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074: Fear Doesn't Leave. You Just Stop Listening to It. (Part 1)

What if the biggest thing standing between you and the business you want... isn't your pricing, your portfolio, or your marketing?

What if it's fear?

In this first half of a two-part conversation, I sit down with one of my Mastermind clients, Laura Stansberry, to unpack what fear actually looks like in business—and spoiler alert: it rarely announces itself as fear.

Instead, it disguises itself as perfectionism. Overthinking. Waiting until you're "ready." Convincing yourself you need one more website update, one more course, or one more tweak before you put yourself out there.

Laura shares the incredible story of how she built her photography business from scratch by cold-emailing 50 preschools with no portfolio, no reputation, and nothing but the willingness to hear "no." But after experiencing success, fear showed up in a completely different way—and nearly convinced her to walk away from photography altogether.

This episode is about the subtle ways we sabotage ourselves, the lies we tell ourselves in the name of "playing it safe," and why building a successful business almost always requires acting before you feel ready.

And we're just getting started.

In this episode, we'll cover:

  • Why fear almost never sounds like fear
  • How Laura landed her first photography clients by cold-emailing 50 preschools
  • Why success can sometimes trigger more self-sabotage than failure
  • The hidden danger of only marketing your business when you have something to sell
  • How "playing with the pretty" keeps photographers stuck for years
  • The mindset shift that separates photographers who grow from photographers who stay busy
  • Why visibility—not talent—is often the missing ingredient in a successful photography business
  • How fear disguises itself as perfectionism, productivity, and "just one more thing"

Timestamps:
00:00 Podcast Cold Open
00:40 Fear And Readiness
01:30 Meet Lara And Her Turnaround
04:43 In Studio Catch Up
07:23 Lara Origin Story
11:17 Starting With Schools
12:18 Landing Clients Fast
17:15 Covid Derails Plans
20:12 Boutique School System
25:14 From Profit To Collapse
27:49 Visibility Reality Check
28:48 McDonalds Marketing Lesson
30:27 Playing With The Pretty
32:40 Santa Launch Burnout
34:42 Cornered By Messaging
38:20 Fear Of The Ask
42:58 Silence Equals No
45:49 Retreat Investment Math
47:23 In App Purchases Warning
49:27 Kismet And Wrap Up

đź”— Connect with Laura:
đź“· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurastansberryphotography/

đź”— Connect with Jodi:
📸 Website: https://www.j-annephotography.com
đź“· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.annephotography

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đź“Ł Help Spread the Word!
The Mastermind Waitlist → If this episode lit something up for you, if you recognized yourself in the pattern of working hard without seeing the growth you know you're capable of the Posers Mastermind is where we fix that.

This is my most comprehensive program for photographers who are done leaving money on the table and ready to build a business with actual strategy behind it. We go deep on marketing, lead generation, content, email, sales psychology, pricing, client experience, and the mindset it takes to run a profitable company, not just a busy one. Everything I taught in this episode is just the surface of what we build together inside.

I built this business as a single mom of three boys with no fallback plan and no safety net. Failure genuinely was not an option.

The strategies I teach inside the Mastermind are the same ones that turned my camera into a career, my career into a company, and my company into a life I'm incredibly proud of.

If you're ready to stop hoping the bookings come and start building the machine that makes them get on the waitlist for the next round. https://j-anne-photography.kit.com/posers-waitlist

The Posing Method → My signature course that teaches you how to pose the brain instead of the body so you can drop dopamine and oxytocin in the first two minutes of a shoot and completely transform your galleries. https://j-annephotography.com/the-posing-method

Pass Platinum → Stop scrambling for a last-minute sale.
Use my link to get 2 months of Platinum free WITH A MONEY BACK GUARANTEE when you start collecting cash on autopilot. https://success.passgallery.com/jodianne-platinum-referral