*tell a friend*

the winner is...

KAREN! Way to go Karen. You are workin' it girl. I am so impressed by all that effort! This is your second win in a row. Wohoo!!

For all of you girls that have been consistent and you know who each other is...you'll know Laura. She she has told us hat she does walks for charity.

She's been part of TEAM in Training.

She is an amazing woman and in the last month has lost her sweet dad to lung cancer and her little niece is fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Laura just keeps being an encouragement to everyone in Move it Monday. She just finished another walk for her dad and Elli and she's started keeping a blog about her walking.  Check out her blog and if you can give...please do: Laura's Blog (http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/rnr09/lcottril )

Laura's goal was $2900 and she's now over $6000! The fight's not over yet though!

So...if you're having a hard time getting motivated then maybe finding a cause will get you off the couch and out pounding the pavement.

Remember: This month's challenge is to make a self-portrait doing whatever crazy kind of exercise you can think of and sending it in by the last day of the month to me at davina at davinafear dot com.

For more info on the yearly contest. Click here.

give. LIFE.

(the two pictures below are copyright Laura Cottril)

***All images in this post are copyright Angie Monson***

NEXT WEEK:  Allegra

{To nominate women you'd like to see in this series please list them in the comments-or if you have a question you'd like to see in the interviews--make sure to include your info in the comment fields so that I can get in touch with you- or write to me at: davina at davinafear dot com }

As always make sure to leave comments for the women who are featured. They like comments as much as I do I'm sure...let them know if you have questions or just to say thanks! for their insight and wisdom...

Make sure to check out the rest of the series by clicking here. Tell a friend!

How long have you been in business?

7 years, 4 years of that part time, 3 years full time.

What was the process you went through to get things running smoothly?

Finding my style and getting my name out there, after that it has gone fairly smoothly.

What do you do to keep things simple in your life and studio?

I have started toseparatebusiness from home more and now my twins are in daycare 2 full days a week so I can gets things done and be a better mom when I am with them.

What do you think are the top three things you must do as a business woman every day?

1. Focus, I make a list every day.

2. Try to not get emotional... this one is hard being a woman, but business is business.

3. I try to stay on top of my work daily so I don't get behind and stressed out.

What do you think are the top three things you must do as a mom and wife every day?

1. kiss your children every day and hold them tight,, this comes naturally to me but I think it is SO important. I think my kids are sick of me kissing them all the time.

2. Turn off the TV and walk away from the computer and have a daily chat with your hubby, he needs attention just as much as the kiddos. I have really had to work on this one!

3. Play as a family. Even if it's 5 minutes.

Your business and style of shooting have really evolved over the last 2 years. What steps do you think you’ve gone through to get to this point in your business and your style?

Lots of workshops. Lots of online learning. Shooting often. I feel like I learn something new EVERY time I shoot.

I really have pushed myself because I wanted toseparatemyself from the other 500+ (maybe I amexaggerating, okay maybe not) photographers in Utah. I love fashion and I really wanted to incorporate high fashion with my kids sessions. I really love editorial work so that is what I am trying toachieve.

I think when I started to get a good response from my clients this really helped me realize that I CAN do this, I can be who I want to be, not what I think people want me to be.

You’ve gone to numerous workshops. What do you think you took away from each of them? If someone had to choose just one workshop to go to, which would you recommend?

Brianna Graham: That was a huge turning point in my business, I was still a newbie with digital. I used to shoot film. Seeing how she photoshopped and posed her clients was HUGE for me. I highly recommend that workshop if you need some inspiration.

Image is Found Workshop: I love their edgy wedding style. It was fun to see their perspective and their workflow.

One Light Workshop: This was a really cool workshop, but to honestly it was a bit over my head and all crammed into one day, at the time and I was more interested in hanging out with the otherattendees!

Skye Hardwick Business workshop: I loved how this one just pushed me to be more of a business woman. I knew what I needed to do before hand, but this just pushed me harder to do it. I loved how she showed us to not get emotional and to really create boundaries in our business.

What do you do to separate yourself from your business?

Gosh that is a hard one! It's funny because if I am slow it takes me a few days to figure out what to do with myself! My family is really into just being outdoors, we go hiking and river rafting, but with have 2 year old twins it's hard to do anything hardcore! Just keeping active is what I like to do in my spare time. I also just love to shop, really for anything,,, even dishsoap.

What three products or things help you stay organized?

1. My Mac, love it.

2. My Iphone, can't leave home without it.

3. My brain, seriously I remember a lot of stuffpertainingto my business but if you ask me what I ate for lunch yesterday I have no clue.

With so many things on your plate, what do you do to market your business? How does that fit into your busy schedule?

I am pretty much all word of mouth right now. I do work with Children's Hour, a children's boutique and we help marketeach-other. Other than that blogging is my best form of advertising.

What do you think are the three smartest ways to market your business when you’re starting out?

1. Figure out who your market is and try to get your work hung up where those type of people will shop.

2. Telling everyone what you do for a living, somehow bring it up in your conversation. Give out your cards, you never know when they will need you but most of the time they willremember what you do.

3. Doing promos or offer modeling specials to promote your work, this will also build your portfolio.

What plans do you have for your business this year? How will your plans impact your family?

1. SENIORS! So excited for this one. With seniors I have some new outdoor lighting I will be using.

2. Work less, make more.

3. Less family sessions, I may only offer children, seniors, and weddings next year and refer family sessions to other photographers.

What 5 tips do you have for women to help them maintain a balance in their lives between everything they have to do?

1. Do something other than photography to ground yourself, workout, sing, jumprope...

2. Set certain times to work, stick to it. This one is HARD!

3. Get enough sleep, no one likes a grouchy photographer.

4. Write down a plan... if you want to do 10 sessions a month, keep to it. People will want you even more if you can't book them right away.

5. Stop and smell the flowers, cheesy but true.

Are there times that you feel overwhelmed? What do you do?

Often, I talk it out. I have a lot very supportive people in my life. My sisters, my friend Jess and of course my hubby. I am the type of person that wants things done right away, I am impatient! So if there is a problem, I fix it.

You have a friend, Jess, that is also a photographer. How did that relationship come about and how has it helped you in your career?

Ah... Jess, she is one of my best friends. We talk often. It has been really nice to share pretty much everything witheach-other. In this business sometimes I feel like I have to protect what I know, which I feel takes so much energy, it is nice to have a person that understands it all and I can go to.

To see more of Angie's Work:

Angie's Website

Angie's Blog

***All images in this post are copyright Angie Monson***

*tell a friend*

strawberry shortcake princess flowers and butterflies party.

Grace has been looking forward to this party since...hmmm...her last birthday.  She's been making serious plans since Christmas and asked everyday when we would make invitations for her party.

The thing is that we don't have big birthday parties every year.  We have fun family parties every year for each person's birthday but the big parties with friends and hoopla only happen on your 5th birthday, 10th birthday, and 15th (or 16th) birthday...so they are highly anticipated!

This was Miss G's 5th birthday.

We looked through books and got some ideas and then came up with this design together...we made a great inside and then got so excited about packaging them up in their little boxes that we forgot to take a picture of it.

(more pictures to come...)

party. LIFE.

*tell a friend*

every night.

As many of you know I read to my kids every night.  Lately, we've been reading Enna Burning.  It's a wonderful book about friendship and doing difficult things and understanding who you are...and it's just a great read!  It's well written and the characters are compelling.  Every night when it's time to stop reading the kids say, NO!! Don't stop yet.  Keep reading!

Tonight we just read page 245...the best page in Enna Burning so far!

I love it.  Every book I've read by Shannon Hale I've loved.  The heroines are sweet and beautiful and powerful and compassionate and they are perfect for young girls...and for older girls...like me.

You should definitely check it out...and tell me what you think.

note:  The above cover is the one we have.  I've noticed that the book now has a new cover and the audio version is now the old book cover...just so you know, they are the same book...

good. LIFE.