What Is Your Worth?

I have to ask. I get over a hundred emails and phone calls a year from women wanting to book a session. When we talk about the details of the client session I start to hear a pause. I have learned over the years to share what my session retainer fee is. What my products start at and what my average client spends. I also share that all my clients purchase only what they love! 

I have worked with women with diversity in the bank account. From millionaires to a single mother of three with two headed to college. 

It doesn't matter what is in the bank. It only matters what is in our WORTH!

Have you ever wondered how much women actually send on clothing & accessories? I have. I wonder as I hear women justify why they can't spend money to celebrate their story with a professional photo shoot. A photo shoot centered around who they are and their courage, strength, beauty.

I had a client book with me and her session was magical. What made it magical for me was that she kept saying over and over 'this is worth all that I have emotional triumphed over to see how truly beautiful I am'.

The day arrived for her to pick up her portraits. We both cried as she could see how wonderful and beautiful she is. We hugged and she said I have a story for you. I lost my house to a fire last year and I lost everything. This was also my second fire to survive. My second time to lose everything. I made a promise to my self that I would replace the photos I lost with a professional photo shoot with a photographer that could tell a story. That's why I picked you. 

I have had many moments in my life that made me humbled and overwhelmed with love and the pure joy of what I do. This is one of them. She saw the VALUE of her story! She saw the value of her beauty! Even after losing pictures twice she saw that she deserved this. I see her beauty and more importantly, she does!

You can budget and make this work. I know because over the last 20 years I have had hundreds of woman do this. I never hear I regretted doing my session. I see and hear the joy in a woman's voice and the look on her face when she sees just how perfect she is!

Below I share a case study done n the UK on the emotional habits of women shopping. It seems we are trying to fill a hole. We are trying to make ourselves feel better. I am GUILTY of this. I had for years overspent shopping on stuff that didn't make me feel better. 

The guilt wheel would start and it kept me a prisoner for years. It damaged my self-worth and no matter how much I spent. What I needed was to work on me.... from the inside out! Now I have a budget and I am very happy with my shopping. I am in control!!! I don't shop hoping it will be the FIX I need. I found what I needed and I work at this daily. In the work, I have Love and Joy in abundance. That's what we need. I see my beauty I know my purpose and my why. My why is to make sure those ready and willing to play, be seen, heard and celebrated are!

I see my beauty. I know my purpose. My why.

What gets me up every day is the woman ready and willing to play big in her life, be seen, heard and exist in portraits. To be honored and celebrated in a way she could have never imagined!

I share this case study to show what we are willing to spend in hopes of filling our self-worth instead of celebrating all that we are. What if you made a Self-Worth Celebration Budget? This would last a lifetime!  

Case Study:

There’s nothing more enjoyable than going shopping and having a splurge on all the latest designer labels. In fact, many women will openly admit that they regularly spend vast amounts of money on clothing and accessories. However, to give us a better idea of actual figures. A study in the UK looked into the spending habits of 10,000 women and came up with some eye-opening figures.

It is estimated that the average woman (with a life expectancy of 80 years of age) will spend approximately $135,000 in her lifetime on clothing and accessories. This will equate to just over 3,100 different items and include 145 handbags, 185 dresses and yes you’ve guessed it, over 270 pairs of shoes. 

It appears most women, on average, will spend somewhere between $150 and $400 on clothing on a monthly basis, which equates to approximately $1,800 to $4,800 per year. It also appears that a woman’s spending habits are extremely closely related to their personal lives, especially their relationship status. A woman who has recently broken up with their partner will typically go all out and start spending outrageous amounts of money on clothing and accessories, although in truth, that’s no real surprise. However, if a woman has been single for an extended period, she may go months and months without ever spending a penny on clothing and then suddenly for no apparent reason she will go on a massive spending spree.

OTHER FACTS REVEALED IN THE SURVEY

• 1 in 10 women admitted that they would typically buy an item of clothing, on a weekly basis.
• Two-fifths of the women claimed that they changed their outfit at least twice a day. In addition to this, the same number of women said that they would re-apply their makeup anywhere up to as many as five times per day. It appears that 25% of women would also look in the mirror over five times a day as well. When asked if they had any kind words or thoughts they would say or feel they said no.
• Most women said they shopped to make themselves feel better only to be frustrated days later.
• And even after all this spending and hundreds of items of clothing, 3 in 5 women complain on a daily basis that they can’t find anything suitable to wear in their wardrobe.