171: The Business I Once Dreamed Of

 Welcome to the Shoot at Straight podcast, where honesty meets heart and real talk actually means something. I’m your host, Sabrina Gebhart, and each week we get vulnerable, practical, and just a little bit bold so you can feel seen, supported, and ready to take the next step in your photography journey.

Let’s go. Welcome back to the Shoot It Story podcast, my friends. This is the week of Thanksgiving. And I know that more than likely, many of you aren’t going to hear this episode this week ’cause you’ll be traveling, taking time off, doing fun, festive things as you should and as I hope you are. But I still wanted to record this episode because I think it’s important no matter when you hear it, but just know that this is the week of Thanksgiving and that’s kind of where my heart is.

You know, because I’ve mentioned this on the podcast before, but we spend so much time aiming for the next thing. We are creative entrepreneurs. We are women who get stuff done. We set goals, check them off, move on. We set the bar high. We build things. We create things. We are incredible, but we’re often just stuck in this perpetual striving towards what’s next.

We are reaching for the next goal without even realizing that we reached the last one. Right. It’s that constant motion. It’s that constant just pushing forward. We are hitting benchmarks and things that we’ve dreamed of without even pausing to acknowledge that it’s happened and it’s important to acknowledge.

It’s important to stop and think about how far we’ve come, and this particular week of Thanksgiving is the perfect week because this process involves gratitude. I’m going to be totally candid with you when I say that. This year was hard. It was a hard year for a lot of reasons. Uh, my business was different.

I set some things down. I picked some things up. I’m going through this huge migration and rebrand. I took time off from the mastermind. Everything just felt a little funky this year. It was also a really hard year personally because. Emotionally, I’m going through it because I have a senior in high school and it is bringing up all of the emotions.

All of the emotions. I joked with her the other day. I have cried more since she started her senior year than probably the whole three years combined before that, and so emotionally, it’s been a lot to carry. Not all years are easy. Not all years are light and nothing terrible happened this year. We really are blessed.

We’re healthy, we are happy. My business is still thriving even if numbers are down, but it just didn’t feel quite as easy and light as some years have. But when I look back at the year through the lens of gratitude, gosh, there’s so much there. It may not be in the form of high revenue or number of sessions or tons of new clients pouring in, but when I look at this year in terms of joy and ease in my schedule and peace and bandwidth for things, this year was great.

It was really great. Yes, my business was slower, but I just told you that I’m going through the emotional ringer with having a senior, and I really think that I needed that bandwidth to be able to process and allow myself to be emotional. I’m grieving the fact that she’s gonna leave and then I’m just gonna have all boys here in my house.

And it’s hard. But I, I think if I had kept going at the same pace. And business had been booming and I had loads of clients and I had tons of sessions, I wouldn’t have had the bandwidth to process and to allow myself to feel those emotions. And that’s just one piece of it, right? But when I look at the year in terms of gratitude and I like literally look for the good, don’t just, you know, blow over the year as a whole, but I go looking for the good.

There was so much good. When we take a step back even further. And I take a look at my business this year, even though it was hard compared to three years ago or even five years ago. It’s honestly astounding just how far I’ve come. Honestly, it’s mind blowing to me. I have the business that I was once hoping for.

I do, even if this year wasn’t fantastic business-wise, I still already have the one that I was once hoping for. I’ve created a community that I adore and quite literally am obsessed with. I have programs that people want to join. I have this podcast that so many loyal listeners like you listen to. Thank you.

I create retreats for women to learn and to reach, recharge, and to come back to themselves. I impact women’s businesses and lives, and that is one thing that honestly, I am, it’s at the top of my list of things I’m most proud of. In, in everything I’ve done. Truly, I had a launch for next year’s mastermind, and despite the economic uncertainty and how hard this year’s been, it was my third best launch of that program I’ve ever had.

There’s so much good that happened. This year, and also compared to where I was three to five years ago, the things that my business has and is doing and is capable of, and the presence that I have and the people that I’m surrounded with, this is what I wanted and I have it, and I am so grateful for that.

And then when I think back to six, seven or eight years ago when I first started offering one-to-one mentoring, I just wanted to help women. I just wanted to help women, one photographer at a time. I just wanted to help them get there faster, skip over the mistakes. I wanted to show them behind the curtain.

I wanted them to feel seen and heard. I wanted them to know that I understand what they’re going through. I wanted to be creative with them and build relationships with them. That was the foundation of everything. That was, you know, seven, eight years ago. And the fact that now I’ve helped hundreds of women, and honestly, it’s thousands if you count all of you listeners of the podcast, that fact is so humbling.

It’s mind blowing, it’s shocking. I just, it renders me speechless, really. The fact that I get to do this work often just, it feels like too much emotionally, like, like a wave. Gratitude, like, I cannot believe this is what I get to do, that you’re here, that people want to work for me, that I get to see women through transformations.

It just, it blows my mind. I used to dream of speaking on stages and in 2026 I will speak for the, gosh, I’ve lost count. I don’t know. Seventh time I used to dream of having a podcast, and here I am, 2026 will be the fourth year of the podcast. I used to dream of hosting retreats. That was such a big dream and it felt, felt so far off.

And in 2026, I’m hosting my 10th retreat. I used to dream of being able to solve problems for women, and I literally do that every single day in Voxer, in dms, on Zoom calls. I am getting to see women’s businesses and their unique situations and help them troubleshoot, give them ideas, create strategy, and I love that so much.

I used to dream of being seen as an expert. I am, which is just shocking to me, but it’s such an honor to be seen that way. I used to dream of so many of the things that I have now, and like I said, this year wasn’t the smoothest. It wasn’t the most successful year by many accounts, but in some ways it was easier and more successful than ever this year and most recently launching the Roots Rise Mastermind again.

I was having a conversation with my coach. About going into a launch and for all the photographers out there, you may not know what this feels like if you’ve never launched something. Uh, the educators listening will understand this, but when you are launching something, there’s an energy to it. You are number one.

So excited to get your thing into the world, to get to work with your people, to have your ideal clients reach out there. There’s an excitement for sure because you believe in what you do, your service, your product, your offer, whatever. But there’s also this nervous energy of what if nobody wants to join?

What if it’s a complete flop? What if it fails? What if it doesn’t fill up? What if it’s not deemed quote unquote successful financially? There’s a lot of that because when we are creating a launch, there’s a lot of energy behind it. There’s a lot of preparation behind it. There’s a lot of time that went into it.

Right? So I was having a discussion with my coach, um, at the beginning of the root rise launch, and I was telling her honestly that I was feeling these things, which is normal, and I know that it’s normal because I’ve launched things I don’t know a million times at this point. So I know that feeling that way is normal, but also I have a coach, and this is what having a coach is for, to just voice what’s going on in your head and have them be the voice of reason to filter through the muck and help you find clarity, right?

So I’m having this conversation with her and she reminded me as the doors were opening to stay in a position of gratitude. She reminded me that if I could stay grateful for the small things in the midst of the launch, I would be successful. Period. Full stop. So I spent time each day being thankful for the emails being written, for my social media being scheduled ahead of time, and for my content strategist and all of the hard work she put into mapping it out.

I spent time being thankful for the women who were asking questions and having conversations with me. I had more conversations and dms and Voxer messages and detailed emails this run than I’ve ever had. Honestly, I think more than all of the other launches combined, and that was so fun for me because.

When you reach out to me and ask me if the program’s right for you, we strike up this conversation and I get to hear about your business and your personal life and your goals and your dreams and your struggles. And I love connecting with women. So it was really fun for me to have all of these conversations, whether or not these women decided to join.

That was so fun and I was so grateful, and obviously I was so grateful every day for the women who decided to invest in me and this program, and I was spent time being grateful for the women who were sharing about the program, alumni friends, past students, people who believe in it and were sharing about it with their audiences.

So grateful for that. When I tell you that. This positioning, this staying in a position of gratitude daily changed the way I felt. It’s so wild how black and white that is. Instead of being that nervous, anxious, fearful, pre-launch energy, I all of a sudden had peace and excitement and contentment and joy, like the energy just shifted.

That energy determined a better experience for me, for the women I was having conversations with, and also for my family because I wasn’t carrying that anxious energy into my personal life. So we’re currently in the week of Thanksgiving, and I want to encourage you to shift into a position of gratitude as well.

No matter how good or bad this year was, no matter how easy or hard it felt. I encourage you to look for the things to be grateful for because they are there. I promise, and I bet there’s actually a ton of them. Some of the things, just some, I’m just touching the surface here, but some of the things that I’m grateful for this year, just to get you started, just to get your mind going.

My team, I have the best people on my team. Every single one of you know who you are. My bookkeeper, my content strategist, my designer, my podcast manager, my va, I, I just so many people on my team and they’re all incredible and they’re all working to help me reach more people. They’re working to take things off my plate.

They’re working to do things better and faster than I can do, and I’m so thankful for them. I’m so thankful for all of my coaching clients and Root to Rise students this year, and the ones that have chosen to work with me next year. I am genuinely obsessed and adore. Every single one of them, when they share wins with me, they’ll send me a DM or a message in Boxer or a text message, and they tell me that, you know.

Something exciting happens. Some, some exciting result based on something we did, right? They had a really high revenue month or something. Ha, great happened with an ideal client, or they had more inquiries than ever. They share a win with me. When I tell you that I legitimately freak out for them, like screaming by myself in my house, okay?

I read these messages and I am grinning ear to ear. I am squealing with joy. I am obsessed with all of them, and seeing them win is such a joy. Truly. I’m also super grateful for Pilates this year. I am obsessed. I started Pilates in September. Something that I have been wanting to do for years and honestly was a little nervous.

Kind of felt like I didn’t belong there, whatever. Got over some stuff. A friend started and she was having success and loving it. So then, you know, she encouraged me to, and I immediately became obsessed. I have been going like three times a week, and it has felt so good, and I’m obsessed. I am also so grateful for books.

I’m such a reader so far. I’ve read 55 this year. I know I will read more before the end of the year, but books bring me so much joy. I’m thankful for my friends. I’m thankful for my family. I’m thankful for ease. Again, I had more time freedom this year than I’ve ever had, and it wasn’t always comfortable.

But I needed it and I’m really thankful for that. I’m thankful for the great migration I’m going through. It is messy. It is not quite over yet. We are so close to the finish line, but I’m so grateful that I’m getting it done. It’s been on my list for a couple of years now and we’re almost done, and I am so thankful.

I’m also really, really grateful for meta ads. I have loved playing with meta ads this year, and. Really dialing in my knowledge, and it has grown my email list, it has brought me new paying clients, new eyes to my business, and it’s been really, really fun. I’m, I’ve loved it. I’m thankful for my stylist, Betsy.

You guys have heard me talk about her before I. I’m in such a different place with my confidence with how I show up in the world. I’m having fun getting dressed again. This marks basically the year of us working together, and I am so grateful for what she has done for me in my life. And I’m also really grateful for Voxer.

How many times do you hear me talk about that on the podcast? I, I don’t think I could function day to day without this app. I connect with women and my friends on a daily basis inside of Boxer, and at any given time, I will have anywhere from one message to 15, and I love it so much. That’s it, my friends.

I just, I wanted to give you like a loving reminder to stand in a place of gratitude. As we end near the end of this year, I want you to look for the good. No matter what happened this year, no matter what your fall looked like, no matter how you’re feeling right now. Look for the good in your business, in your life with your family, all of it.

And I, I’m gonna encourage you. I would love to see you share what you’re grateful for on Instagram and tag me ’cause I’d love to know. That’s it for today, my friends. We’ll see you next week. Thanks so much for listening to the Shoot It Straight podcast. You can find all the full show notes and details from today’s episode at.

Sabrina gebhart.com/podcast. Come find me and connect over on the gram at Sabrina Gebhart Photography. If you’re loving the podcast, I’d be honored if you hit that subscribe button and leave me a review. Until next time, my friends shoot it straight.