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Business Tips

Is Honeybook Worth It? My Honest Review for 2024
Business Tips | For Photographers | Honeybook

Is Honeybook Worth It? My Honest Review for 2024

Let’s be real: running a photography business isn’t all about dreamy light, Pinterest-worthy mood boards and amazing clients in front of your lens. It’s also emails, contracts, payments, scheduling, follow-ups, and a million sticky notes trying to keep track of…

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Business Tips | Personal Branding & Strategy

8 Powerful Personal Branding Books You Must Read In 2022

Whether your personal brand has been around for several years or you plan to launch one this year, you can never stop learning and growing. There are so many personal branding books and resources out there. As a business owner, the…

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Business Tips

Why Personal Brand Photography Makes Business Sense

As an entrepreneur, you probably encounter mentions of personal branding photo sessions quite often. So, it’s only natural to wonder whether it’s also something you should be investing in. To date, you might’ve been more focused on photographing your products…

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Business Tips

Why Personal Brand Photography Is So Important

Personal branding goes so far beyond your website design, the fonts you choose, and your logo. It’s all about the story you want to communicate to the public. It’s about what you have to offer to your clients — the…

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Business Tips

How to Know if a Personal Brand Session is Right for Your Business

Nowadays, having an intentional personal brand is more important than ever. But does that mean that everyone needs to work hard at building their personal brand? How do you know if scheduling a personal brand photoshoot is right for you…

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Business Tips

How to Refresh Your Personal Brand in Time for the New Year

With only 2 months left in 2021, it’s time to start thinking about your personal branding goals for the new year. Is your brand as strong as you would like it to be? Do you need to make some adjustments…

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ashleyrufino

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“I need more visibility!” 
I’ve said it a hundred times. you probably have too.
But what if that’s not actually the problem? 
The Wrong Kind of Attention - Part 1 of 5.  This is part of a 3-week series on visibility strategy for creative entrepreneurs: stop chasing the wrong kind of attention, understand the visibility trap, and make sure your photos aren’t sabotaging everything you’ve built. #creativeentreprenuer #visibilitystrategy #personalbrandstrategy

ashleyrufino

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I want my platform to be a place where people don’t have to guess what I stand for. I think a lot of us were trained into palatability.

Speak softly. Keep it positive. Don’t scare people. Don’t lose clients. Don’t “make it political.” Be marketable. Be digestible. Be the kind of woman people feel comfortable around.

And for a long time, that script worked. It kept doors open. It kept the peace. It made business feel safer.

But I don’t want safety that comes from silence.

Because silence is not neutral when people are being harmed in plain sight. Silence isn’t “staying in your lane” when your lane is built on other people’s displacement, fear, and erasure. Silence is not professionalism when it’s really avoidance.

ashleyrufino

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I spent years trying to become the kind of person who could focus on just one thing. The kind with a clear elevator pitch and a recognizable niche.

Spoiler: compartmentalizing yourself is exhausting.

I tried to organize myself into neat lanes. To choose the right focus. To quiet the parts of me that wanted to make, build, and explore in more than one direction at once. I thought clarity meant narrowing. I thought maturity meant choosing one version of myself and letting the rest go.

None of that has ever actually worked.

The years I spent trying to consolidate, simplify, pick one thing? Those were the years I felt most stuck.

I still don’t have a neat answer for what I do. Quite possibly never will, but I’m learning that accepting how I’m actually built beats trying to force myself into a shape that doesn’t fit.

When I started to allow myself to work in layers instead of lanes… that changed the game.

ashleyrufino

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Some places mirror what you’re already growing.
That’s all I’ll say 🌱

ashleyrufino

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There’s something about gathering in spaces that actually feel like what you’re building.
Good conversations. Thoughtful energy. Living things everywhere.

I went for connection and left with a reminder that growth doesn’t always need a complicated plan, nor does it mean you have to do it alone. 
Sometimes it’s as simple as choosing environments (and plants🪴) that help you thrive.

Thank you @chanla.chau.cosmetics for creating the experience and @thegreenhouse_sycamore for curating a beautiful space for all the magic ✨

ashleyrufino

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January isn’t magic. It’s a match.
Some of us either refuse to strike it (because we’ve been burned)…. or we try to light the entire year on fire with it.

Here’s what happens:
We decide January is the month we’ll wake up at 5am, batch 6 months of content, finally fix our systems, launch the offer, start therapy, drink 100oz of water, and “become that girl” — all while still running a business and a life.

Then when the match burns out, we make it mean *we’re* the problem. Undisciplined. Inconsistent. “Too much” or “not enough.”

No. The match was miscast. 
You've mistaken its purpose.

January isn't the problem. 
You are not the problem. 

January is fuel, not foundation
It can power a decision. A new boundary. A tiny system. A single brave experiment in how you market, create, or care for yourself.

Stop trying to run your business on borrowed energy. Build something that burns longer than your motivation.

This week's In Bloom unpacks this whole fuel vs. foundation thing—because I needed to write it for myself as much as anyone else.

🕯️ Want to check it out? Comment “BLOOM” and I’ll send it your way!
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Ashley Rufino is a Chicago personal brand photographer, coach + educator for female founders & photographers.

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