100 days away from my studio taught me a lot of lessons. When I first had to shut my studio down at the beginning of this pandemic, I was understandably devastated. It had only been 6 months since I had “officially” become full-time self-employed. I was scared that my studio wouldn’t survive being unable to have clients in for an undetermined amount of time. I’m sure a lot of business owners can relate to that feeling! The uncertainty and fear was abundant. None of us really knew what the future held, or how long we’d have to keep our businesses closed. One thing I’ve learned for certain – is that I’m very grateful that I live in the country that I do.

Step back and reassess.

100 days away from my studio forced me to step back from my sessions and really stop and think about where I wanted my business to take us in the future. I was so busy before the pandemic shooting, editing, being active in our Facebook Group, that I hadn’t really had a chance to sit down and really think about it. The funny thing is, the answer was already there. I just hadn’t given myself the time to stop and think about it!

So, Shawn and I spent the 100 days away from my studio bouncing ideas back and forth off each other. We decided it was time to rebrand Erika Gayle Photography. We want to focus more on the community aspect of this thing we’re building… I won’t lie, when I first started our Facebook group I never ever considered the fact that it might grow into the community that it has. So, we are focusing on that next. Building out this community into something bigger, something greater than ourselves. Something GOOD… and that’s something the world could really use right now, I think.

Stop resisting the call.

What did 100 days away from my studio teach me? It taught me that I need to stop resisting this call, and to stop resisting dreaming about the future. I need to stop doubting myself, and I need to stop being so scared of change. It helped me to realign my priorities, and set some goals. And Boudie Babes… I think you’re really going to like what’s coming next.

After 100 days away from my studio, I had this gorgeous babe Miss B who helped me shake the cobwebs off my camera and break in the new gold sheets for my set. This session with Miss B. reminded me WHY I love these sessions so much. I missed having clients in the studio. It’s so good to be back and I absolutely cannot WAIT to share with you what’s coming next.