From 200 to 300: How Consistency Became Our Quiet Superpower
Three hundred blogs later, we’ve learned that consistency doesn’t shout — it whispers. Between Blog 200 and 300, we discovered that growth isn’t found in going viral or chasing algorithms, but in showing up quietly, day after day, to create something meaningful. This season wasn’t about proving ourselves; it was about refining our voice, deepening our connection with readers, and writing with purpose. From long nights editing photos to early mornings crafting stories, we’ve learned that discipline beats inspiration, storytelling builds trust, and momentum is earned — not given. This isn’t just Blog 300; it’s a reminder that showing up, even when no one’s watching, is the work that builds everything else.
Three hundred blogs.
It doesn’t even sound real until you stop and look back at the road it took to get here. There was no big announcement, no moment of arrival — just another early morning, another blog draft, another quiet choice to show up.
And maybe that’s the most important thing we’ve learned between Blog 200 and Blog 300 — that consistency doesn’t shout. It whispers. It shows up when you’re tired, when the light isn’t perfect, when you could easily skip a day and no one would notice. But you would notice.
The Stretch Between 200 and 300
The last hundred blogs weren’t about chasing clicks or trying to prove anything. They were about refinement — getting sharper, more intentional, more honest.
We stopped writing to fill space and started writing to build trust.
We began caring less about what the algorithm wanted and more about how a real person on the other end would feel reading it.
Between 200 and 300, we learned to slow down just enough to care about every title, every word, and every story. The process itself became the teacher. Writing every day taught us the same thing photography has always taught us — patience, timing, and the art of seeing clearly.
How It’s Different Now
When we started this journey, blogs were a way to get found. Now, they’re how we connect.
Back then, we wrote to be seen; now we write so others can feel seen.
Our tone changed. Our stories deepened. The focus shifted from “book your photoshoot” to “let’s capture something that will mean something years from now.”
We learned that the more authentic we became, the more people trusted us — not because of our pricing, not because of SEO, but because they could feel the heart behind the words.
Somewhere between Blog 200 and Blog 300, the work stopped being work. It became rhythm.
It became ours.
What the Work Taught Us
Discipline beats inspiration. Most days, you won’t feel ready. Write anyway.
Clarity compounds. The more honest you are, the more everything aligns — clients, tone, and vision.
SEO gets you found, but storytelling keeps people.
Growth is quiet. You rarely feel it while it’s happening, but one day you look back and realize you’ve become who you were trying to be all along.
The Gratitude
We wouldn’t be here without the couples who trusted us, the families who welcomed us, and the friends who cheered us on when we were still figuring things out. You gave us stories worth telling — and reasons to keep showing up even on the hard days.
A special shoutout to our silent mentors — the voices that have shaped our mindset and road map even from afar. To David Goggins, for reminding us that discipline is the real freedom. To Alex Hormozi, for teaching us how to think in systems and build something that lasts. And to Tony Robbins, for always pulling us back to the “why” behind it all. You may never know it, but you’ve been in our corner since Blog One.
The Road Ahead
If 200 to 300 taught us anything, it’s that momentum is earned — not gifted.
The next hundred won’t be about perfection; they’ll be about depth.
More behind-the-scenes stories. More personal reflections. More ways to connect the dots between who we are, what we create, and why it matters.
Because at the end of the day, Blog 300 isn’t a number.
It’s a reminder.
That showing up — over and over again — is the work.
And that’s exactly what we plan to keep doing.
What I’ve Learned in 3.5 Years of Being My Own Boss (That Retail Could Never Teach Me)
After over a decade managing teams in retail, I thought I had business figured out—until I took the leap into full-time self-employment. In this blog, I share the raw truth about what it’s really like to build a photography business from the ground up. Spoiler: it’s not all golden hour edits and client praise. We started with a failed t-shirt company, a poorly designed website, and no idea how SEO, marketing, or branding worked. After a long season of side hustles like DoorDash and Uber Eats, we launched our current brand, lastminutephotoshoot.com, and it’s only now—three and a half years later—that we’re seeing real traction. From hitting 40 monthly visitors to nearly 1,000, and getting consistent inquiries from our site’s contact form, every step has been a grind. I dive into how we learned discipline, balance, and self-respect—things I never learned while clocked into a corporate store. Whether you're a creative entrepreneur, new photographer, or side hustler trying to make the leap, this post will give you a brutally honest (and hopeful) view of what it really takes to build something sustainable.
Cover Image Courtesy of Jon Tyson
Let’s start with the truth:
Self-employment has been the hardest, most humbling, and most liberating experience of my life.
When I left retail management—where I ran teams of 6 to 20 people depending on the season—I thought I knew what hard work was. I’d worked weekends, holidays, late nights, back-to-back double shifts. I knew how to manage schedules, hit sales targets, coach underperformers, and keep my store afloat during Black Friday chaos.
But nothing in that job prepared me for the mental, emotional, and physical weight of running my own business.
After 3.5 years of building a business from the ground up, we’ve learned that success isn't a straight line—and you don’t have to figure it out alone. If you're navigating your own journey, we'd love to connect, swap stories, or just listen.
👉 Reach Out—We’re Here
1. The Learning Curve is Brutal (and Beautiful)
I’ve learned more in 3.5 years of working for myself than I did in all my years managing retail. You don’t just “wear many hats”—you are the business. Sales, marketing, taxes, SEO, social media, customer service, copywriting, networking, branding, accounting, production, logistics, and sometimes, janitor.
➡️ We’ve launched two websites now. Our first? It was called Hubfey. We spent a few hours a week on it (if that), didn’t touch SEO, had no social presence, and honestly expected it to just take off. Spoiler: it didn’t.
That failure forced us to learn.
Learn how to build a real website, how to create SEO-friendly pages, how Google actually works. We fumbled forward, made a ton of mistakes, Googled our way through it, and slowly found our rhythm.
When we launched lastminutephotoshoot.com, we started with zero traffic. I remember in January of this year, we hit 40 visitors for the month, and I was pumped. Now, we’re just shy of 1,000 a month—and it’s wild to think how far we’ve come. Weekly leads. Monthly bookings. We’re finally seeing momentum. It’s like watching a dream grow legs and start walking.
There’s no safety net. And strangely, that’s what makes the growth so real.
2. Discipline is the Real Boss
In retail, someone told me where to be and when. Clock in, clock out, repeat.
Now? No one’s watching. No one’s clapping. No one’s warning you when you’re coasting or burning out.
I had to build discipline from scratch—learning how to stay focused when money was low, when clients ghosted, when doubt crept in.
➡️ Everyone online says you need a perfect morning routine to succeed. Ours? It’s simple and sustainable. We wake up early, go for a walk to clear our heads, get errands and housework done in the morning, then spend the rest of the day either editing, working on the website, or creating content when we don’t have a schedule photoshoot.
When we need a break, we walk our three pups or hit the home gym. Once a week, we carve out time just for creativity—no client work, just us creating for the love of it. Or we’ll escape to the mountains for a hike and fresh air. It’s not glamorous—but it’s honest. And it works for us.
3. Side Hustles Aren’t Failures—They’re Chapters
Before Last Minute Photoshoot, we tried everything. Multiple side hustles, pivot after pivot. Some flopped. Some showed us what we didn’t want.
But each one taught us something.
➡️ Before Last Minute Photoshoot, we tried everything:
Food delivery with Uber Eats and DoorDash
A t-shirt design company (also named Hubfey)
A failed photography site under StephanieLePhotography
What we learned?
No one tells you to clock in when you’re self-employed. That food delivery grind taught us time management and hustle. We’d write “Thank you” notes with orders just to brighten someone’s day—and we saw it reflected in our tips.
Those “failures” taught us that a website isn’t a goldmine unless you nourish it—consistently. You have to learn sales, marketing, SEO, customer care. You can’t fake momentum.
4. You Don’t Just Work On Your Business, You Work On Yourself
This journey has forced me to face every insecurity I had around money, value, rejection, visibility, and worth. Running a business is personal development on steroids.
It’ll show you what you believe about yourself real quick.
Are you confident pitching yourself? Can you recover from setbacks? Do you know how to rest without guilt?
➡️ In my old life, I’d make promises to myself all the time—only to break them. Now? I can’t afford to. Being your own boss means if you don’t show up, you don’t eat. There’s no fall guy.
I’ve had to build self-trust from the ground up. These days, I check in with myself constantly:
What’s working?
Where are we stuck?
What needs improving?
What do I need to research today?
Whether it’s blog ideas, cold outreach, or figuring out a better client experience—if it moves the business forward, we do it. Even if it’s uncomfortable.
5. Success Isn’t a Moment. It’s a Series of Decisions
There’s no finish line where you “make it.” What you have instead are dozens of small decisions you make every week—some painful, some exciting—that shape the path forward.
Success started to look less like a number and more like:
Taking a day off without guilt
Feeling proud of how you handled a tough client
Seeing your work genuinely impact someone’s life
➡️ This one still blows my mind.
When we added a contact form to our site, it sat silent for months. Zero submissions. Then another month: zero.
Now? We average 1–2 form submissions every week. Not all of them book, but each one is a chance to get better at listening, understanding what clients actually want, and learning how to serve—not just sell.
I used to think success was followers or viral content. Now I know: it’s learning how to communicate better, connect more deeply, and build something real—one person at a time.
Closing Thoughts:
If you’re in the early stages of building something from scratch, know this: it’s okay to pivot. It’s okay to doubt yourself sometimes. And it’s okay to grow slower than others around you.
But don’t stop. This version of you—disciplined, creative, resilient—is being built for a reason.