed in this area. They may be wearing “hats” that we may not currently be able to invest our time and efforts in at the moment, and that’s okay. Personally, we want to be able to do everything, but we can’t. We have to focus on maximizing the quality on what we do provide at the moment.
Taking time to realize that we should only be comparing our business, our success, our quality of work to that of ours last year, last month and yesterday takes away the “imposter syndrome” worries. When you boil it down- imposter syndrome wouldn’t really exist if you weren’t, at the heart of the matter, comparing yourself to others.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Sarah and Brent Photography captures special memories through timeless photographs and videos. We’re a husband and wife team who provide support throughout the wedding and elopement process as well as tangible memories from their day in the form of digital photographs and videos.
While our technique has changed over the years, our passion for working with couples never has. The wedding process fires us up. There’s so many moving parts, and no two weddings are the exact same. We thrive off the energy and movement of these special days and take our inspiration from the rawness of nature herself. We challenge ourselves at each wedding to tell a cohesive, timeless, and unique story for our couples. One that they could look back on with fondness with their family for generations.
We added video into our packages over the course of a few years and love giving clients the option and ease of booking a team for both mediums that work closely together at every wedding. The simplicity of knowing your team will work together effortlessly to capture the essence and beauty of your favorite day is priceless when you consider you will never get these moments again.
Working together and shooting love stories has been the absolute best blessing. We’ve watched our client’s families grow with our own and kept great relationships with so many of our couples. We are cheering them on before, during and after their wedding and are invested in their lives and successes. Our work makes our lives brighter, fuller, and richer everyday.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Warmth, Perseverance, Multitasking
Multitasking is a necessity today when operating a small business. The hats you wear will change by the hour. Being able to consider, acknowledge, and address the multifaceted areas of entrepreneurship of will serve you long term. Organization goes hand – in -hand with this. Finding ways to organize your time, tasks, and goals will help bolster your success and put you on the fast track to growth.
Perseverance comes to mind because statistically, small businesses crumble relatively easy. It takes a real push to get through the hobbyist phase to then stick to the “owning a business” platform with both feet firmly planted. I can only really compare it to learning to surf. Even once you’re on the board, the board rocks back and forth. One little shift can throw off the whole balance and submerge you. surround yourself with like-minded encouraging people who will support you throughout the hardest parts.
Being a warm and inviting person has been undeniably important in a service based industry. Brent is a very warm person naturally and he can display this even through the phone. We’ve had just as many couples book us based on how they felt with us as we’ve had book us based on the style of our work. We’ve even had a couple book us prior to seeing our work because their priority had been a stress free and fun day and they trusted that we’d be able to provide that to them. People are drawn to warmth and when you’re working with people your success is strongly tied to how you make them feel.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Having our daughter in November has changed much for us. Our priorities, for one, are to provide and create a save and loving home for her and in order to do that, we need to have a successful business. But success, on its own, is no longer the greatest priority.
Our time on our screens have greatly been impacted. I don’t search for hours finding new reel sounds and making fun videos as much anymore or posting and engaging on social media. The shift has been to our home life and focusing on the tasks that Our latest challenge has been organizing our time and finding the time to be both great parents, and great business owners.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahandbrentphotography.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/sarah_and_brent
