Every once in a while, an opportunity presents itself for me to improve as a businesswoman, marketer, photographer or person in general – and when I take advantage of it, it’s typically pretty life-changing for me. It’s been a few years since I’ve had the chance to go to an in-person workshop, and just this past February I attended the Abundance Workshop with Ben Hartley.
My Review of The Abundance Workshop with Ben Hartley
Who is Ben Hartley? Ben is a long-time wedding photographer turned educator and host of the Six Figure Photography Podcast. I’ve been part of Ben Hartley’s huge mastermind group on Facebook, filled with over 40,000 photographers and I have also taken his Booked Solid course. Booked Solid is all about “winning more inquiries” and “maximizing profits” – both of which have been pretty influential in how I have run my businesses the last couple of years. In fact, Ben’s teaching has really pushed me to do more than just photograph weddings and sessions, and to actually give clients the opportunity to have heirloom quality prints, wall art and albums in their homes.
So, when the opportunity to actually meet Ben in person and attend his top-level mastermind workshop in Florida came up – I jumped at the chance. With 11 other photographers, we all bunked together in a beautiful house just outside of Orlando and for four days, we spent up to 16 hours a day learning, connecting, growing and having enlightening conversations. Ben asked three of his respected colleagues – Ben Adams, Rachel Durik and Bob Kniley – to join us and impart their own wisdom to us attendees. And he hired an incredible personal chef, who brought in some of the most delicious food I’ve ever had – I definitely felt spoiled by chef! In fact, I was so busy that I literally only took these photos, the entire time I was there:
I’ll be honest: Ben Hartley’s Abundance Workshop was nothing like I thought it would be.
I thought it would be like a really hyper-focused on business and marketing. I thought it would be this awesome opportunity to learn how to grow my business through business tools, marketing advice – that sort of thing. I thought it would be education-heavy, and like a super deep dive into Booked Solid. I thought it would be metrics and diving deep into client experience. And we did do all that for part of the workshop, but, it was actually so much more.
The truth is, the Abundance Workshop is all about mindset.
I really wish someone had warned me about the mental and emotional intensity of the workshop. Dozens of photographers over the years have attended the workshop and shared about their experience. And, while they all have credited Ben’s teaching as ‘life-changing‘ – not a single one really discussed how it changed their lives. It would have been really nice to read an in-depth review of the Abundance Workshop, so I could prepare myself – it wouldn’t have stopped me from going, but it would have been nice to at least be warned.
It was psychologically and emotionally challenging and a bit overwhelming for someone like me. I am quite empathetic and tend to put myself on the backburner (hello enneagram 2w3!), and I’m not ashamed to say that I spent the first two full days crying off and on. And I definitely wasn’t the only one, who came to realize that we are the only ones in our own way. There was so much about my business that I had no idea was so influenced by my lack of an understanding my self-worth and what I have to offer the world. Sure, I’m definitely good at my job and have always taken the best care of my clients as possible – but I’ve always been afraid to go bigger, do things that I might fail at, or put myself out there where I can be rejected.
If anything, Ben challenged us to not define our future success by anything in our past. He said on the first night, and I quote, “we are all brilliant, and we all deserve to be here.”
Through this experience, I have had a very enlightened vision of what I want for my business and the people I serve. Hell, I’ll even take that a step further and say it has enlightened me to make sure I am taking care of myself, moreso than ever before. Your mindset is definitely your biggest asset to actually leading an abundant life.
Who is this photography business workshop for?
Abundance is definitely not for everyone. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who really isn’t prepared to be deeply introspective and use that knowledge to better themselves as human beings (and storytellers, photographers and business-people). It’s not meant for someone who doesn’t want to take their business seriously. And it’s certainly not for someone who isn’t willing and able to change their mindset.
But it definitely is for people who are ready to elevate in their business. It’s important to say that this photography business workshop is absolutely for people who want to create an experience for their clients, unlike anyone else can.
Now, with all the positives in my review about the Abundance Workshop, there were a couple things I was had been different. I wish we had more time to really dive deeper into the actual business side of an abundant mindset. I wish we had more time to really go through not just a snapshot of our websites and portfolios, but our client experience that we provide. There also really was not enough time to go over how to price ourselves individually based on all the factors we face – location, client experience, skill level, desired income, etc. There were quite a few of us who struggle with these things and with all the encouragement and enlightenment, it would have been really beneficial to have more time to work through our individual struggles with Ben and the other leaders.
I would also say – as much as I loved meeting each and every one of the attendees and the leaders – I wish the group had been smaller and the experience even more personalized and intimate.
But overall? My review of the Abundance Workshop with Ben Hartley is definitely positive. It’s been about a month since the workshop, and I’ve spent a lot of time processing what I learned. I don’t think it’s possible for me to walk away from this experience without saying it was life-changing. It’s had a profound change on how I view my business and the value I have provided over the years, and will continue to provide for my future clients. It’s encouraged me to say “until now” when I think about how I have done things in the past, and to challenge myself to do something different moving forward.
