As a coach, Jillian’s mission is to help creatives transform their relationship with money, proving you don’t have to choose between doing what you love and being financially abundant.

Through 1:1 Coaching and Virtual CFO services, Jillian will help you uncover what’s holding you back, and implement systems to scale your business and build wealth, so you can achieve those dreams in your heart.

What is a sustainable business?

Jillian says that a sustainable business is implementing systems and strategies that work. It’s a business that’s working for you in the long run, bringing in the money you need. 

We all run our businesses in different ways. She wants to help you be confident when it comes to your business and money. She wants to empower you and help you build the systems you need. The confidence has to come from within each person and not from following a set path. Creative women aren’t always given the tools and the belief that they can be good with money. Enabling them to believe that they can do it matters greatly to Jillian. 

Growing up, she was a spender and was stuck in that pattern through college. She got stuck in a feast or famine cycle, where she was strict with herself and didn’t spend anything, and then spent all her money. She then discovered that the key to getting confident with her money wasn’t to follow the advice and tricks that were all over. Instead, she got clear on her mindset and thoughts around money. There is probably an underlying reason, need, or fear behind how you act when it comes to money. That’s what keeps you from where you want to be. 

Listen to the episode What is a sustainable business?

Episode 3

Mindset

Building momentum is key. You set yourself up for success or failure. You set your goals. Which can excite you. And also set you up for failure. Instead, try to think about what is your number one thing that will move the needle for you. What is your biggest pain point? Do you need more revenue? Pay off credit cards? How to focus on that things, and get progress on that one thing. 

If not it might feed your negative money story. Setting one goal you can reach is the start. Once you achieve that goal, then you can set a new one. Mindset is a big part, but how to approach your goal is also very important. 

Achieving your dreams

Sometimes the things you aim for aren’t what you’re actually dreaming of. It needs to be something you care about and not just what you feel you should do. If your goal isn’t motivating you it will be harder to achieve. And that’s why it’s about following your dreams. 

It’s easy to work and work without purpose because you haven’t stopped to find out what your purpose is. 

To be more profitable you might think you need to book more clients, but sometimes the solution is to spend less or increase your prices. 

What is your goal? Is it more free time? A deeper connection with your clients? To shoot more?

How can you achieve that? By raising prices? Getting clearer on who you want to work with?

Figure out what your dream is, and what do you actually want? 

Don’t lose track of what a sustainable business means to you. It’s about more than just getting clients and getting paid. Like working with the right clients, charging the right amount, going on vacation, and resting – not just working around the clock. It’s a shame that creative business owners don’t think enough about their business.

If you’re a creative you want to create and do all the fun things, but without your business systems, without thinking about your business lasting for a long time, or being profitable, it’s just not going to work. If you set your business upright you can spend more time being creative and doing fun things. Try to do things with a little bit more strategy behind you and you’ll end up in a much better place. Check out the Sustainable Photography mentor program, where we work on building your business strategy and creating a profitable photography business by diving into who YOU are as an individual so that you can do what works best for YOU. 

Listen to the episode The importance of branding with Danielle Garber

Episode 4

Money anxiety

A lot of people are afraid to check their bank accounts and bills. Because they’re worried to find out that the ends don’t meet. If you don’t get over it money can become a dark cloud and a source of stress. It’s best to check your numbers- you’re usually better off than you think. Don’t go down the money-shame spiral. If it turns out you don’t have enough money, you have a concrete problem that you can fix. Something you can work on. Start cutting expenses, and bring in more money. 

Make sure your pricing is actually profitable, instead of just guessing. And don’t just check them at the end of the year. That’s when it’s too late. So, check your numbers. Take 10 – 30 – 60 min every month to see how things are going. Just being aware of what’s going on might be enough to make some changes. Can you plan better? Without looking you might be spending too much, or charging too little. Become aware of your patterns and see what you need to change. 

Awareness is key. It might be uncomfortable, but it’s the only way to improve things. Your accounting software might even generate automatic reports for you. Finding an accountant that understands your industry might also help. And setting yourself up for success in the long run is definitely the way to a sustainable business. 

Money should not be the number one thing you think about. With the right systems, you can think about other things. Ending up in a place where you have to quit because your business is not profitable is definitely what you want to avoid. Just because you have a business doing something you love doesn’t mean you don’t have bills to pay just like everyone else. You need to get paid for what you do!

Prepare for both the high months and the low months

Some months are filled with a lot of weddings, and others are quiet. The key is to plan in advance. How can you bring in more money? How can the money from the big months last through the low season? Plan both for the high season AND the low season. Is there something you can do to bring in more money when you need it? Or before you need it. 

Many people plan for the low months, but then they forget about the bigger months when they have high revenue. What are you going to do with that extra money? Hire someone? Save it for the low months? Buy new equipment? It’s often when people self-sabotage, so we don’t have to have anxiety about what to do with it. Make a plan for about quiet and busy. We hate risk, uncertainty, and anxiety, and will stop ourselves from making too much money if we don’t know what to do with it. 

Especially with photography there is so much money coming in in a short amount of time, and there is so much fun equipment to buy and suddenly the money (that should have lasted you all year) is gone. 

The value of community

Having people around you that are like-minded and also building their business has made a big difference to Jillian. Her business changed when she joined a mastermind. Having people to look up to and seeing what’s possible will expand your beliefs. Having a community with people you can turn to and bounce ideas off of when you need it means so much. Learning how other people do things can make a huge difference. 

Jillian wants to be the counterpart of all those offering financial advice with shame attached to it. You know the ones that are telling you you’re not smart enough. That you’re dumb if you have debt. Instead, she finds it encouraging to work with clients and help them see a change in a shame-free way. Her mission is that you can make money and keep your money in a way that feels good to you. 

There isn’t one right way of doing things. 

The first thing you should do to make a change and get confident is to look at your numbers. Start by checking your bank account regularly. Pull records from your accounting software and get used to looking at them. Your money situation will naturally improve by bringing in more and spending less. Get that money confidence in the photography business.

Her ending note is to find a coach, find a community, and don’t try to do it alone. “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.“

Find Jillian 

Jillian wants you to know you can have a money-confident business! Listen to the full conversation to learn more about how. You’ll find it where you listen to podcasts and of course in the player above.

On Instagram

Her website

Get her free course

Money Confident Business mini-course! Use the code “cheers” to get it for free!

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Learn more about the Sustainable Program