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Today I have my friend Morgan Spriull on the podcast with me, and like all good friends you never quite know where the conversation will go. My goal was to get her to show her real authentic self, her goal was to not cry… let’s just say I won this round.
Morgan talks about hitting rock bottom in life and learning how to be a strong independent woman while in a relationship. She shares what it looked like to reinvent and find herself and how running a business through grief really looks, and how it ultimately led her to choose herself over and over again. Not just to pick herself up when you hit rock bottom – but because you deserve to live a full, abundant life.
Hitting Rock Bottom
Morgan shares about getting a divorce at a young age, and the ripple effects that came from that point in time. She views it as a necessary, hard time in her life that brought her to where she is today. There is nothing like hitting rock bottom to reassess your life.
We all go through hard times, and we talk about how those challenges are opportunities to grow and evolve.
“It gets hard, but then it gets so much better. But it has to be hard first.”
Running Your Business While Going Through Grief
Morgan’s divorce brought about a season of grief, and we dive into how to run your business while grieving. Grief is unpredictable – you’ll find that one second you are fine and the next you are on the floor. Giving yourself space and being prepared to mourn things that you weren’t prepared to mourn is so important.
When you are a solopreneur, if you don’t work, you don’t eat. So how do you get through that time of grief as a business owner? Morgan talks about how she is her own worst critic, and she had to learn to let those little nagging intrusive thoughts go. She also shares how a tipping point came when she realized that her brand is just who she is as a person, and that that was enough. Her brand become abundant when she stopped trying to make it different than her reality.
“As someone who runs this business by myself, I’m going to have bad days. I’m going to have bad life events. I’m going to have really good days. And I have to be okay with being on this rollercoaster – because it’s just the reality of the situation.”
Tips for Running Your Business When You Are Struggling
- Find the things that serve you when you’re at your lowest, and start doing those things all the time. The consistency of that is helpful.
- Give yourself grace and be okay with not being okay.
- Ask for help and find ways you can outsource
- Acknowledge your emotions and learn to sit with them. It doesn’t make you more productive to ignore them. That can look like vocalizing your feelings, like “Hey anxiety, I’m not ready to deal with you right now but I see you.”
- Be proud of yourself and your accomplishments
When you come out of the grief period, you will find yourself in a new way. It’s a freeing process. It’s a cycle, we go through hard things, we learn more about ourselves, and we do it all over again.
Continuously Redefining Yourself + Your Business
Morgan and I have a lot in common when it comes to our businesses – we both used to be primarily traveling wedding photographers. And… we both burned out from the constant travel.
Another turning point for Morgan forced her to take a hard look at this model of her business and ask herself: Is it serving me? Is it serving my business?
She had to examine why she loved to do destination weddings so much and found that it wasn’t actually about the location. It was about the experience she was able to create. It was about finding clients that trusted her.
So she figured out how to take the feeling of being a traveling wedding photographer and bring it to the clients in her home state. The result? She’s home a lot more, and has never been happier.
Choosing Yourself
A major theme of our conversation is about choosing yourself, time and time again. Morgan had so many different life circumstances where she had to ultimately choose herself to come out on the other side. This means she was continuously pushed to grow, until she came to choose herself completely and acknowledge that she deserves to live a really, healthy abundant life.
“I found myself in a relationship where I didn’t feel like I had to be less than or shrink my success so that I didn’t make someone feel bad. It allowed me the space to just be, and I’m so grateful for it.”
We talk about how you can lose yourself in a relationship. But, when you find yourself in a healthy relationship, you realize that you can still be who you are and be loved.
“Let yourself be heard. Let your needs be met. Don’t feel bad about it. I spent way too long feeling bad about what I needed. Now that I have what I need and want, it’s like, why did I ever put myself in that tiny little box?”
Choose Yourself… and Come to Iceland!
Morgan is one of the featured artists at my upcoming Iceland photography event (along with our good buddy Jon Taylor Sweet! We talk about the experience we want to create for the people coming with us.
Hint: It’s not just about coming to Iceland to create stunning content. Our goal is to be there for each person who comes, to have the real discussions about trauma, grief, loss, you name it – while we are also creating. We want to meet you where you are, and celebrate where you are.
Iceland is so beautiful and has this healing energy that makes you feel grounded. We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, and it’s so important to step back and do things strictly to reconnect with what you love.
Iceland will be a huge reset for everyone who comes. We want you to gain new perspective and find the energy that makes you thrive. We want people to go home changed.
Connect with Morgan
This conversation with Morgan was so so good, I could talk to her for hours (and I often do!). Make sure to tune in to the full episode on Apple and Spotify, and connect with Morgan to continue the conversation. Her door is always open! Find her on Instagram at @inframesphotography and online at www.inframesphotography.com
Resources
Want to travel the world with Morgan and me? Join us in Iceland May 16-17, 2023!
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