When you first start building a photography business, it’s easy to get busy doing all the things all the time just to keep your business going. But if that’s how you run your business indefinitely, burnout will be waiting for you right around the corner. To build a sustainable business that can support you and grow with you over time, you have to lean into your zone of genius instead by figuring out what you are best at, what lights you up, and what you might be able to relinquish control of.

So today, we’re talking to Kate Hejde, who is running a business in a way that focuses on her zone of genius and how that allows her to block out what everyone else is doing and experiment to find what brings her the most joy while allowing time for her life and family outside of her photography business.

In this episode, Kate’s sharing how she found her own zone of genius and outsourced everything else, why it’s okay to prioritize the most important things in your life, and how leaning into her what gives her strength and energy has helped her build a business that feels sustainable.

What’s in this episode:

• [01:55] How she started her photography business when her first child was born and why she’s an advocate of building a business slowly and with intention
• [06:15] How finding your zone of genius can help you reclaim time and energy in your business
• [09:55] Why prioritizing the most important things in your life will give you clarity on what you can relinquish control of in your business
• [13:22] Why Kate made the switch to soft proofing and how outsourcing has given her time back
• [17:37] How focusing on experience over price can help convert inquiries and give you confidence in what you charge
• [26:21] Why understanding and speaking to your clients in ways that are familiar to them can be transformative to your business

If you’re ready to find your zone of genius and build a business that feels aligned and energizing, tune in to this episode.

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

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Resources Mentioned

Kate’s Cost of Doing Business Calculator

Kate’s Soft Proofing Made Simple course

Meet Kate

I’ve been a photographer for the past 11 years, growing my business alongside my kids. I quickly learned that not every “right way” to do things was the right way for my family and me. Now I help other photographers find ways to build businesses to fit their life. I offer courses and coaching and host the How You Pictured It Podcast. 

Connect with Kate

Kate’s website

Follow Kate on TikTok

Follow Kate on Instagram

Follow Kate on Facebook
Did you love hearing Kate talk about building an aligned business, focusing on your passions and making time for yourself? Check out another episode from Jadah Sellner

Transcript

AS Ep 138 FINAL.mp3

[00:00:00] Kate Hejde I know as a client myself, when I was on the other side of the camera, I’ve received a gallery of 100 images, and I it took 4 to 6 weeks to get the final images. And I was so frustrated because it was like, well, you could have spent a lot less time editing because I didn’t need all of it or like, like all of these. You know. And so that really influenced my, my business model, too. I highly recommend getting your own photos taken, hiring someone and paying them, especially a stranger to you to do your photos as a photographer. 

[00:00:35] Lisa DiGeso Welcome to the Art and Soul Show, where we dove into heart opening chats on photography, business, life and that messy in-between. I’m your host, Lisa DiGeso, a mom, a photographer and entrepreneur. And I’ll be sharing honest conversations and advice for photographers with insight on mindset, entrepreneurship and creativity. The goal of this podcast is for you to be able to gain insights and strategies that will get you real results. Because, let’s face it, having a photography business can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. This is the place you can go when you need a boost of encouragement, a kick in the pants and inspiration to pick up your camera. This is the Art and Soul Show. Hello, my beautiful friends. Welcome back to the show. I am so excited to dove into today’s conversation with Kate Hejde as she has been on my radar for a while. I actually found her on Tik Tok of all places, and she’s a photographer with a decade under her belt. The host of her own show, How You Pictured It podcast for photographers and also a photography business coach. I am beyond excited to get to know her and have her share her insight and her wisdom with you today. So without further ado, here’s Kate. 

[00:01:48] Lisa DiGeso Welcome. Hi. 

[00:01:49] Kate Hejde I’m so excited to be here, Lisa. Thank you. 

[00:01:52] Lisa DiGeso So tell us who you are and what you’re passionate about. 

[00:01:55] Kate Hejde Yeah. So I have kind of the same old story that a lot of people have where I started my photography business when my first baby was a year old. I had gotten really into photography in high school, kind of taking a break from it and then got a camera for my first anniversary and really dug into that. And like learning it with my daughter grew my photography business from there and I am an advocate for the slow build. Like, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. And I think that that happens a lot for for moms, especially in photography, that like you want to put your heart and soul into this business, but you also have these little children that are really your main priority. So yeah, I slowly grew my photography business over 11 years now. I’ve been a photographer for 11 years. I focus on families and newborns. And then I started the coaching and like business mentoring kind of stuff back in 2020. Actually, it started planned on starting it before the pandemic and it was just like a real big, This is what you should do. Kind of push it. 

[00:03:03] Lisa DiGeso I love it. Well, we actually started the podcast like literally the week that the lockdown happened and we were like, Whoa, that was not planned. 

[00:03:12] Kate Hejde But excellent timing, really. Yeah. 

[00:03:17] Lisa DiGeso But I totally I love that you touched on the slow build because, you know, like looking back, I started my sons, now 13 and looking back like I worked my butt off. I burned myself out. I wasn’t the, like, super on it mama I said yes to everybody, didn’t really have the boundaries. So I love that you’re someone who is holding the hand of our new photographer. I think like it’s okay to go slow, enjoy your littles because it doesn’t last. 

[00:03:43] Kate Hejde Yeah, it really doesn’t mind. They’re now eight, ten and 12, so, like, we’re past that little baby stage, and now I have this time while they’re at school to dedicate to work more. And it feels good. 

[00:03:56] Lisa DiGeso I love that. I’m actually taking a year sabbatical right now. My son turned 13 and he’s just started greeting and he’s doing football. And my husband and I, we had a chat and we’re like, you know, like, what would it be like if I just didn’t shoot this fall? I didn’t do family sessions and he didn’t take maternity and newborn. And what would it be like to have like a chauffeur and a chef for this little guy while he still wants to talk to me? And so it’s been really great. It’s been really a real change for our family that I’m kind of just leading into right now. So it’s been really, really cool. 

[00:04:29] Kate Hejde Does it feel good to be home with him more? 

[00:04:32] Lisa DiGeso It feels so. You know what the best part is? Being present in the evenings, not having my laptop, editing photos. 

[00:04:39] Kate Hejde Yep. Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:04:41] Lisa DiGeso That’s like. 

[00:04:42] Lisa DiGeso Just, like, not saying, baby, 5 minutes. 

[00:04:45] Kate Hejde Yeah, yeah. Right. Totally. Well, enduring, like, the pandemic stuff. My family, my kids stayed home for school for it. We homeschooled for a year through all of that. And so my business really did take a back burner for that time. And the flexibility to be able to do that was 100% why I got into this in the first place, like why I have my own business. So such a blessing to be able to to pivot and be part of their lives when you need to and get to. So that’s definitely awesome. 

[00:05:17] Lisa DiGeso I love that. I think for me originally one of the biggest changes to my family was when I decided to stop working weekends and I didn’t even realize that I could do that. I was like, Oh my gosh. Like, there’s no way my my business is going to implode if I don’t take clients on the weekends and. No. People just made it work. Right. So. 

[00:05:37] Kate Hejde Right. Right. Absolutely. Well, yeah. Yeah. That’s been a thing for me, too. I was shooting seniors for a little while, and I loved photographing seniors, but they were all of these evening sessions, and it just it didn’t mesh with where we wanted our family to be and what our life to look like. And so I had to let that go, but it just gave me more space to do the newborn work. And I can do that while the kids are at school. 

[00:06:03] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, I love that now. I think it’s so many photographers, myself included, get a little lost on really finding our purpose or working in our zones of genius. Can you share your advice on that? 

[00:06:15] Kate Hejde Yeah. So I find like this is a really important thing to figure out where your strengths are, because as solopreneur as we tend to do everything right, we’re doing the editing, we’re doing the emailing, we’re doing the social media, we’re doing our own marketing and our own bookkeeping and the laundry from the studio and every little thing, plus usually running our own household as well. And we’re not good at all of those things like and not all of those things bring us joy. In fact, there’s so many of them that don’t bring us joy. And so one thing that I suggest to a lot of photographers or really all photographers is to sit down and write out what parts of your business you really love doing, what lights you up and and then write down those things that feel like not so good. Like what doesn’t mesh with you? For me, a big thing. It’s silly, but I hated shipping things. I hated it. Getting product and packaging it and shipping it just like I would drag my feet and procrastinate. And so yeah, clients were getting professional prints and products, but it was taking forever and the like. Customer service behind it wasn’t good because I hated it. So I had to find a way to eliminate that. And basically now I automate the shipping process because I use pick time. So like finding ways that you can really just like dove into what you’re really good at and spend your time there and then outsource, automate or just eliminate. The other crap. 

[00:07:51] Kate Hejde Really is the. 

[00:07:53] Kate Hejde Junk that you don’t want in there. 

[00:07:55] Lisa DiGeso I love that and I actually want to touch a little bit on the automation with Pick Time because I’ve been actually just signed up for a free trial. I’m kind of redoing everything and kind of just changing the format of my own business. But one of my hang ups was like, I can’t see the product before my client gets it. Yeah. So how do you deal with that? 

[00:08:14] Kate Hejde I just let it go. 

[00:08:15] Lisa DiGeso Let it go. 

[00:08:17] Kate Hejde Because it’s honestly, it’s not that important to me. I’ve had one order out of all of my pick time orders where the lab printed it like it was a woodblock and they printed it with the whole on the bottom, like, so it wouldn’t hang properly. And the client just sent me a picture and I got it fixed. Like, that’s not that big of a deal. And I keep my print prices and product prices fairly low because I’m making my money on the digital portion of it. That print and product stuff is a bonus. So if there are those little hang ups, I don’t feel so bad about it because they’re not paying thousands of dollars for the print. 

[00:08:55] Lisa DiGeso Exactly. Oh, I love that. I’m going to dove into your make up exactly what I want to do. 

[00:09:02] Kate Hejde So, yeah, I just really love my business model and I feel like I’ve adapted it to me and to my family life over the years. And I think that’s what every photographer should do is find what works for them. And again, like live in that zone of genius, you should have joy in your photography business. You’re not doing this to be you didn’t create a job for yourself. You created a business. So, like, figure out how to make it work for you. 

[00:09:29] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, exactly. Now, I want to talk a little bit about slowing down your business, because I love that you teach on that, because for the longest time, I really equated my business and my hustle as a measurement and a tool for my own success. And then burnout hit, and I realized that being busy doesn’t necessarily mean success. Now, can you share your own perspective on how you use and teach others to use their values and to switch their thinking in order to create an aligned and profitable business? 

[00:09:55] Kate Hejde Yes, this definitely plays right into what we’ve been talking about. So with this I feel like again, so we’ve mapped out what what our zone of genius is, right? Like we figured out what we’re good at and what we’re maybe not so good at. And then on the other side of your piece of paper, I want you to write down what’s important to you. It’s important for me to be home when my kids get off the bus. It’s important for me to drive them to school in the morning. It’s important for me to go to the soccer game every Saturday morning. You know, those kinds of things are really important to me for my clients. My values are that I want them to have access to prints and products, but I also want them to have the digital files to. Because that’s as a mom, that’s what I want. And just figuring out what kind of things are important to you and how you can emphasize those in your business. And again, let go of the things that are not so important to you. For example, the the QC of the prints and products, the quality check of them. Leave it up to the lab. Who’s the professional and just let it go. Yeah. So and then as far as like slowing down, I think a lot of it is not even necessarily slowing down, but just realizing what is busywork in your business and what is moving the needle forward and what is crucial for you to do and what kit someone else can do or can be automated. So you don’t necessarily have to cut back on how many clients you can take. In fact, I started taking more clients because I outsourced some of the work that didn’t suit my zone of genius and that was taking me way longer than it would take someone else to do. 

[00:11:29] Lisa DiGeso Love that I had outsourced my editing a few years ago and that was like a really hard one to hand off. 

[00:11:36] Kate Hejde It is so hard, but. 

[00:11:38] Lisa DiGeso And I kind of was. 

[00:11:39] Kate Hejde Like, Did it feel good? 

[00:11:40] Lisa DiGeso It felt really it was so good. And I kind of got to like I was like, can my clients actually tell the difference if she gets it 90% there? I’m like, I like I’m checking it anyway. So if there’s like things that I see that I would have done differently, I still have the opportunity to do that, right? So I was like, done is better than perfect. 

[00:11:59] Kate Hejde Exactly. That’s huge. That’s a huge thing that. I think that we just need tattooed. I guess. Yeah. Because small business owners, it’s like it’s just okay to be that. And as a creative. Too, I think you have this vision and if it’s not perfect, you get kind of really uptight. About it, but the client. Doesn’t see it at all. Like, they don’t know that that white balance should just be a titch over this way or Yeah. 

[00:12:27] Lisa DiGeso What I found is like, because I love fine art photography so much and I love the process of the art of it. But what I was trying to do was do fine art on my clients work, which takes so much longer. Instead of just being like, Okay, we’ll do a personal project, just get this done and like give them what they’re expecting and what they’re paying for. Not like overdeliver with these beautiful fine art pieces, even though you want to do it. So that was one big lesson that I had to just be like, Okay, well, I don’t need a finer edit. They don’t need 25 finer edits. You don’t have the time for this. 

[00:13:02] Kate Hejde Well, and it just might not even be what they wanted in the first place. So you’re spending all that time for what you know. Exactly. 

[00:13:10] Lisa DiGeso So so you recently moved from IPS, from IPS to soft proofing, and you saw a significant increase in your orders. Now, can you share what motivated you to make that decision and how you made that switch while still running your business? 

[00:13:22] Kate Hejde Yeah. So actually it’s been a few years now. Good. I made this switch in 2016, I think 2016 to 2017 to soft proofing, which is showing clients their images before they’re fully edited. So talk about letting go of some of that control, but I get to do the fun edit, I get to do the Lightroom like the color, the preset, like the stylistic artistic parts of the edit, and I send that to them as a proof and then they choose which images they want to purchase. With that, I cut down significantly on how much time I was spending editing, and then I gave clients an opportunity to purchase more. So when I was doing in-person sales, I was mostly doing that with my senior clients and the time to do that in-person sales session. That hour always happened in the evenings, which again that went against my values of being home when the bus comes, you know, most days of the week at least. And it it really was like just cutting into my time and then the cost of the products on top of it and the prints and all of that was eating into the the profit. And so when I moved to that soft proofing and online sales, I was able to eliminate that extra hour of time for the in-person sales appointment. I was able to eliminate a ton of time editing. I would say my editing time got cut in half and then even further because I outsource the final edit beyond that creative edit. So whatever they choose to be edited then goes to my editor. So really like I’m done with someone session within about 48 hours. Like from start to finish, I have the session, I cull and I proof it and then really they select their images and my editor does the editing. That’s awesome. And I deliver like there’s little pieces that I have to do, but like it’s off my plate after that 48 hours, basically. So that’s been a huge thing. And then the. The clients love it because they get to choose which images they’re buying. I know as a client myself, when I was on the other side of the camera, I’ve received a gallery of 100 images, and I it took 4 to 6 weeks to get the final images. And I was so frustrated because it was like, well, you could have spent a lot less time editing because I didn’t need all of. These like, like all. Of these, you know. And so that really influenced my, my business model, too. I highly recommend getting your own photos taken. Hiring someone and paying them, especially a stranger to you to do your photos as a photographer. 

[00:16:13] Lisa DiGeso I love that. It was funny. We went to Westminster Mall in March and we got all dressed up in like they’re like they had like one of those historic or. But, you know, they do dress up in the family like my husband and my son to do it. And so we did this Victorian shoot. And so when it came to the end, like they literally threw a super filter on it and she’s like, Okay, well now it’s time to pick your photos. And she’d literally only taken 28 photos. And I was like, Well, I’ll just take all of them, like, just give me all. I’m like, I, I want, I want them. And it was over for $450, I think. And I was like, I am undercharging man. Seriously? Seriously. 

[00:17:00] Kate Hejde Well, in like when you lean into that buying psychology part of it, like, yeah, which one do you want or are you going to have all of them for this much? It’s like, yeah, I guess I’ll just, I just buy them and then right. Because I Don’t have to make a choice and it’s faster and I want them all and it’s like more affordable. Yeah. 

[00:17:18] Lisa DiGeso And I’ll just make a choice at home when I like. Like I’ll print something at home like. Right. Yeah. So funny. So one thing we often hear from our listeners is that they’re getting inquiries, but they’re not getting bookings. Can you share what might be breaking down there and how to convert more inquiries into sales? 

[00:17:37] Kate Hejde Yes. Okay. So there’s a couple of things here. One, it’s starting to look at where they’re coming from. Are they coming from like a Facebook group or Google or did they see your website and then inquire and looking at what information they have before they inquired with you and then what information you’re giving them next and what they’re kind of asking. I feel like a lot of times we get the question, how much does it cost? And we respond with $650, and that’s not going to work. You need to like step back and talk more about the experience, about what you bring to the table as the photographer, why they should choose you, and why you’re interested in them too. Like, I think that’s a huge part of it, is building the relationship straight from that inquiry email and building that up and talking to them about how you can help them, how you can relate to each other, and where you can build that relationship to have a good experience. And then the other thing is, if they’re coming from your website, do you have some kind of pricing there or are they getting shocked by what you’re sending them? And it could be that they’re getting shocked in a good way or a bad way. Like they could think that, oh, my gosh, you’re way more expensive than I thought. Or, Oh, my gosh, you’re way less expensive than I thought. And so something must be wrong. Yeah. And I think that gets overlooked a lot that, you know, it. 

[00:19:03] Lisa DiGeso Gets overlooked a lot. Like, honestly, I’ve been underpriced for years, and that’s part of the reason I’m like, just taking a pause and just taking it be is because I really need to read the business based on, like, 13 years of experience. Like, stop, full stop. Everybody off the ride. And redo, redo. Blossom. 

[00:19:24] Kate Hejde Yeah, yeah. I think that’ll benefit you so much to be able to take a big step back and look at where you’re at and where you want to go. I think that part of it where you want to go is really crucial, too. 

[00:19:37] Lisa DiGeso So for many new photographers, they look at what the photographer down the block is doing when it comes to their pricing, and then they just stay there. Can you. Share your advice on how they can get away from that and any advice on pricing yourself to be creating a profit? 

[00:19:54] Kate Hejde Yeah. So first. Don’t do that. Don’t look at what’s. Going on around you. I know that that’s hard. And I still check every once in a while. Like, what’s what’s everybody else that we’re like, where do I fall in the pack? But I don’t base my numbers off of what they’re doing anymore. I know I did it in the beginning because I didn’t know what to do. I needed some more guidance and I just used what was out there for free. And I like, you know, there’s you got to start somewhere, but that’s not really a great place to start. I highly recommend first figuring out your cost of doing business. I have a calculator for that on my. Website that’s free. And I’ve set it up because this was one of the things when I was starting, when I would get those cost of doing business calculators and they’d want like, how much is your rent for the year? And I was like, Oh, now I’ve got to get out the calculator and figure out 12 times whatever. And then they’d want, like, how much do you plan to spend on equipment each month? Like, I don’t know. It was just broken down. Funny. So my cost of doing business calculator calculates like you can put in either the monthly or the yearly cost of something and it’ll calculate it for you, which I love. And then it will help you break down how many sessions you want per month and how much you need to make from each of those and to cover taxes and all of that good stuff to do with that. One other thing that I’ve noticed is that when you’re starting a photography business and you open that cost of doing business calculator, like, I don’t have rent, like I don’t have these expenses, it doesn’t cost me anything to run my business. I just need my camera. But what I think that you should do is think about the business that you want planned for that future business and put in those numbers for where you want to be so that you can eventually afford them. You won’t be able to afford them if you keep charging the rate for no expenses. Exactly. And exactly. That’s a huge like gap in the market. Yeah. And then as far as pricing profitably, again, once you know those numbers, it just makes it so much more clear where you need to be charging. But then learning that kind of buying psychology behind why someone’s going to spend this much versus this much and how you can help kind of convince them or lead them is really the right word to the purchase that’s going to be best for them. And when you lead them to the purchase, that’s best for them. They tell their friends and they come back. So that’s that’s really how you get profitable is by having those repeat clients and the word of mouth referrals and just to keep it growing. 

[00:22:29] Lisa DiGeso It’s so true. It’s like when you go to like a really nice restaurant and the server is phenomenal and just like caters to you, gives you the most amazing like suggestions for dinner. You’re like, you’re like, wow. Like, I had an amazing experience at this restaurant, and you’re going to tell your friends about it? 

[00:22:43] Kate Hejde Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:22:45] Lisa DiGeso It’s the same. It’s the same. 

[00:22:46] Kate Hejde Thing. Well, in that menu analogy. It also works with your pricing, like when you go to a restaurant and they have a menu that says this one is the most popular, you’re probably going to choose it because it makes it easy for you. So if you do that on your pricing, that helps your client choose that most popular collection. And there you know, they’re going to be happiest with it, too. 

[00:23:12] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, exactly. Now, there is a saying that you often need to slow down, to speed up. And I really love the analogy of an archer pulling back their bow, setting up their shot and then shooting. So as I’ve mentioned, I’m finding myself in this current space of my photography business having a sabbatical to refresh, rebrand and restart my business. So what advice do you have for those that also might need to press pause and regroup and are just really struggling on that hamster wheel? 

[00:23:39] Kate Hejde You know, I am not great at pressing the pause button myself. I do it because I have built in boundaries for myself. I don’t shoot outdoors between November and March because I’m too cold. Yeah, I don’t like to think about it like that. So an ingenious thing plays into plays like I. I don’t want to shoot outdoors in the winter, you know? And it’s like Ed, you know, in red noses aren’t cute and snot and it’s just not fun for me. So having that part of my business kind of on hold for that part of the year gives me the time to kind of catch up on those website things. And I mean, I was looking at my own website this morning. There’s this amazing tool that you can use that shows you where, like any broken links are on your website and you know, all of those little SEO things that help your website runs faster and smoother. So I was looking at that and I was like, Man, I really need to dove into this and fix it. But it’ll wait. It’ll wait until January when it’s slow. But when you do take that pause, I think you have to reflect back on what’s gone well first. Like, where are you successful? What do you love doing and what’s your clients love? And ask them. Ask your clients what has been good for them and what they would like differently. And and take that into consideration. When I made that switch to soft proofing, I did talk to my clients about it and ask them, you know, did you like this experience? Because really when I did that, I made that switch. I started with my mini sessions and only used it on those mini sessions to start with and then filtered it through to the rest of my business by asking clients how that experience is for them and where you’re falling down when it gives them confidence in you that you care. And then too, it gives you the information that you need to know to go forward. 

[00:25:35] Lisa DiGeso It’s fascinating to you because a lot of the times that the images that the clients will pick, especially with newborns are never the ones we would pick. Right? The ones with our babies making cross-eyed faces or like just being their goofy little their adorable, goofy newborn self. Yes. And I never it’s never the one I think. 

[00:25:55] Kate Hejde I know. I know well. And I always try to put like my very favorite as the cover of their gallery. To try to like persuade, like this one’s the best one. But even if they don’t choose my favorites, I sometimes edit them so that I have them for my portfolio because I totally believe in the show. What you want to sell. Yeah. 

[00:26:15] Lisa DiGeso Exactly. I love that. So what has been the best piece of business advice you’ve ever been given? 

[00:26:21] Kate Hejde Oh, this is a tricky one. Let me think. The best piece of business of have ever been given. Hmm. I think it’s really that. It’s like. I feel like I should give you a better piece of advice here, but honestly, it’s. It’s learning how to understand your clients and speak to them in the words that they’re using. So mirroring their language and their energy and all of that back to them so that they really feel represented by you and understood by you would be like a huge thing in learning how to write good copy, which I think that fails a lot of the time about. 

[00:27:08] Kate Hejde Your. 

[00:27:09] Kate Hejde Square whereby well and who plays ah I picture people. We’re not word people so it’s hard for us, but. 

[00:27:15] Kate Hejde We have it in us for sure to write that good copy and help our customers see that we’re the right fit for them. Yeah. 

[00:27:23] Lisa DiGeso Love that. So what advice would you have for someone who is just getting into photography, just starting out? 

[00:27:31] Kate Hejde I think that you just have to play and be willing to experiment. I think all of business ownership is an experiment and some things take longer and you have to wait out to see if the experiment worked or not. And that can be hard. Patience is huge. But. But be willing to just try things. Like when I started, I did Craigslist. Model called back in 2011. And just like that’s how I learned that. I love working with newborns like that first newborn session. I fell in love immediately, you know, like. But I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t tried it because I hadn’t spent that spent that much time around babies. By that time, I had my own baby. But she was the first grandchild on both sides of our family. My friends didn’t have babies like I just wasn’t in that world yet. But by playing and experimenting and trying things, that’s what I learned, really, that I loved. And then secondly, I would say that you kind of have to put your blinders on and stop doing what everyone else is doing because it’s it’s not going to work. Like, you need to find what works for you and what fits you, or you’re going to get to that burnout and overwhelm really fast. 

[00:28:51] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, and love that. So you ready for a lightning round? 

[00:28:55] Kate Hejde Sure. 

[00:28:55] Lisa DiGeso Okay. Salty or sweet? And what’s your not so guilty pleasure? 

[00:29:01] Kate Hejde Okay. I think it’s salty and tortilla chips, man. 

[00:29:05] Kate Hejde I love chips or chips. 

[00:29:08] Lisa DiGeso I’m a healthy go to and I like all the chips. Yeah. Have you ever tried catch up chips? 

[00:29:13] Kate Hejde No. 

[00:29:13] Lisa DiGeso It’s a Canadian thing. 

[00:29:15] Kate Hejde I don’t think I would like it. Is it kind of sweet? Like I feel like the tomato. It is like. 

[00:29:21] Lisa DiGeso Sweet and salty. It’s such an odd flavor. But I swear, like, we we like as little Canadian kids just grew up on it. So it’s like chips. 

[00:29:29] Kate Hejde That’s funny. No barbecue chips, man. Those are the ones I love. 

[00:29:35] Lisa DiGeso Most luxurious vacation you’ve ever been on. 

[00:29:37] Kate Hejde Okay, this is. It’s not luxurious, but it is. We went on a three week road trip with our family during COVID, and I pulled our camper with us and traveled, like, to Lake Tahoe. Then we went to Salt Lake City and saw the salt flats. We went to the Grand Canyon, we went to Lake Powell, we went to Sand Dunes, we went to the Californian coast. It was just and it was luxurious because it was just time we didn’t have any limitations. We could go, you know, from place to place when we wanted to. And we had all of our own food with us and our own house with us. It felt like. And it was just amazing. 

[00:30:15] Lisa DiGeso Is that so funny? There are so many, so many blessings from the pandemic there really. 

[00:30:19] Lisa DiGeso When it came. 

[00:30:20] Lisa DiGeso To light, the family time that we got like I have never seen my husband that happy. He was really like every night was like we had margaritas every night and we put them on YouTube and put up pull up concert concerts and pretend we were going to a concert. Oh, we just had a riot. 

[00:30:37] Lisa DiGeso It was so. 

[00:30:38] Lisa DiGeso Yeah. It seems like it’s like I can use another. 

[00:30:40] Lisa DiGeso Like two weeks of like pandemic. 

[00:30:42] Kate Hejde I mean, I could go on that road trip again. Like, honestly, we got home from it and had our dogs been with us, I think I could have gone for a lot longer. But we got home, I slept in my bed and it was like, Alright, let’s go again. 

[00:30:54] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, I love it. I love it. 

[00:30:56] Lisa DiGeso What did you want to be when you grew up? 

[00:30:58] Kate Hejde Ooh, I wanted to be an architect. 

[00:31:00] Lisa DiGeso Oh, interesting. For a long time. 

[00:31:04] Kate Hejde But really, I think what I wanted to be was a mom and a business owner. 

[00:31:07] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, I used to love to draw houses like. Like house plan layouts, and I was like, yeah. Like, yes. 

[00:31:13] Kate Hejde Yeah, me too. I had, like, all of this, like, weird. Windows software, you know, like that would do for plans. And then even before that, I had like these magnets that were parts of buildings that you could, like, put on. I don’t know, you could build building, like, designed buildings and. I just. I thought I was going to be an architect. 

[00:31:32] Lisa DiGeso Loved that a little bit. Last thing you did for yourself as an indulgence? 

[00:31:37] Kate Hejde Oh, I have started doing my own nails, which has been really fun to sell nails. I bought all the stuff off of Amazon and yeah, that’s my like a peaceful time. 

[00:31:49] Lisa DiGeso Did you get did you get them the model ones or model ones? 

[00:31:52] Kate Hejde Yeah, I got some of at that time. Yeah. I have this like pink and some little blue flowers today. But yeah, I. It’s just so much fun and. It’s cheap. Like, I got, like, six colors of. Nail polish for $4. 

[00:32:08] Lisa DiGeso I know. Yeah. I bought. I bought it, too, but I bought it probably mid-pandemic before my last Chanel nail girl. She was. 

[00:32:17] Lisa DiGeso Born, so. 

[00:32:19] Lisa DiGeso But then as soon as it arrived, I, she’s like, I can get you in. I’m like. 

[00:32:23] Lisa DiGeso Oh, okay. Yeah, but she’s not something I’ve ever done. 

[00:32:29] Kate Hejde Like, I’ve never been a big manicure person. Yeah, but partially because, like, I don’t have the patience to go, like, do it, and now I can do it by myself. And it just feels like an indulgence for sure. 

[00:32:43] Lisa DiGeso I started doing it because it was the only time I would give myself a break. Yeah. And I was like, okay, I’m going to keep doing it. 

[00:32:48] Kate Hejde So it. Feels. Creative to me, like in a different way. It’s using my creative brain in a different way. 

[00:32:54] Lisa DiGeso Totally. What’s for dinner tonight? 

[00:32:56] Kate Hejde Oh, gosh. You know, it’s I mean, it’s it’s soccer night, so I need to figure out something to put in my crock pot. But it’s not there yet. 

[00:33:06] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, who knows? Love it. Doing beef stew, if that helps. 

[00:33:11] Kate Hejde We have problems because I am. I have gluten allergy and then my husband’s a do you? 

[00:33:17] Lisa DiGeso Yes. 

[00:33:18] Lisa DiGeso And I had dairy before. 

[00:33:21] Kate Hejde Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. 

[00:33:23] Kate Hejde So many. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and then my husband’s doing keto, and so it’s like, you know, trying to figure out what matches everybody. And then my kids will also eat. I just don’t really even want to cook anymore. 

[00:33:35] Lisa DiGeso You just like bacon for everybody? Yeah. Perfect. Last series you binge watched on Netflix? 

[00:33:43] Kate Hejde Well, not on Netflix. Currently, my husband and I are rewatching Game of Thrones. From the beginning, and that’s fine. On Netflix, I watched Never Have I Ever, which is like a total contrast to Game of Thrones, but. That’s where we’re at. 

[00:34:00] Lisa DiGeso I love it. What’s your go to karaoke jam? 

[00:34:04] Kate Hejde Oh, I don’t do karaoke. 

[00:34:05] Lisa DiGeso Okay. No. Yeah. 

[00:34:07] Lisa DiGeso Then what’s your anthem? What’s that song that, like, picks you up when you’re feeling down? 

[00:34:12] Kate Hejde I love Florence the machine. The dog days are over. Oh, that’s a good one. Yeah, it’s a jam. It’s a perfect dance around the kitchen song. 

[00:34:22] Lisa DiGeso So where can our listeners learn more from you. 

[00:34:26] Kate Hejde On Tik Tok as we talk about at dear kate brand strategy. I have an Instagram and a Facebook by the same name. If you actually want to connect with me though, I’m probably on Tik Tok. And then I have. A website. Dear Kate Brand Strategy dot com. Yeah. So. And I’m just there. That’s me. 

[00:34:47] Lisa DiGeso Yep. Love it. And we will actually input in the show notes the link for the pricing calculator that you mentioned. 

[00:34:53] Kate Hejde Well, yeah. And then I have my course too soft proofing made simple that teaches you my exact soft proofing strategies and how I do that, how I explain it to the client. All of that good stuff. And it’s a $47 course. 

[00:35:08] Kate Hejde So that’s. 

[00:35:09] Lisa DiGeso It’s great. You know, that’s awesome. So I love to end my interviews just with this last question and it is what are you currently curious about or artistically curious about? 

[00:35:20] Kate Hejde Mm. This is a great question. So currently I’m really like into websites because I just built my new website for dear kate brand strategy and I am also like really into the idea of group coaching. So I’m working on a group coaching program around building a show it website. And then artistically, I’ve been like Pinterest surfing for a wall murals for my office. So that’s kind of where we’re at there. I am a DIY queen, so. That’s my jam. Always on Pinterest for something. 

[00:35:57] Lisa DiGeso I know I’m on DIY TikTok right now and I keep seeing like these things where they take where they go and they get pumpkins. I think these orange pumpkins from Walmart and then they spray paint them white and then they put these like lights inside, and then you’re. 

[00:36:10] Lisa DiGeso Fine. 

[00:36:11] Lisa DiGeso Cutest thing I’ve ever seen you. 

[00:36:13] Kate Hejde Have you seen the ones where they paint them like a terracotta color with the baking soda? So they look kind of like ceramic. I know. I’m like, I’m going to go buy sushi, pumpkin. 

[00:36:25] Lisa DiGeso Yeah. I love it. Thank you so much for joining me today Kate. 

[00:36:29] Kate Hejde Thank you. It was such a joy. 

[00:36:32] Kate Hejde Oh, my friends, that was such a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. And seriously, my beautiful friends. I am sending you so much of my light and love today and every single day. And we’ll see you next time.