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The transcription is a conversation between two individuals discussing the color orange, brand colors, TikTok content, and photography businesses. Tracy, a photographer, talks about her brands, connections with couples, and the importance of building trust and confidence with clients. She emphasizes the significance of establishing a connection before the wedding day to ensure a smooth and comfortable experience for couples. Tracy also mentions her focus on education for photographers on TikTok and the growth of her businesses over the years. That's my color, orange. Nice. Is that like your color? That's my brand color. Oh. So, I picked it because I like the color orange, you know, but it's like vibrant and happy and like, joyful and like it's not, it's also unexpected. I didn't know what to do with it. That's why I like it. Yes. Uh, did you talk about that on the phone or something? No, I don't think so. Really? I don't. I think about it sometimes, like I'm doing that on TikTok. Okay. I feel like I saw something of you talking about it. Um, I saw it on TikTok also. Really? See, is there a pretty bit on TikTok? I mean, I do a few on TikTok. Really? I mean, I think a lot of... I'm getting a little bit closer to your mouth. Talk on TikTok? Okay. But, yes. Yes. Okay. But, I've been doing more like education for photographers on TikTok lately and that's been doing really well. So, it's only growing a little bit. Oh. Very good. We'll see. Okay. Well, y'all know. Don't worry about it. Awesome. Okay. So, before we get to the questions, is there anything that you would like to change or mention? No. I'm good. Okay. Perfect. So, I'm going to jump basically on the very first introduction and then we're going to jump on meeting you. Okay. Um, and then we mess up, of course. We can redo any questions. Yeah. Okay. Welcome back to another episode of Radha Vlogs. Today, I have here one of my favorite photographers here in the DSW area. She is known not only for her stunning photos, but also how calm she is during the wedding day and also because of the connections that she makes through Instagram. So, I'm going to jump right into it. Okay. So, welcome back to another episode of Radha Vlogs. She is known not only for her stunning photos, but also how calm she is during the wedding day and also because of the connections that she makes through her brand and her, um, through her brand and also through her couples. I am so excited to have you here today, Tracy. Thank you so much for being here. Oh, I'm so excited to be here. She's amazing. Well, I love your coat. Thank you. It's very on brand. Yes. I would love for you to tell our audience who you are and how you got started. Um, well, I'm Tracy Autumn. So, I actually have two brands, Tracy Autumn Photography and Lightwing Photography. And so, Tracy Autumn Photography is our wedding brand and then Lightwing Photography, which is actually the original company I founded 20 years ago, um, is now our portrait, social and corporate brand. So, we do like a lot of, like, Mitzvahs, birthdays, like, conferences and things with that brand. But Tracy Autumn Photography is really the, kind of, like, our wedding brand. So, I'm so excited to be here today. Thank you so much for being here. Um, I'm so excited to be here. Um, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for being here. Um, I'm so excited to be here. So, my wedding brand, oh, God, I don't even know when I actually split up, I can't even remember. But my main brand started in 2005 and then slowly, as I grew a team, I ended up adding the second brand. I love it. Let's talk about the connections that you have with your couples. We read a lot of reviews, um, with your couples and they love the connections that you have with them. Being a photographer is so important to have that connection. I feel like it will definitely speak through of them. So, if you don't have a real connection, I would love for you to guide us through what that looks like for you. I mean, I, I think that having a connection with your couples is really important. I think almost every photographer says that it is. But I think what a lot of people forget is that connection doesn't happen on the wedding day. It happens in all the months before. And it doesn't, like, it doesn't happen on the wedding day. It happens in all the months before. So, I think that having a connection with your couples is really important. I feel like it will definitely speak through of them. So, if you don't have a real connection, I would love for you to guide us through what that looks like for you. I mean, I, I think that having a connection with your couples is really important. I think almost every photographer says that it is. But I think what a lot of people forget is that connection doesn't happen on the wedding day. It happens in all the months before. And it doesn't, like, start the day you film with your camera. It starts the day that you send an inquiry. And it starts the first time you text them or talk with them. And so, we really try to create our, we try to create an atmosphere where our couples feel comfortable by giving them confidence that we're there for them. So, I think that having a connection with your couples is really important. I feel like it will definitely speak through of them. So, if you don't have a real connection, I would love for you to guide us through what that looks like for you. I mean, I, I think that having a connection with your couples is really important. I think almost every photographer says that it is. But I think what a lot of people forget is that connection doesn't happen on the wedding day. It happens in all the months before. And it doesn't, like, start the day you film with your camera. It starts the day that you send an inquiry. And it starts the first time you text them or talk with them. And so, we really try to create our, we try to create an atmosphere where our couples feel comfortable by giving them confidence throughout the entire process. So, like, I'm a pretty, like, I, I lack confidence in terms of, like, safety confidence. I think a lot of people, like, we all put on a good mask. And we all act like we're confident. We got our crap together. But a lot of times, we're really insecure. We worry about not feeling good. And we worry about not feeling good. And we worry about not feeling good. And we worry about not feeling good. And we worry about not feeling good. And we worry about not feeling good. And couples aren't any different. They're worried their wedding day's not going to go smoothly. They're worried they're not going to get all the pictures they want. They're worried they're going to forget about something. They're worried they're going to look awkward. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. 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They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. They're worried they're going to look sad. But I was a little bit late, and I remember going in, and you would have never thought that there was a natural disaster going on in Dallas, because everything was so put together in a totally different location across the city, and everybody was so calm. You were on the mic, and you were so calm. How do you explain that? I think it was kind of a whirlwind, honestly, and probably the proudest moment of my presidency. Honestly, all of my years in leadership took that morning when we had the unexpected storm, because it was under 20% chance. As a photographer, if it's under 30%, I'm not even going to worry about it. So I was like, oh, it's under 20%. It ain't going to rain tomorrow. And then it didn't just rain. It was like the winds did disrupt the tent to the point that it was not usable. And so it was like 6 in the morning, and Jordan, my past president, was on site, and he was nearby. He was bringing it up there, and he was like, Tracy, this tent is not usable. What are we going to do? And everyone was telling me to cancel the event. So something that I want you to know is that at weddings, for these events, you prepare days before. So it's not like it's just like flowers are ready. Yes. Flowers were on site installing. Heatering was on site. DJ was on site. Rentals were on site. Everything was already on site waiting to install, but there was nowhere to install. And so I decided, well, I'm going to call some venues before we decide to cancel. And so because of my networking and because of my relationships I built in the industry, I know people's numbers in my cell phone. But I would call at like 7 a.m. and say, hey, is there any way that we can have our event at your venue? In the morning. What time was it? 7 a.m. Yeah. But that was supposed to be at 10. Yes. And so we had to postpone. I think we started at like 11, 30, or 12, but we were able to secure the venue, get all the vendors over there, and starting to install at 8 a.m., and it was truly a miraculous thing. We were at the Mason that day instead of the Arboretum. It was stunning. The design worked flawlessly in there as well. Kyle at the Mason was so accommodating. All the vendors were such great team players. The Arboretum was so accommodating and understanding that we had to go on, just like at all events, like the show must go on. Right. But that day was the most different. I just couldn't even believe I pulled it off. I didn't even know how. I don't know how it was possible, except that as a community, we care. We get together and get things done. Just like we do for clients, we are relentless people, and we will overcome whenever you throw at us. Yes. I specifically wanted to mention this event because I experienced it from a guest perspective who was not involved whatsoever on anything, but I was like, holy crap. Here I am trying to cancel this. A tree just fell on my driveway, and these people have been working their butts off throughout the whole morning. I was laying silverware. We all got in there as a team that day. It was a team. It really, truly was an amazing time. As a director on the board, when it comes to events, I feel like it's not only a side hustle or a part-time job. I feel like it's a full-time job. I know how hard Paula, our current president, is working, so I can only imagine how many hours she put into that event. That goes to show you guys, as a photographer, as she said, you can throw a little joint in the room, but if you get it or something were to happen... We get it a lot. Yes. From your experience, it's funny because I realize I know a lot more about other areas of the lighting industry than I realize, and being president showed me that I do a lot more than I get myself credit for. Yes. Again, being so called that day, I was like, how is she pulling that off? I just did a public speaking. I used to be in a high school teacher, and I had a background in education, and so I'm good at talking. If you can talk to 15-year-olds all day, you can pretty much talk to anybody. Since I've talked to 15-year-olds, and I keep saying, that's the hardest audience in the world. Teenagers are tough. Really? I know more about adults. I would rather not address anything. Keeping teenagers engaged is hard. Making them not make fun of you. A little bit. Yes. A lot of our listeners are not only getting married, they're actually a lot of wedding vendors, or I'm sorry, if you become a wedding vendor, what would you say, from your experience, a big lesson that you've learned as an entrepreneur? I think, especially in a very creative urban industry, that most wedding vendors are creative. The part is that we often forget to get all of the unique systems in place. We have to kind of dig into our analytical side, even if it's really small, and kind of figure out how to make sure we have the systems in place, because I think everyone is able to make decisions. They're all inspired. We all see things in each way, but with all of that, we still need to be putting contracts together timely, communicating timely, making clients feel heard and seen. We have to have systems in place for things like swarms. We've had to deal with that before. We have to have systems. I think I learned early on through some of my own mistakes, because I'm such a creative person. I like to do a lot of photography. My goal was not to be this, but to be an art professor and show a gallery, and so my photographies are very different. But as I grew into this, I realized that the only way to do this successfully is to let that analytical part of me have a little bit more of a louder voice than I used to only have, and through that, it's allowed me to make our clients feel very cared for, very heard, and communicated with. And also vendors. Vendors also, there are some analytical people in our industry, especially in France, who get a little upset when they don't get their responses quickly, and so it's a system. It's difficult. I agree. I agree. I actually was listening to a podcast yesterday, and it said, build your brand, even from whenever you're building from scratch, after you do a building, $10 million brand. Like, everything plays, because whenever you do grow super fast, if you don't have everything in place, it's so darn hard to make sure you're very organized and you're not losing track of anything. And if you're in the wedding industry, the last thing you want to do is stress out your couple. You definitely don't want to do that. Yeah. Well, and it's also, I think, sometimes we feel like we need to do everything, and so we also need to realize that, even if the part's really small, it's okay not to get out. Yes. Hire someone to do your bookkeeping. Yes. Hire someone that's going to help you with, like, your workflow, and have someone help you. Yeah. You don't have to have, like, a permanent employee. You can be a VA. You can do, like, a one-off, like, situation where you hire someone just to do a specific point, but you have to figure out what you help with. Yes. If you're not good at it, then you don't need to do that. Yeah. And that's a good point. I do want, I mean, of course, you can wear all the hats when you first started, but you have to. You have to. You absolutely have to. But then, admitting that you're not good or not great at everything is absolutely, not only okay, but it's better because then you will hire a professional to do it. I mean, you mentioned accounting. Who would like to do accounting? I didn't do accounting so much. It's either expensive or you're just good at it. Yes. I don't stress my bookkeeping. I went to school for business, and even then, I don't even remember having, like, courses on accounting because I just didn't like them. But I still have to say specifics, just as a statistician in the class or whatever, to understand my numbers better. And even then, I'm like, not for me. Thank you very much. I can concentrate on, like, other stuff. I'd say somebody else, too. If you only have a 15, 16-months-late report, then tell me all the things I need to know. Exactly. I know how to read those reports. Yes. But I don't want to make those reports. Exactly. Because you can make decisions based on the numbers. Yes. I love it. I am just so honored that you're here today because I remember at the last event, I don't think I had introduced myself before to you. I always didn't know who you were. But I saw a post that you shared on your socials, and I was so emotional because I just had no idea that you were going through so much. And, again, pulling events like that, it was so much strength. When I invited you to be on the podcast, I told you that I would have loved or would love for you to share your story because I think it would help everybody. And I am, again, so honored that you're here to share your story. Thank you. Thank you so much because I am just excited for people to learn how to navigate when something like that happens. Yes. Yes. So, would you be okay sharing? Oh, of course. I'm happy to share a little bit about my history. So, about a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and then diagnosed with ovarian cancer afterwards in addition. And so, it was in January. And I actually got diagnosed. I was told I had cancer three days before our first of the year, like our board, our January board retreat. So, when I was supposed to be moving into my presidency and starting to lead a group of my peers, I was told I had cancer like four or five days before. And so, I didn't really know what I was going to do at that point. Like, I was in a whirlwind trying to, you know, accept that I had cancer but also figure out how I'm going to continue my business, continue my life, and also lead these other professionals. And then, I had all the emotions because I think it definitely changed how I look at what I do because I will be honest, that's my first thought that day when my doctor told me and said it was positive for carcinoma. I thought, I'm not going to see my daughter walk down the aisle. I'm not going to get her to come to church. I won't be there to dance with my boys. Like, I started thinking about all the moments in my life that I get to capture for my clients and that I wouldn't have any of it to have with me if I don't make it through this. And so, I just think it's been a really scary place because the word cancer is just the word no one wants spoken of enough or anyone loves. And it's like you go through, it's like this gallery of emotions every day from, like, anger to sadness to fear to I'm going to beat this. Like, it all happens, like, from second to second. It's the weirdest place just to, like, to live in. But I'm very fortunate. Like, I didn't have insurance when I got it. I'm like, oh my God, did I have? But I was able to call my insurance provider to find me. My team had insurance, but I didn't. Oh, yeah. That's what we do. We let everyone first. Oh, really? Yeah. And so, I didn't have insurance. I was able to call into insurance, which is a miracle because you don't just randomly get insurance after insurance. Like, my days were closed. I found an amazing doctor. And so, in March, I had a radical hysterectomy, which means they take everything. They take your ovaries. They take all the things. They take all the things and also a lot of terminally ill stuff. And so, with that, I woke up, like, totally menopaused when I hadn't even really been in surgery menopause yet. I woke up feeling very different but feeling very relieved because during surgery, they let me confirm I actually had ovarian cancer as well. So, I'm still in the workshop. And so, during surgery, they looked at my microscope and they were like, yes, you're ovary is positive for ovarian cancer as well. And so, without the cervical cancer diagnosis, I could have died from ovarian cancer. It's such a heavier cancer. It's hairy and has a much higher mortality rate. And so, I've actually had the surgery before the ovarian cancer had even become stage one. It was at pre-stage one. They call it pre-cancerous, but the cells were positive for carcinoma. If there wasn't enough of them to light up, they call it end-stage cancer. That's how my doctor explained it. He said he had two patients in the last two years with that and I'm one of them. It's not very common to get ovarian cancer that early. And so, I didn't know they were going to have to take all my left nose. I didn't know some of the things. Like, after surgery, it was a lot of pain and a lot of pain. And all this while, I'm running a business. I'm being a mom. I'm trying to help with WIPA. I'm trying to get some social media so my bride and my other couples and clients aren't scared that their money aren't going to be covered. It's so much fun. Yeah. And I'm just hoping I'm going to be okay for my kids. Which is honestly about the rest. Like, your family comes first and when you are running a business, you know, it's always so easy to put it first. Our business has become a baby. A big baby. A big, yeah. And it becomes almost too important sometimes. And if anything, how I live now is very different from pre-cancer. Like, there's before cancer, after cancer in my life. Like, since I had cancer, I missed one of my son's basketball games last season. That would never happen before cancer. Like, I mark off time on my schedule to make sure I'm home to run my perspective. Like, I used to put my kids on the bus in the morning for Eve. Now, I have to leave her at school so that I can have my money. Isn't that crazy how, obviously, something like that can change your perspective of life and how the person for your own family. It really has. Like, we travel more this year. I love to travel. Yeah. And it's just a whole thing. So, I'm visiting my best friend in California and staying at her house with my kids. Her kids are all playing and swimming and we're just together. Like, it doesn't have to be fancy. It just needs to be meaningful. Like, every moment has become just very much more precious. And it translates to, also, how I run my business. Yes, I have clear boundaries. But I also, I think, am giving myself to my clients in a maybe more raw way, but also with, like, a very strong boundary. So, it's weird. Like, I'm giving more, but I'm also giving less at the same time. Because I'm putting myself a little bit more first now. And I didn't use to do that. And, you know, it's funny because a lot of good things that we do, we are neglected in something else. And, in reality, if we put ourselves first, then we are able to take care of others better as well. It's kind of like the airplane where you're supposed to put your oxygen in half first before anybody else does. And it makes so much sense. I remember being at home and I was like, it kind of should be because I was also working 80, 12 hours a week, you know. And my family, my kids are not still in their care. My siblings aren't here. My mom is here. My mom would go by months and I would not see them. And my mom would try to go to lunch and I would be like, no, mom, I'm so busy. But then mom would go by. And I would just be reversing her pulse. I'm like, that is just not how I want to live. Because what happens is if I do die tomorrow, you never know. And your pulse, I mean, of course, you see stories like that all the time. But when it was yours, it was, again, we're not very close or anything, but at the end of the day, we're in the same industry. We are in the same room sometimes. But it was a very eye-opening experience for me. And, again, I'm just so worried about you sharing the story because I think it can impact a lot of lives too. Well, at the end of life, do I want to be known as a photographer or do I want to be known as a patient? And just because I'm a photographer, that's just a small piece of me. I think prior to cancer, I had a little too much emphasis on my career and all the emphasis on just who I am. What makes me feel happy and joyful? And I know that I'm living a better life today than I was before. I'm stifled from my cancer, which is the weirdest thing to say, but I am because I think it's made my life better. My husband's a lot happier. My kids are happier. My friendships are better. Like, everything is just different. And I'm also not afraid to say no anymore. So, like, you know, I'm not president-elect of this year, and I was planning on doing a two-year term. But after a lot of, like, thoughtful seeking with my therapist, we decided I needed to step back from some of my responsibilities to give myself permission to put these boundaries in place. Because as long as I was on my plate, I was never going to put boundaries in place. And, honestly, I kept being with the president during my cancer so that I didn't have to deal with it because it was a lot easier to be like, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, keep going. But that's what we do, especially as women. Yes. Everything's fine. Right. I'm great. Just look at my armor. On the inside, I was falling apart. And I hit a breaking point in fall that year that I was president, and it's about seven, eight months after my cancer, that I, like, just had a day where I broke. And my therapist said, we need to list out everything you're doing. We need to figure out what we can get off your plate so that you think you have enough time to take care of yourself. You have that time, but you don't think you do. And so that is loading up your platter with all this other stuff. So let's take some things off. And by that, we're going to create some space for taking. And so I made the hardest thing. I had to call Jordan and say, I'm not going to be president next year, and call people like Paula and say, do you want to be president next year? But I had to make some other decisions in my business as well, and I had to accept that I don't need to be the person in every job. It's okay. It's actually my employees are so visibly talented. It's like, why am I not letting them be there? Exactly. It's the beautiful thing about having a team. It is. But sometimes we still think, oh, but it needs to be me. Yes. But my girls are amazing. They're so talented, and everyone in the industry loves them. So I got really good at letting them do all the corporate and social events, and I used to think it needed to be me. Yeah. It does need to be me. Yeah. So, but I need to be given permission by my therapist, which is a funny thing. I tell people, like, please have therapy. If you do something that's not like them, they should be able to help you, like, call you on your shoulder. Yeah. To be like, make space for you. Yes, I agree. And it's funny because I used to work every single Saturday, like, 8 to 12 hours, like, just like another businesswoman, you know? And now I do to a degree, but I also give myself some time for myself, like, whatever I want to do, see my family. Someone has been a priority to me this year, big time. And at the end of the day, I feel like when I come to work, I'm, like, getting things done. Like, the quality of my work, even though the hours are less, has not changed. It's back. I feel like it has improved. Well, when we take care of ourselves, we're able to give what we do allocate for other people better. Like, I honestly think that when I show up to a wedding today, I'm giving the clients a much better version of Tracy. I am rested. I'm excited. I feel like I had a great time with my family, so no part of me is like, oh, I'm going to be home today. So I already prioritized my family throughout the week. Like, I'm excited to be there, but also I have this deep perspective of how important these heirloom legacy type moments I'm about to witness in the lecture and stories mean. Because one day their mom may not be there. Their grandma may not be there. One day they may be going through a hard spot in their marriage, and these photos are going to help, like, anchor them back to how they felt this day. I feel like those are anchors, and I really see them at that now because I realize how many anchor moments were ahead of me I didn't plan with, and I know that this is an anchor moment for my clients. I love Tracy. It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. So I just, I think I've become a better Tracy today. I love it. Yeah. I love it. I would love for you guys to go to Tracy's Instagram and check out her work. Her work, as I said, is absolutely stunning, and you can see the connection just through the lens, your lens. So thank you again so much for being here today. How can people connect with you, and how do you students do that? Well, they can reach out on Instagram, of course. So we're at TracyAutumnPhotography on Instagram. We're also on TikTok, at TracyAutumn. On TikTok, I do a lot more talking to the video, like talking to the camera and my tips and tricks for photographers and for clients. I do a lot of stuff for clients. So that's kind of, even if you don't want to be my client, that's a great place to go to get some resources as a bride or groom for, like, how to prepare for photography, because I put a lot of that out there. I just like to help people. And then you can just reach out. We'll schedule a quick call. Even if you hire one of my employees, you still get to have a call with me, because I think it's important that even our brides and grooms that work with Amanda and Jennifer on my team, still get to still have a connection to me. Even though I may not be the one with the camera on their day, I still like to know them. I see my employees' clients out in the wild, and they're like, oh my gosh, Ruthie, I haven't talked to you since our Zoom meeting two years ago. And I'm like, oh my gosh, how is your wedding? How is everything? I didn't get to be there, but I want to know all about it from your perspective. So yeah, reach out, we'll have a call, and we'll go from there and figure out if we're a good fit or not. I like that too, because I think everyone needs to find the right person. Yes, absolutely. There's so many good people. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for everything today. This was amazing. It's one of my favorites for sure. It was nice getting to chat with you. And hear about all the things. Yes, all the things. Bye, guys. Bye, fun. Thanks. That was awesome. Thank you. Thank you. You made me cry. I was like, oh, this sounds very happy. Yeah.