In this episode of Take It Personally, I’m chatting with Nicole Hodgson, a branding photographer based in Northern California, who made the leap from family photography to brand photography. As a mom of three and a former marriage and family therapist, Nicole shares the moments that led her to pursue brand photography and how Rebrand helped her elevate her business.

Nicole talks about her initial hesitation in offering branding sessions and how her passion for education and growth led her to Rebrand. Since joining, she’s gained the clarity, confidence, and tools needed to position herself as a sought-after brand photographer. She's also made an additional $6500 in revenue in just a couple months.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Nicole transitioned from family photography to branding photography and the struggles she faced along the way
• The key differences between the Behind the Shot course and the Rebrand program, and how Rebrand took her business to the next level
• Why positioning yourself as a brand photographer is crucial for business growth, and how Nicole found the confidence to niche down
• The impact of learning how to use flash in branding photography, and how Nicole pushed herself to grow in new areas
• How the Rebrand community and support system helped Nicole gain clarity and actionable steps to grow her business
• The power of discovery calls and how Nicole is now booking her highest packages with confidence

Links & Resources:

• Join Rebrand
• Nicole’s Instagram

If you’re ready to gain clarity and confidence in your business, join us inside Rebrand, where we provide you with the tools, strategies, and support to become a booked out brand photographer.

maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Nicole, thank you so much for joining

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me today on Take It Personally.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Hi, Maddie.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

I am so excited to chat with you today.

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Before we get started, go ahead and tell

everyone who you are and what you do.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Okay.

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My name is Nicole Hodgson.

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I am a branding photographer

living in Northern California,

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and I'm a mom of three and a

wife to a hobby obsessed husband.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Oh my gosh.

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I think we're living the same life.

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, So tell me a little bit about some of the

challenges that you were facing in your

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business before you came into rebrand.

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Before we actually before we started

working together, because you had a

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little bit of a you came into behind

the shot before you came into rebrand,

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: yes.

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So I actually started off my career as

a marriage and family therapist, and I

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picked up a camera during Covid when I was

pregnant with my second, and then probably

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how most of us moms got into photography.

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I ended up quitting that job and launching

my photography business and mainly

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photographing families, which I loved.

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A lot of the moms that I photographed had

their own businesses and they would ask

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me to do headshot or brain photography.

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And honestly, I was really hesitant

because I didn't feel like I

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could fully do them justice.

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But back in December, I was listening

to a photography podcast that I often

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listen to, and Maddie, you were on

it and I was instantly like hooked.

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You have this you radiate such

confidence and you were talking about

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your behind the shop program and

probably talking about rebrand too.

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But I got stopped listening and

I bought behind the shot and.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

gosh, that's cra you were

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listening to my friend Anime's

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yes.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

so I have to send her flowers.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yes.

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And I, yes, and I love anime too.

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I love everything she does.

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And I binged behind the shot, and

then a week later, someone reached

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out to me via DM and was like,

do you do branding, photography?

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I'm launching a business.

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I was like, I feel like

the stars are aligning.

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And so I ended up doing it and I loved it.

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I know my kids are gonna be

seven, five, and three this year.

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I'm gonna have two that are

gonna be in school full-time.

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And I have been looking at the

writing on the wall for what

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I wanna do for my business.

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And I, working nights worked

really well when they were young,

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but they are doing sports now and

they have activities in there.

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They're gone away from me during

the day and I don't wanna run off

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and do as many night sessions.

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I really wanna be around

for all those things.

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And when I saw rebrand open, it really

lit something up in me because I love

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education and I love learning from those

that are really good at what they do.

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And I knew it was something that I

feel could be a really good fit for me.

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To transition into doing

more branding, photography.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Yeah.

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Okay.

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I'm springing this question on

you, but because you did behind the

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shot and then came into rebrand, people

will often ask me like, what's the

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difference between the two?

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And I have an answer for that.

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But as someone who's been through

both the course and the program,

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what would you tell them?

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Like what's the difference?

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Ooh.

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I think behind the Shot is great as a

self-paced course to really understand

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how to conduct a branding session.

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I feel like you give a lot of

information on how everything from

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start to finish, it is all there.

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Rebrand, is this like ever

evolving collaborative.

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Community.

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It's like a living, breathing like

mastermind for branding photographers.

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I think you can get you, I feel

like I got a lot of good information

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from rebrand, but af, or sorry, from

Behind the Shot, but after taking

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that, it was like I wanted more and

I knew I wanted to position myself

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differently and I feel like being part

of rebrand is takes that on steroids.

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It gives you

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everything you need to truly

position yourself as an elevated

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brand photographer in your area.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951: Yes.

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I love that.

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That's very similar to

how I describe it too.

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So I love that that's translating.

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But yeah, a hundred percent, like I want

behind the shot to be able to be something

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that you take and like you learn how to

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do a start to finish portfolio

building, brand session, and then when

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it comes to your brand and how you're

positioned in your sales and your

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marketing and all of that stuff, like

that's really what rebrand is for.

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And like you said, it's.

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Really living and breathing like

we have this great community.

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The stuff in the vault is always changing,

like it's just more dynamic in that way.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yes I will

admit I'm not someone that is like a huge,

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like always speaks up in group settings.

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I love learning from other people,

and there is such diversity in the

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group that every time I come into

the calls, you are always bringing

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in something new, a fresh idea.

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Everyone else is always

bringing in these new ideas.

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I'm constantly jotting things down and

I feel like I leave those calls feeling

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more confident in what I'm doing and

have more clarity in what I'm doing.

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Whereas when I just take like a

self-paced course, I think it's

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missing that how does this fit into

a larger component of my business?

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Really like to level up and that's where

I feel like being a part of rebrand.

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It's really like leveling up to this

level that I knew I would wanna be at

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if that's how I'm gonna position myself.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Yeah, I love to hear that.

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I have had such transformation

myself in doing group programs

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and courses are wonderful.

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Like I've taken, I mean I've talked

about like Caitlyn James's lighting

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and location course, like that

changed how I shoot photography.

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Like

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yeah.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

But when you're really

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looking to improve your.

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Business, not just like your

technical skills, but your business.

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I think group programs and like having

a business coach is just so helpful.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951:

A hundred percent.

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This is coming from someone that

has also taken a lot of courses.

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I can say hands down it's already

paid for itself and I've only

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just joined a couple months ago.

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It's been such a good investment

in myself and in my business.

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And like I said, I'm

only a couple months in.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

So talk a little bit about some of the

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specific things that you have done in

your business since joining rebrand.

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What were some of the first things

you did when you came in and then

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over the last couple of months.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Oh my gosh.

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I love so many things I love

that I have implemented, but I

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think really starting to position

myself as a brand photographer.

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I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

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I didn't know if I wanted to continue

to be dual positioned, but one thing

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that I had listened to and heard

from a lot of the other members is.

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How, and from you, Maddie, how

important it is to position

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yourself as a brand photographer.

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Like niching was something that

I was really scary about, felt

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scared about doing, but having

done that, I feel so good about

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the direction that I'm going in.

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So that I think was one of the more

powerful things that I've done.

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I had reached out to a web

designer because I knew I

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needed to redo my website.

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And initially she had we talked

and she had suggested about just

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doing like a mini branding website.

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I sat on it and I thought about it and

I was like, I just need to go all in.

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Like I know where I wanna go and I

know what I want to do, and I know

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it's a bigger upfront investment.

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I need to do that now.

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I don't need to do a

mini one and then wait.

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So I think it's really been the

understanding and awareness of

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what a brand is, how important

it is to position yourself.

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Yeah, doing the website, I'm now just

doing my own little mini rebrand.

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I would say just the confidence that I

have showing up online and in talking

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about my business that has changed.

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A lot.

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And I learned how to use flash, which I'm

gonna be honest, I really loved touting

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myself as a natural light photographer

because doing families, newborns I.

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I know natural light and I was really

scared of using flash and it's I think

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it's almost become a non-negotiable

when you're doing branding.

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So I learned how to do that.

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I feel like I've just really pushed

myself in a lot of different areas that

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I didn't know that I was capable of and

or that I really needed or wanted to.

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And I'm just feeling really confident.

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I feel like.

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Maddie, like I feel like confidence

through osmosis being around you,

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but I feel like it's helped a lot

in just overall so many areas of

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how I'm showing up in my business.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Even though we have had so many amazing.

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Wins inside of

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rebrand with people booking like big

sessions and cumulatively how much money

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that we've made with brand photography.

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Even though there's so

many cool stories there.

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The biggest takeaway that

people always talk about.

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going through rebrand is the

transformation of confidence, and

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that's my favorite thing to hear

because I think that comes with you.

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Like the more confident that

you feel in life and in your

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business, the easier things will

be, even when it's not easy, right?

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Like even when you're like,

wow, this is really hard.

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But like I'm confident I believe

in myself that I can figure it out.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951:

A hundred percent.

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I also, another thing that I was thinking

about when you were talking is doing

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discovery calls, getting on calls.

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I avoided that like the plague.

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I would never want to do it.

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Your framework and like what you,

we've talked about in the calls.

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I have gotten on a couple calls.

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I got on one today.

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Pitch my largest package and

looks like she's gonna book it.

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And I would not have felt confident

doing that six months ago, by any means.

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I never have done that with

a family photography client.

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But I feel almost like it's necessary to

do it in branding because I feel like.

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You really get to know who you're working

with, and you can really display your

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value in a way that helps them see how

strategic and intentional that I am.

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And I think it really sets you

apart from other people that are

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potentially doing it in the industry.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

I think discovery calls are something

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that a lot of brand photographers

are sleeping on, and a well run

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discovery call can close a client like

so much more easily than you think.

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I was the same way.

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I hated, like when I was doing

weddings, I was like I'm not

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calling you like, I'm sorry.

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I'll not be doing that, but I agree.

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Like with brand photography,

I'm like, no, we really.

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There are a few instances

where I won't do call.

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I do like I give the client the

option, but nine times outta 10

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they wanna get on a call too.

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Just by asking the proper questions,

it gets your client's wheels turning.

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And there have been people who have

come into the rebrand Slack channel and

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said oh my gosh, I got off this call.

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And my client was like, oh, I

hadn't thought of it like that.

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Like I hadn't considered that.

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Nobody else asked me that question.

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And then they end up booking

the session because they're, the

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potential client is oh, like this

person really knows their stuff.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yeah.

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I felt like even on the call today, for

me, it gets my creative juices going as

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well because I can envision what they want

and I can like the same, I can ask the

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questions, I can suggest things, I can

share ideas that I'm even having while on

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the call with them, and I think it gives.

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Because I love, I really want,

when I come into a session, I

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really want them to feel seen.

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I really want them to feel understood.

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I want them to feel like someone

understands their vision and that

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they're gonna be happy with the images.

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And I really do feel like those call,

like getting on calls and having

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the confidence to do it, I feel

like makes everything that comes

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after like flow so much better too.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Don't you feel like there's so much

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more trust being built up front too?

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Like I think that's also why things are

easier, because that build like the, just

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the act of the discovery call and asking

the right questions builds so much trust.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yes.

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And I think with like I love social media

and I love engaging on social media,

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but what I have found, even when doing,

working with families is once I meet them.

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Like we are able to connect and

click in such a different way.

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So even being able to get on the phone

zoom I feel like for me that's an easier

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way for me to connect with people too.

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And I feel it from the

clients that I work with.

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So I definitely agree with you.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

I have in front of me, did you know

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you've made like 60, let me, $6,500

in additional income with brand

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photography in just a couple of months?

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: I

love your little trackers because,

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

I am obsessed with the tracker.

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I check it like I check my Instagram.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: I love it too.

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And I love getting the

emails because it tells me.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Like you said, you've only been in the

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group for a couple of months and just

like $6,500 in additional income is so

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killer, so obviously that's awesome.

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You've booked some like

really impressive sessions.

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Besides some of the more like measurable

results, how has working together

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changed your approach to business?

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You talked a little bit about

confidence being a big piece of it.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951:

Oh, confidence.

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My mindset.

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I've really done some

like deep dives lately.

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Also on like money mindset because

I realized as, I'll be honest with

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doing family photography, I've

taken education from the beginning,

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so I've never been like one of the

cheaper photographers, I've always

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tried to charge to be profitable.

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I feel like with doing branding,

photography, your ability to charge more

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and to offer more like a VIP half day

package, versus when I was doing families.

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Personally, I love seeing women be able

to charge more and I love being in the

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group and seeing like the wins and seeing

women say, I just booked this package.

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I was able to land this.

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It's given me like the awareness

of something that deeper.

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I wanted to work on a little bit more.

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To also get to that level because

I know it's something that I

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know I am capable of as well.

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So I know I keep saying confidence,

but I really do feel like it's given

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me so much confidence to look at so

many aspects of myself and my business.

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And and then on another note.

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Being strategic and being, and fully

understanding more how to market

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like myself and my my business and

personal branding, how valuable

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that is, not only for me, but the

businesses that I'm working for.

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For me, having other women be

successful is very powerful.

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So knowing that I'm able to help them and.

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Brand photography is a tool to

do that, but also share with them

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what I'm learning so that they can

level up their businesses as well.

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I love all that and I feel like

I've gotten all of that and more

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through being a part of rebrand.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Being a brand photographer is so

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cool because it's very meta because

as you are working on your business.

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You can get better at helping other

people's businesses, and that's

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just like the coolest feeling.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yes.

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Yes.

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And I have also something that

I didn't really do as much.

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I collaborated met a lot of other

photographers, but I love also now

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meeting other people in similar went

to coffee with a social media manager.

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Meeting other people that are,

that we can collaborate with in the

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industry and like the crossover.

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That has been really cool as well.

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I.

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And that's just not something I ever

thought of doing before joining rebrand.

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I just feel like the ideas are constantly,

like they're just popping up all the

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time, all these cool things to do.

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And we went on vacation recently too, and

we're at this like really cool resort,

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which I've been to so many times, but.

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I was like there, like you see

branding in a different way

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even when you're on vacation.

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How a resort brands themselves, you know

how different businesses brand themselves.

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It's just seeing things

through a different eye.

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But I really love it.

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I feel like my mind was a

little bit built for that too.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Totally.

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Oh, I'm sure it was.

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I think that's true for a lot

of us as brand photographers.

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Yeah.

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I love that.

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I totally relate to that.

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Being able to see it reminds me of,

I don't know who said this, probably

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someone on Instagram, but like the

idea that like everything is content.

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I think that that is so.

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especially as branch photographers.

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'cause everywhere you go in every business

that you interact with, there's like

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some sort of branding runs through it.

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And I don't know, I guess I don't

know what I'm trying to say.

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Like I, as you see how other businesses

do what they do, it makes you better.

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It gets your brain working in a new way.

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I don't know.

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I just, I love our job.

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We have the best job.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yes.

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Yes.

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Mary Meta.

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Yeah.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Yes, very meta.

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What would you say to either a past

version of Nicole or someone who is

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considering coming into rebrand and

wondering if it's right for them?

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: I

would say that if you had this

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gentle nudge to get into branding,

photography, I would say joining is.

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Is the best decision that you can make

because you'll not only learn about

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branding photography, but you'll learn

how to basically elevate and market

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your own brand in what you're doing.

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I think you'll walk away with so

much information, so many new ideas.

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I did have another photographer friend of

mine reach out and ask, and she joined.

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And I basically told her, because

she's in the same boat as me, she's,

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she has, her kids are super busy,

they're doing a bunch of sports and

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she loves doing families, but she knows

like she wants to make some shifts.

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And I told her.

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Joining this program is not only gonna

grow, like if you want to get into

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branding, you'll gain that clarity.

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You are gonna learn so much,

even how to market for your

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own family photography work.

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Regardless, you will grow

as a lot as a photographer.

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You're gonna gain confidence

and you can do branding.

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You can decide how you wanna position

yourself, but I don't think you

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will regret joining this program.

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I'm like, it's a year long.

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So much can change in a year, and

by joining, I think you'll gain that

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clarity over time and being a part of it.

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Honestly, it's a hundred percent worth it.

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And I'm glad I joined

at the time that I did.

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I think it was like the best

like inflection point to join.

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I'm just really glad that I did and did

not pass on it and just think that maybe

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I could try to do it again in the future.

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I think sometimes I've learned

about myself is I guess sometimes

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I have to just strike while

the iron is hot and go for it.

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And I know that I will

learn along the way.

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It being a year long was what really

sold me because I knew that over the

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course of that year, I could make a lot

of intentional decisions and choices,

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and I didn't feel like I had to make

this huge change in three months, and

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then the support was going to be gone.

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So the year mark was really

important for me, and I knew that's

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what ultimately sold me on it.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Yeah, totally.

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I love that too.

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'cause I would have I've told this story

before, but so often, like when I was

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running 16 week cohorts, people would

come back and send me texts or send me

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dms and be like, oh, like I had this

awesome win and it's because of what I

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learned in rebrand or I have this question

and I wish that I was still in rebrand.

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And I was like, gosh, yeah, o

obviously you can't necessarily have

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a program that goes on forever, but

like business is gonna keep happening.

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Three months is a really short

amount of time and I think, or four

375

months or whatever it, having it

be a year, there's so much more.

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It feels so much easier than

being like, oh my gosh, I have to

377

cram everything into four months.

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And what if I don't?

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And what if I freeze?

380

And with a year you're like, oh,

okay, I can lean back a little

381

bit and take this at my own pace.

382

nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yes.

383

And that's, and for me that's

really important because I

384

know I was making a big pivot.

385

I didn't come in as a brand photographer.

386

I was coming in, doing something else

and knowing that I was going to be

387

making a very intentional change in

the future, I wanted to do it right.

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I wanted to make choices along the

way that really aligned with what I

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wanted to do and where I wanted to go.

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And I also feel like on the call, one

of the things I really loved was, I

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think it was one of the quarterly calls

when a lot of the rebrands that had hit

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a certain income threshold for, I'm.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Yes, when they've booked $10,000

394

worth of brand photography.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: and

we did like the the call with them

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and they were like on the panel.

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I feel like that was really helpful

too, to be able to ask them and

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gain some insights from people that

are, a few steps ahead and they were

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just right in your position and.

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I feel like there's a couple that I

really identify with and I feel like

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it's really cool to see where they are

and where they were a few months before

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that and the steps that they've taken.

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And I felt like that was a really big

call for me too, to hear what they did

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with their website, how they position

themselves from doing, from crossing

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over from families to doing branding.

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And that gave me the ultimate confidence

to reach out to a web designer and just

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decide alright, I feel like I'm ready.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Oh, that's so cool.

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I

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yeah.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

That was like the catalyst that

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made you, so what Nicole's talking

about is we have inside rebrand,

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we have the On Brandand Club.

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So once you've booked $10,000 worth

of brand photography, there's like

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kind of a quarterly mastermind.

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It's.

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Very informal, it's

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yeah.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951: run.

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And the On-brand Club did a panel

discussion on one of our weekly calls and

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everyone just got to ask them questions

and just gotta ask people who are, like

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Nicole said, just a couple steps ahead

of them, questions about their business.

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And I loved that call too.

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That was awesome.

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Oh, I

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yeah.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

that.

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That's great.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Yeah.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Thank you so much for being here today.

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Thank you for being so generous with

your time and for sharing your story.

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I actually, I've done I've had a

few students on the podcast lately,

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and I've done a terrible job of

asking this at the end of the

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episode, but I remembered today.

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So where can people find you

if they wanna follow you?

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951: Okay.

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On Instagram, I am at Nicole Hodgson

Photography, and then on my website

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it's going to be going through a

huge rebrand coming up, but it's

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www.nicolehodgsonphotography.com.

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If it's anytime soon, it's still

gonna be my family site, but

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hopefully by this summer we'll have

my new branding one up and running.

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I'm super excited.

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maddie--she-her-_1_05-16-2025_150951:

Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to see it.

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Thank you so much.

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nicole_1_05-16-2025_130951:

Thank you, Maddie.

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Thank you so much for listening

to take it personally.

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If you haven't already, would you head

over to iTunes and leave us a review?

448

This is the best way to let other

photographers know about the show and

449

help keep us creating content you crave.

450

And if you want more tips and tools to

build your personal photography brand,

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head over to my website, maddie pong.com.

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Here you can access my downloadable

ultimate personal brand session shot

453

list to get your clients singing

your praises and browse my blog for

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more trade secrets to help you hone

your craft and grow your business.

455

Love to learn while you listen.

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Visit maddie peon.com

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and click on podcast for all things.

458

Take it personally.

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From show notes to recent episodes and

incredible guest profiles, remember

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friend, the most important part of

any brand is the people behind it.

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Branding and business is personal,

so let's take it personally.