We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Courtney Pike a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Courtney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Any small business owner, entrepreneur, or creative will tell you that it’s not easy to give up stability in order to take a chance on your business. I can honestly sit here and tell you that I was not financially prepared to quit my full-time job when I did! It was scary, but I knew the potential was there – I just had to get comfortable living uncomfortably for awhile. When I started working with my first few clients, I never felt like I even saw the extra income. The full-time job I was in wasn’t even scratching the surface when it came to cost of living. Financial stress is HARD. And I felt like this was my chance to dictate my own income… I just needed to be able to quit my full-time job.

My husband and I crunched numbers, dreamed, and came up with a plan for if this failed. Nobody wants to plan to fail, but when you have so much on the line … you need to. We said we would give it until December – if it worked, great. If not, I would get another job. So from August to December, I started marketing myself towards all kinds of industries – from real estate, to greenhouses, and anybody in the wedding or photography industry. I wasn’t picky; I took on any and every client that reached out. As I started to gain stability and realize where my passions were, I spent many months niching my business down to solely serve wedding photographers. I’ve loved all things weddings since I was a little kid, so it’s been an incredible “full circle moment”.

Here we now are in September of 2022, and if I’m being honest, I’ve been hustling since the day I started my business. There’s no such thing as PTO. There’s not “another” one of me, it’s just me in this business of mine. There’s nobody to do my work if I get sick. There’s nobody telling me to work a certain number of hours a day. Despite how many negatives exist for small business owners, there’s nothing quite like seeing your dream come to fruition.

Courtney, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Virtual Assistant for wedding photographers based out of Minnesota. I serve clients from coast to coast through blogging, social media management, graphic design, website design, email marketing, etc. You name it, I can probably do it! The other virtual assistants I see in the photographer industry seem to only offer 1-2 services. By being able to offer a variety of services, I’m able to be “everything” my clients need. Because of this huge detail, I’m able to form deep relationships with my clients in order to anticipate their every need. Even though I’m virtual, I pride myself on ensuring that my clients feel like I’m stepping right alongside of them.

I’ve spent so many years of my professional life searching for something that set my soul on fire and gave me a sense of purpose. I felt like I would never find what I was meant to do. Back in 2020, I was laid off (like so many others). I spent several months job hunting, finally got hired, and was entirely unfulfilled. A few months into that new job, I reached out to a wedding photographer (Morgan Elizabeth Photography) I had been following on Instagram for a couple years. I don’t know what came over me at the time, but I randomly sent her a DM asking if she needed any help with administrative tasks. (I have my associates degree as an Administrative Assistant).

It was November when I reached out; being a wedding photographer in Minnesota, it was officially slow season. So she didn’t have a real use for me, but said she’d keep me in mind. In the meantime, I ended up finding a new job that was at least in my field and started there in January 2021. In March, Morgan reached out and I started doing some little tasks for her, such as proofreading, design, and blogging. She recommended me to one of her business partners (Sarah Yates Photo). After that, the clients just kept coming through word-of-mouth and Instagram!

I honestly didn’t realize that there was a need for something like this. I didn’t fully dive in until June of 2021 when I started to research and learn what I could do as a Virtual Assistant. Nobody that I knew (besides my clients) had started their own businesses, so I had no idea what I was doing. I would commute an hour total each day to work, work from 8-4:30, come home, and work until bedtime (whether on my clients’ work or trying to make my own business legal).

How did you build your audience on social media?

Like I said, the first client I booked was from Instagram! I knew very early on in my business that I needed to up my Instagram game and online presence in general. While I booked my first client from my personal Instagram account, I knew I wanted a separate account to be able to truly serve those I was hoping to work with. Putting yourself out there on Instagram can be hard and intimidating; I wanted my new account to be a reflection of my business, which I’ve strived for it to feel candid, inviting, and warm.

I’ll be the first to say that I don’t have a bunch of followers on any of my platforms. It’s never been about that to me. What matters the most to me is that those that are following along are 1) supportive 2) want to learn 3) want to work with me. I grew my account on that principle alone. Keeping up with Instagram Reels helped me quite a bit. So many of the discovery calls I had were from people who had seen my Reels and loved my energy. Showing up online and being authentic has been such a game-changer.

To my clients, I tell them exactly that. Be authentic and show up. While I’m currently not “on my IG game”, I’ve found so much peace in knowing that I ended up where I am because of the hard work I put in. It’s so easy to get hung up on your insights or vanity metrics, but let this be your reminder that you do NOT need to post everyday. Show up when you can, and give yourself grace when you need a break. Don’t be afraid to try different strategies; what works for Jenna Kutcher or Maya Nichole might not work for your business. Just try, though.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Because the first few clients I booked have become some of my closest friends… I realized I want each relationship to feel like that. I don’t expect each client of mine to become my best friend, but I want them to feel like they have a sounding board and #1 on their side. I get excited when a client tells me they received an inquiry because of certain hashtags I selected, or one of their Pins is poppin’ off on Pinterest. Or maybe they finally posted a Reel and they got 10k views; I want to celebrate each and every win with my clients.

Being a small business owner can feel a little lonely, especially working from home. If I can FaceTime or Zoom a client to chat goals or any struggles, I will. If they need a break from social media, I encourage them. Behind my brand is ME, a person. It’s important to humanize your brand and just be a good person. That has made a world of difference for my business. Even when services have ended with a client, you can bet I’m still supporting them from the sidelines and cheering them on.

Don’t think too much about it, just be a good person.

Contact Info:

• Website: cpproductivityva.com
• Instagram: @cpproductivity
• Facebook: facebook.com/cpproductivity

Image Credits
@morganelizabethphotos @sarahyatesphoto