Mica: [00:00:00] Hi, my name is Mica and welcome to <laugh>. Uh, welcome to the second episode of the Savory Shot. Y'all today's episode is about saying "no." Saying no is hard. Really hard. There's this idea that the more you say yes, the more successful you'll be. However, it's precisely when we start saying no that we pave the way for the yeses that really matter.
But before we get into that, y'all, let's start the show.
[00:01:00]
Mica: When I started my business, I said yes, to every opportunity that came my way. A paid gig was a paid gig. Right y'all? If a company asked me to take pictures in an exchange for products, I said, yes. If a company wanted me to take a job for less money than I was worth, I said, yes. If a company wanted me to spend all day traveling across town for a four hour shoot that paid an "exposure bucks."
Well, you get the idea. I said yes. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was approached by a restaurant that wanted me to [00:02:00] photograph their entire menu and they wanted to pay $25 per image. They made it very clear that they only intended to buy two to three photos. This company is located outside of Austin, so that meant an hour driving.
And lastly, they refused to wear masks. And y'all, I'm not here to debate on your stance on mask wearing or vaccines. I don't care. It was the beginning of the pandemic and a lot of people were dying. I remember asking myself, am I willing to risk my life for $50 to $75? Hell no. Hell no. Y'all! Uhuh. And this got me thinking.
About the many times I found myself in this position with clients with unreasonable budgets who wanted me to drive long distances, who expected me to deliver high quality photos the very next day. And for what? Peanuts? I realized that if I didn't start saying no, then I [00:03:00] wouldn't be able to say yes to the opportunities that pushed me forward.
So. Let's dive forward into why saying no, saved my business, my life and how it could do the same for you too.
Have y'all ever had this experience, where your mind is just racing around and around and around with thoughts. And then all of a sudden you have this huge epiphany that just changes your life? Well, that happened to me in 2020. At the start of the pandemic, I was about to graduate from college with my photography degree and I was 99.99999% sure that I had no idea what I was doing.
I knew that the training wheels had come off and it was time to start making things happen, but I felt like I'd been on the merry-go-round of life for forever. I kept booking work, but not really [00:04:00] inching forward. You know, everything felt repetitive. Like I was just doing the same thing over and over again without going anywhere.
And while I felt like I was moving, I realized I was on a really giant ass hamster wheel. Y'all it's easy to get stuck on that hamster wheel and not just in your career. It's easy to get stuck doing anything. Being in relationships, you're not getting anything out of, working jobs you hate, following strict diets that leave you feeling miserable, basically anything you're doing for the wrong reasons. But when you do get stuck, the only way to move forward is by taking a step back and being honest with yourself about what you wanna out of life and why you want it.
And then start making money moves. I started by asking myself, where do I wanna be in five years? What does my career [00:05:00] look like? How do I scale my business? How? And after thinking about it for a while, I realized that in order to get where I wanna be in five years, I have to trust my instincts and say no. If I want my photography to support me, I have to say no. No to bad clients who will waste my time and give me nothing but grief and return.
No to purchases that have a zero return on investment and won't help me run or grow my business. No to low paying gigs that aren't going to further my career rear or add anything of value to my portfolio. No, no, no, no, no. And I get it, y'all! I get it. I get it, for some folks saying no is hard, especially if you're new to the game. You are so hungry for opportunities that you, you end up working for cheap or for free.
You wind up doing work for exploitative companies who care only [00:06:00] about their bottom line. And another thing being a professional means learning how to say no to the wrong project. It's recognizing that saying yes to the wrong clients means giving less than a hundred percent. It's not just about knowing what you want.
It's about knowing what you DON'T want AND saying no.
I started out like some of you did. I didn't know what it really cost to do my work. And that was a major problem. I ran into two major issues. First. I didn't have an accurate understanding of the cost involved in running my business each year, which made it impossible to determine if any particular client was worth working with.
And second, without knowing my cost. It was hard to justify saying no to work. Maybe you've been there too. It's not fun. [00:07:00] It's not, it sucks. But I did what I thought I had to do to get paid. I was happy to take whatever came my way and to not ask for more. I used to make 300 tops per shoot. I did a lot of shoots, but as much as I was making it wasn't enough.
And by the end of 2019, my net profit was negative. As in, beyond zero! Y'all! It's a terrible feeling, feeling like you're working your ass off and not getting anywhere. Seeing that negative number on my profit and loss, man, that forced me to swallow a hard truth. I was basically working for free. I always felt like I was getting the short end of the stick, but seeing that number in black and white, uh, it made it real y'all. But as much as [00:08:00] it hurt to see that number,
I'm grateful I saw it because that number was the wake up call I needed to start saying no to low paying gigs. That number forced me to calculate my bottom line. Meaning I had to take a hard look at my business and ask myself what was working and what wasn't? How much money do I need to make each month?
Then it forced me to figure out what kind of work was going to get me there. And if you're uncomfortable talking about money, as much as I am, then, you know these are the kind of questions you avoid, like the plague. But when you're staring at your financial reality in the face. You can't run away from it anymore. You can, I mean, you could run, but you can't hide.
Have you ever been in a bad relationship and you try to be positive about it at first? Like you're like, "It's not really that bad!" [00:09:00] "It's bitter than being alone!" And then one day when you finally re each your breaking point, you realized that the only reason you stayed in that relationship was because you were afraid to be alone.
It's like that with low paying clients. "Well, it's better than having no clients!" "Any money is good money!" "This will be a good opportunity for exposure!" Y'all! Y'all, come on now! It's easy to bury your head in the sand and pretend everything is okay. You can try to justify why some of your clients aren't paying you what you're worth. You can tell yourself that you need the practice or that you're too afraid to raise your rates because you'll lose business if you do. But y'all, there will come a day, when you have to make a choice. Are you going to keep letting your fear get in the way of your success? Or are you going to start taking control and doing what's best for your business?
The quicker you address [00:10:00] the issues, the quicker your business will turn around. I'm not gonna tell y'all that it's easy to say no. I'm not going to tell you that everyone will be happy when you do say no. But what I can tell you is that learning your bottom line will be the kick in the pants. You need to start saying no.
When you have an idea of what your cost of doing business is, you can have real conversations with yourself about what jobs are worth your time and which ones aren't. The National Press Photographers Association. NPPA, has a cost of doing business calculator that is free to use. <affirmative> keyword free, free to use. The calculator helps you determine your overhead cost and your cost per assignments.
So you can figure out how much you need to break even. Another great resource is Joanie Simon. Shout out to Joanie Simon. From the Bite Shot. She has a course called [00:11:00] Profitable Pricing. I took this course. It was bomb. I learned so so much, and this course gives you all the information. You need to make sure that instead of doing work for basically free you're charging, what you're worth and getting what you deserve out of every project.
When I find myself saying yes to a project that's not my jam, I end up wasting my time. It's true! Time that could have been spent on something else, something that excites me and makes me feel like I'm really making an impact. And we all know how precious time is these days. It's more valuable than ever.
So why waste it? I get it though. I know you've got a lot going on in your life. I do too, y'all. Work family, self care, bills, student loans. It's a lot to carry on one plate. You're [00:12:00] hustling for every dollar and it can be hard to turn down work when you're a starving artist. That's okay. <affirmative> But ask yourself these questions.
Am I booking clients that I, that I'm genuinely interested in working with? Am I networking with the right people? Am I creating work that aligns with my brand? Am I making the best use of my time? If the answer is no to any of these questions, it's time to take a step back and start saying no, y'all.
<affirmative> One of my mentors told me something that really stuck. "If you're not saying no to some opportunities, then you're not saying yes to the right ones." Mm mm mm. Mm. Damn, y'all. <laugh> It's a powerful statement and it changed everything for me. So I'm learning to say no. To [00:13:00] things that don't align with my brand. To projects that aren't going to help me grow as an artist and, and to clients who don't share my vision for the work we're creating together. And not gonna lie, y'all. It's been scary but saying no, let's me focus more on my own creative energy. I get to create work that really reflects my brand. You know how you're supposed to put your oxygen mask on before helping others put theirs on? Well, the same is true for your business. You need to take care of your business before you can take care of others.
My fellow food photographers I love that! My fellow food photographers, we know how to make a plate of eggs look like the best meal ever. And we could turn a bowl into a soup of something that looks like it belongs at a fine art museum, but what we can't do [00:14:00] and shouldn't do is put up with people who don't appreciate and value your work.
I mean, being an artist is hard enough as it is. You don't need to be wasting hours pitching the clients who are not a good fit for you anyway. There are basically two kinds of clients, the ones who want to book a photo shoot, because they love what you do and want to work with you specifically. And then they're the ones who just think hiring a photographer is the equivalent of buying a McDonald's cheeseburger.
And you know what? It's okay to walk away from those cheap McDonald buying mofos! <laugh>
So to wrap things up, we have to say no sometimes. To get where we wanna be, we have to grow and learn. And sometimes that means saying, no. It doesn't mean, and you're a bad person or that you're greedy. It just means you're smart and are making logical business decisions. So today I want to leave you with this thought, [00:15:00] even though saying no might feel like you're holding your business back or being selfish, it's actually part of you doing what's best for your business.
So here's to us: the ones who say no, because we know we can do better y'all. But also because we know we deserve better. We deserve better! On the next episode, my very first special guest. What! Snap, snap! Is Aaron Clift from the Accountable Artist. He's a musician. An accountant. And also my husband. My husband, y'all. We're gonna get his advice. On how to be an artist and a business person at the same time. So be sure to come back for that. Thank you for your time and for listening. I hope you'll keep tuning in to learn more with me and grow with [00:16:00] me as we explore all of the various aspects of food photography, and the business of it. My name is Mica. And I'm your host. Till next time, y'all.