In January 2010, Mack and I were at a crossroads in our business. We were expecting baby Dot, and Mack still worked at his full-time job, and we were exhausted. We had big dreams, but we were scared to say them out loud. About all we were brave enough to say to our friends was, “We hope we don’t fail.” And really, if that’s your biggest dream, you’re not dreaming at all.

When we saw that some photographers we admired from the Northeast were coming to Dallas on a speaking tour, we decided to attend. Justin & Mary have a photographic style different than our own, but an honest, raw approach that really resonated with us. We thought, well, maybe we’ll learn something.

What happened, in fact, kind of blew our minds. If you ask us what the single most formative moment of McGowan Images has been… besides deciding to start the business in the first place… this is it. Justin & Mary really opened our eyes that night in Dallas. They inspired us to take ownership of our dreams, to make this business work for US, and to never forget why we loved it in the first place. What we learned from these dear friends helped us craft the McG client experience, so that our couples have more to talk about than just their beautiful pictures. 🙂 We learned about really living in our brand, instead of just coming up with a logo.

Most of all, we stopped being so afraid. We made decisions that forced belief in our dreams, and Mack left his full time job, and we prioritized traveling, and we bought our house, and we made this something we could be proud of.

In short, without Justin & Mary, McGowan Images wouldn’t look anything like it does today. And man… we really like how it looks today.

And if you’re a photographer, or any sort of creative small business owner, we really really really want you to have this experience, too.

On January 11th, we invite you to join us in Dallas to push our comfort zones, dream bigger, and as Mary says, “sucker punch fear right in the face”. Because there’s no better way to start a new year than by not being afraid of who we are and what we can do.

To further sweeten the pot, we’ve got a bit of a deal for you. 🙂 Use the “mcgowan” discount code, and get $50 off your seat!

I know that for wedding photographers especially, this is “off season”, and it’s hard to justify spending money when there isn’t money coming in. But I promise you from the bottom of my heart, this kick in the pants is WORTH.IT. I’m so excited to go and be refreshed before the new season starts… spending time with these dear people is good for my soul, and I know that what they have to say is going to help push us to make 2013 a year that breaks all sorts of records for us. The dreams are their… we’ve already dreamed them. Now, we just need to go get ’em. 🙂

Hope to see you there!