Skip to content

brand sessions designed to keep your visuals aligned with your growth year-round— become a brand partner

⟶ Join the waitlist
Facebook Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • The Community
Chicago Brand Photographer & Coach For Women
  • About
  • Blog
  • let’s connect

For Photographers

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…

Read More Is Honeybook Worth It? My Honest Review for 2024Continue

For Photographers | Honeybook

Honeybook vs. Dubsado: Which CRM is Best for Photographers?

Coming Soon… I’m so excited you’re interested in learning more about Honeybook for your business. This resource is currently in the works, and I’m putting my heart into making it the ultimate guide to help you streamline your workflows, save…

Read More Honeybook vs. Dubsado: Which CRM is Best for Photographers?Continue

For Photographers | Honeybook

From Chaos to Clarity: Honeybook for Photographers

Coming Soon… I’m so excited you’re interested in learning more about getting started and mastering Honeybook for your business. This resource is currently in the works, and I’m putting my heart into making it the ultimate guide to help you…

Read More From Chaos to Clarity: Honeybook for PhotographersContinue

ashleyrufino

View Instagram post by ashleyrufino
Open post by ashleyrufino with ID 17852348568670195
We’re co-working again on February 18th and we’d love to see you there! 
If you’re tired of working alone, come work with us…
Bring what you’re working on. Work quietly or talk it out. Stay for an hour or stay all day. 
📍 @etherealconfections | Woodstock
🕐 10am-2pm
Well save you a seat! 

Comment “COFFEE” for the link to register for free!

ashleyrufino

View Instagram post by ashleyrufino
Open post by ashleyrufino with ID 18070566014147387
“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

View Instagram post by ashleyrufino
Open post by ashleyrufino with ID 18088581545028261
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

View Instagram post by ashleyrufino
Open post by ashleyrufino with ID 18037868129727990
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

View Instagram post by ashleyrufino
Open post by ashleyrufino with ID 18107317321680201
Some places mirror what you’re already growing.
That’s all I’ll say 🌱

ashleyrufino

View Instagram post by ashleyrufino
Open post by ashleyrufino with ID 18038896802530688
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 ✨
looking for feel-good content, inspo + more?

follow on

Instagram

Look

around

for photographers
coaching
speaker inquiry
free resources
contact
client portal

Ashley Rufino is a Chicago personal brand photographer, coach + educator for female founders & photographers.

connect

elsewhere

tiktok
studio Ig
pinterest
youtube
linkedin

Copyright © 2026 · Chicago Brand Photographer & Coach For Women · Ashley Rufino · Bloom Creative · Website by Hello You Designs

Scroll to top
  • HOME
  • Meet Ashley
  • The Community
  • On the Blog
  • let’s connect