I’m Stephanie, a wedding + lifestyle photographer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Warrenton, Virginia. Whether I’m by the mountains of Colorado or Virginia, my soul feels at home, surrounded by rural living and the raw beauty of nature. I genuinely love what I do, and feel so passionate to share the enthusiasm and joy of these celebrations with you!

DOCUMENTING LOVE'S UNSCRIPTED CHAPTERS FROM COUPLES & FAMILIES IN COLORADO + VIRGINIA

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January 18, 2017

New Year Goals

2017 Business and Personal Goals

I hope you all have taken the time to reflect the 2016 year. Was it just me or did it seem like 2017 swooped in faster than any year in the past? I’m ready for time to slow down, please!!!

Let’s see how I did in 2016…

2016 was a whirlwind of a year. As you saw in one of my recent blog posts, a lot happened! I moved, decorated, traveled, organized the first annual Runaway Brides 5k Fun Run, photographed 32 weddings and so much more! It was one of the best years, but also challenging! I found myself working 70-hours a week during the busy seasons and that’s definitely something I want to work on this year! To me, work doesn’t feel like work at times so I easily get carried away with my hours. That’s a good problem, right? I love what I do, but we also know that we have to set boundaries in our lives. 🙂

So looking back on my 2016 goals, I did everything except pre-packaged my client gifts. That was a constant struggle for me throughout the year too! I was shipping out packages later than I personally wanted because packaging took so long every week! On average, 30-minutes per package! WHEW. However, I have found when I take the time during the winter season to prep all packaging materials, my workflow throughout the year is smoother and time efficient, which is essential! Plus, when I create an assembly line prepping the materials all at once (stamping envelopes and boxes, placing labels on shipping boxes, cutting ribbon, etc.), it’s 100% more time efficient than to do this week after week. So, lesson learned! I won’t let that happen this year! 😉

2017 Business and Personal Goals

Let’s move on with the 2017 year! 
Every year, I have a one-word theme, which is great for remaining focused on my goals. I love seeing the progression of these words over the years!

2013: Build
2014: Refine
2015: Upscale
2016: Simplify
2017: …. FLOURISH

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”
Psalms 92:12

Honestly, I’m not sure where my business will take me in the future. What I do know is I am happy! In the wedding industry, I have seen those who struggle with the definition of “success.” Because really, the definition is different for every person. To me, it’s not about the features or awards or standing up in front of a crowd to speak at conferences or recognitions that define who I am as an artist. What’s important to me is that I’m able to love what I do, serve my clients to the best of my abilty, support myself and give back to the community. I chose this verse above because I want to grow my business even further. Not by numbers, but by quality. I want to plant my roots deeper.  Live out my purpose, personally and professionally!

Let’s check out my goals for this year.

2017 Personal Goals
* Learn one new recipe every month — I would say once a week, but that’s not realistic for me!
* Try not to wear my hair up in a messy bun more than twice a week. — Gosh, I’m a sucker for the “fast and easy” when I’m on the run from day to day!
* Meet up with a friend every week for coffee, wine, lunch or dinner! — I noticed when things get busy, I have a hard time reaching out to friends and making dates happen. 
* Take control of my health lifestyle — Cliche, I know. But it’s something we should strive for every year as we age!
* Bless others — This can be small or big. I’ll see where God uses me this year. 🙂
* Pay more towards my mortgage principal from month to month. — It’s time to be proactive and pay off my home debt ASAP! Thank you, Dave Ramsey! Last year, I paid an additional $8,000 directly towards principal! Wahoo!
* Instead of TV every night, READ!
* Home projects — I’ll be sure to share these projects on the blog! 🙂
* Spend less time on my cell phone, especially at night — Thanks to Grum, I won’t have to be sucked into social media marketing after dinner time! YES!
* Go to bed before midnight and wake up before 8:30 a.m.! — I’ve never been an early bird!

2017 Home Goals
* Build Pantry Shelves
* Organize kitchen
* Paint Master bathroom
* Build frame around Master bathroom mirror
* “Dress up” Garage (Declutter, organize, seal floor, paint walls, shelving)

2017 Business Goals
* Change tax filing to S-Corp
* Meet with my Financial Advisor about Retirement
*Purchase new camera
* Package Design for the 2017 year
* Purchase Packages Supplies
*Bride End of the Year Surveys
*Choose Favorite Images from 2016
* New Headshots
*New Website Design — Debuting TOMORROW MORNING!!!! 🙂
*2017 Runaway Brides 5k Fun Run!
*Send out camera equipment to be cleaned
*Taxes — Blah!
*Update Pricing Guide
*Send Apple computer to Apple store for “check up”
*Update Preferred Vendor Team
*Redesign Blog
*Update Bridal Magazine Design
*Pre-package
*Send out Initial Gifts
*Create Lifestyle Portrait Style Guide
*Stop working by dinner time — Of course, there will be times when I have sessions after dinner during the summer time, but that will only happen once or twice a week. 😉
*Update Email Canned Responses
*Socialize more on social media platforms

Can you relate to any of these goals? What’s your one-word theme for the year?

  1. […] you know from reading my 2017 goals, I wanted to redesign my bridal magazine. Well, I finished it and it’s off to print! Wahoo! […]