“You cannot change things by loving them harder….”

Growth…

Smack dab in the middle of my busy Family Session Season, this has been on my mind a whole lot lately. Maybe you can solve a riddle for me…

We measure growth and celebrate it in our new babies.

We talk about milestones and new clothing sizes for our kids like they are trophies.

We mark our children’s heights in pencil on the door frame every year with pride.

We smile gleefully when our new trees grow above our heads.

And yet, as grown ups and professionals something happens. We begin to hate and fear growth… in our waist lines, in our relationships, in our social lives, our careers.

We become creatures of habits, opting to stay home and watch Netflix instead of leaping and growing and changing. We choose to eat more chocolate cake instead of go running… well, at least I do.

Unfortunately, we take the easy road for most things~ preferring the comfortable instead of the unknown.

Why does this happen? Who decides when we’ve done enough growing and now it’s time to STOP! When did “good enough” become our only option?

Lewis Carroll is quoted as saying

“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”

In my life and in my business this quote has stuck with me since I heard it years ago.

Why?

I am not satisfied with who I was yesterday. I began shooting by myself, with no training, on my baby nephew and niece because I loved it. Let me tell you something…

I was TERRIBLE!

Don’t believe me? Here’s the proof… Kelly Goggin Photography’s very first official “newborn shoot”.

My gorgeous nephew Bentley… blurry and crying

My Maddy girl…. i feel guilty for doing this to her!

As adorable as those sweet babies are… I was NOT talented. I was NOT skilled. I was NOT knowledgeable. And the photos reflect that!

But, I had a passion.

A tiny seed of passion that I lovingly buried in the soil of my mind. Over time I watered it and nurtured it, learning everything I could from Youtube, other photographers, social media.

I was growing. I was stretching. I was strengthening my skills. I was like a little seed that bursts forth under the ground. Looking back, it’s easy to see that tiny growth now. It seemed exponential to me at the time. Knowing what I know now… it wouldn’t have been enough to get me to where I am now.

So, I was unsatisfied.

I would wonder:

“What is everyone else doing that I’m not?”

“Why are their images amazing and filled with color when I am struggling?”

“How can I achieve the polished look that I am craving in my photos?”

Enter The Milky Way Retreats… now, sweet friend, do not stop reading here thinking that this is a sales pitch. It’s not. Those retreats are a HUGE part of my story. They came at a time when I was desperate for growth. I had reached the end of “free teaching”.

I waited for weeks to buy my first one. It was expensive (for my hobby job) and I just couldn’t pull the trigger. After talking about it with my hubby, he said this to me “Kelly, when are you going to do what you need to do to grow and get better?”

He was bang on. I bought the first retreat and haven’t looked back.

Y’all… These retreats CHANGED MY LIFE. I finally could be a fly on the wall of my heroes and see how they did things. I could experience a session with them like a second shooter and study their angles, lighting, ideas, thoughts. If I had questions, I could ASK THEM DIRECTLY!

Something amazing happened on my very first retreat… I realized that I ALREADY KNEW what I was doing. Weird right? I discovered that I just needed someone to push me to DO ME. By watching “the pros” do their craft, it cemented all the things I was already doing correctly and polished what I needed to change. I realized that the only way I was going to reach that level was by JUMPING and shooting unapologetically. Shooting how I wanted to. Capturing the story I wanted to tell… I just needed someone to show me that.

That is where my growth came.

By trusting myself and honing my skills.

By studying and learning from others.

By seeking out information and practicing what I’ve learned.

Little by little I trusted myself more and more and my skills TOOK OFF! The best news of all? Now I’m teaching others. Photographers come to ME and ask for help and advice.

I will go from a student to a TEACHER at the 2020 Milky Way Maternity and Newborn Retreat and I am still blown away by this. I have the opportunity to reach thousands of photographers and reach them like I was touched 3 years ago!

If you are at a place of staying cozy or growing, sweet friend, listen to me: GROW! Do the hard thing, learn the new steps, work in your garden of life because guess what?!?

You may achieve things you never dreamed possible!

Here’s an example of MY growth in just a few short years: