We were lucky to catch up with Kaitlyn Hill recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kaitlyn, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Being a business owner has made me happier than ever. The freedom to choose when to work, what to work on, who to work with, etc. has brought a peace no regular job could.
The last time I thought about working a regular job was actually quite recently. No matter how much you love your business and the benefits that come with it, the thought unfortunately pops up sometimes. For me, the reason the thought emerged was related to finances. The world is going through a weird time with the current economic systems in place and it’s having a drastic effect on everyone – business owners and traditional workers in every field.
So, sometimes I look at my friends and think how nice it would be to return to a regular job. A steady pay cheque, benefits, and sometimes additional perks. It would put at ease the anxieties of wondering what next month’s pay will look like. Especially because I’m in the transition of closing my photography business to become a full-time author. It’s terrifying not having that security!
But I also hear what my friends say about their regular jobs and it reminds me I’m better off. Everyone – at least who I know – is drained by their 9-5’s. I don’t hear people talk about their jobs excitedly anymore. They’re upset about their hours, forced onto projects they’re not interested in, forced into situations that make them uncomfortable, feel they can’t speak up honestly, etc. To top it off, they’re all upset about their pay cheque, too. Sure, it’s deposited into their bank accounts on a regular basis, but they haven’t received a raise in years and can’t financially keep up with this inflation crisis.
It made me realize that as an entrepreneur; I do have more control over my pay cheque than if I worked a traditional 9-5. If I want to make more money, I evaluate how much I want to make, how I’m going to make it, and where my efforts need to be focused to make it happen. (Such as investing in ads, investing more time and effort on social media, or partnering up with someone to offer an exciting limited edition offer.) Few people in a traditional job have the power and authority to make those decisions.
Of course, it’s always easier said than done. Being a business owner is a lot of work. But with a little tenacity and creativity, your freedom can be just as stable – if not more – as a regular job.
Kaitlyn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m currently both an indie author and elopement photographer. However, 2023 will be my last year as a photographer to focus my time on writing. I’ll sum up my photography business because it’s what has given me the confidence to become an author.
As an elopement photographer, I photograph couples eloping in Banff and Kananaskis, Alberta. Majority of my couples are not local – most from the States and Eastern Canada – and I focus on elopements that include just the couple getting married and up to groups of five additional guests. I used to photograph larger elopement groups, but I found they become just as dramatic and hectic as traditional weddings. It’s best to keep the group as small as possible!
My services involve so much more than just taking photographs of the couple’s elopement. The biggest part of my job is to help the couple plan their elopement. Since the majority of couples aren’t local to Alberta (some have never ever been to Alberta before) I recommend the elopement location, accommodation, vendors to hire, guide them through the legalities of getting married in Alberta, provide myself as a witness (if needed) and provide a second witness (if needed), walk them through what permits are needed to elope in Banff or Kananaskis, provide travel tips (how to fly with a dress/tux), what hiking gear to bring, create the couple’s timeline to ensure their day has a relaxed vibe, etc.
Then comes the day of! My main focus is to photograph their elopement, but I also make sure to curate moments of peace where the couple can truly enjoy their day and soak in the experience. At the end of the day, being an elopement photographer has little to do with photography!
As much as I love helping couples curate a beautiful, unique elopement day, my heart lies in writing. I was about fifteen or sixteen-years-old when the desire to become a fiction author manifested. I loved reading fantasy and historical romance. When graduating high school, I even applied for a creative writing minor program at the University of Alberta. I didn’t get accepted, and I allowed it to kill the dream. Eventually, I lost my love for reading fiction. The reading requirements in my university courses were just so demanding, my brain lost the will to read for fun.
It may make you roll your eyes, but TikTok and the pandemic are what renewed my love for reading. Somehow, the TikTok algorithm placed me on ‘BookTok’ and I kept seeing the same recommendation – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I finally purchased it and fell in love. I devoured all five books within a few months and moved on to other popular fantasy romance series and stumbled into the world of indie authors.
While reading, I remembered how I wanted to be an author so long ago. And it blew my mind that fantasy romance even existed as a genre! It encompassed everything I loved about fantasy and historical romance and merged them together. So I opened a Google Doc, started typing, and it’s like a story my brain was subconsciously writing over the past seventeen years poured out. And that was that.
My stories are adult dark fantasy romance and focus on darker themes. This genre is important to me because I believe that by embracing the darkness within, we are able to nurture ourselves and overcome the traumas we’ve experienced. It’s through these victories that we are able to not only step into our strength, but also into our most expansive moments of growth.
Through writing, I want to inspire others to live life to its fullest, conquer their limiting beliefs, and know that trauma doesn’t define you. My characters are raw, damaged, and struggle through various internal conflicts to reach their goals. I believe this makes characters more relatable – when they’re not always perfect and strong-willed – and become more inspiring. They’ve suffered the same traumas as you, but in the end, they’ve survived – just like you!
I chose to become an indie author rather than submit my work for traditional publication because I want to retain full control over my story, aesthetic, and marketing. It’s important to me that my characters and plot retain their raw darkness, because many find these stories cathartic. Additionally, my success as an elopement photographer gave me the confidence to know I can succeed as a creative business owner. I think a lot of people forget that authors are truly running a creative business!
Anyways, I think I stand out from other because I’m writing a different kind of story. I’m writing for the people (especially women) who have struggled with toxic relationships, mental health, and stepping into their most confident selves. A lot of fantasy romance novels encompass the female main character who has traumas and insecurities, but it already super badass! What about the women who struggled to get there? Who weren’t badass for a long time? I want to hear more about their rise to power and I know others do too!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
There are so many life lessons I had to unlearn. The biggest being “money changes you”.
I didn’t realize I had a bad money mindset until years after I started my business. Naturally, I always wanted money because it pays for the things you need and want. But when a business coach dove into the topic, I realized I was taught to hate money!
From a young age, I was told that wanting a lot of money makes you greedy, acquiring a lot of money will change you into a selfish person, and you should just be grateful for what you have.
It can be hard to believe, but having those negative mindsets about money truly blocks your ability to make money. When your subconscious is constantly saying you’ll become a bad person if you make too much money, you hesitate to charge your worth; you decline opportunities that give your business exposure; you don’t invest in yourself or your business; and you become stuck in a state of scarcity.
To unlearn this, I plastered sticky notes with money affirmations to my bathroom mirror and said them out loud every morning and night. “I love money.” “Money isn’t bad.” “Abundance flows to me and through me.” “With more money, I can make the world a better place.”
I read these notes for months and read many books like You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. Finally, one day I looked at my photography prices and my services and my jaw dropped. How was I not charging my worth!? And I upped those prices significantly that day. Within a few weeks, I was raising them again after booking four new couples saying what a steal I was!
The moment I stopped being afraid of money, I saw my value, and it reflected on others.
I feel the limiting mindset attempting to crawl back up now that I’m starting a new indie author business. I’m surrounded by other creatives who are stuck in the mindset of ‘you shouldn’t write for money’. This argument makes me roll my eyes – haha! It can be applied to any field. You shouldn’t become a doctor for the money – you should become a doctor because you like to help others. You shouldn’t become a lawyer for the money – you should become a lawyer to encourage proper justice. Etc.
I think the more appropriate mantra is, ‘you shouldn’t write if you don’t love it’. You can love something and be passionate about it and still want to make money. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to charge your worth.
When you work in a field that you’re passionate about AND receive a salary that reflects your worth, that’s when true work happiness is found.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is tough because I think it really highlights our insecurities. We crave the likes and comments. We become excited when we see a fast growth in followers. We’re constantly trying to go viral. Etc.
I know so many people who drain themselves trying to keep up with trends and algorithms – trying so hard to go viral and become an instant overnight success.
My biggest piece of advice is to throw all of that out the window! It’s a waste of your time and will leave you feeling so burnt out that you’ll hate social media. Here are my top tips to start building a social media presence:
1. Choose two platforms to focus on. This will help ensure you don’t burn out. Do some research to see where your target market hangs out. As an indie author, my audience hangs out on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I’ve chosen TikTok and Instagram to focus on because I like those platforms. Add more later on if you’re feeling confident and not overwhelmed!
2. Track your metrics, but don’t focus on them. Make a little spreadsheet to track your followers and engagement each month. Pick a date to enter your stats once a month. Many times, we think we’re getting nowhere with social media, but when you track your metrics, you’ll see that you probably are growing! It might not be 5k new followers overnight, but it might be 30 new followers in a month – that’s amazing!!
3. Don’t worry about the algorithm. The algorithm is constantly changing and I’ve heard rumours that IG and TT don’t even know how the algorithm evolves anymore. The important thing is to create valuable content for your target audience – let’s make this point 4!
4. Create valuable content for your target audience. It might feel great to go viral, but what percentage of those viewers is your target audience? It’s more valuable for your business to catch the eye of 50 potential customers than 100k random people. So what’s valuable content? It’s educational, inspirational, social proof, and entertaining.
5. Don’t be afraid to give away information. When marketing my books, it took me a really long time to get over this. I was worried I’d give away too much of the plot or too many quotes. But people want to know what they’re getting into before spending their money and time on it. As well, each person may connect to my book on a different plot point or quote. If the connection forms, chances are they’ll be more willing to invest in my book!
I honestly could talk about social media forever, but these are probably the five points I think are the most valuable to consider when starting to build a social media presence.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Nicole Ashley Photography – images (0E1A8716-Edit-Edit) and (0E1A8829-Edit) Seanna Leaf Photography – image (clover-and-thistle-images-17) Azaria Photography – images (StyledElopement-0303) and (StyledElopement-8697) Other images are mine.