How I took the plunge … quitting your “day job” to pursue your dreams (and other random facts!)  

Brittney Kluse

Well, I’m a month into my life as a full-time photographer and full-time mess-cleaner-upper of my two littlest employees … my kids! A two-year old boy (Braxton) and one-year old girl (Brynna). I’m no expert, but if life feels this good “post-plunge”, I wish I would have done it MONTHS ago!

Leslie Kerrigan and I were recently chatting on the phone about “the plunge” and she suggested I put my journey down on paper! I hope that if some of you are on the fence (like I was for so long!) this may inspire to you to “plunge” too! Here’s the Readers Digest version about my life in the workplace … or as I like to call it, “life before the lens.”

In 2003 I graduated from Washington State University with a degree in Business & Marketing. I ended up working for a company doing Marketing and Project Management. I liked my job and felt that I was good at what I did. I got married in 2007, and this started my love affair with photography. I was so inspired by my own wedding photos (from our fabulous wedding photographer!) that I wanted to capture moments like that for other people. I spent a year soaking up everything I could about photography! From buying an entry-level DSLR, to watching YouTube tutorials, reading books on photography, and doing one-on-one workshops with photographers around the country that I admired. In late 2008, Brittney Kluse Photography was born.

From 2008-2010, I photographed anything and everything and started to figure out what I loved to shoot. By 2010, I was primarily shooting children, teens (seniors), couples, and families and felt my niche was in the candid side of portrait photography. Also important to add, this is about the time that I began booking photo shoots VERY consistently, I would actually fill up all my allocated slots about 2-3 months ahead of schedule. As I would flip ahead in my calendar book, blank months would terrify me and I’d go to sleep that night thankful I still had my “day job.” But, what consistently happened, was no month was ever dry! Actually the opposite, most months I had to actually refer people to other photographers because my plate was so full of photo shoots!

This is when in my mind, photography began replacing my “day job.” My income from photography at this point was significantly more than what my “day job” was bringing home, but still … I worried. What if this magic moment ends? What if one day, no one is interested in booking “Brittney Kluse Photography” anymore? So I continued to hang on to the “day job.” During work, I would run to the parking lot and sit in my car on my lunch break to answer client e-mails and inquires about booking a session. In meetings, I started to day dream about all the things I’d be able to do during the day (and not at 1:00am) if this “day job” wasn’t taking up so much of my DAY! But still … I worried. Work was my safety net. I was good at what I did. People liked me. And I knew I’d have a job there as long as I wanted one.

The grind was getting pretty old though. Wake up, drop kids at baby sitter, head to work, get out as fast as possible, grab kids, come home for play time and dinner, switch off with the hubby, and head to a photo shoot, come home from shoot, bedtime routine for kiddos, hang with hubby for an hour, hubby goes to bed, then I jump on computer and my NEXT workday begins. Between e-mails, editing, blogging, business matters, ordering, packaging, etc I would end my “second job” about 1:00am and hop in bed for about 5-6 hours of sleep.

Then one day it hit me. No, wait; I’m not kidding … it literally HIT me. I was standing in my laundry room and the light in the ceiling came out of the wall and fell inches above my head. As I stood there and looked at the light hanging above my head. It reminded me OF ME. It, like me, was still lit, but hanging by a wire … and I knew it was going to fall and break. Yes, I had this epiphany covered in ceiling dust. Profound, huh? I realized that I don’t want to be that light! I don’t want to be hanging on just waiting to fall and break. I was tired of feeling like I wasn’t spending enough time with my kids/hubby, tired of feeling like the only time I could work on photography was between 9:00pm and 1:00am, and tired of waking up each morning for a job I appreciated but didn’tLOVE. That was the day I changed my life!

After a great talk with my hubby, we made the decision that the time had come! I went to my office, saw an appointment book with more than FOUR MONTHS of bookings already scheduled and laughed. Why hadn’t I done this sooner? August 1, 2012 was my first day in my new life!

After quitting my “day job” I knew I had to set up some firm boundaries if I really wanted to succeed in this work/life balance. The first thing I did was set photo shoot days: Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are what worked best for me and my family. Next, office hours. In honor of the “balance”, I made my new office hours Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:00am – 1:00pm. This gave me so much flexibility … Friday and Saturday nights off, not shooting back-to-back days, staying engaged throughout the week with clients (pre-consultations, ordering sessions, editing) and most importantly MUCH MORE TIME WITH MY KIDS AND HUSBAND!

If my story sounds similar to yours, you should sit down with yourself and have a heart-to-heart before a ceiling light falls on you too! 🙂 In all seriousness it came down to about 50% confidence and 50% courage. I have the confidence in my photography and my business management to know that I can deliver what my clients want AND explore new ways to stay in the game (partnering with magazines, working with the AMAZEBALLS Seniorologie, offering mentoring for up-and-coming photographers). Since I quit my job, I’ve had MORE time to explore these connections and freeing up this time as now allowed me to:

• Host a September Clickin’ Moms Breakout Class on my style of photography (http://www.clickinmoms.com/cmu/be-the-first-to-know)
• Was asked to be a regular photographer for the new magazine CLICK
• Taken on three new cross-country early-stage photographers in a mentoring role
• Made it to the TOP TEN on Chic Critique’s Photography Idol

And I just had to have the courage to know that whether I succeed or fail, I’m only going to get this chance at this point in my life one time, so I better make it count!

Here’s a few more tips to consider if YOU’RE considering THE PLUNGE!

Support System – Find out who your biggest cheerleader is and listen to every word they say! Talk to people who understand your life, your family, your goals, and have them HELP you define your new life!

Use Common *CENTS* –  If you’re bad with money, consider tracking your income and expenses. There are many programs and services to help you do this. I make sure to include a generous estimate of what I will be paying in taxes so that I don’t fool myself into thinking I have more money than I really do. Accounting for taxes is one of the many pitfalls of being self-employed.

Cut Back Before Cutting the Rip Cord –  Instead of just outright quitting my job, I started reducing the amount of hours I was working so that I could hit the ground running once I was ready to put all my chips on the table. I went from full-time, to part-time, to the point where most of my coworkers weren’t even sure if I still worked there anymore 🙂

Go Out of Your Comfort Zone – Try to think of what other areas your photography skills or interests might work well. For example, I recently partnered with a great non-profit organization that raises money for children’s cancer research. I volunteered to photograph 12 adorable kids the organization supports as part of a calendar they use for fundraising purposes! I got GREAT exposure in our community, several new bookings from people associated with the 12 families I photographed, and got to do it all for a great cause that warmed my heart!

If you decide to PLUNGE then best of luck to you! If you need to hang on to that rip cord awhile longer, I’ve got your back 🙂 You’ll know when the time is right. Just watch out for loose lights in the ceiling …