Hey there ! I’m Katie - a wedding photographer & recovering perfectionist - and welcome to the first ever episode of The Picture Imperfect Podcast!  I started this podcast to bring together all the burnt out entrepreneurs that have hella high expectations for themselves and others, the people pleasers that want to learn how to say “NO” and the anxious achievers that want to find a little peace in the idea of doing less. 

This first episode is all about the “why” behind the podcast - it covers everything from my own struggles with perfectionism and a little history about me to the pressures I see in the wedding industry as a photographer and why I think it’s so important to talk candidly about imperfections, flaws and failures. So come hang out and listen in on some super eye-opening and empowering conversations that might even convince you that there is, in fact, beauty in imperfection. 

Bailey is a WILDLY talented and brilliant NYC and Brooklyn-based photographer who I met via Instagram a few years ago. Not only is she one of the best photographers and artists I know,  she’s also an absolutely A+ friend, leader, activist and member of her community.  Listen in as Bailey and I chat about how we became the perfectionist wedding photographers we are today, how we manage that perfectionism and how to be a little bit more self compassionate with yourself whenever the pressure to be perfect becomes a little too much to handle. We also talk about mantras, mental health and what we've lovingly called the "stress dreams" we get before photographing a wedding!  And don't forget to check out Bailey's amazing photography at www.BaileyQphoto.com or on social @baileyqphoto. 

If you listened to Episodes 1 & 2 and thought to yourself  “OMG wow I really am a perfectionist!”, then you need Sheila in your life. Or at the very least, you need to listen to Episode 3!

Sheila is a Life Coach that specializes in helping high-achieving women step into their next-level selves. She LOVES working with go-getters who may be feeling like they’ve outgrown their career, relationship, or lifestyle.  Sheila basically helps us people pleasers and negative self talkers to build killer confidence from within and take aligned action so that we can THRIVE!

In this episode, Sheila and I talk about how we can find the root of our perfectionism while also reflecting on how perfectionism may have benefited us in the past. Sheila poses some amazing questions in this episode about what it might look like for those of us who struggle with perfectionism to no longer be a perfectionist (*gasp!*) and how that might make us feel.  Stay tuned for a BONUS episode later this month because I actually participated in one of Sheila’s “Root to Rise” coaching calls and we recorded it and I’d love to share that with you all and update you on how it’s been impacting my life ever since.

In the meantime, check out Episode 3 and if you are interested in learning more about Sheila or if you want to book a coaching call with her, check out her website at www.sheilaanne.com or follow her on social media @sheflowsandgrows. Trust me, you’re gonna want to see all her Instagram Reels!

Did you listen to last week's episode with the wonderful Coach & Yoga Instructor Sheila Anne?! Did you wonder what it would be like to book a coaching call with her? Well you can stop wondering RIGHT NOW because I totally recorded the coaching call I did with Sheila  JUST FOR YOU so that you can better understand exactly what the experience is like. You get to be a fly on the wall during our session- so be sure to check out some of the highlights and insights from my conversation with Sheila and if you want to have a coaching call with her too, reach out at www.sheilaanne.com - I know Sheila would be thrilled to hear from you!

Episode 4 is allllll about wedding planning. Let's be real: it's a stressful process. It's also a process that tends to bring out some perfectionism even in the most chill couples. So I decided to invite 4 of my friends and former/current/future clients onto the podcast to discuss whether they felt the pressure to host a "perfect" wedding, what didn't go so perfectly on their wedding day and how they dealt with that imperfection. You'll hear stories about what can happen when the weather doesn't cooperate, what happens when a global pandemic prevents you from celebrating with friends and family and what brides and grooms are currently facing while trying to plan a wedding in the aftermath of COVID-19. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll feel much less alone in your wedding planning stress...that's a promise!

Do you ever mindlessly scroll through  your instagram feed looking at everyone's fun and exciting photos and suddenly feel like total garbage about your own life? BECAUSE SAME HERE. It's so hard to remember that social media is really just a highlight reel, yet so easy to compare ourselves to others and develop those icky feelings of jealousy and envy. I wanted to chat with two of my photog BFFs Merrisa and Lauren about comparison in the wedding photography industry and talk about how community can be so much more powerful than competition. Check out our conversation around the concept that comparison is the thief of joy and tune in to hear the big fat secret I decided to drop on M+L about why we met (spoiler alert: it has to do with social media and feeling jealous). 

While you're at it, please check out both these fabulous photographers' amazing work on instagram at @merrisacarolinephotography and @laurenhawkinsphoto to show them some love. A big thank you to both these ladies for agreeing to come on the pod to share bravely about all things social media fatigue and burn out, and you can find out more about how to work with them on their websites at https://merrisacarolinephotography.mypixieset.com/ and https://laurenhawkinsphotography.com/

 My good friend and fellow podcast host Alaina Sawyer is here to chat about how to overcome perfectionism, how to cope with life-changing diagnosis, and how to navigate the world of chronic illness. We also talk a bit about some our favorite (and least favorite!) movie characters!

Alaina is a certified wellness coach, a blogger, a fitness instructor, a world traveler and so many other impressive and amazing things. You can find out more about her and her services on her website www.alainasawyer.com where you can also catch up on her recent blog posts and listen to her weekly meditations she records that she so kindly shares with the world. You can also find her on Instagram @ alainasawyer_wellnesscoach.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: She is ALSO a new podcaster!!! She and her friend Claire host a fantastic new  podcast called Gin & Chronic - it's all about Chronic Illness - Claire has Type 1 diabetes and Alaina has CML (chronic myeloid leukemia). I love how openly and bravely these ladies discuss all the challenges of navigating life with a chronic illness - and they bring so much humor into each episode as well so it’s both relatable AND hilarious. Check out their instagram at @ginandchronicpod or find their podcast on iTunes, Spotify and anywhere else you listen to your podcasts! Go subscribe now!!

My amazingly talented and wise friend Becca is on the pod talking all about success…and not the kind of success that drives many of us perfectionist overachievers to do crazy things in order to achieve - but a success that allows for more joy, peace and overall happiness. We’re talking about REDEFINING what success looks like for ourselves - whether that’s a total career change, a move across the country or simply some shifting of priorities, we might need to take a good hard look at what we picture as the epitome of success and ask ourselves if its really the kind of success we want.

I absolutely adore talking to Becca - we can be FaceTiming from across the country, having a scoop of ice cream in Boston, or (in this case) recording a podcast episode, and I know that no matter what, talking to Becca is always going to be full of REALNESS and it’s gonna be natural, easy and as genuine as genuine can get. So I hope you love listening to her talk as much as I do, and I bet that you can relate to a bit of her story about how she went from photographing 50+ weddings a year to chasing a new dream as an adventure and travel photographer in Oregon. 

PLEASE go check out Becca’s work on her stunning website beccamoot.com and follow her on social media at @beccamoot to support her in this new amazing adventure she is on - her work is truly ART. Plus she’s always sharing beautiful and vulnerable stories and truths because she has such a big heart. Oh and she has super cute doggies you’re gonna wanna see :)