THE BLOG

You may be reading this thinking – “Wait….what? Weren’t you already full time?”

Short answer – Unfortunately, no.

Long Answer –

Ever since I began my adventures as a business owner, I’ve had a side job. I was in college when my business really started taking off, doing homework at the same time. I tutored other students every day, too. In the morning, I was a barista at Starbucks. I worked and did school 5 days a week, 12 hours a day, and did photography on the weekends. I moved to Savannah in 2018 and since I was starting over in a new place without a ton of financial support, I kept my barista job working 5am-11am Monday-Friday (which was kinda fun to be honest! I do miss the free coffee…).

Eventually I tried finding a job that aligned a little more with my goals, so I became a photographer for some of the car dealerships here, buuuuut that didn’t last long because I hated it LOL. I felt ready to go full time in early 2020, and then boom, pandemic. I was back to square one. Everyone I had booked (understandably) cancelled and I had no income for a few months!

A girl’s still got bills to pay so I found a job serving the best tacos Savannah has to offer at Bull Street Taco. While I really enjoyed my time at one of my favorite restaurants, and made a wonderful little taco family, my own business kept getting busier and busier as 2021 went on. It got to the point where I was working on my business before going to waitress, and then coming home and STILL working on my business. I felt like I was in college pulling those long work weeks all over again, except this time I was fueled by delicious cauliflower tacos instead of lattes. (Special shout out to everyone at BST for making working in a restaurant such a fun and welcoming environment. I truly have made some wonderful memories and will always cherish my time slingin’ tacos with ya’ll!)

What bothered me the most is that I could tell my business was taking a back seat. I had trouble answering emails in a timely manner. I could never book on weekdays because I was already scheduled to work somewhere else. It was taking longer and longer to deliver photos and I was just too tired to work extra hours when I got home. I was running from the restaurant to sessions, trying to make it on time. In the end it simply became overwhelming to try to manage both.

With 2022 just around the corner and my most successful year yet under my belt, I decided it was time. So I’m taking a leap of faith and heading into my first year completely running my business full time. I could not be more excited to finally focus on my dreams and my company and truly become the best version of myself! Ever since I learned about careers I’ve dreamt of being my own boss, making my own schedule, and doing something I loved. I am so excited for this journey and so, so grateful for all of wonderful family, boyfriend, clients, friends, and cheerleaders I’ve had to help me get here. I cannot wait to be there for my clients 100x more than I already am and to create even more content.

If you’ve been supporting me thus far, thank you so much! I truly do appreciate you. Even just a “like” on a photo helps immensely. If you’re new around here – welcome! I hope you’ll stick around! This has been my dream since 9th grade and has been EIGHT YEARS in the making! If you’re working on a business while doing other jobs too, major props to you. It’s one of the most challenging things I have ever done. It is so easy to feel like you’re failing when you’re watching everyone around you succeed first, but I learned the hard way that things take time. Life isn’t a race!

My new office hours beginning January 1st, 2022 will be Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

Here’s to bigger and better!

Cheers,

Ash

Photos taken by the wonderful Autumn Kulla Photography