My Math Isn't Your Own Math

“My math is not your own math.”

Every photographer has been told what they should charge, how they should structure their packages, and which business model is the only “real” or “professional” one. And for many of us, those formulas feel more like pressure than clarity.

In this episode, I’m sharing the hard truth I learned the long way: your math is not supposed to look like anyone else’s. Your expenses, your goals, your energy, and your definition of success are completely unique. The moment you stop trying to copy someone else’s formula is the moment your business starts to feel like yours again.

What’s in this episode:

[00:35] The moment pricing shame made me question everything
[01:40] Raising rates because you were told to and how it can backfire
[02:30] Why copying someone else’s formula rarely works
[03:50] The problem with one-size-fits-all pricing and business advice
[04:40] How IPS and other business models only work when they fit you
[05:20] The four pillars of your personal math
[06:00] How defining success changes everything
[07:00] Numbers, fear, shame, and the stories we attach to them
[08:10] What your business can look like when it aligns with your life

Your business does not need to follow someone else’s equation to be legitimate. When you build your pricing and structure around your life, your goals, and your energy, everything becomes more sustainable.

Did this episode help you redefine success and what your business numbers look like? Check out this episode Planning for a Profitable Photography Business with Tanya Hirschy

Transcript

[00:00:00]

Lisa: Hello, my beautiful friends. Welcome back to the show. So confession time. I failed math 11, three times three, and when I finally passed on the fourth try, it was with a C minus. Yep. That is my academic claim to fame. So no, you probably shouldn’t call me if your kid needs a math tutor. But here’s the funny thing.

The most important math I’ve ever had to figure out wasn’t in a classroom, and it sure as heck was not quadratic equations. It was my photography business. [00:01:00] And spoiler alert, it looks nothing like the formulas. People love to push on us because here’s the truth, my math is not your math, and your math is in your competition down the roads.

And the moment we stop trying to copy and paste someone else’s formula is the moment our businesses start to feel like ours. And I remember it so clearly. The first time I was told to raise my rates, not gently suggested not, Hey, when you’re ready.

No. It was presented as gospel. If you don’t charge at least x, you don’t value yourself. You are not a real business and no one will ever take you seriously. And it was always followed by the big, scary word, sustainability. If you don’t do it this way, your business isn’t sustainable.

And truly, it made me feel ashamed, like I was somehow doing it all wrong, like I was playing. Pretend like my business was just a silly little [00:02:00] hobby until I hit their magical number. So like a good little student, I raised my rates, I listened, I restructured my packages. I even dipped a toe in in-person sales because apparently that was the only professional way.

And you know what happened? I hated it. My inquiries dried up. The ones I did ghosted me, and I just sit there staring at my inbox. Refreshing and convincing myself I’d ruined everything. I didn’t feel empowered. I felt panicked, and that’s when it hit me. I was doing someone else’s math. And here’s what no one tells you when they’re preaching their one true system.

Your numbers are going to depend on you, your expenses, your market, your goals, your energy. A luxury newborn photographer in New York with a gorgeous studio and a full-time assistant. Her math [00:03:00] and her expenses are gonna look nothing like a family photographer in a rural town shooting out of her living room.

And both of their math will look different from the photographer who only takes a handful of sessions every month because she wants to spend most of the time at home with her kids.

And yet this industry loves to act like there’s only one way, only one formula, one golden standard. Charge this much, shoot this way. Offer this many digitals IPS or bust. If you’re not botto months in advance, you’re doing it wrong. It’s exhausting and it leaves so , many of us just sitting there wondering, am I broken?

Why doesn’t their formula work for me? The math we do in our heads is rarely logical. It’s fueled by fear, comparison, and shame. And here’s the kicker. We’re often comparing ourselves to people whose circumstances are nothing like ours.

Their [00:04:00] math isn’t our math. Let me give you a personal example. A few years ago, I really tried to force myself into in-person sales. Everyone said it was the only way to make real money, and I get it. It works beautifully. For some people, they love designing albums, selling wall art, or creating that boutique experience that’s aligned for them.

But for, for me, it felt like shoving myself into shoes that just didn’t fit. I dreaded the appointments. It didn’t feel like me. The math didn’t even work out the way it was supposed to. My clients weren’t spending what the formulas promised, and I was burning out on work that I hated and for what to prove.

I was legit. And that’s when I finally realized their math isn’t my math. So let’s talk about what actually goes into your math First, Your expenses. Do you rent a studio or shoot from home? Do you outsource editing or do you do it all [00:05:00] yourself? Do you invest heavily in props or do you keep it minimal?

Do you have employees or are you so low? Secondly, your goals. Do you want this business to pay for your family’s full-time income? Do you want it to cover vacations and extras? Do you wanna shoot every weekend or do you want it? Just keep it to a few sessions a month? And number three is your energy, because this matters if you’re introverted and you hate sales.

An IPS model might just crush you. If you love upselling in client interaction, it might light you up. If editing drains you, you might need to build and outsourcing costs. If you adore editing, that is part of your joy. And fourth, your definition of success, because at the end of the day, that’s the math that matters the most.

So have you ever stopped to define success for you? Not what Instagram says, not what a coach on the webinar says, not what the industry peers are bragging about. [00:06:00] What does success look like for you? Is it those six figures or is it maybe 20 clients a year? Is it enough to cover hockey gear and dance lessons?

Is it flexibility to take summers off? Because until you define that, you are chasing someone else’s math. And here’s the secret, there is no prize for running your business exactly like someone else. There’s just burnout. If it doesn’t fit,

let me tell you another quick story because sometimes you just need a laugh in the middle of the heavy stuff. I once sat down to do my bookkeeping and you know, like get really serious. I had spreadsheets, I had a calculator, the whole setup, and 10 minutes in I was crying, like ugly crying over QuickBooks.

In that moment I flash back to failing math 11 three times and I thought, of course, of course this feels impossible. Numbers have never been my thing. And then I laughed at myself because [00:07:00] the truth is I don’t really need to be a math whiz to run a photography business.

I just need to understand my numbers, not the complicated formulas, not the cookie cutter models, just the simple math that makes sense for me. And I can get a bookkeeper if I want to. And so do you. So here’s the pep talk. If you’ve been trying to squeeze yourself into someone else’s formula and it feels awful, stop.

If you raised your rates because you were told to, and now your inquiries are dead, silence, that’s not failure. That’s data. Adjust. Try a new marketing plan. If it doesn’t feel like you, you can change back. It’s okay if you’ve tried a business model that makes you dread your own work, that’s not proof you’re broken.

It’s proof you’re not aligned. Your math is yours, my friend, and it’s enough. So what does this look like? Actually in practice? It looks like running the numbers for your life, not someone else. It looks like deciding how many sessions you want to shoot in a month without burning out. It looks like [00:08:00] asking yourself what you actually want your business to provide full-time income, part-time income, fun, money, and just building from there.

It looks like aligning your prices with your expenses and your goals, not just chasing a number of someone on the internet told you was the magic answer. It looks like honoring your energy, my friend. If IPS drains, you don’t do it. If minis like you up, offer them. If you’d rather raise your prices and take fewer clients, go for it.

It looks like defining your own definition of success and refusing to apologize for it because here’s the thing, my math isn’t your math. Your math isn’t your competition’s math, and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be. The only wrong formula is the one that leaves you exhausted, ashamed, and out of alignment.

So my friend, stop trying to solve someone else’s equation and write your own. Thank you so [00:09:00] much for sharing this time with me today. I hope this has helped you. And if you’re kind of stuck in there right now, start thinking about what you want your business to look like and how you want it to feel. I am sending you so much of my light and my love today and every single day.

We’ll see you next time.