Evolving Your Business with Cara Taylor Swift of Fast Horse Photography

there Business Animals. It's Kim with Be More Business and welcome to the business animal podcast. I'm here today with Cara Taylor Swift in a totally different way than we've shown up in this podcast before. And I know it's been a whole year. It's actually just right out of year since you've heard our voices over the podcast networks. So welcome Cara. How are you doing today?

Hi, I can't believe we're back here. I mean, I see you on our other show, but it's, you know, we put the business animal on hiatus for a bit. So I'm happy, just happy that there's something happening with it. And I can't wait for you to share all that news.

Yeah, so totally gonna overhaul the business animal and we're going to be back with weekly episodes and interviews and all kinds of fun stuff. But for the last year, Cara and I have been really working with our friend Phyllis on a very important project that's very near and dear to our hearts, which is Cowgirls with Cameras. And Cara, I am so

of what we have accomplished with Cowgirls with Cameras and devoting our attention to that I think was the absolute best thing we could have done with our time over the past year and so excited. How are you feeling about that particular venture?

gosh, it's been, it's been incredible. we really did, you know, there's podcasting is not easy and it's time consuming and a lot of work goes into each one of the episodes that we put out. So we really did need to take a break and fully focus on Cowgirls with Cameras, which is such an important part of our lives and business and has grown so much in terms of our community. So, yeah, it was, it was a good transition, a good pivot. yeah, it's been good.

Absolutely. And I am super excited that Cara is going to be like very focused on growing cowgirls with cameras. And thusly, when we brought up the topic of the business animal, I am going to solo host. So Cara is going to be on as a guest like she is today. And we're going to debut the show's new format as we go through the show today, which is going to be more of an interview style and based around a topic.

And of course, open to all businesses now that are small mission based businesses, although we are still going to have an animal focus, which I hope that we'll have a little surprise at the end of the podcast for you in what I think will be a fun thing that every episode will contain every interview will contain. So one of the things that I really want to change is that I want to bring you out in the world.

stories about entrepreneurs who are.

Creating businesses that support the life that they want to live. That's one of my big taglines in my business It's a big mission for me to see entrepreneurs be able to do that and Cara I know that you have and are and are Accomplishing that in so many ways so I would like to dive if you're willing today into the topic of

how businesses evolve and transition over time. Because I think it's a really important topic that people hear about and it's one that obviously we've been experiencing together since we started the business animal and then cowgirls with cameras. So are you up for that conversation?

Absolutely. And I just want to say a big thank you to everyone out there that listened to us with, I don't even remember how many animals we have at the business animal at this point, but all the folks that listened to us and just wanted to say thank you. I've had a really great time doing this with you, Kim. And our break was really good and I love where you're going with it. And I'm getting teary eyed for some reason. It's not like I don't see you on our other show. you know, it's

Just, I just want to thank everyone out there and you guys are going to love what Kim brings you and I will still pop in and out here and there as needed in the background. And you can always hear us over at Cowgirls with cameras. But yes, I love where you're taking this. Let's, let's jump into

Yes, and please, if you haven't and you have any interest in photography whatsoever, please go over and join us on Cowgirls with Cameras because it's highly entertaining over there. We sometimes get ourselves into a little bit of a giggle fest just by how much fun we have. But let's roll back for a moment to when you transitioned out of working for somebody else and to having your own business.

curious to know that as that baby entrepreneur, those first entrepreneurial steps that you took in your business, what did you envision it was going to be like being an entrepreneur?

So when I started my business, I started it when I was in a place of like personal trauma. had been working for an organization that worked with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. I had been doing that for about, I think it was 12 years when I decided I needed to leave that organization. And the organization was, in my

not a women friendly, not women friendly to their employees. And it was a bit of an abusive type of organization to work for. And when I left that organization, I was just in this place of trauma. Like I had been someone who had defined myself by my work, that I defined myself by the way that I was able to help women and children. was, my work was probably,

I don't want to say it was the most important thing in my life, but it was one of the most important things in my life, like, cause it defined me as a, as a human being in this world. Sure. I was defined by being a married woman, by being a mom, by being an equestrian, like those things were definitions, but my work was such a huge part of that. So when I left that work, I was in this place of kind of crisis. You know, I didn't, I didn't know if I was going to be able to do that kind of work again, if I wanted to do that kind of work again, but I knew that I couldn't.

not work. Working was huge to me. I love, I actually enjoy working. Like I don't know if a lot of people can say that I enjoy working. I enjoy getting out of the house and going and doing work. So for me, it was, okay, I got to do something. I got to figure something out. And, and I knew that I love photography from the standpoint of it made me feel good in the time when I wasn't feeling good. It gave me something that made me happy. And I saw myself

Yeah.

I think almost in a very naive way, okay, I'm gonna start my own business. It's gonna give me freedom. It's gonna give me flexibility. It's gonna give me the ability to be creative. It's gonna give me the ability to like work when I wanna work and it's gonna be easy money. So that's kind of like where my brain was. And I jumped into it. got, was, you know how I am. I'm a very much a things have to be in line. I jumped into it though.

got legal Fast, like did all the things I needed to do to form the business and jumped into it thinking, this is something I can do. And what I realized very quickly was that running a small business as a solopreneur takes, it's hard freaking work. It takes all your time, all your energy. And I had always worked for other people or managed an organization that was ran by a board, you know, so I didn't

I wasn't prepared for that aspect of

Absolutely. you know, I was just sitting here thinking as you're talking about all of this, how long how long has Fast horse photography been in business? Like, where are you at in your years? Do you remember?

2015, I think is when I incorporated. I'm trying to guess. I think that's when it was. So.

Yeah. So it wasn't very long after that that I met you

Powder horn. -hmm.

at Powderhorn and I don't know if you noticed but the memory came up on Facebook the other day because it's been it's an anniversary that was very very recent was this photo that I took of this energetic energetic young women so excited about photographing horses and kind of out there by yourself living your best life and I remember yeah and I have

I yes. Yeah, which I love that photo.

Yeah.

I was having the best day of my life. was still wearing my travel airport clothes and everything out there.

And you know, as a photographer, as somebody who's a workshop leader, and that was not our first workshop there. I mean, we'd done it quite a few years by that point. And I rarely photographed in the beginning, I rarely photographed the participants. Like you had to do something to catch my eye in order to get me to shoot you. So you definitely did that that day. But back to the naivete

entrepreneurship. You know, our first episode in this podcast, I think was called the accidental entrepreneur, right? So I think so many people wander into entrepreneurship thinking it's going to be so different than it is. And I also think and it's my sort of philosophy and the basis for a lot that I do that you very few entrepreneurs go through the process of like going to college and tooling their life.

to be an entrepreneur. Now, I think that is changing. I speak at a lot of high schools and to young people about entrepreneurship, but I don't know about you, but when I went to the school career fair, entrepreneur was not a booth that you could visit. it there was not there's there was no guidance whatsoever. And I went through college.

when you got a business degree, it was to go manage somebody else's business. It wasn't to manage your own. And I see that in the cross section of the people that come to the events that I host into the classes that I teach in Kansas City and beyond. And I watch that naivete as well in them. And one of the most fun groups of people that I get to work with are people who are just in the ideation stage and learning about marketing their business

and score puts on this like three day class about how to start a business. And I used to go speak about marketing for one hour and the bright and shiny faces in the room and the I'm going to have all of the freedom and I'm going to be my own boss. And I'm like, I was standing there, you know, even 20 years into entrepreneurship going, you have no idea that that does not happen. Right. You you go from having one boss that tells you what to do

to or a board to having how many of our customers you have now you have that many bosses. And it's a little bit of a culture shock and a realization. But once you adjust to it, I don't know about you, but I would not go back to having I like my customer bosses way better than I liked my boss boss. What about you?

I think for me, can't imagine being on someone else's time schedule or their clock or not having control over my time. Because even though I let my business, my little startup business run my life for a long time, I still today know that I can make those changes and I can have that freedom and I can pick my kid up from school and I can do.

make the soccer games and I can take a vacation with my husband if we need to travel. There are things I can do that I couldn't do before. I don't know that I could, it would be very, I could always go back if I needed to support my family in that way, it would be very difficult.

Absolutely.

It would. And I think a lot of people look at that as like working for somebody else is a safe choice. And I used to feel that way, too. Like if you entrepreneurship is a risky endeavor. But I think that's the cultural.

cultural picture of what we grew up in versus what is the reality today. Because in the world that I grew up in, the safe bet was to get a company job and work it until you retired and have a pension. And that's just not as much of a reality today. And I actually think entrepreneurship is probably a little safer in that you at least are at the helm of what you're doing and not at the mercy of somebody in a corporation that is making decisions

based on what they see on a spreadsheet versus what is gonna impact people's lives. And I do think that's a big call for entrepreneurship. And so there a lot of the reasons of why people get involved in businesses is because they're able to do that. But every business has to go through an evolution. So you started out in this naive stage and how has your business evolved? And I do believe there was a story about doing weddings or something in here somewhere.

Yeah. Yeah. So, so with me, you know, I, I didn't, I didn't know what I didn't know. And I was, everyone around me was telling me, you've got to photograph weddings. You've got to photograph babies. You've got to photograph families. And I was, I was just kept thinking, well, okay. But you know, I, I picked up my camera for horses. That's what I picked my camera for. That's what got me excited.

To this day, I don't take as many pictures of my own kid as I take of my horses, you know, and it's not because I don't adore him. It's just I love photographing horses. So I would, you know, I was very much like, well, you know, everyone around me is telling me this is what I need to do. You know, my husband is a, is an accomplished businessman and he's telling me he doesn't know a darn thing about photography businesses, but he's a businessman. He's telling me I need to do this and other people are telling me and my family, my friends. So I

I went out and I photographed just families and I photographed babies and I photographed other things and I remember I was working a gig, a paid gig, I was working a family reunion at this restaurant. I was walking from table to table and I was taking pictures of people at tables and I stopped and I stood there and I was just like, I am so miserable. This is

what I thought being a business owner, being a photographer was going to be about like now I have to go back and edit all of these images that I'm not excited about. And, know, and I did all of this for, you know, just. Peasly amount of money. I just was like, I cannot believe I am in this position. This does not make me happy. And so I thought to myself, well, what if I could be an equine photographer? And honestly, when I started my business, nobody really in town.

Yeah, no.

was focused on just photographing horses. And we have a pretty decent horse market. And I can say that has changed a lot, but there was no one in town doing it. And I honestly thought I invented the idea of equine photography. I thought I'm going to do this cool thing that no one else has ever done. And I did a little research and then I found the equine photographers network and realized that I was not, I didn't invent it. There's a million people out there doing it they're doing it really, really, really well. And that, but that's when I found

the Equine Photographers Network where I found Powderhorn and where things really started pivoting in my business. I, do you want me to talk a little bit about that evolution real quick? Okay.

Yeah, I do. And I also want you to incorporate some things around your why. And you know I call a why a worthy hell yeah. how you had to tool your business to fulfill your own why while at the same time serving customers that have their own why.

Right. Right. Yeah, I can do that. So, so when I decided to focus on horse photography, I had the work ethic that was ingrained into me from my parents. We didn't have money really growing up and my parents were very much like, you can be what you want to be, but you need to get a job and you need to work really hard.

and you need to work as many hours as it takes. Cause my parents worked multiple jobs. They worked overnight shifts. They did whatever it took to put food on the table for our family. And so I was really in that mindset that you work hard and you don't stop and that has to be your priority. So I, here I am in this position where I've started a business to have freedom and flexibility and to be able to be creative and to make money and to be with my family. had a, you know, a small child at home. My husband traveled a lot.

But I wasn't doing that. I was putting everything into the work. You know me. I will put everything into the work. And that's what I would do. And I was shooting every night of the week. I was shooting weekends. I was missing my little son's soccer games. I was missing. I was coming home early from vacations. And I was like, this is not what I envisioned. So that's when I had to sit down and do that work. Like, why am I really doing this?

Yeah.

And that's when I realized that something has to change in my business and I need to get this out of my head that I have to work a hundred hours a week and not give to my, you know, not give to these other things that matter to me. So that's Kim, when I really focused on my why. And for me, I needed a business that gave me time to be a mom. They gave me time to have a personal life, you know, to go on a date night, to ride my horse.

to do things that made me happy because I was coming out of this traumatic business experience from my previous work. I needed to heal. I needed to find out who I was again in that way. And I had to design that business around that idea. So that's when I realized that there were other photography models out there. I didn't have to shoot every single person that came in front of my camera. I could say no to people. I could...

you know, really focus in on a particular niche of photography, which for me was equine photography. And I learned about a program or I learned about a photography business model called in -person sales, which is focused on, working with less clients, but providing high value. And as a result, you can charge more for your services. You can make more for your services. So I focused and changed my business model.

and really, really narrowed down. And I did that for many years and it was going really well for my business. Now in my community, some things have changed. I had a, they just had a post in our local horse council page and it was looking for a horse photographer. There were, I think about 40 horse photographers that popped up saying, I can do this. I can do this. Not all of them strictly focus on Eguine, but they want to, or they want to add that to their. And so in my community,

Wow

that what that looks like has changed a lot. The landscape has changed. I started my business and I was the only gig in town. And now I'm at a place where I have a lot of different varied, different types of business models that focus on photography, different types of photographers that are focused that want to do equine photography. So that kind of has all happened at the same time that I decided to make a pivot in my business.

to work with some of these other photographers. And that's, when you and Phyllis invited me into Cowgirls with Cameras and we started working together. And from there, we have really focused on photography community, education. And so my why has shifted to some extent in my work, but the underlying why of having a life, which I never thought that was something that was possible before. was always work is life and everything else

around you fits into when to your days off to your time off. And I had to make that flip. And that took a lot because I was so programmed to think work is life that has to come first. And then you fit everything else into your day

Exactly. That is such a good description of what I think so many people come into business with the mindset around. It's that I have to create this business that is going to make a dollar figure. And my success is measured by how hard I work and how many dollars come back in. And that's the thing I don't know about anybody

else. I love what money can get me. And this is one thing that we learned like in Gestalt and and with any type of the basic coaching skills that I learned is that, you know, it's not that you value money. It's you value what money can bring you. And that's different for different people, right? So for some people, it's safety. For other people, it's luxury. For other people, it's something completely different. It's very individual to whatever anybody wants.

But you have to figure out what that thing is. And then that's how you have to measure your success instead of the dollar figures and how hard you work.

And the other thing is, is I also see a lot of people who it's comfortable to live in the hard work paradigm, right? It's it's something that feels familiar. It's something we've done for our entire lives. We're even taught that in school, right? The kids who work the hardest get the most results and those kids are are rewarded and accoladed. And the kid that sits over on the side of the room who can ace the test with only barely cracking a book.

you know, that kid doesn't receive as many accolades as the kid that obviously worked hard to get where they're going. So I think we're very programmed into that. And what happens when we start a business is that's what's familiar. So that's what we go with. So making that adjustment out of that situation and then coming into a place where you run into an obstacle like the competition coming

and then figuring out how can I pivot my business and still stay within my why. I mean, I think that's the golden egg of entrepreneurship is to be able to say, okay, I'm still keeping what I need, which is freedom and time with my family and not having to constantly be under a tremendous amount of stress in that same mental position you were in in the previous job and figure out how to do that.

in your in Fast Horse Photography.

do want to acknowledge how difficult that can be in terms of a mindset because there's a lot that I feel even today, even though I feel like I'm in a good place with it, that if I see myself, like if I'm not busy, like I feel like, I being successful? Am I using my time the way that I should be using my time? Or if I see other people, like on social media, for example, talking about how they're fully booked or

so busy, then I start to wonder, well, I'm not that busy right now. Maybe I'm not working hard enough. So I think that that is something that comes to that old model of thinking that kind of rears its ugly head sometimes. And that it's something we're always working towards. the only reason I say that is because I don't want people to think that I was able to shift just like that. Like it is something that's ingrained in me and it's a constant work in progress.

no.

It's an evolution to get to the point that you even can become aware of that something going on in your world and in your business. And then from there, it's a constant retooling. I think this is another thing that I've worked in marketing for 30 years. And a lot of people come to me and be like, OK, well, when will my marketing program be done? Can you finish my website? Or can you finish this marketing plan for my business? And I'm like,

you never finish it. It's honestly never done. And it's the same thing with business modeling, right? You've got to constantly be looking at it and adjusting it so that it can become the thing that you need it to be and move and evolve along with you. And as you become more comfortable living in that situation, it can become more comfortable for you to make those changes that make a lot of sense.

love that and I love what we're doing with CalGirls with cameras because I think it supports so much of what all three of us, Phyllis included, want to do. We love to travel, we love to meet people, we love to see people be successful and I think that's a unique quality that all three of us have is that we can have, I think you've described vicarious trauma as something you experienced. I feel like we experience vicarious

Like I think that's interesting that that we get to have that experience because I know when I look at some of the images that come out of the workshops that we put on I look at those images and go wow

I would agree with you.

That's so cool. I am so happy that that person got that image and that now they're getting all of this recognition for it. It makes my heart sing, but it's not necessarily my accomplishment, but I still feel like I had a little piece in it. How do you feel about that? I think it's a bonus perk.

No, 100%. It is, it's kind of an unintended, almost like an unexpected bonus perk. But I definitely, when I see one of our community photographers takes images that they created at one of our events and have a success with it, publish somewhere, or they license it, or they turn it into art, or it's on a book cover. When I see something like that happen, I do feel like it was a personal win as well. Like I'm like, that is so amazing for them. And you know what? I was standing right there with them.

and we saw that scene or we set up that scene or maybe I helped them with their settings or you never know. Maybe we were just standing next to them hooting and hollering because we were having a good time, but I absolutely feel a personal connection to that.

I do too. And it's a lot of fun to experience that. So the next question I have for you, because we started out this conversation and a lot of the conversations on this podcast are going to be focused around this idea of creating a business that supports the life you want to live. How does Fast horse photography today support the way that you want to live your life?

So I, from the earliest ages, I mean, I've always been a horse girl and I had horses growing up. I was just really lucky that my parents made that happen in our lives. It was like the one thing they really insisted having in our lives. And I always wanted to do something with horses, but I didn't know how that was possible. I'm not a horse trainer. I don't have any interest in doing horse training.

But I always wanted to do something with horses. So that is the first thing. It allows me to meet horses, be around horse people, interact with horses that aren't my own on a regular basis. There's also a big part of me, like I remember sitting at the dinner table or even having spaghetti. I remember what we were eating as a kid, all of my siblings and my mom and dad. And my mom was going around the table and they, she was like, what do you want to be when you grow up? And what do you want to be? You know, we're all just little kids. And I, I said, I want to be

I want to help people. And it's a silly thing. Like I remember they made fun of me. They're like, you're going to be a mother Teresa one day. They were making fun of me and just joking. Like, what does that look like for you? And I, I've, I, I went into that in a very traditional way with my work as a domestic violence and sexual assault advocate, but I do still see myself helping people today through CalGas with cameras and through our work. And so I get to kind of have both in some ways. I get to work with horses.

And I also, through Cowgirls with Cameras, get to help other people realize their photography goals and dreams and help them get there. You know, there's other pieces of that around how it supports my life. I really do get to make my own schedule these days for the most part. I mean, I get to see

my son and his soccer and I get to pick him up every day and drop him off and I get to do those things. But my priorities have changed a lot since the beginning of my photography business journey. And I value my time differently today than I did when I established my business.

I real, have just done a lot of that work around what is going on in my brain that makes me feel like if I'm not working all the time, I'm not being successful, you know, and I've done a lot of work around that. And I find myself being able to turn it off when I'm not working and not feel like I have to always be doing work. Cause I really, I don't want to say I was a workaholic, but I really felt when you feel like your work as an is.

your identity, you don't know what to do when you're not doing it. And my work was very much my identity for a long time. So my identity has shifted a lot, think it isn't my identity is at my work as much as it used to be anymore. So

And I think about you saying as a kid, I want to be a peacemaker. And you know how people will say the cliche of oftentimes we choose the careers or we were drawn to the things that we need to be most and that we need most for ourselves. And I see you as a peacemaker in your own life through your business. Like you've you're learning how to peacemake within your own human self.

And you're modifying the business not and not to mention just that, but also bringing that out into the bigger world where people who are restless in in maybe a corporate day job and want the freedom of becoming a photographer are able to peacemake for themselves to where that life is a much happier life. So I think you've fulfilled your role as a peacemaker in multiple ways.

the child that's out there and said that, that's an amazing, that's an amazing realization. I don't know how that resonates with you, but it's, it's true to see you on this journey. And I, I'm so glad that you showed up at that Powderhorn event and got to know, and, and the light that you brought to it was so bright and youthful, even though I don't like to think I'm that much older than you are.

But it's just, I'm so glad you came and we got to know each other and that we get to share a lot of this journey together.

Me too, I definitely think about that event as a of a pivotal moment for me because it changed, you know, there's a handful of those in your life that kind of like change your trajectory and that's one for me.

Yeah, absolutely. So the thing I want to end the podcast with today is of course, we are the business animal. And for me, animals are such a partnership in everything I do business and personal. So do you have an animal story that you can share with us about an animal that has deeply impacted your, your life and your business?

So the first thing I think that comes to mind is I think about how my energy or maybe just as people how our energy is reflected back to us by horses. So I think about when I come in contact with my own horses and then my clients' horses. So I tend to operate a little bit over caffeinated or high strung in general with my anxiety at times

Yes.

You know, and my horses and the horses that I photograph have done a really good job of reminding me of this in very respectful ways. And one of the things that will happen sometimes is I am, you know, at a session and I will, you know, the way I approach a horse is reflected back to me and they'll tell me you are coming in too hot. You're coming in with too much anxiety, too much of whatever you've got going on there.

One of the things that it does is it, because I read horses and because I work with horses as my own and I work in an industry with horses, is I'm always watching horses for reactions and looking to see how they're, and so when they're responding in a way that is related to my actions, then I instantly notice that. And one of the things that it does is it's like a wake up call for me to chill, to bring my energy down, to relax the situation.

And I have become so aware of that now that I'm, I think about it when I'm at my sessions, for example, or when we're at Cowgirls with cameras and we're working is I think about how are the horses reacting to me, but also I need to bring my energy level down. need to, to lower my anxiety and try to think through some of this stuff because I can see it being reflected around me, which I couldn't see before. And horses have done that for me. Like they, they let me see myself in a different way.

Yeah.

I don't know, that sounds really simple probably, but I honestly think that I think about this a lot and I, and when I'm getting worked up about something or I'm feeling stressed, I think to myself, how would my horse see me right now? How would they find me right

Yeah, and I think that's horses do teach us a lot about leadership, both personal leadership within ourselves and leadership as they look to us as leaders. And it's really important that we learn how to manage our own energy. And I do think it is a very valuable lesson. So I don't think it's simple at all. And I think that they are great reminders, whether they're our own horses or somebody else's horses, of how how we are approaching things. And hey, maybe we need to be a little

bit more mindful and slow down. Well, thank you so much, Cara, for hanging out with me today and kicking off this brand new season and shift in the business animal. And for those of you out there who'd like to join us on social media, find us at thebusinessanimal .com and you'll find all of the links and different shows. And don't forget to hit that like and follow button. Thank you.