Over the summer, I realized it was time. It was time to start taking myself seriously and treat DeaLea Photography the way it deserved to be treated!

Let me back this up a little bit and talk about why I needed a change.

Katya (my wife) and I bought a house a few years ago when we had our first son Lucas. We moved in and immediately my work was in the way. It was on the kitchen table, in the laundry room and on my bed side table. It was everywhere!

So! I moved to what I call The Dungeon aka the basement. It felt great to have a small, HEATED, space where I can throw all of my documents and hide work while I was at home.

That is until the summer after our second son, Jacob, was born. At that point we were crowded. My work stayed in the basement untouched and I was exhausted. I was over The Dungeon. I was in a rut.

I felt like my creativity and my drive to make DeaLea a sustainable business was gone. How does a creative come back from that?

Here’s what I did. I enlisted some help ( from Katya ) to revise my resume. It wasn’t what I wanted but I needed to make moves in order to make a living. I put that resume out to any and everyone! A photojournalist position, a newborn portrait position, an assistant wedding photographer position, you name it I got a response from it. When chatting with these other companies I realized that I have what it takes to continue my journey as a business owner.

So, what was my next step?

I, again, enlisted help. I joined a phenomenal educational group called The Women’s Business Center. Here was my start. I began connecting with women business owners who had the same questions as I did. The tough ones, the embarrassing ones. You know what I’m talking about!

Once I put my fears aside, I was able to push through all of my self doubt. I pushed through that little voice in my head telling me that I was never going to be able to run a sustainable business.

This brings me to my huge move out of The Dungeon and into my studio space in the lovely Village of Hamburg. Here is my safe place. This is my space to stay connected with photography and my wonderful clients. 264 Union St. is where I can focus. Yes, mommas out there, FOCUS.

So, when I say the beginning of this year has given me a run for my money, I was not kidding!

If you would like to connect, I am here for you! All the small business owners out there, the momma with a part time hustle… You know who you are. Contact me at any time!

Deanna