145: Real Women, Real Stories w/ Kellie Llewellyn

 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 Straight podcast. My friends today marks the beginning of something really, really special, something that I’ve actually been dreaming up for quite a while now. A few months ago I was recording a solo episode and I found myself sharing a story about a student’s transformation, and I finished recording that episode and I sat back and I thought, God, I have so many powerful stories like this that I’ve been honored to witness.

And most of them, most of these incredible transformation stories actually live behind the scenes and haven’t been shared publicly. And so that’s when I had the idea for this series. And so if you’ve been around the podcast or my world for a while, you know how much I love lifting women up and these episodes are what we are doing.

This is an opportunity to lift women up. So welcome to the very first installment of Real Women Real Stories. I’m hoping that this is gonna be a candid series where I sit down with women who have been in my Root to Rise mastermind and we’re gonna have conversations that are honest and vulnerable and full of growth.

And all of the women that are coming to talk have completely different stories and experiences. They’re in different seasons of life. My hope is that by hearing their stories, where they were when they started, what shifted for them, how they’ve evolved over time, that you’ll feel less alone in your journey and more inspired and maybe even see a piece of yourself and what is a possibility for you in their journey.

So let’s dive in. Today I have my longtime friend, Kelly Lule, and honestly. I was telling her before she’s the perfect woman to kick this episode series off because we’ve known each other for a very long time. We’ve been through a lot of life together. So before we dive in, um, and get to her backstory, Kelly, why don’t you start off and tell the audience who you are for sure.

I am Kelly Lewellen of Kelly Rochelle

[00:02:34] Kellie: Photography. I’ve been in business going on eight years now. I live in Melissa, North Dakota with my husband and seven kids. And my focus in photography is seniors, branding, family and travel, always travel. And I would say that kind of is my scope of work in a nutshell.

[00:02:51] Sabrina: Yeah. And new to you this year is that you also have a podcast?

[00:02:56] Kellie: Yes. Yep. With my business bestie Sarah, who I met through Sabrina. Yeah. She has the best community a lot actually. My closest photography friends I’ve met through Route to Rise or something affiliated with something that you’ve. You know, put out to the universe.

So

[00:03:11] Sabrina: we have a lot of great women. We do. We bring in the best. Let me start off by saying, when I say that Kelly’s the perfect one to start this. Yes. We’ve known each other a very long time. Kelly and I go far back to before I was an educator, before she even had her last kid. I mean, we go way, way, B way back.

But what’s really special about Kelly is she has done root to rise four or five times at this point. I really wanna start today and invite you, my friend, to think all the way back to the, to beginning. So the very first route to Rise started in January, 2022. That was the, the first, we kicked off the first run of the program.

I. Do you have any idea or do you remember kind of where you were back then? Like what were some of the challenges, the work challenges, maybe the personal challenges that you were going through at the time when you started the program?

[00:04:03] Kellie: I remember feeling very overwhelmed because I’m the type of person who wants to do it all and wants to do all it all the best that I can.

At that time, I mean, I had young, my oldest or my youngest is seven years now. So at that time, I mean, she was still quite little. Mm-hmm. And I’m trying to run a business. My kids are on all these travel sports, and I’m just like feeling like I’m basically in the deep end and can’t swim, kind of, you know what I mean?

Like I can do some things really well, but other things, I feel like I’m just barely dipping my toe in the water and I’m like frustrated because I know I could do it all. And you had to just keep telling me that. I was in a season of life that could only do so much at that time, and I needed to be fine with that.

And my season of life will change as the kids get older. And it did. But I needed you to tell me that, to gimme the permission. To be like, okay, this is what I can handle right now. And that’s okay because in a community or looking on Instagram of all these women’s that look extremely successful and look like they can have all the balls in the air and you know, it’s effortless.

And here I am and I’m thinking, there is no way that I’m gonna do this for long term at, you know, how things were going at that time. So I think just having the guidance and also hearing other people feeling the same way. Like you don’t see that on Instagram. You don’t see that people behind the scenes, they don’t put that stuff out there typically, right?

Like they just show the good stuff, not the stuff that’s icky in the background. They don’t wanna share that kind of stuff.

[00:05:28] Sabrina: Honestly, that’s one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to start the kind of group that we have where there’s that intense vulnerability and you know, ’cause you’ve been through the program so many times, we always have a kickoff call and it’s kind of like the first day of college class where I just lay the groundwork and the expectations.

There’s not any real teaching on that call, but I always start it with, I expect you to be vulnerable. Because that is going to be the reason why you have a transformation. If you just show up surface level to the group and participate surface level, you are not gonna get very much out of it. But the women who are willing to be vulnerable are the ones who have the greatest transformations.

And I think because I set that ground rule in the beginning, it allows everyone that freedom to like. Take a deep breath and say, okay, uh, this is my safe space. And exactly like you said, once one person kicks off with, this is what I’m struggling with and this is really hard, and they’re willing to cry or voice frustration, everybody else’s hands go up and it literally opens the, it’s like the domino effect for the whole group.

I knew in the years leading up to the Mastermind in the early years of my business that I felt the same way. I was like. Why does this appear so easy for people? And I, I know I’m a high achiever. I know I get stuff done and I’m very productive and I still feel like I’m drowning and nobody’s talking about it.

And I wanted a place that we could talk about it. I’m curious, what surprised you most about joining the Mastermind that first time?

[00:07:02] Kellie: Well, the first time I did it, I did online because the weekend of the retreat, Isabel, how to Dance Competition. So it didn’t work out. And I don’t know if you’d originally started thinking you’d start with online right away, but I know you made that spot for me because I really wanted to be involved, but we couldn’t figure out the logistics of that.

I think it was definitely the community I did not expect, I didn’t know that I needed that in the way that I needed that, if that makes sense. People that you can reach out to really about anything. It doesn’t have to be business related. It could be personal, it can be kid related, it can be shopping related for that matter.

I mean, for any reason. And you know, they become like your new best friends in every sense of the way. I mean, I. Don’t you agree? I mean,

[00:07:43] Sabrina: yeah, so you’re, you’re correct. Originally, that very first run of the program, I created it so that it was, there was only full participation. You had to do the online portion and the retreat.

I did not have any other options because. I knew I wanted the impact of a retreat experience. ’cause you and I had, that’s where we met, was at a retreat experience. I wanted that intimacy and impact, but I also wanted the long-term effects of a mastermind and weekly calls and, and all of that. I set the exception for you and I think it’s because you and I already had a relationship and I knew, I knew you, I knew that you would.

Do your best to do the work and show up and be vulnerable. And so I wasn’t, you weren’t a stranger. You know what I mean? But you are the reason why every run after that, I have offered online only participation because you thrived so well. You absolutely had fomo, and you went to every retreat after that, you did not miss another one.

But you still had so much success even without the retreat piece. And I was like, oh, well I need to offer this for other people who maybe can’t afford the retreat or can’t take time away from their kids. Or we’ve had women that are pregnant or have babies in the program. And so you’re the reason why I made that change and I’m so glad I did.

But the community piece. I will agree with you the first run of the Mastermind, obviously as the like host, I didn’t know what to expect. Like I had really high hopes of how it would turn out, but it’s one thing to dream about how you and and set it up for success and then it’s a whole other thing to get to the o, other side of it and realize, holy cow, that was even better than I could have expected, which is what happened.

But that’s something the community piece about the Mastermind is something that I love so much and I think it’s unique. To our program because we have those two layers. We have the five months of calls. We have the retreat, so it’s like you get to know each other as a group online, and then you get together and you’re besties already.

You’ve already had tears and emotional stuff and shared stories and cheered each other on, and you get to the retreat and there’s no introductions. There’s no getting to know you. You just jump straight to hugs and laughter and fun. I think that’s what makes it unique because most of the programs in our industry are one or the other.

They’re not both, you know, and so the relationships. I think are deeper that come outta route to rise. They’re deeper and they’re more lasting than programs that we’ve done in the past where it’s just one or the other and you talk to them and you get to be friends with ’em. But it’s not, it’s not as deep or long lasting, don’t you think?

Oh, a hundred

[00:10:21] Kellie: percent. I mean, look at your alumni retreats now. I mean, I. So many people go to that. I mean, at a point you were worried that there’d be so many people going that you wouldn’t be able to find a venue big enough to sleep us all. I mean,

[00:10:33] Sabrina: I I am still worried about that for next year. Yeah. But everybody wants to keep coming, you know,

[00:10:40] Kellie: because they wanna see each other again.

And also doing all the route to arrives. Rises, they’re all different. I mean, I’m sure people are listening to like, well, why would you keep doing it? But there’s different books, there’s different speakers. You bring in different photographers. Even if it was the exact same every time, it would be different because you bring in other photographers that take it and their experience with it.

But it’s not, I mean, it’s totally different every single time you run it, even if you couldn’t make the retreat portion. ’cause other people have did the whole thing and then just did the online because they couldn’t make it work. Accountability of it is a huge part of why women do it, because they wanna keep working on their business, but so many other things happen, and then they just keep pushing it aside and pushing it aside.

But when you’re in something like this, you’re vested and give yourself basically mental deadlines, and you’re checking in with us like, where are you at with this goal? Like, what are things looking like? What are your roadblocks and why are they there? And that’s a huge part of, I think also why people continue to do it, I guess.

I love doing them because of all the reasons, but now I’m kind of at a point where now you and I are just coaching one-on-one and we did the education blueprint, which is to get into like mentoring and doing education things and like basically just tearing up as you go. I feel like that’s kind of what you’ve pushing us to do is just to go a little bit further, push yourself a little bit more if there’s other things you wanna explore and that’s helped too.

I would say the biggest thing that I did. That I would not have done had I not did this was all the outsourcing. I don’t think I would’ve thought that that was. Beneficial to me. I think I would’ve thought of the expense of it, but I would’ve not thought of anything beyond that. Right. And look at all the out things I outsourced now, Sabrina, like, right,

[00:12:24] Sabrina: right.

I mean, I brought you over to the dark side. Yes, yes. I’m like, what else can I outsource? What else could somebody do for me that I don’t have to do? Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. But I think that’s so necessary, especially like you said in the beginning, in your introduction, you have seven kids and they’re all in travel sports, and at now, at this point.

Only one of them has graduated, so you still have six at home and you are a very, very present mom. You go to all the things your family loves to travel, you travel for work. There’s just a lot of moving parts in your business, and I honestly don’t think you would’ve lasted at the level you’re at this long.

Had you not started outsourcing when you did, like, I think that was so that was an absolute ne necessity for you at that point. I think you’re

[00:13:09] Kellie: right.

[00:13:09] Sabrina: I was

[00:13:09] Kellie: talking to Kelly, who is both of our bookkeepers.

[00:13:12] Sabrina: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:12] Kellie: About what I, what I spent in outsourcing now a year. And I was kind of panicking like she’s like, she’s goes to do what you’re doing right now.

Exactly what you said, Sabrina. You have to outsource this much like this does not. Make me do a double take at all. She said, this looks very appropriate for what you’re doing, what you’re making. And that feels good to hear that because you know you don’t know. Yeah. I mean, you see thousands of dollars going out a month and you’re like, wait, what?

Like,

[00:13:37] Sabrina: yeah. You know? Exactly. Exactly. Thinking back through all of your experiences in the Mastermind, do you think there was like a specific breakthrough or really big aha moment that shifted things for you outside of just the outsourcing piece? The travel.

[00:13:53] Kellie: When you and I did a, the brainstorming, trying to figure out the travel because, you know, that was something I desperately wanted in my business.

I just couldn’t wrap my head around how logistically that was gonna work. Why, how people were gonna pay for that. Like you and I talked and we decided for the first two years, I would, they’d have to pick one of my top two packages. But then as long as it covered the expense of me to travel by booking those top two, I wasn’t gonna make them pay for travel.

On top of that. And just to, so I could get my portfolio built people and get used to doing it and seeing, you know, like what are all the moving pieces to make this happen and is it worth doing? I mean, ultimately, like there’s a lot of things that go into it that you don’t think about, like two travel days, right?

Where you’re not shooting that, you’re not shooting at home, you’re not shooting on the location. And last year I did eight travel sessions, one a month. And if you think of all that time. That was not spent shooting, that I could have had shoots. I mean, that’s a lot of money, but you know, what are your goals for the year?

Like my goals were to travel and to do education. At the time they weren’t financial goals, which most people have. Mine were not that, that year. I think doing it the way that we did it more on my terms, I felt more comfortable with it because I, I’m vested with my money in it too, right? It’s not just them and for whatever reason that made it feel better to me and it was very successful.

I have three travel sessions this year. I’ve cut back because we’re doing a lot of family travel and I’ve realized that’s a lot. One a month is a lot to do, so I just cut way back this year and now they’re paying for their travel. So now we’ve kind of shifted into making a profit while I’m doing it too.

[00:15:31] Sabrina: It’s been a slow evolution for you, but. Like you said, that safe entry point of having them pay and, and listeners, I want you to hear this. When Kelly and I made the decision to make them, they had to pay for one of her top packages. She’s a luxury photographer. Her top packages are more than you’re probably thinking.

Okay. She was, she was making money on this. Right. It made it, like you said, like you were getting compensated and it was helping to fund it. But it took a little of the risk away because you weren’t sure, like you said, you weren’t sure about like how many days you need to be there and how’s it gonna go, and am I gonna enjoy the experience and is my work gonna be as good when I don’t know anything about these locations?

And there was just a lot of unknown. I think you learned really quickly that, oh no, this is exactly what I wanna be doing. This fuels my creativity. It’s super inspiring, and your clients caught on really quickly that like, oh my gosh, I want that too. I want that experience with my child. I want that experience for photos.

And it’s been so fun to watch how easily that offer has expanded for you and just slid right into your business. So that’s been really, really fun to see.

[00:16:40] Kellie: I thought it would be people from all over the us. I really never thought it’d be my community, and that’s all it has been. It’s my friends and my community that has embraced these and wanted to do them, which is even better because then I know everybody that I’m shooting with.

I, I guess that when I first thought of it, I thought it would be strangers really, that I would meet somewhere and we would do their photos, but so far that hasn’t happened. So. That’s actually been kind of cool.

[00:17:01] Sabrina: Yeah, that’s when I started traveling with clients. I thought the same thing. I was like, oh, I’m just gonna advertise that.

I’ll go anywhere and the internet’s gonna pick me up and take me everywhere. And that’s not what happened. But like you said, I actually love that it’s my clients because I know the kids, I know the parents. There’s already a level of comfort and it just makes it so easy and super fun. So I love that for you.

When you think about yourself going through the process of working through the Mastermind, from when you started and then going to the calls, the retreats, the Voxer, you know, season over season, how did you think about the shift? Like did you feel like it was more of an emotional shift or more of a shift in like how you run your business?

Did you feel like it was really slow or really fast? I don’t know. Just tell me about that. I would say

[00:17:54] Kellie: for sure it was emotional, but it was definitely. A shift in the business. It was, it was so many things, Sabrina, and it didn’t feel like it was super fast, but if you look at the goals you’d have us write at the beginning and to like, then in the end of the year to check to see if you did the goals and you’re checking them off.

I mean, that is actually pretty fast. I think, you know, in retrospect in the moment, it doesn’t feel fast, but I do feel like it was fast. I mean, so many goals. I should have wrote down all the goals. We did that, like one of my big goals was to have a studio. I wanted to have it on our land. I wanted to build a studio, and in my mind it had to check all these boxes and you kept saying, I just feel like you need to try it out and not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a studio.

What if you don’t like the studio? What if that’s not something you even wanna do? I. And so you put that bug in my head and it took me, I don’t know if it was two or three years before I was like, okay. And randomly one day a realtor friend of mine called me when I was on vacation, actually, he was on vacation where we were.

It was so weird. And he was like, I have this idea. And he told me about a spot that wasn’t used for anything other than storage. And he’s like, what do you think about that? And it was downtown and it checked all the boxes that I had. I did a remodel and I’ve been in there now. Has it been a year, Sabrina?

Little, a year and a half, probably. Yeah. I think it’s been a year and a half probably. Yeah. And I love it and I actually love that it’s not at my house because it’s somewhere that I can go and get away if I need to work, or even doing shoots. I could imagine the kids coming in if they had access to me, if they, you know, for whatever reason.

So it’s nice to be away, but it’s only a five minute drive, so it’s super close to the house. I don’t know now that I would wanna build one at our house because. I like the convenience of it being downtown, and when we shoot downtown, we can meet at the studio and then go do the shoot. We can store clothes there.

There’s a bathroom there. It does a lot of things that I hadn’t really thought about when I was talking to you about it, but had you not said that, I don’t think I would’ve ever even considered not doing this. You know what I mean? Like I just would’ve never even put it out to the universe that I would even try something different.

That has worked really well, and I’ve got a long-term lease there now. I can use it for office when I need to in the summertime when the kids are home or for shoots or crappy weather or you name it. And it’s actually turned out to be something that’s been really good for the business, I think.

[00:20:07] Sabrina: Yeah, it has.

I, I love that you said, first of all, that you had like emotional and business changes. ’cause that’s the point of the program. I, that’s like the tagline is like, you know, bettering yourself to better your business and, and most women do experience change on both sides and shifts and on both sides. But you’re right, it feels really slow when you’re in it, but then when you look back and you’re like, oh my gosh, it like it.

It really is. That’s why I have you guys write your goals and write a letter to yourself at the beginning of the program, because then when we get to the end, even though it’s felt like slow snails pace, you get to the end and you look at all of the boxes you checked, all of the things you worked on, all of the shifts that you made, how you’re feeling compared to when you started, and it’s a night and day experience.

And oftentimes when I’m coaching women through the program in Voxer, I will have people who are doing it for the first time, and I can tell in their voice around month two or three that there’s a little bit of frustration that I have to coach them through because they feel like I’ve been doing the thing.

I’ve been doing what you said. We’ve been having conversations, I’m making the changes, and nothing’s happening yet. And I just have to keep encouraging them that like, you are on the right track. Keep going, I promise it’s coming. But for most women, right around the time we wrap is when they start to have these huge shifts happen.

People are booking their highest package on re on repeat. People are, you know, ordering like their biggest print orders. People like opportunities are coming up, whatever their goals that they’ve worked on, everything starts kicking in right at the end, and that’s where you see this light bulb of joy go off for these women that are like, you were right.

It was all happening. But for you, your goal of wanting a studio, that’s something that we had talked about like way before Roots Rise was even born. Like I know that we had talked about that on like Instagram dms and in lots of ways, because I have a studio and you were always asking me, it was always coming up.

So when we started Root Rise in the beginning together, that was again one of your goals. You’re like, I’m gonna put this out there. And it’s pretty cool because one of the calls we do in the program is about voicing your big dreams and like literally saying them out loud in front of the group, in front of people, because I truly believe that it’s one thing to hold a dream inside.

But to put it out into the world is when the world starts working for you and opportunities start to come. And so that was a goal that took a little bit longer because it was really big, but things started to move. I feel like right from that first run, from you being brave enough to voice it and say it out loud.

And then us talking, me talking you off the ledge of building. And then the opportunity just came and it’s been so cool to see how, well, like you said, it’s just slid right into your business model and with your clients and the location. I mean, it’s been nothing but good things. And plus it’s also been a really cool experience to see you renovate it and furnish it and start using it and just, I don’t know, just seeing this longtime dream come to fruition has been really, really cool to watch.

So I love that. How do you think being in a room, so to speak, whether it’s a virtual room on Zoom with a group or at the retreat with everyone, how do you think being in a room full of women that have big dreams, that are diff similar or different from yours, how do you think that impacted your energy or maybe even your clarity with what you wanted for yourself?

I think

[00:23:33] Kellie: it’s true when they say you are who you surround yourself with, right? Like, so if you are talking with and working with people that have big dreams, your big dreams feel like they’re not so big, if that makes sense. Like, because that’s what everybody’s doing. I think everybody pushing themselves to make their goals and do their dreams makes you wanna do the same thing and keeps you focused and.

Even like the doubts and the downfalls of, you know, your goals and whatnot, and having people go through their problems too helps you because you’re not alone. Like they’re troubleshooting it too. They’re trying to figure it out too. And we also have each other to talk to. It’s not just you that we have to talk to.

We can reach out to each other and have a conversation or be on a Zoom call. You know, like a whole class Zoom call and be talking about things and people chiming and saying, well, have you thought about this? Have you tried this yet? It feels like you have. Extra support to support these goals for one and two, they don’t seem so daunting or so huge because everybody’s put out these huge goals and they’re all chipping away at ’em, and it feels like it’s a lot more doable than when you’re at home by yourself with nobody to talk to, and you’re thinking, well, this kind of seems like a good idea, but I don’t even know if it’d start with it.

Like, well, how would I even start this? It makes a big difference. I do. And I know you feel that the same way, Sabrina, and that’s why you made this whole community. But unless you’re in it, I don’t think you realize the impact it has. I really don’t. I just don’t.

[00:24:55] Sabrina: I agree with you. I think that’s a hundred percent the energy of women working towards goals, whether big or small, whether it’s one of the women who’s newer in business and a beginner or someone like you who has lots of experience in reaching for huge things.

Being with that energy of women who are committed to change, committed to bettering themselves, to bettering their business, to hitting their goals is so valuable. And I’ll say as the host, I, it impacts me every run. I feel the energy and it bolsters me to work on things too. It’s just, it’s really, really cool to be surrounded by that.

And it makes your big dreams not feel as scary. ’cause they have big dreams too. And like, again, like you said, the support of one another. When you can pair up with people who are moving towards similar things, it’s just a really, really cool experience. And then at the retreats. Sitting side by side, working on things or asking questions of the women who have gone before you and done the thing you wanna do, or, you know, it’s just being in the physical room also is really, really cool to, I ca I mean, there are so many things that come from the retreat, so many conversations, so many ideas that women get that then they take home and run with it.

And it’s, it’s really, really cool to be in that in-person space too, you know? What would you tell someone who’s on the fence about joining this program? They’ve heard about it. I think it sounds interesting. Maybe they’re scared about the price point. Maybe they’re scared about the, the length of time commitment there is.

Maybe they’re, they’ve never traveled away from their kids and the thought of a retreat is scary. What do you have to say to that person?

[00:26:38] Kellie: Man, I have a lot to say about that. So. Well, I feel like, well, I value education. Like you do. And also also, like most of the people that are in our group do like, that’s like high on the tier, very high.

One of the top two things is usually education and pushing yourself and learning more things and putting yourself out there. But if it’s a cost thing, I mean, I, I just have to throw back to like, say college, you know, you’re investing in yourself is ultimately what you’re doing. And if you don’t think that you’re worth it, then I mean your work’s gonna show that.

Your posture’s gonna show that. The vibe you’re putting off is gonna show that. So invest in yourself and invest in your business because it’s just gonna grow tenfold. I mean, I don’t, I mean, I fully believe that when you’re putting back into yourself, it grows with you and finding your people. Man, that is, I can’t describe that because I feel like until you do it, you don’t really know what we’re talking about.

But like when I say I found my business bestie Sarah through this, I’ve been through many runs of it before Sarah and I became close, and I have a lot of really close friends in this where we do trips together and we do working weekends and we go to the same educational things because we wanna see each other and learn more.

But finding your people and talking to them on the phone, texting boxer every day. It’s personal stuff, but it’s also business stuff. And you’re, you like they’re pushing you and you’re pushing them. Like today I was talking to Sarah and I’m like. You really need to do something about your volume sports, and we, we just start brainstorming together.

I’m like, even if you don’t feel like mentoring right now, I feel like God is telling me you just need to do this right now and vice versa. But having that person have that confidence in you and keep pushing you, you know, just nudging you a little bit, it helps your business and, and to know that someone that is equally as experienced and successful as you are, and they see you and they see that what you’re doing is successful and they’re saying, Hey, I, I know you could do more.

Like, keep pushing yourself to do more. You’ll learn how this all this through to rise, which is crazy. I know this sounds crazy to hear this, but it’s true. And then even talking to you, Voxer, Sabrina, like I know some people are really scared to like Voxer you, unless they have something like an actual question that they’ve really thought about all week.

But like, I mean like Christine who lives in San Diego is another friend, we find the most valuable conversations are when we get on there, we have nothing to say and we just start like board vomiting. And then Sabrina will be like, you know this, I have this idea now that you said that, and it. Strikes something that we hadn’t really thought of yet, but it was like the perfect time and opportunity to do that, and we just veer off in a little bit of a curve of a direction, and now we’ve started something totally new Again, this sounds very probably strange and woo woo, but it is not.

Am I not right about that?

[00:29:09] Sabrina: No, you are. And. You’re so right about, especially at the beginning of the program, people who’ve never done it. They come on the first Voxer day and they’re like, I dunno what to do here. So, you know, and they’re very quiet and timid, or they’ll get on and they’re like, okay, I’m gonna make this question really quick.

Here’s what I have to say. And they literally ask a question, and the message is 15 seconds long. And that’s it. I’m happy to answer those questions. But some of the most unique stuff is when you’re like, Hey, I’m just checking in. Here’s where my heart is this week. Here’s what I’m frustrated with. Here’s the good things that happen, and I’m able to just be a mirror to you, and I’m able to filter through everything you’re saying and pick out and say, wait a minute.

You said this. Here’s my thoughts about it. And then it opens up this conversation that. Was write what you needed at the time. Or like you said, you’ll say you had, you know, the spark of something and I’m like, Ooh, but what if we did this? You know? And then it turns into this whole thing. That’s the being vulnerable piece.

Sometimes the being vulnerable is just being like, I have so much going on. I have no idea what I, what update I have for you, but I’m showing up and I’m telling you where I am and I’m letting you support me, you know, as you see fit and. That’s where some of the best conversations come, honestly, is the women who just show up.

They’re like, I don’t know what the update is, but here I am and here’s what’s going on. You know, and I’m able to hold space for them and support them that way, and it’s, it’s pretty awesome.

[00:30:26] Kellie: You’re also a business genius, which people probably don’t know that about you, Sabrina, but you say you’re a mirror, but you hear what we say and then you’re like, okay, this is what I think you should do.

How does that resonate with you? Like the, you, I hear what you’re saying, this is what I think when you say it, this is the idea I have. What do you think about that? And usually it’s like, you know, top notch and you’re like, your head is like exploding and you’re like, I never thought of it like that.

That’s a great idea. Oh my God. But like all the time, like all the time you just, I don’t know how your brain works, but like it sees things that we don’t see and you’re like, okay, let’s try this. That didn’t work. Now let’s try this. That didn’t work. Let’s try this. That’s a value that they get that they won’t even know that they’re getting because unless they know you, they don’t realize like your mind and how business savvy it is for marketing and pricing and oh my gosh, white space.

I mean, I could go on and on and on, but you have figured out what works. And works for almost all photographers and women in this season of life. And know how to like plug it in and be like, okay, this is what you need to not be doing and this is what you need to be doing. This is what matters right now.

[00:31:31] Sabrina: That’s so kind. Maybe I’ll make that part of my marketing that I am a business genius. You should have that as part of your marketing. Oh no. It’s so funny. I, I will say humbly that I am, I am told that. On the regular in every run, which I just appreciate. I don’t necessarily see that. I think it’s just because I have gone before you all.

I have tried all the things. I’ve done all the things, and now at this point I’ve coached hundreds of photographers, which is wild to say. And so I have, like you said, I’ve seen it all. I’ve heard it all. Um, and then I’ve also have coaches myself, right? Like. Like you said, in education is important, and I think especially because I’m an educator, I need to continue to be educated and supported at a different level.

And so I’m just able to filter through y’all’s ideas and where you’re struggling or where you are, and then I’m able to bring in the bits and pieces that I know and we work together to come up with these solutions and. I, I, I don’t think I give cookie cutter advice either. I think it’s very specific to like, here’s your situation and here’s the thing that I think would be a really great fit for you.

And then over here, somebody else is having a completely different experience. They need this other thing. I think part of it though is that I know for me, with my own coach. I struggle sometimes. I have too much going on in my head and I need somebody to filter through the noise and get right to the chase, right?

To see exactly what the problem is, what needs to be solved. And I think that’s what coaches do is we have the outside perspective. I’m not in your head carrying all the stuff you are. I’m just taking what you’re sharing with me, filtering through the mess and getting to the part that really matters. You know, I

[00:33:10] Kellie: also

[00:33:10] Sabrina: think.

[00:33:11] Kellie: Looking at like

[00:33:12] Sabrina: the group of

[00:33:12] Kellie: women you’ve brought together, Sabrina, I feel like we’re all very successful in our businesses and in our personal lives. I don’t know if you just attract those type of people or if you know, basically we get our crap together, together or what it is. But don’t you agree, like looking at your group of people, I would say they’re very successful, very good photographers and.

Stand out in their market, you know? Really?

[00:33:40] Sabrina: Yeah. I think it’s because. A lot of people, this might be their first big education investment, but it’s not their first education investment. They’ve taken the course to fine tune this or, you know, the webinar to do this, or the one week challenge to do this.

They’ve done like little micro pieces to refine things as far as they can, but I, I’ll say that I have coached women through this program over the years who were not quite as advanced, whether they were newer in business or had some bigger struggles. But when I say that everyone succeeds and has a transformation, it’s true.

They’re not all the same. They’re appropriate for what their needs were. And there are women who I, I can think off the top of my mind who went through the program maybe 18 months ago and were in that example that I was sharing earlier, feeling like, it’s not working, it’s not paying off. I promise I’m doing what you’re saying.

They’re a little bit frustrated. But then the second the program ends, almost instantly, the snowball starts to take off. And I follow all my students online. And so I see that here a year, a year and a half later, she’s where she was dreaming of being when she was in the program. It just took, it took a minute and so their transformations come, you know, it’s just, it’s really, really cool.

It’s, it’s such a cool special program.

[00:34:58] Kellie: It is. And you know, we didn’t even mention that. Like the guest speakers you bring on and the books that you have us read or listen to are very relevant for mindset, business stuff. Bringing in speakers that are relevant for things we should be doing right now and probably don’t know it because there’s just so many things to do in a business that you don’t realize until you start it.

It’s not just taking the pictures. The bus business aspect of it is far more than that and you don’t realize, you know, website and social media presence and blogging and emails. I mean, we, we could go on and on and on, but you’re bringing in these people. Are the experts in this and telling us what we should be doing right in this moment to be the, to make it the most beneficial for our business.

I mean, that in itself is gold. I mean, and. I mean, that’s just something that you do in the program

[00:35:44] Sabrina: there. There are so many special pieces that make this program unique, and I definitely don’t want this call to turn into like a sales pitch, this interview. But there are so many things that make it unique that I’m so proud of.

And we do read different books every time, and we do have different guest speakers every time. But something you said earlier was the calls are always different, and that’s not actually true. Most of the core calls are actually the same, every single run. But what makes them different is how number one, the group, like you said, it’s a different group of women, and so the discussion and the questions is different and how it’s received.

But then something that one of my old therapists said that this absolutely applies is you never step in the same river twice. That means when you hear a discussion or a call or a coaching thing. Then six months later, you’re in the program again and you hear the same thing. You’re in a different season of life.

You are having different struggles. Your heart’s in a different place. You are receiving it differently. And so even though the core calls are actually the same every run, I still have such a high percentage of women who do it over and over again. There’s 40% of my women do it at least twice. And it’s because they can hear it again and glean different bits and pieces from it and have a different kind of growth than they did the first time, which is just really, really cool.

[00:37:06] Kellie: Yeah, I think that’s definitely unique to what you offer.

[00:37:08] Sabrina: I know we could talk about this all day, especially ’cause you’ve done it so many times and there’s so many fun memories and you’ve had so much growth over the years and doing it over and over and over again. I think it was after your. You did it the first time is online only.

And then you registered immediately again ’cause you wanted to do the retreat, which I was like, I get that. And then you registered again and I was like, excuse me ma’am, what are you doing? And then you registered again and I was like, I’m gonna need to cut you off. Yes. Um, um, which is just so funny. But I adore you and your support and your love of the program.

I love to end the podcast with. Fun questions every time, but because we’ve been talking about the Mastermind, I wanted to kind of put a spin on it. What is your favorite retreat memory over outta all the retreats you’ve attended? Do you have one that sticks out? Oh, man.

[00:37:55] Kellie: Well, I, one portion of it that I love is that you ask about like.

The worst client or the most memorable client or something to that effect. Yeah. Because those stories are wild. You can’t make that stuff up. Yes, yes. So that is like super memorable. And then, um, just the things we learn about each other. When I made that one reel and we had to list like five random facts.

Yeah. And like Christine being on a show. Game show like twice. And then we all sat down and watched

[00:38:23] Sabrina: the YouTube

[00:38:24] Kellie: videos. That was wild. Yes. That she won a trip to Africa too and we had no idea. Yes, yes. And like Danielle being like basically is a professional singer, like no idea about these things. Like how do we not know those things?

Oh, and then Cheyenne serial killer neighbor, like my mind was like, what is going on? Like, I thought I knew these women. Like Yeah. Those were like the most memorable, just like learning. Learning things that I thought we already knew all these things about each other and Right. You know, it turns out No, that’s, that’s not the case.

[00:38:53] Sabrina: Yeah. Yeah. I, I think

[00:38:54] Kellie: those were the most memorable things that I can think of. Yeah.

[00:38:57] Sabrina: Yeah. And between, between the route to Rise retreats, ’cause I think you’ve done three of those retreats and then you’ve done both alumni retreats and then you did the education Blueprint retreat. We’ve done a lot of retreating together over the lot of retreats.

Yeah. But they’re still so fun and so memorable and. Just impactful every single time. There’s nothing like being in person. With women who get you and the struggles that you, you, the unique struggles you have as a mom, an entrepreneur, a photographer, we’re all dealing with the same stuff. And when you get together with those women in person, it’s just magic, you know?

It

[00:39:34] Kellie: is. And like. Even just us knowing each other. Some of the things that I’ve started, like getting our, my color done, you and I, getting our color done has changed a lot of things. And then finding Betsy, the stylist, I mean, things that we do just as friends and talk about have made such an impact on like my day-to-day things and brought me so much joy that we’re not at all business related, but just like, you know, right.

Just connecting with women and like, yes. Finding ourselves again, and yeah, we’re more than our families. We’re more than our business. We’re more than, you know. Yeah. All this other stuff. Yeah.

[00:40:06] Sabrina: Yeah, it’s pretty. It’s been pretty fun. Kelly, this has been such a great chat. Thank you for being the Guinea pig in the first of this series, real Women Real Stories and New Year’s would be really great.

And I can’t wait to hear the listener response to this. So why don’t you tell the audience where they can find you?

[00:40:24] Kellie: Yes. Okay. So my website is kelly rochelle.com, and then to find me on Instagram or Facebook, it’s just Kelly Rochelle photography. And Kelly is K-E-L-L-I-E. Yeah.

[00:40:34] Sabrina: And I, I will have those linked in the show notes.

Come send either one of us a dm, um, and let us know what you thought of this chat. And thanks for being here, my friend. This is super great. We’ll see you next time. Bye. Thanks so much for listening to the Shoot at Straight podcast. You can find all the full show notes and details from today’s episode@sabrinagehart.com slash podcast.

Come find me and connect over on the gram at Sabrina Gehart 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.