How Mitzi Starkweather Reinvented Her Photography Business After Burnout | Find Your Creative Voice

Pat Miller: 00:00

I'm Pat Miller and this is The Professional Photographer Podcast. I've been doing this show now for a little over a year, and the people that I get a chance to talk to that are really doing something special, they're the people that aren't following somebody else's playbook. They found something that inspires them, and they are pursuing it with abandon. They're not looking at other people's Instagrams and trying to copy what they're doing or reading some business book and emulating what the thought leaders are saying. They turned inwards to understand what made them tick, what did they have to say creatively, and then they've gone out and offered that to their customers, and magic has happened. You can go back through the feed and see the people that I've talked to. They're really amazing photographers. Almost every single one of them are doing something that is meaningful to them. Today's conversation is no different. It's about connecting with your customers by connecting to yourself. Mitzi Starkweather is our guest, and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And as she went through the process, she realized she loved her current clients. But there was something else that she felt like she needed to offer. And when she did, everything changed. This conversation goes deep. It's meaningful and I hope it lights a spark for you to find your passion and purpose. Mitzi Starkweather standing by. We'll talk to her next. Mitzi, welcome to the Professional Photographer podcast. How are you today?

Mitzi Starkweather: 01:39

I'm good, Pat, how are you?

Pat Miller: 01:41

I'm great. It's been a fun day of recording PPA podcasts and hearing great stories, and yours is one that everyone needs to hear. So we're going to tell that in a second. But first, if someone hasn't met you, tell them who you are and what you do.

Mitzi Starkweather: 01:55

Well, my name is Mitzi Starkweather, and I've been a professional photographer for about almost 20 years. I've done this full time for 12, and now I'm a speaker and educator as well. So I just love to create things and I love to connect with people. And so photography is one of my favorite ways to do that.

Pat Miller: 02:12

What's interesting about connection is that that's what we get to talk about today. That connection with our clients really begins with connecting with ourselves. And you've had an incredible journey. Tell us about your journey as a photographer.

Mitzi Starkweather: 02:27

Well, my journey as a photographer really started as soon as I could pick up a camera and went throughout my life. It was really always the way that I could connect with people. So I'm just one of those what you see is what you get kind of people. I love honesty. I love truth. And that was the way that I could kind of use that superpower that you know, kind of gets you made fun of in junior high school. But then as you get older, it kind of becomes, hey, this is the thing that is the weird thing about me that makes me great. And so yeah, my camera was just the way that I did that. And as I've evolved through different styles of photography, through different genres and grown my business over the years, the more I've moved toward connection, which has actually been connection to myself. The more I can just better and more authentically connect with my clients, and that is what leads to a successful business. Right? That's what leads to good sales and great reviews and return clients, is that connection. And that is also the heart of good marketing. So it's just I've learned that I over-complicated it for a long time. And the more I just trust me and lean into what I do best and how I connect best, that's when I've seen just the most reward overall.

Pat Miller: 03:47

You were making an impact in the glamour industry. Tell us about what that was like and when things changed for you.

Mitzi Starkweather: 03:54

Yeah, that was, you know, I started with weddings. I started with babies, seniors, kind of all the stuff. And boudoir and glamour was really what I started to gravitate to about 10 years ago. And I loved it for a while I did. I loved the idea of showing anyone that they could feel beautiful like the woman on the front of a magazine. I loved the transformations, and I loved helping women, as they would often tell me, see themselves for the first time. But then when I went through breast cancer in 2022, my whole life changed. I started to realize that I hadn't been really satisfied with what I was doing for a while. And I was starting to phone it in. I'd kind of figured out my formula, I'd figured out my routine. The challenge was gone. And then I was just having people come in and do it because, oh, this is a thing I need to do. You know, it's I need to have the Mitzi experience. And I felt like after a while, what I had found empowering about it, I just didn't anymore. And it started just to become really artificial and kind of superfluous. So when I went through breast cancer and then I came back to work after that, I was really faced with just my own identity, the way I show up to my work. Because the thing is, I am one of those creatives who my whole heart has to be in, into it. I can't just phone it in. I don't want to phone it in. If I wanted to just phone it in and get through the day, I would go work for someone who gave me health insurance, right? Like, I show up to do this work because of the rewards and the personal connections and how fulfilling it is. And so when I came back to work into life after breast cancer, after surgery, a big change in my body, huge changes in my life, I realized I didn't really know who I was. And so I had to find that personal connection in myself because I wasn't connecting to my work and my clients. And I knew I can't continue my business this way much longer. It's not going to work. I have to shift. So I did a really scary thing, and I decided to strip it all down and kind of do the opposite from what I had been doing. And I called that my "As I Am" Raw Portraits. I started to do it, and it took off. And then photographers reach out to me, "Hey, Mitzi, I want to try something like this. What's your framework? How do you make this profitable? Et cetera, et cetera." And so that's when I really just started to teach it and to continue to photograph people and meet them where they were and celebrate them as they are. And then it inspired me to do that for myself. So that came for self portraits, et cetera. Because really what I learned, Pat, through all of that is that when we can show up in front of the camera exactly as we are, we can show up in our life that way. And the ramifications of that are astounding and limitless. Even just speaking from my own experience.

Pat Miller: 06:37

Do you remember the moment after you were diagnosed that you realized, wait, I'm not really happy doing what I'm doing. This isn't what I thought it was. Was there a moment where it dawned on you?

Mitzi Starkweather: 06:51

I think it wasn't so much a moment, but it was a feeling. It was this kind of catchphrase I adopted when I came back to life after my cancer diagnosis, which was, I didn't beat cancer to just blank. So when I would be nervous to do something or to, you know, tell someone how special they were to me or put up a boundary with someone in my life who was not treating me the way I deserved or whatever, I would tell myself, well, I didn't essentially cheat death to just go back to, you know, something that didn't make me feel like I'm operating to my fullest potential and living in alignment with what I really want. So it was just a couple of months of shooting the way I had been. When I came back to work, I kind of rescheduled all those clients that I'd had to cancel and reschedule during that season. And I worked with them in that same old way. And while they're wonderful people, I created work I'm proud of. I was like, this isn't it anymore. And it only took me a few weeks to realize that.

Pat Miller: 07:57

So you strip it all down and you create the 'As I Am' portraits. What were those like? Tell us about that and how you started to do them.

Mitzi Starkweather: 08:05

Yeah, so actually, Pat, I started them as, like, a side project. I was like, okay, I'm still gonna book enough work to make, you know, enough money to keep the lights on and pay my mortgage, etc. But I'm going to start bringing in these As I Am sessions additionally, just because this makes me want to get out, up out of bed in the morning, so I'm going to start doing that. So what I did was I wrote a list of all my past clients I had worked with, who came into my mind, who I really wanted to work with again, and who I thought would be open to something like this. And I ended up making a list of 80 people, and I wrote an email to them, and it was like an invitation from my heart, almost like an invitation to a really special party I was having or something. And I wrote this out, and I said, here's the deal. You pay your session fee for this, and then it's going to include two photos. So even if you don't want to buy more, that's fine. I just want to do this project. It's coming up from my heart, and I didn't even expect it would make any money, which tells you where my belief system was at at that point. I was like, let's just break even with this. Right?

Pat Miller: 09:11

Yeah.

Mitzi Starkweather: 09:12

And I booked six people that day.

Pat Miller: 09:14

Wow.

Mitzi Starkweather: 09:15

From that email. And then in the coming weeks and months, then by, you know, by three months after the time I had started it, I had booked 20 people for those sessions. And I actually did my business's big birthday party, 10th birthday party at my studio, and I printed 20 of those portraits, and I invited people to come see them and talk about the As I Am Project. And even at that time, I thought, well, maybe it's finished now. But it wasn't, because it wasn't like, oh, I think I found the 20 people in all the world who would want to do something like this. That was still my mindset, but then I started to see from the response, and then the more people who wanted to book and more and more that I was like, oh, this is my thing now. And so I got to develop it too. It was so organic and it just happened so aligned with what I wanted. And I remember talking to one of my mentors. It was right around the time I released my Raw Portraits course to teach photographers my business model and my structure and how I do the sessions. And I said to her, you know, what I can't get over is I keep second guessing all this because it feels so easy. And she said, "That's because resistance is hard. It should feel easy. Yeah, you still put in the work. Yes. You still go home at the end of the day and you're tired. But there's a difference between working hard because you believe work has to be hard and working hard at something that you just can't wait to do." And that was the energy shift that I experienced. And I learned also how to, you know, previously, being a very Type A person who needs a plan and to know the end goal, I said, I'm just going to do the next thing. One foot in front of the other. The next step will reveal itself to me as I go. And I learned how to do that and trust myself and go to my own inner authority. And again, then seeing my clients, it was like this beautiful ripple effect. And it was more like it was like a cyclical effect because my clients would show up for their shoot, and then it would inspire me to show up in front of the camera in a new way too, because I thought they don't get to reschedule their shoot when they have a breakout on their face or they feel bloated or they have a bad hair day. Like, why am I rescheduling my own self-portraits? Because they don't think I'm good enough. And now I feel comfortable being on camera for something like this. I feel comfortable showing up on social media, all these different things, on stage even, because I've gotten comfortable at just seeing my own image, seeing all my angles, all my flaws, and also everything everyone loves about me. And so, over the months, as I taught other photographers, photographed other photographers photograph clients, everything, I just started to realize that this type of session was just a visual expression of something so much bigger.

Pat Miller: 11:56

It felt so easy and natural because you would hit on something you really believe in.

Mitzi Starkweather: 12:00

Yes.

Pat Miller: 12:01

Did it feel like enough? Like, oh, I do these now. This is my thing. Did you have the moment where you thought, wait a minute, what if that's not enough?

Mitzi Starkweather: 12:10

Mmm, interesting. Well, I started to work about a third as much as I had before and was making the same amount of money. And what was cool was I was like, oh, cool. Now I just have more time to do other things I enjoy and live my life. Like not put in 60 hours a week and then say that that has to be the standard because like I have a young child and I have a family I love and a lot of friends and I love to watch movies and that's a time-consuming hobby. So yeah, and then I started taking better care of my body because I'm not going to get up at 5 to go to the gym. That's never going to be who I am, and that's fine. I need to go during like normal business hours. And so just implementing this life that's honestly, I think one of the most creative things we can do as creatives is create a life that works for us in every way. And the work we do that brings in the money to fund it can be whatever we want. And so often, we just push ourselves into these old boxes or old stories or it has to be a 9 to 5 or it has to be it. And it's like none of that is relevant to us as professional photographers. So the more we can build it around what we need. And as one of my friends used the term one time, she said, I love how violently accommodating you are for yourself. It's like, yes. And I'm not an early bird. That's just not how I'm gonna be. I'm not a work on the weekends gal because you know what? I live in a small town. They don't have brunch on the weekdays. I like to go to brunch. I like to do other things, and I like to have a balanced life. And so doing things the way I want to do them, I don't know. It also makes me so much more sure in who I am and my process and how I show up in the world. And you know what? When you say I'm only working weekdays between 10 and 2pm for shoots, clients will take a day off work to work with you. Right? Because you don't want to shoot with me at 4pm on a Saturday. That's not when I'm in the mode for something like this. The whole time, I'm going to be wishing I was off doing something with my friends who invited me, and I had to say no, Right? So it's all mindset and belief and that starts with a connection to yourself. Because how do you know what you want out of this life if you haven't asked yourself?

Pat Miller: 14:32

Keep going on that. How do you know what you want out of this life if you don't ask yourself? What did you discover that you wanted out of this life that you didn't realize till you started doing this? Did something reveal itself?

Mitzi Starkweather: 14:44

Yeah. For so much of my life, I spent so much energy trying to be who I thought other people wanted me to be. Wear the clothing, talk in the way that people expected, show up at certain times, do this, do that. And I never asked myself, well, how do you want to show up? Who do you want to be? How do you want to present yourself? For so long, for instance, I hid all my special interests from anything clients would ever know about. And now I've embraced that. And clients will bring me as thank you gifts, like rare, weird movies because they know that's what I love. Like, and I used to be like, well, they could never know that about me because they wouldn't take me seriously. And that was the problem. I didn't take myself seriously. As in, I did not value the things that light me up. And when it comes to something like my movie club, that's one of my favorite things in the world. And it has nothing to do with business and it has it all to do with fun and some of my dear friends, it's like, that is the stuff that, the more I leaned into and created time and space for those types of things that just make me feel good and make me excited, a ripple effect I never expected was that it would all bleed into my business and make my sales higher, make people want to book me more like, because it's just all an energy that I'm putting out into the world. So, yeah, if you don't ask yourself, like, who do I want to be? How do I want to show up in the world? How do I want to spend my time? Well then, you're not going to create a life that sustains that. And we get to be free of so much of what society prescribes for so many types of people. And I think we just have to be careful not to put it on ourselves. And I know it's easier to be passive sometimes. Like, well, everyone, this is what this has to be. This is what a relationship has to look like. This is what a work situation has to look like. This is what this has to look like. And without thinking, well, what can it look like for me?

Pat Miller: 16:59

But look at where you're at now, going back to your treatment. I didn't beat cancer to do what everyone else does. Do you feel like you've honored that victory now that you're doing this for a living?

Mitzi Starkweather: 17:15

Yeah. And that's the thing I was doing it for a living before. It just felt completely different. It still felt like I needed so much outer validation. And yes, I have been honoring that. And I'm about to make some big shifts and exciting, scary changes in my life again. And my oncologist put it well recently; she said, "That's one of the gifts of cancer." Like, I think anyone who has faced their mortality in some way or been through a big season of grief or lost someone close to them or had an illness or a, you know, near death incident, we all get it. We get that feeling where you realize, I'm not invincible. Life is really precious. And lately, I can't stop thinking about a friend I went to dinner with last month who I hadn't seen in many years. And we were eating, and they said because they knew that I'd recently been diagnosed stage four breast cancer. And they said, so how does it feel to be living? And I thought they were going to say dying. And I think that all the time. One of the most powerful shifts that I have undergone just recently is realizing that none of us knows how much time we have because even with my partner, we have to say to each other, hey, realistically, you could die in a car accident next week. We don't know. So how are we living now that honors the life we want to have and the way we want to show up in the world? And I think one of the gifts of facing your mortality is remembering, hey, wait a second, if something doesn't feel right or I still want something more, then maybe I should just go after it. Because this is what you get. You get one time. We all get one time, one shot. And being self-employed with all of its ups and downs and struggles and everything, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Being a creative, whether you use photography to put money in your bank account or not, being a creative who has this amazing tool that helps you process your life in this world and capture and create images. That is a beautiful gift. And if you just say, well, which way am I going to use it for a wedding, for boudoir, for babies, or for seniors? You have limited yourself more than you even know. I was just talking to a photographer this morning who was talking about genres. Right? We talk about that all the time. Should I switch genres? Should I do a different genre of photography? Oh, it seems like everyone's doing the same thing in this. And the more I've done this, and especially in the last couple years, the more I realize that your genre is actually your why. Lean into that. It doesn't matter what type of human you're photographing. If you're a portrait photographer at what type of season, at what type of whatever state of dress or undress or gender or several or one, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you're doing photography that aligns with what excites you about picking up a camera in the first place. That's what matters. And when you lean into that messaging, you cross so many barriers. And you will speak directly to the people who need to hear from you and who will say, hey, I just really connect with your work. So people tell me, connect, right? I really connect to your work. And then I always think to myself, oh, that's because I connect to my work now. And for many years, I simply didn't, but I do now, and I'm gonna keep connecting to it.

Pat Miller: 21:11

If someone's watching this and they want to connect deeper to their work, what's standing in the way? What's stopping them?

Mitzi Starkweather: 21:18

Well, if they're anything like me, it's fear, which is one of the four core emotions and not a bad thing to have. I think fear serves an important purpose. But like one of my mentors, Sue Bryce, says, you can't let fear drive the car. Fear can be in the back seat. You can't let it drive. I don't know who to attribute this quote to, but I've also heard that we will often choose a familiar hell over an unfamiliar heaven.

Pat Miller: 21:56

That's good.

Mitzi Starkweather: 21:57

Right? Because you're just used to it. And so let yourself dream bigger. Let yourself think right? Not what if the worst can happen? What if the best could happen? Focus on that. Neither one is actually happening right now. So focus on the best thing. Focus on the biggest thing, because we are 9 times out of 10, who holds us back? It's us. And it all starts in our brain, and it starts right here. And I think that's also why the physical community of the photography world, which is something that's so dear to me, it's like in-person conferences, you know, workshops, all of that, even with the Internet, which is a great bonus thing we have now, that real community of photographers is so important, especially since many of us work alone, because we can have people we can talk to and get out of our head. Half the time, you can say a limiting belief in your head to yourself a thousand times, but as soon as you just say it out loud one time, you tell yourself, oh, that's dumb. Why do I believe that? Or your friend looks at you like, really, you who's done this, this, this, this, and this? You really think that that's going to be a problem? You know, and it's–I love having industry friends who understand that because we are stronger together and a rising tide lifts all ships. And I think when we can be vulnerable with each other, when we can show up and connect, first of all, like I said, with ourselves, and then connect with others in the industry, that makes us so much more powerful and it makes it so much easier for us to connect with our clients.

Pat Miller: 23:31

And connection through others is great. What about connecting with ourselves on a daily basis? Is there anything that you recommend to help us get closer to that purpose and meaning? So maybe this might emerge from some inner work or daily habits.

Mitzi Starkweather: 23:46

Yes, this is an exercise that I actually talk about, not in my Raw Portraits course, but in my upcoming course called Crafting Connection. This exercise changed my life. So a couple years ago, I had a day in January. It was that first January, right after coming back to work in October from the breast cancer stuff. So just a couple months in, it was right before I was launching my As I Am Project. And I remember I was actually interviewed on a podcast. My dear friend Teri Hofford had me on her Squidge podcast. And we had this amazing conversation. I wrote in my journal that night: today was a good day. I got out a new journal because it was the new year. And I wrote today was a good day. And I wrote everything I did that day, including being on that podcast. And then some writing I did later that day that it inspired me to do, et cetera, et cetera, and how great I felt. And then I put that journal away, and I opened it up again in June, and I went, whoa, this is now my today is a good day journal. Guess what had happened that day in June. I had been interviewed on a podcast again, and it was so interesting. Also, both of those podcast people at that time said you need to be, like, an educator or keynote speaker. They had both told me that. And so I was like, well, maybe that is a dream that I can pursue. So, anyway, the point of that exercise is that you can do this with anything. When you have a good day, when you have a great afternoon, when you have a great shoot, let's say you're still have your hands in a ton of genres and you don't like some and you like others, and you think, well, write down when it was a great shoot. Write down, okay, what was the demographic of the client? What was the subject matter of the shoot? What was the reason your client did this shoot? What was the type of shoot it was? And if you're anything like me, you might realize, oh, I've been shooting all of these different types of portraits, but I only have my best days when I do boudoir photography. Interesting. And yet only about 20% of my shoots are boudoir. What if I make 100% of my shoots boudoir? I guess I will have a good day all the time, right? Like, these things, because when it's so close to your face, I think you don't see it, or you talk yourself out of it, or, oh, well, I should just be thankful that I have these clients or I should this, right? Like, stop should-ing yourself. Like, that's what one of my friends always says. Like, should, should, should. And so I think that exercise is so powerful because it makes us get into that intentional mindset of this was a good day. This is what I did. So now I'm going to invite and create space for more of those things in my everyday life. And now I don't have to have that journal anymore, Pat. Because that's just my day. Because I learned what I really wanted. I paid attention. Just like, if you're, like, dating someone or you have a best friend and you want to get them a gift, you start paying attention to, well, what type of thing do they talk about? Where do they like to spend their money? What's their favorite food? What's their favorite this or that? Start to pay attention to that in yourself and then give yourself that gift everyday. And that leads to a happy life, because life is joyful when your actions are joyful. So lean into the things that bring you joy. You're going to have to do some stuff you don't like either way. We all still have to meet with our accountant, and we all still have to take out the trash and clean. Okay, you're gonna have to do that stuff either way. So make the other stuff so aligned with who you are and what you want to do that you're like, oh, yeah, I'll go take out that trash on my way to this. And the whole time you're taking out the trash, you're not focused on, oh, it's another thing I have to do today. You're just thinking about, oh, I can't wait for that client to come later. I can't wait to clean that studio for my dream client to show up later. And that's the shift. That's how small yet enormous it is.

Pat Miller: 27:43

Poor accountants, they always like, we always bag, oh, I gotta meet with my–we love you accountants.

Mitzi Starkweather: 27:47

I actually have like the best accountants. They're amazing.

Pat Miller: 27:51

What about starting the day with purpose? Ending the day by journaling what went well or being aware of our patterns that make us happy. Do you have a morning routine that helps you get in the right mindset?

Mitzi Starkweather: 28:04

Yeah, it's called sleeping enough and not getting on my phone. I had a friend say it in a really cool way to me a few years ago. She said, when you start your day on social media, you are opening yourself to be available to everyone else before you're available to yourself. And so sometimes I don't open social media for 20 minutes after waking up. It used to be like, okay, put this light in my face to wake me up. Scroll.

Pat Miller: 28:36

Totally.

Mitzi Starkweather: 28:37

I don't do that anymore. And there's like great apps and stuff that can kind of help you break the habit or be more intentional that I've actually found a lot of success with. But yeah, it's going back to intention and saying like, how do I want to start my day? And for me, yeah, that's taking care of myself before I take care of everyone else. Because I am just a recovering people pleaser like you would not believe, and an overgiver and an overcaring type of person. And so when I physically, through action, start my day by taking care of myself, sleeping enough, eating a good breakfast, moving my body in a way that feels good for that day, et cetera. It just sets the precedent for the rest of the day of how I'm going to show up in the world, which is I got to take care of myself first or else I can't take care of anyone else.

Pat Miller: 29:25

I'm so glad you said people pleasing. Because if I dove in on this, it would bug me because I'd be taking, I'd almost feel guilty that I'm spending so much time on myself. How do you overcome that feeling or did that ever pop up as a problem for you?

Mitzi Starkweather: 29:39

Oh yeah. The guilt and shame for taking care of yourself first I think is a really valuable data for you to reflect on. And sit down with a journal or sit down with a close friend and start talking and have them do the five whys. Like have them ask you why five times so you can get to the root of why you really feel guilty for taking care of yourself. And then think about the person you love most in this world. And if they said, "Hey, I've decided to prioritize myself and take care of myself," you would be so happy for them, so be happy for you. And it's just like how do you show someone else love? You show up for them. You love them no matter what, you want the best for them, you want to help them. When they're having a hard day and they're tired, and they're like, man, I really need a nap. You're like, go take a nap. You know, go, go treat yourself, go this. You know, we do it for other people and we have to realize that, well then, give yourself the same love you give to everyone else. Because I think when you're an overgiver or people pleaser or whatever, it doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong. It just means you have to give yourself just as much then overgive to yourself, too, because then you'll find the balance. Giving and being kind to other people is a great thing. However, it comes completely out of balance when we're putting all our time and energy into other people because then we get none and then we get resentful. That's the big thing. And I don't think that it's very loving to secretly resent someone. And that was kind of a shift I had to make especially when I became a mom and I wrestled with, well, how I'm still pursuing my dreams, I'm pursuing my work, I'm trying to live this life and go to the gym every day and hang out with my friends and have a life outside of just my home and you know, and make build my career and my education and my photography business, etc. And then I remembered that kids do what we do. So if I want my son, who I love more than anyone in the world, to go after his dreams, to take risks, to create the life that he wants, to show up as his real, beautiful, magnificent self, then I just have to do it, because he's going to do what I do. And if instead I just say, well, no, he has to have all my time and energy at every hour of the day, well, then it's not going to take me very long to resent him and think that, well, he's the reason that I don't get anything I want. And then I'm just teaching him to do that to everyone in his life, too, and I don't want that for him. So it's that really interesting dichotomy of choosing. Because there's someone else in the world that we love so much, we say, oh, I have to love myself too. And I think that's really beautiful.

Pat Miller: 32:52

There's a phrase circling the Internet that says we can just do things. Is this something we can just decide to do? If someone's watching this right now, thinking, Mitzi, you've convinced me this is something I'm going to do. Can we just spring into action on this?

Mitzi Starkweather: 33:08

Yep. Right now, whatever you're doing, if you're listening to this podcast or watching this right now, and you get some ideas, I bet they popped into your head when I was talking about creating and doing a project that lights you up, or photographing something you've always wanted to do, or going on that trip, or spending more time with certain people or leaning more into a special interest you have that doesn't have any, you know, monetary benefit or whatever. Whatever popped into your head, follow that, go toward that, because that's where you find the joy, and that's where possibility lies. You can't experience something, that you can't experience the joy and wonder and awe and fulfillment of having something happen in your life that you never thought possible if you think it's possible right now, right? Like, it's gonna go far beyond. And, again, that taking one step after the other, just trusting your intuition, following that step. Well, this really lights me up. Because that's magnetic energy. That's the most powerful energy there is. It's people showing up authentically as who they are, and do the next step and then do the next thing, and then take the next step. And if your story is anything like mine, which it absolutely could be if it's not yet, then you're gonna look back and go, oh, wow, if I had planned what just happened a year ago, I would have drastically underestimated how amazing things could be.

Pat Miller: 34:47

It's been a fascinating conversation. If someone wants to continue it with you, how can they get in touch with you and learn from you moving forward?

Mitzi Starkweather: 34:54

Well, I love Instagram. Definitely follow me on there @mitzistark_photo. My personal Instagram is @mitzistarkweather. And then for all my resources, education, workshops, all of that, just go to mitzistarkweather.com/education and you can also hop on my email list there, and I'll send you some of my favorite connection prompts right away and you can just get inspiring emails from me in your inbox.

Pat Miller: 35:18

Loved it. Mitzi, thanks for coming on the show. I really appreciate it.

Mitzi Starkweather: 35:21

Thank you, Pat, this was wonderful.

Pat Miller: 35:23

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Professional Photographer Podcast. Was I right? I mean, we went kind of deep there. Did you feel your passion? Did you feel it? Are you going to act on it? Well, if you are, let us know in the comments. We would love to know that Mitzi connected with you. And while you're at it, give us a like and subscribe because I get a cookie. Everybody that subscribes, they literally send me a cookie. So hit subscribe so I can get my PPA cookie, please. Speaking of PPA, if you're not a member of Professional Photographers of America, you're missing out. PPA offers incredible resources like equipment, insurance, top-notch education, and a supportive community of photographers ready to help you succeed. It's perfect for photographers who are serious about growing their business in a sustainable and profitable way. At PPA, you belong here. Discover more about membership at ppa.com. That's PPA.com I'm Pat Miller, founder of the Small Business Owners Community, publisher of the Small Business Summary newsletter, and your host for the show. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you right here next time. Take care.