2014 to 2015 Blog Challenge Year in Review

I love this idea of looking back and looking forward as we wrap up 2014! I saw this idea from another photographer Jamie Delaine , and so I had to join in! So here is our year in a a review; things we are proud of, things we want to stop doing next year and things that excite us! 

LOOK BACK
What are you most proud of this year?

Definitely the birth of our little girl Kaiya Mckenzie. It was a 57 hour labor of love that was worth every second of. The amount of love I have for that little girl surpasses what I thought was possible. Just this week she started doing this thing where she clicks her tongue and smiles cause she knows she's cute. Seeing a human being develop a personality is so amazing to watch. 

What was the biggest risk you took?

I would say launching the Jenn Wagner Studio brand felt like a big risk at the time. I was nervous a little overwhelmed and scared to see how all of the logistics would work. It  has already exceeded my expectations. Looking back it was the best move my business could have taken as we publicized all the amazing things that Shannon and Ryan and Cayla offer and it was a risk worth taking! We have our system down now and it all runs so smoothly for our clients. I love how streamlined and easy the process is for our brides- from booking, to photo download, to albums- the whole process is just a few clicks and it best for us and best for them! 

What did you learn this year?

Patience. And that timing is so important. God truly works out all things for the best; its just really hard to appreciate that in a time of waiting. 

What do you wish you had made more time for?

I wish I would have made more time for travel with my family. Ricky and I have always loved traveling and even though we had a splendid trip to Telluride, I wish we would have carved out time to go one more place as a family. That trip to CO in september really sealed us as a family and I'll forever love the early days of 'us' as a new threesome. 

What are 3 highlights (business or personal) of your year?

- My two sister-in-laws and I all welcomed babies within a few months of each other and it was so fun to be pregnant and have babies at the same time. Something that probably won't overlap for the three of us again so that was really special.  : ) 

- Shooting 20 weddings this year having missed the entire spring season due to being pregnant!  I always said I wanted to shoot between 18-22 max a year and we hit that perfect spot this year with 20 amazing couples! 

- Personal goal that I'm constantly reaching for and just recently attaining is making weekends for myself. Especially on wedding weekends-  my hubby has really helped me carve out two days to not work, enjoy my family without checking email and just be in the moment, even if its a Monday Tuesday. Its been so important to try and maintain balance between owning JW Studio and having a family so enforcing weekends is key. (its also the reason why it sometimes takes me a day or two to get back to you pretty people)  : ) 

LOOK FORWARD
What “word” do you want to define 2015?

Slow down. (two words I know I know) I feel like the past 5 years have been ramping up and going faster and faster trying to hit goals and grow and spread and blog more and more and bigger and better. I don't want to be a person that is constantly after more. My goal has been 18-22 weddings and that is what we hit this year and we are on track to hit next year.  We have a team of four amazing girls that I love working next to and that we have really hit our stride with. I don't want to try and grow and suffer in the areas we are really strong at.  I want to continue offering my clients the best customer service and personalized attention, and the best way to do that I feel is to stay within that range of clients each year. So yeah slow down and enjoy this great place we are in, both in business and in personal life. 

What are 3 big goals (business or personal) for 2015?

- Get 30% of our weddings published

- Go on two great family vacations

- Do all my taxes in March ( because I usually wait until the last moment to do them and it stresses me out!!)

- Serve more with my hubby- we both serve at our church in different ministries but I want to serve more with him. 

What things excite you about the upcoming year?

- The thing that excites me most about the upcoming year is how many awesome brides and grooms Shannon and Ryan are working with that I normally would have had to turn down bc I was unavailable! It makes me so happy that there are all these great couples I still get to work with and edit their beautiful photos! 

What do you want to learn in 2015?

- I want to learn how to better share our clients images through online and print publications! We are so blessed to shoot some of the most beautiful weddings and they need to be seen!!!

Thanks for reading! We'll see you in 2015!! 

#2014blog2015