One year ago I stopped playing the role of a pawn in the rat race.
One year ago I started writing the rules to my own game.
One year ago I walked out of the "office" for the last time and stopped wasting an hour driving morning and afternoon to a job that I had previously enjoyed but now dreaded to go to every day.
Now I wake up in the morning, eat breakfast with my kids, drive them to school, tell them I love them before they head off for the day, and then head home again to our in-house office and sit by my best friend and love of my life to work through our day together.
There have been sacrifices. We spend many evenings and weekends away from the kids while photographing our clients - almost every weeknight and weekend in the late summer/fall. There've been sacrifices financially. The budget is super tight - but the investment that we can have in each other, our family and the legacy that we will leave beyond through our kids is so worth it.
Heather and I love what we do. We each have our roles in our business. We love our clients and we love taking care of our clients and getting to know them. Most of all we love laughing, living and working together. Every. Day. One year ago today we made a very difficult and scary (perhaps even dangerous) decision and I don't regret it for a second.
No, that's a lie….I regret not doing it sooner.
Don't let fear hold you back from doing what you know you should do.
Kevin Autry - photographer and small business owner
Photo credit goes out to Jill Lenkowski of Two Ring Photography.