The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect, recharge, and gear up for the year ahead. Whether you’re a wedding photographer or specialize in family portraits, or balancing it all while managing a chronic illness, taking a moment to think about what worked (and what didn’t) is the secret to setting yourself up for success in 2025.
Here’s how I’m looking back at 2024, setting goals, and creating workflows that actually support me—and how you can do the same.
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Keep scrolling for show notes, and a full transcript!
2024 in Review: What Worked, What Didn’t
Before diving into new goals, I always like to take an honest look at the past year. Let’s start with the less-than-stellar moments (because, let’s be real, not everything is sunshine and rainbows).
What Didn’t Work in 2024:
- Newborn Photography: I tried reintroducing newborn sessions after years of not offering them, and guess what? Big nope. My heart wasn’t in it, and it reminded me why I stopped in the first place. Lesson learned: stick to what you love.
- Email Automation Mishap: I forgot about an automated email series announcing mini sessions. Emails that went out telling people that sessions were open for booking when they actually weren’t. Facepalm moment of the year.
- Sales Goals: I didn’t hit a single sales goal and eventually just gave myself permission to stop setting them for Q4. Sometimes, it’s okay to take a breather.
- Overcommitment: Fall was a blur of sensory overload and burnout. That “just push through” mindset didn’t do me any favours and is SUCH a hard cycle to get out of.
- Digital Planners: I wanted to love my digital planner, but it just wasn’t for me. Turns out, keeping things simple is the way to go. (Shocker!)
What Worked in 2024:
- HoneyBook Lead Forms: My clients loved how easy it was to book mini sessions, sign contracts, and pay invoices—all seamlessly automated through HoneyBook.
- Updating Wedding Services: Transitioning to exclusively offering city hall weddings not only brought clarity to my business, but also brought three new bookings within two weeks of updating my website.
- Editing on My iPad: Lightroom’s cloud-based version made editing on my iPad surprisingly efficient. Who knew? And I’m so thankful because I just do not want to upgrade my otherwise perfectly good computer right now.
- Carb Loading on Wedding Days: Changing my diet during wedding days drastically improved my energy and recovery time. (Check out Episode 55 of Keeping It Candid for more on this!)
- Peer Mastermind Group: Starting a mastermind with industry friends filled the gap I felt after stepping away from a formal coaching program and I’ve loved every second of it.
Setting Goals for 2025
Now that I have that insight into 2024, I’m setting realistic and intentional goals for 2025. Here’s how I’m breaking them down:
Sales Goals
For my photography business, my 2025 sales goal is $10,000. It might seem low, but with my systems business taking up more time, this feels doable. To hit this, I’ll need to book:
- 15 portrait sessions, with at least 10 clients purchasing additional files or prints.
- 4 city hall weddings.
Breaking a sales goal into tangible steps makes it feel less overwhelming and gives me a clear roadmap for the year.
Client Experience Goals
This year, I’m saying goodbye to anything that doesn’t bring me joy—starting with newborn sessions. My focus will be on family photos, city hall weddings, and engagement sessions.
I’m also refining my email workflows by:
- Combining my welcome questionnaire and blanket selection questionnaire into one.
- Adding an email dedicated to outlining what happens if the weather doesn’t cooperate, hopefully reducing client confusion along the way.
Personal Growth Goals
2025 is all about leaning into community and celebrating small wins.
- Community Building: I’m continuing my peer mastermind group and ramping up in-person meetups with my local Rising Tide Society chapter.
- Celebrating Wins: I’m bringing back my monthly win tracker—a simple sticky note on my calendar to celebrate progress.
- Cycle Syncing: As someone with endometriosis, I’m focusing on scheduling work around my best energy days to show up for clients at my absolute best.
- Surgery Preparation: With a big surgery coming up, I’m focusing on maintaining a positive mindset and embracing the unknown.
Streamlining Communication and Workflows
A huge focus for 2025 is simplifying my communication and workflows.
Email Updates
I’m combining multiple emails into fewer, more impactful ones. For example, I’m merging questionnaires and streamlining info into clear, concise emails to avoid client confusion.
Leveraging HoneyBook Features
With HoneyBook’s new conditional logic tools rolling out, I’m rebuilding workflows to make them more intuitive and efficient. These updates allow workflows to adapt automatically based on client needs—taking automation to the next level.
Simplifying My Planner Situation
After another failed attempt at using a digital planner, I’m sticking with Asana for all my business organization needs. Asana’s simple, streamlined setup (thanks to a strategy session with my friend Sarahna!) keeps everything on track without the clutter of redundant tools.
Building Flexibility Into 2025
Flexibility is a non-negotiable part of my business. Here’s how I’m making it happen:
- Booking Time Off: I’m blocking out time for vacations and self-care at the start of the year, especially during busy season.
- Buffer Dates: I’m keeping extra days open around mini sessions for weather-related rescheduling, reducing stress for me and my clients.
Ready to Glow Up Your Business?
Reflecting on the past year, setting goals, and updating your systems isn’t just about staying organized—it’s about building a business that supports you. If you’re ready to get your workflows in shape for 2025, I’m here to help!
Check out my services at SimplySandraYvonne.ca for:
- HoneyBook Strategy Sessions: A one-on-one call to troubleshoot your account, refine your workflows, and make sure HoneyBook is working as hard as you are.
- Done-for-You Workflow Builds: I’ll create a complete workflow—including templates—so you can hit the ground running in 2025.
Let’s make this year the one where your business runs smoother than ever—and actually supports the life you want to live.
Show Notes
Mentioned on today’s episode of Keeping It Candid:
Episode Sponsor: HoneyBook
Get 30% off your first year!
1:1 HoneyBook Strategy Session
Done For You HoneyBook Workflows
Candice Coppola’s YouTube Video about the HoneyBook price increase
Episode of Keeping It Candid where I talk all about carbs – Click Here
The Unfiltered Community – Education & Systems Strategy For Photographers
Chronically Ill, Disabled, & Neurodivergent Photographers
Send me a DM on Instagram!
Get your wedding business more streamlined 👇🏻
Other Episodes & Blogs You’ll Love
Wedding Photography Education | Vision Casting For Q1
3 Mistakes To Avoid When Investing In Education & Coaching
Work/Life Balance And Working Abroad with Nova Markina Photography
TRANSCRIPT
Episode 065
[00:00:00] Sandra: for sales, I have a $10,000 sales goal, and I know that this is going to seem really low, obviously. I am not paying all of my bells with $10,000, but this is just for my photography business. My systems business is taking up a lot more of my time these days.
[00:00:17] So I’m actually going to be running through all of this again, where I’m going to be brainstorming the good and the bad and setting goals and all the things. Totally separately for my assistance business.
[00:00:26] Sandra: Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m Sandra Henderson, photographer, system strategist, and here to help you level up your photography business with real strategies that work. If you’re tired of beginner advice and quick fixes that don’t actually solve anything, this is the podcast for you. Each week, we dive into simple, sustainable systems for client workflows, automation, and communication strategies that are designed to keep your business thriving without the burnout.
[00:00:57] Because your business should support you and not the other way around. Whether you’re balancing a chronic illness or just done with the endless hustle, Keeping it Candid is here to help you reclaim your time, work smarter, and focus on what truly matters.
[00:01:11] Sandra: Hello, again, everybody for the very last time in 2024.
[00:01:17] When I come back for a new episode, it’s going to be 20, 25. And that seems so weird to think about.
[00:01:25] I feel like this year. I mean, I feel like we kind of have these feelings at the end of every year, but this year really felt like it went by really quickly. I don’t know. Do you guys feel that way? Let me know what you think.
[00:01:37] ‘ cause that’s the weird thing about time, right? Is that it feels so different for everybody. So if you agree with me and feel like this year went by in the blink of an eye. And want to hear about it, but I also want to hear if this year felt like it really dragged on for you.
[00:01:53] I find things like this to be so interesting. So make sure you come over to my DMS and let’s talk a little bit about how your year has been feeling.
[00:02:02] I’m going to be spending a lot more time in my DMS over the next few weeks, Because I am winding things down over here.
[00:02:08] My last day of work before the holidays is on Monday. They will be popping in once on the 30th to check in on some tasks for one of my VA clients. But other than that, I am off until the new year.
[00:02:21] And for once I am actually really looking forward to the holidays.
[00:02:26] Over the last couple of years, I’ve been on my own personal growth journey, trying to get over my hatred for Christmas. Everybody has always known me as a little bit of a Grinch this time of year or a lot, a bit of a Grinch. Let’s be real. There’s a. Million factors as to why I felt this way about Christmas.
[00:02:47] But thankfully with a little bit of therapy and a whole lot of self work, I have been working on trying to change that.
[00:02:55] So this year, I actually started decorating my house with a little bit of Christmas decorations right after us Thanksgiving. And I have been watching Christmas movies on Netflix and trying to do whatever I can to eliminate the stress that usually comes along with this time of year. And adjusting my plans to be able to see people and visit people but also to put myself on that priority list. So in previous years, my husband and I we’ve been together for about 17 years now. And I’d say about 16 of those years. We have been rotating our Christmases. Aside from the years of the pandemic, when we weren’t really visiting anybody.
[00:03:39] We have rotated our Christmases between spending time with my family one year on Christmas day and spending time with his family one year on Christmas day.
[00:03:47] But in my journey Of trying to learn to love Christmas, or at least just not hate it. One thing I wanted to do was make myself a priority. And so this year, one of my Christmas wishes. Is to do absolutely nothing over the bulk of the Christmas days. My only plans are to be snuggled up on my couch in the comfiest clothes. With some delicious food. Haven’t decided what I’m going to eat yet, but guaranteed, it’s going to be delicious.
[00:04:18] I’ve got some movies that I’m planning on watching, and I’m just planning on having a really low key day.
[00:04:24] We’re going to be spending time with my family, this coming weekend, actually. So doing things before the holidays. And then for my in-laws, my husband and my stepson are actually still going to be going to their festivities on Christmas day. I know, it seems a little crazy that I’m planning on actually staying home and spending some time by myself. But I wasn’t about to make my husband and my stepson stay home because I wanted to have a quiet and relaxing day.
[00:04:55] I personally don’t feel like I’m being left behind. I’m making extra time outside of those days to see family and make sure that I get to spend some time with them over the holidays, but I really just need these days for me this year.
[00:05:11] My husband is struggling with it a little bit. He does feel bad. He does feel like he’s leaving me behind. But I just reminded him and keep reminding him. That this is something that I want, he can think of it as a Christmas gift to me to just let me have this day where I can just relax.
[00:05:30] Next year we will head to my family is on Christmas day again, and the year after we’ll be back with his family.
[00:05:37] And then the year after that, maybe I’ll have another Christmas off. Maybe I’ll change my mind, but for this year, I’ve really just wanted to add a third thing into the mix.
[00:05:46] Plus last year as much fun as I had spending time with everybody. There was more than a few occasions where I got really bad sensory overload. And there are a lot of people over with my in-laws when we’re celebrating Christmas. And I actually started getting dizzy at one point because of all the noise and all the lights and all the things that were happening.
[00:06:07] And so this year I’m going to eliminate that. I’m going to see people on smaller scales and Christmas day. It’s just going to be an afternoon of me, myself and I, and I. I cannot tell you how much I’m looking forward to it.
[00:06:23] I’ve told all my friends and family members that if anybody wants to join me, they are more than welcome to come hang out at my house and do nothing. But I have a few blackout days where I am not going to be doing any plans. I’m not going to be leaving my house and it’s going to be great.
[00:06:39] And then for new year’s, to be honest. I really am feeling like this is going to be one year where I go to bed early. Don’t try to stay up for that ball drop at midnight. And just end this year on a nice, slow, quiet note.
[00:06:53] One thing that I am going to be doing during all of my time off is actually taking some time to do some goal setting for 2025. But before I do that, I really think it’s so important to think back on everything that was the last year. So everything that was 20, 24. And I’m going to bring you along with me while I do that on today’s episode.
[00:07:18] But before I do that first, we are going to get to this week’s all the rage.
[00:07:23] So last week, literally, as I was scheduling my last episode where I talked about whether or not you should announce a price change.
[00:07:30] HoneyBook announced a price change. And it seems like the entire world of creatives on social media decided to jump on that hate train last Tuesday.
[00:07:40] And this is literally the exact reason why I said I don’t believe in making these types of announcements as photographers. Now, obviously with a surface like HoneyBook, they have to, they cannot just change their pricing and not say a word and expect people to just not notice.
[00:07:58] People are paying them on a monthly and ongoing basis.
[00:08:02] So things like that do need to be disclosed to the people who are paying for that service, but as photographers people are typically only paying us once, especially if we’re working in weddings or family sessions, where they might work with us every year, every two years. So, if we were to change our prices tomorrow, most people would have absolutely no idea. So it’s a totally different situation than what I was talking about with this HoneyBook price change.
[00:08:29] But nonetheless, the outcome is still the same and there’s just this blanket of negativity around the word HoneyBook right now.
[00:08:36] Well, first, I want to say that I get it. Price increases stuck. And this is a huge one.
[00:08:43] Just before I recorded this episode, I actually found out that Adobe is doing the exact same thing. But I’m going to save that for another day.
[00:08:50] Or we could be here ranting about all the things for so long.
[00:08:55] Some of the things that HoneyBook really did wrong, in my opinion, with this price increase announcement. It’s that first, it was in such close proximity to black Friday sales, where they were just announcing all of these discounts to bring in more people and then hit them with a price increase. I think we can all agree that that is bullshit.
[00:09:16] And the timing of that really should have been thought through better.
[00:09:20] I think we need to see corporations like this, having a little bit of integrity and announcing price changes before trying to hook people in with discounts.
[00:09:30] Another thing that they really dropped the ball on is that they are now increasing the rate that people are paying, even if they had been committed to lifetime rates previously with legacy plans. That is a big no-no to me. They absolutely should be eating that cost and moving forward with their other customers. Those people paid a certain price and were given a commitment by HoneyBook and for HoneyBook to go back on that commitment. Super not cool.
[00:09:58] I’m definitely not by any means saying that the whole thing was perfect.
[00:10:03] There were so many things that they did wrong. But I also do think that most people who are jumping on the I’m leaving HoneyBook train last week, we’re just doing it because it was trending. They were acting on their emotions and their feelings. Taking the excuse to hate on HoneyBook, especially if they weren’t actually HoneyBook users.
[00:10:22] And a lot of these people, I don’t think are actually going to be leaving the platform.
[00:10:28] Now I know my opinion on this amazing bias to, because I am a HoneyBook expert. They are a sponsor of this podcast. But I’m all about keeping it real with you. No matter what. And believe me when I tell you that I do still think that the platform is worth it. Even with this big price increase.
[00:10:46] That is if you’re actually using your account and you can financially afford it. I know that’s not going to be possible for everyone, but if it is it’s 1000% worth it to stick with HoneyBook. Personally, I don’t plan on making any changes to either my photography business or my systems business In terms of actually using the platform myself or promoting the platform.
[00:11:09] And every single one of my clients has said that they aren’t even considering moving platforms because their return on investment is so much higher than what this price increases for their accounts. If you’re not really utilizing every single aspect of your account, the truth is it might not be worth it for you. But before you jump ship, I really want you to take a look at what you’re using, what you’re not using and what your needs are and what your budget is, because ultimately you might find that moving to a lower price CRM with less features is actually going to hinder your ability to generate more sales and higher profits.
[00:11:46] And you also want to think about the time that it’s going to take to export all of your files And all of your information out of HoneyBook, migrated into a new platform, build all new workflows, set up all new templates, learn how to use it all. It will take so much time.
[00:12:03] So you’ve really got it. Look at the bigger picture and decide if this is the right decision for you.
[00:12:09] The truth is yes, I love HoneyBook. Their platform is the main focus of my systems business. But ultimately what I think you have to do is what is best for you. So, if that means leaving HoneyBook and making those changes and putting that work into a new CRM, then you’ve got to do that. But if you take a look at what you’re using, what you’re not using and configure it a way to get more out of your HoneyBook account.
[00:12:33] So you’re actually getting value in what you pay for. I think you’re going to be really happy with staying and you’re going to see in the bigger picture that it was the right choice. If you want to hear another take on this whole HoneyBook issue, I want you to head over to YouTube to check out Candice Coppola’s video, where she talks all about this.
[00:12:52] She got this posted quick time, like the same day or the following day after the price increase was announced, but she shares some amazing advice on what you can do to make sure that your voice is heard about how this price increase is going to impact your business and some more takes on what you should be considering to decide If HoneyBook is the right choice for your business. So I’m going to include a link to that in the show notes, because you definitely want to go and check that out.
[00:13:18] Sandra: Sorry to interrupt this episode, friend. I promise I will make this quick. You might have heard the news that HoneyBook’s prices are going up. Now, before you start side eyeing your subscription, let me say this. If you are not fully using all of HoneyBook’s features, you are probably leaving money and a lot of time and energy on the table.
[00:13:40] But that’s where I come in. I offer one to one HoneyBook strategy sessions designed to make sure you’re getting the absolute most out of your account. Whether you’re feeling lost in templates, struggling with your workflows, or just aren’t sure if HoneyBook is working as hard for you as it should be, I’ll meet you exactly where you are.
[00:13:59] Together, we will troubleshoot any hurdles that you have so that you can refine your processes and set up simple systems that will leave you feeling confident that HoneyBook is actually saving you time, keeping you organized, and helping you deliver a seamless client experience. If you’re ready to stop leaving features untapped and start maximizing the investment you’ve made, head to simplysandreevon.
[00:14:22] ca forward slash services to book your one to one HoneyBook strategy session today. Trust me when I tell you your future self and your HoneyBook account will thank you. And now let’s get back to the episode.
[00:14:34] Sandra: One thing about me is that I live for that new year. New me vibe on January 1st. People like me, it can be annoying as fuck, but honestly, every January 1st comes with this weight off my shoulders and I’m just excited for the new year ahead.
[00:14:53] Even though logically, I know that this is the same as any other day. I just live for January 1st. I can’t help it. But like I mentioned earlier in the episode, in order to go into the new year strong, I need to take a step back to think about everything that happened over the last year. I’m talking the good, the bad, the amazing, the awful it’s all got to come out so I can make sure that I’m repeating the amazing things. Fixing the awful things.
[00:15:19] And.
[00:15:20] going through everything in between with a fine tooth comb. So today I’m going to walk you through everything I recommended you do for your business in last week’s episode. Go check that out. If you haven’t already, I practice what I preach around here. And I am not about to tell anyone to do anything that I’m not actively doing myself. So let’s get into it.
[00:15:40] First let’s get the bullshit out of the way. Let’s talk about things that were big, old. Nope. In my photography business last year. First was re-introducing newborn photos into my services list.
[00:15:53] Absolutely no shade to any newborn photographers that might be listening, but this is just not my jam. I used to do a lot of newborn work back when I first started my business. But I just wasn’t doing it enough. As the years went on to feel like I could really get into my zone. And like I was giving my best work to my clients. And then eventually it just started taking a huge toll on my body Because of how physical it can be.
[00:16:18] And so I stopped doing it. But then I had a few clients reach out to me Because they were having babies and they wanted to have photos done and I had the availability, so I decided to take it on. And as great as those sessions were, it just reminded me that my heart isn’t in it. So a big note for me this year, was choosing to start doing newborn photos again.
[00:16:41] 2025 I will be referring all of those elsewhere.
[00:16:45] Another big. Nope. Was. I, this was a big mess up. You guys. I completely forgot that I had set up automations inside my flow desk account, which is what I use for email marketing. And these automations were set to send emails on a specific date. Letting people know that my mini sessions were open for booking.
[00:17:05] And I forgot that I had that specific date trigger in there. Typically I would do something like having a certain amount of time. But this one I set for a specific date. So let’s just say, for example, I’ll make something up and say that an email was scheduled to go out on June 14th to say that mini-sessions for fall were open for booking. But I didn’t actually open those sessions for booking on June 14th.
[00:17:33] And I didn’t realize that this automation was happening. Until I believe October. So I had from may until October emails going out, telling people that mini sessions were open for booking on the wrong dates.
[00:17:50] So I was definitely kicking myself when I realized that that was happening. And some real talk. I also didn’t hit any of my sales goals this year. And to be honest, I didn’t even bother setting any for Q4. Cause I was just over it. It wasn’t in the Headspace to set another sales goal that I didn’t think I was going to meet. So I gave myself the grace. We’re just putting that off and we’ll come back to those sales goals for 2025.
[00:18:17] Because it wasn’t hitting those sales goals.
[00:18:19] I did have to cut back on expenses. And one of those things was working with my business coach, which was such a hard transition. Even though it’s been months. And I’m still utilizing so many things that I learned during my time, working with Candice.
[00:18:38] It’s still such a huge shift to be a part of a community for so long. I was working with Candice and a part of her mastermind for about three years, and then I, all of a sudden didn’t have that anymore.
[00:18:51] So that was a shitty part of the year for sure. And then as we got into the fall, I definitely stretched myself way too far. And I got caught in that cycle of, I just need to get through the next couple of weeks and then I can relax. And the worst part about that cycle is that it takes a lot to get out of it.
[00:19:11] And so that was definitely not how I wanted to be heading into the fall.
[00:19:16] And then last but not least something that did not work for me was using a digital planner on my iPad.
[00:19:24] I thought it was going to be the answer to my planner problems, but it definitely wasn’t. And I’m going to talk a little bit more about that later in the episode. Now enough with all the bad things. Let’s start talking about some things that worked really, really well for me this year.
[00:19:38] First is utilizing honey books, lead forms for my mini sessions. With these lead forms, my clients were able to log in. Pick a session time. Input all of their information automatically get a contract to sign with that includes their remaining balance and get added into a fully automated workflow that would carry them through right until their gallery was delivered.
[00:20:01] I had so many compliments from clients about how seamless it was and how easy it was for them to use it. So that was a huge win.
[00:20:10] I also the summer updated my website to change the wedding service offering that I had listed. So I decided that I was no longer going to be taking on full day weddings because they just aren’t conducive to where I’m at in my life with my health and everything like that.
[00:20:27] But I really wasn’t ready to just give it all up. So I decided to transition into exclusively doing city hall weddings.
[00:20:35] And within two weeks of putting that information up on my website, I had it three new bookings.
[00:20:41] It’s so rare to see. That sort of return on your investment and time when you make a change like that, that quickly. So that was really exciting to see.
[00:20:52] I started doing some editing on my iPad.
[00:20:55] Which might seem totally insane to some people, but what happened was Lightroom updated and all of a sudden my computer was no longer meeting the requirements that Adobe and Lightroom needed to be able to run the program. And I really did not want to spend the money on upgrading these features. So I decided to start sending my photos over to, the cloud version of Lightroom and I’ve been editing on my iPad. And to be honest, I actually find it to be so much more efficient than when I was using my computer, which is totally weird. But I loved it.
[00:21:33] So I put that in things that worked really well this year.
[00:21:37] Then outside the office, I changed the way that I was eating on wedding days. And they’ve really started incorporating a lot more carbs into my diet and it actually had a huge impact on my recovery time.
[00:21:50] I should’ve looked this up before I started recording this episode. I want to say it’s episode. 59 or episode 60, but if you go back, you’ll find an episode there where I talk about how I walk through an actual wedding day and the impact that this car bloated diet had. On my energy throughout the day and my recovery time.
[00:22:11] So if you want to hear more about that, go and check out that episode. And then lastly, one more win that I wanted to put down was that I started my own appear mastermind with friends.
[00:22:21] We’ve had some change ups because of people’s schedules and what they’re able to commit to. But I have to give a huge shout out to Kara and staff because I talk to them constantly during the week. And they are such an invaluable support that really filled in that community that I had been missing since I stopped working with my business coach. And the bonus part was that they’ve both worked with Candice as well.
[00:22:46] So we’re all coming into this from the same place and are in Phases where we’re working on the next chapters of our businesses and careers. And it has been amazing 10 out of 10 recommend starting up here, mastermind with your friends.
[00:23:01] Okay. So with all of those. Bad things and good things and wins and everything all in mind. Now it’s time to start thinking about what goal is I want to be setting for 20, 25. What kinds of things I want to be chasing after and pursuing with not only my business, but in my personal life as well.
[00:23:22] So for sales, I have a $10,000 sales goal, and I know that this is going to seem really low, obviously. I am not paying all of my bells with $10,000, but this is just for my photography business. My systems business is taking up a lot more of my time these days.
[00:23:40] So I’m actually going to be running through all of this again, where I’m going to be brainstorming the good and the bad and setting goals and all the things. Totally separately for my assistance business. So for my photography business, my sales goal is $10,000 for 2025. And in order to hit that goal, I need to book roughly 15 portrait sessions with 10 of those portrait sessions, purchasing extra digital files or prints and things like that. And I need to book for city hall weddings.
[00:24:09] Those numbers seem pretty tangible when you set a number like $10,000, it’s important to really think about. What it is that you need to do in order to hit that number?
[00:24:19] So that’s what it’s going to look like for me.
[00:24:22] On the client experience side of things. I have a few goals first starting with reminding myself that it’s okay to not take photos of things that I don’t love doing. So saying goodbye to those newborn photos and sticking to family photos and city hall, weddings and engagements.
[00:24:40] I want to combine some emails that I have. And add additional emails. Uh, are going to deliver some more supportive and educational information, but also make sure that the number of emails that I’m sending isn’t increasing, because I don’t want to get spammy or anything like that.
[00:24:58] But overall, to be honest, I’m really happy with my client experience right now.
[00:25:02] So I’m not planning on making a whole lot of changes for 2025.
[00:25:07] And then lastly, some goals that I have for personal growth are to really lean into community in 2025. So I’m going to keep working with my peer mastermind. And I’m also getting more involved with the rising tide society. Again,
[00:25:21] I restarted my local chapter in the fall of 2023, early 2024. And going into 2025, we’re officially going to be starting in person meetups again. So I’m really excited to just lean on that community, both local and otherwise, because it really just makes such a difference. I’m also going to start celebrating my monthly wins again, which is something that I used to do all the time. I have a big wall calendar up in my office and every month I would put a sticky note up on the calendar. And put a win up there. But these days, I’m not actually spending a lot of time working in my office.
[00:25:58] So I stopped doing that. I’m looking at my calendar right now. And I actually only did it for January and no other months. So I’m going to change that in 2025.
[00:26:08] Now, of course, my cat, a little side note has come to say hello while I’m in the middle of recording this podcast, but I’ve got things to do so if you hear any weird little purring in the background, hopefully it’s not coming through, but if you do. That’s my cat, because she has to be attached to me all the time. Anyway enough about my cat. Let’s get back to it. Little side note. Um, so I’m going to start celebrating my monthly wins again. And I’m going to be leaning more into cycle sinking as well, which is something that is so important to me as someone with endometriosis.
[00:26:44] I’m going to be doing even more planning around that, especially with taking on less photography clients and smaller weddings is that I’m only going to be booking things for days when I’m know I’m going to be able to show up as my best. Obviously when I was taking on full day weddings and booking those a year in advance. Not only was that impossible, but if it turned out to be a day that I wasn’t feeling good, obviously I’ve still have to show up.
[00:27:08] So with smaller bookings with sessions and city hall, weddings, that book on a much shorter timeframe, it is a lot easier to be able to maintain my schedule that way.
[00:27:19] And then lastly, I want to go into the surgery that I’m having next year with a really positive mindset. I have no idea when the surgery is happening and it’s going to be a pretty big one. But I’m just trying to make peace with the unknown and know that this is the right decision for me. And if we’re treating my endometriosis and that all I can do is just sit and wait and see how it goes.
[00:27:46] So that’s it for the goals that I have put together.
[00:27:50] And now I want to talk a little bit about ways that I am going to be streamlining my communication and simplifying my workflow for 2025.
[00:27:59] I mentioned this a little bit before, but I’m planning on combining some of my emails and then adding in a few extras so that the same. Number of emails is being sent. I’m not getting spammy or anything like that, but I’m sending more information. So one thing I’m going to be doing is combining my welcome questionnaire And my blankets selection questionnaire into one. The welcome questionnaire. It gets everybody’s names, ages. Any accessibility requests they need and things like that. And then the blankets selection questionnaire, pretty obvious. I’ve taken pictures of all of the blankets that I have to offer that people can use for their session.
[00:28:36] And I send them those to be able to choose which one they want.
[00:28:40] So I’m going to put all of those into one. And then I’m going to add in an email that specifically at lines of what’s going to happen. If weather doesn’t cooperate.
[00:28:49] Even though I am still sending that information out in a different email. I am finding that I’m having to repeat that information a lot and that people are missing it. So I’ve decided that I’m going to make it its own standalone email to hopefully really drive that information home.
[00:29:06] For city hall weddings.
[00:29:07] I am going to be creating a new pre-wedding questionnaire that doesn’t include sections like wedding party photos, or reception photos, because those are things that are not typically needed when someone’s getting married at city hall. And I’m going to be rebuilding my workflows over the off season to start utilizing honey books, new conditional logic features. If you don’t have this yet know that it’s coming, it’s been a slow roll out to different groups of users. But know that when you get it, it is going to take a lot of work to get it up and running, and it is going to replace your existing workflows. So that’s important to keep in mind.
[00:29:44] There are definitely still some kinks that they need to work out, but it is totally worth it. And you’re absolutely going to love the freedom that it gives you and the different options that are available with this conditional logic.
[00:29:58] Sandra: You know that feeling when you’re overwhelmed with emails, contracts, payments, and client inquiries, wondering how you’re going to keep it all together? Girl, same. I mean, at least until I started using HoneyBook. HoneyBook is an all in one client management system that helps you stay organized and make your workflow feel manageable.
[00:30:19] Even on days when your energy is low. As a photographer balancing chronic illness, it has been an absolute game changer for me. Over the last six years, I’ve leaned on HoneyBook to grow my business without burning myself out in the process. From automating inquiries to sending contracts and tracking payments, HoneyBook makes it easy to deliver a polished professional experience without the chaos.
[00:30:43] Whether you’re balancing health challenges or just need more time to focus on the parts of your business that you love, HoneyBook helps simplify your day to day so that you can feel like you’re actually able to get ahead. If you’ve been looking for a way to get your business more organized and less overwhelming, head to share.
[00:30:59] honeybook. com Forward slash Sandra to get 30 percent off your first year. It’s one of the best investments I have ever made for my business. And I know that it can help you too. A special thank you to HoneyBook for being a sponsor of this episode. And now let’s get back to it.
[00:31:17] Sandra: Now, the workflow that I need to simplify is not actually one that lives inside HoneyBook or is CRM related at all. I don’t know if any of you can relate, but I convince myself every year that I need a new planner. And every single year that planner gets used for a few months. And then sits on my shelf, collecting dust.
[00:31:44] And every single time, a part of me feels so guilty for the wasted paper and the wasted money. So.
[00:31:51] for 2024, I bought myself a $3 digital planner off of Etsy to use on my iPad with free lifetime upgrades. So that at least I’m not killing any trees in the process. But guess what? Still didn’t finish out the year. Still only used it for a few months. So in 2025, I am keeping things simple And I am just going to keep using a sauna, which I always use anyway And realistically it does everything that I need from a digital planner. Using two separate things is just redundant and I don’t need to do it. Plus I had an Assano strategy session with my friend Serana from simply organized by Serana earlier this year. And she helped me get all my things set up in a way that just makes so much sense for my brain. I have a master list.
[00:32:39] And then I have individual lists that all lead into that. So. I have an at-a-glance view of everything that’s going on in my business. And I also can pop into those individual spaces. If there’s something specific that I need to work on.
[00:32:52] if you’re looking for a way to organize some of your projects and your social media and things like that outside of your client facing work, definitely check out a sauna. I just use the free version. I don’t pay for it. And it has everything that I need.
[00:33:06] Then lastly, before the year gets underway, I’m going to be looking at my calendar for the whole year and I’m going to be building in some flexibility. This is something that I always do and will always keep on doing, because I think it’s so important to plan things like time off at the beginning of the year. If a whole 12 months is too much for you to think about right now, try thinking about just 90 days, stick to one quarter at a time. But I want you to make it a priority to book some time off. In advance, especially during busy season. If you had any other type of job where you weren’t self-employed, you would be booking time off and taking advantage of things like vacation time. And so I want you to still have those luxuries as a small business owner and as a photographer, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be able to do that as well.
[00:33:57] And then aside from time off, I also like to keep additional dates open around my mini session.
[00:34:02] So that way, if weather doesn’t cooperate, I can easily shift everybody over with little to no stress. I know that I have that time available. And I’m not having to just find pockets of space to fit everybody into.
[00:34:16] So those are some ways that I’ve really built in flexibility to my schedule.
[00:34:21] Overall reflecting on the year that just passed, setting those goals, updating your systems, building flexibility into your schedule. All these things can really make the biggest difference for every single photographer, myself included. So I don’t want you to sleep on doing this for yourself.
[00:34:39] Trust me, it is so important. It’s not actually something that I ever did in my own business until I started working with a business coach. And it’s one of the things that if I could go back and tell the past version of myself to start doing, I would so take that for what it’s worth. And start doing this this year.
[00:34:59] After you’ve mapped everything out. If you need some help getting your workflows up and running to support all of your goals, To support all of those goals that you set, then head over to my website, simply Sandra yvonne.ca. Forward slash services and get in touch about booking either a HoneyBook strategy session which is a one-to-one call where we will just talk about any issues you’re having with your HoneyBook account, or just take a look at the workflows that you’ve built.
[00:35:25] Essentially just getting another set of eyes on your HoneyBook account to make sure you’re utilizing every feature and getting the most out of what you’ve paid for. Or you’ll find information on my website as well for a done for you workflow build VIP day where I actually do the work for you.
[00:35:43] I build out a complete workflow, including all of the templates that you’ll need so that you can just log in And know that it’s up and running without having to do any of the legwork to make that happen. My books are open for 2025. Uh, so head over to my website, get in touch before all of those dates start to fill up. And remember that even the smallest changes can have a big impact on how you approach your business in 2025.
[00:36:07] That’s it for me, friends, I am off to wrap up the last few days of work and then I’m going to be putting my feet up to enjoy the holidays. Thank you so much for being here again for.
[00:36:20] the start of the season and for all the episodes last season that happened earlier this year. You guys are literally the reason why I keep putting out new episodes. And it was so thankful for you. If you want to come and hang out over the holidays, make sure you come to find me on threads on Instagram.
[00:36:38] Both of those are at simply Sandra Yvonne, and you can also come and hang out in my Facebook communities, the unfiltered community, or chronically ill disabled in neurodivergent photographers. I have links for all. Those will be in the show notes. Have a great end to your year, have the best time over the holidays.
[00:36:57] And I’ll be back in 2025.
[00:36:59] Sandra: You’ve been listening to Keeping It Candid, and I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you’re here. Running a photography business doesn’t have to mean endless hustle and burnout, and I hope today’s episode brought you one step closer to that work life balance that you deserve. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe and leave a review.
[00:37:19] It helps other photographers like you find the show and keeps me inspired to keep bringing you more tips every single week. If you’re looking for tools, resources, or ways to work together, head to SimplySandraYvonne.ca to get started. Until next time, keep it simple and don’t forget to take care of you along the way.
This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small amount of money if you make a purchase from any of our affiliates. This is done at no cost to you!
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and you may have already been able to tell this by the title of this post, but we are going to be talking all about things like depression and anxiety and struggling with mental health as an entrepreneur. If this topic is going to be triggering for you, please take what you need and feel free to skip this and the corresponding episode (#47) of Keeping It Candid. I completely understand that this might not be a topic that everybody is in the space to hear right now and I want you to make sure that you’re putting yourself first!
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please consider calling star 988. This is a mental health crisis line that’s available 24 -7 and it’s open to both US and Canadian residents.
Let’s be real, being an entrepreneur is hard. Depression is hard. Anxiety is hard. And when all three of these coincide at the same time, it is really, really hard. Today, I’m sharing a little bit of a vulnerable podcast that I’ve honestly hesitated to share.
Even though I am so passionate about advocating for mental health and chronic illnesses, I still have a lot of internalized ableism like a lot of us do and opening up about topics like this can also be really hard. But I know that I can do hard things. That’s what I keep telling myself. So I hope you’ll join me as I share a little bit of an update on what life has been like for me over the last month.
[00:00:36] (Intro music) Welcome to Keeping it Candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way.
And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three wing too who’s obsessed with I’m obsessed with tacos. My love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.
Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode. (music fades out)
02:05 Personal Experience with Depression and Anxiety
Sandra Henderson (02:05.966)
Back in the beginning of April, I really just wasn’t feeling like myself. I had just come back from vacation, so those post-vacation blues were hitting hard, especially because I was coming from Florida, where there was nothing but sun, and I came back to dreary Canada, where we had snow and rain and lots of clouds and all the things. So that lack of vitamin D definitely hit me. And it was also just perfect timing with my cycle for things to be a little bit rough.
And so I really just, I wasn’t feeling like myself. And after about 10 days or so, I started to feel it pass. I started to feel better. I was taking advantage of feeling more energetic at work and mentally clear. And then about a week later, it all started going downhill again. There were just these feelings that I couldn’t shake. Like I was anxious. There was this deep, really heavy weight on my chest.
If you’ve ever experienced depression before, you might know what I’m talking about. It felt like there were these dark hands kind of gripping me and trying to pull me down. Almost like when you’re about to get a cold or get the flu, you feel it starting and you know what’s happening and you try to do things to stop it. But a lot of times that sickness that you’re fighting off is going to take over, whether that’s a cold or a flu or depression. They really kind of work the same way.
Now I am very, very thankful that I was able to connect with a doctor last year and get prescribed medication for my anxiety and depression. So I had that in my court already helping me get through this. And it gave me this perspective that I’d never had before where I could feel what was happening. I could recognize what was happening, but it wasn’t fully taking over to a point where I felt like I was completely out of control or didn’t know what was going on.
And so I am very thankful to have taken that time to boost my confidence to actually go and ask my doctor for this help. If that’s something that you’ve been struggling with, I highly recommend it. Getting back onto an SSRI medication was hands down one of the best decisions that I have made for myself over the last year. And of course, I don’t want to give out any medical advice by any means.
04:26 Seeking Medication and Managing Symptoms
Sandra Henderson (04:26.222)
This might not be the perfect solution for you, but it’s definitely worth talking to your doctor about if you’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression as well and have been wondering if there’s something that can help you get through it. So I had that in my court like I said, and then because it was able to just give me that little bit of separation and that little bit of clarity, I was able to focus on doing things that were going to make me feel better, whether it was things that I just enjoy doing or things that, you know, quote-unquote, people have said are the things that you should be doing to make yourself feel better.
05:19 Self-Care and Grace as an Entrepreneur
So here is a little bit of a look at what I did during that time when I was really feeling off. First and foremost, I gave myself the grace that I needed to just feel it out, to let it ride and not fight against the negative feelings because when we do that and we bottle them up, they have a special way of eventually exploding out in a way worse way. So I wanted to give myself the grace to ride that out. I was also able to give myself some time off, which I know is not possible for everybody, especially if you are in the thick of busy season, but I highly, highly encourage you to just find some time to take to yourself because when you’re feeling that way and you’re running on high and you are just filling all of your time with all the things.
You’re really not making yourself a priority. It’s like bottling up those emotions to not feel them. Eventually filling up your time and go, go, go, go, go all the time is going to catch up with you as well. I took some time to reprioritize my projects. So I put things that were really time-consuming and mentally draining. Those got pushed off and I worked on things that I could do kind of on the go instead. I’m used to making these kinds of adjustments when I have flare days for endometriosis.
So I did a lot of designing in Canva and just refreshing my marketing plan, getting a better idea of what I wanted to be working on for the rest of the year and things like that. So I still felt productive in my business without having to take on the mental load of some really big projects. I also got outside. Thankfully we started to have a little bit of nicer weather around here. So on days that we had some warm weather and sunshine, I went for a walk or I would just sit out in my backyard in the sun for a few minutes.
Sandra Henderson (06:46.766)
I ate a lot of protein. So I was eating peanut butter and crackers. I was eating nuts. I was eating Greek yogurt. I was eating chicken and spinach. Basically, anything that I could get protein from. I was really trying to pack that into my diet because my stomach was also off. So eating wasn’t super easy for me. I was making sure to pack in lots of vitamins, especially vitamin C because there’s colds going around in my area, and vitamin D as well because I was trying to adjust back to being in cloudy Canada. I did some face masks and took a shower, put on some comfy clothes and did all those things so that I could just feel physically more comfortable.
One night when I was really having a hard time falling asleep, I put my noise-cancelling headphones on and put on my favourite playlist and just enjoyed some music therapy, which I love that it still works for me at 37 years old the same way that it did when I was 17. The perfect Playlist can just be so healing sometimes. And I gave myself a lot of patience because anybody who has gone through this before knows that healing is not linear. So I had to be patient with the days that I was feeling better and then waking up the next day and feeling worse. It wasn’t a progression of slowly going uphill every day.
So, I had to have a lot of patience for myself with that. And then just leaning on my support system. I am very, very lucky to have a husband who knows exactly the right things to do when I’m having times like this. It took us a long time to get there. It takes a lot of learning to know what your partner needs and doesn’t need without them saying it and respecting their boundaries and autonomy when they’re not feeling well.
I was very lucky to be able to lean on him and message friends who are a part of my chronic illness support system and things like that. So that was everything that I did over a couple of weeks. And when I finally started to feel better again, thankfully it happened, then I was left with this other piece of the puzzle. And again, if you’ve been through anything like this, you’re going to know exactly what I’m talking about.
08:59 Facing Overwhelm and Anxiety as an Entrepeneur
Sandra Henderson (08:59.886)
But I started feeling better again and then I was left to face everything that had been piling up and that kickstarted my anxiety all over again. My body and mind’s natural instinct when it gets overwhelmed is to go into freeze mode and that’s exactly what I did. I had systems in place that help with a lot of things but of course, it can’t help with everything. No matter how much I wish they could, they can’t help with everything. I replied to three emails just this past Monday that had been there for a week.
My podcast, as I’m sure you have already noticed, has been completely all over the place this season with no consistency in when these episodes are being posted. My email newsletter and blog went radio silent in the process. And so now that I’m feeling better and back to feeling a little bit more like myself, what’s really important is that I need to give myself a fresh perspective to start getting things done in a way that’s not overwhelming.
This week I’m so thankful I was able to take the whole week off. I didn’t have any meetings or sessions or anything on the calendar, so I blocked the time off to specifically focus on batch-working my podcast. As of the time of recording, which actually is May 3rd, so just a little bit before this episode actually aired, my goal by the end of today is to have two months’ worth of podcast episodes ready to go because not only do I want to be more consistent, but I also want to be more prepared if and honestly likely when this happens again.
Anxiety and depression are something that I’ve been dealing with my whole life. So I know that it can come and go, but it’s also very, very much directly related to my hormones for me. I’m in the process of finding out if I have something called PMDD, which would explain a lot. I’m not going to go into a whole other gynecological side note on this because ya’ll know I could talk about all those kinds of things forever. But if that is the case, this is something that I can expect to be feeling more and more each month directly related to my cycles. So I want to be prepared if that happens again.
11:38 Upcoming Guests on the Podcast
I’m so thankful that I have a huge backlog of absolutely amazing guests that I’ve had the opportunity to interview so far this season. And I seriously can’t wait to share everything that’s been recorded. Just to do a little bit of name-dropping, we have Janelle Henningsen talking about hiring an editor, Angie MacPherson is talking about branding, Yasi Salavatian is talking about using your brand voice, Laura Murphy joined me to talk about systems and so did Diana Wei Fong, Kara Duncan joined me to talk about consistent marketing, and Dolly DeLong joined me to talk about systems again.
These women are seriously entrepreneur powerhouses. So make sure you check back for their interviews over the next few months because I know you are going to love them. Now on that note, thank you so much for being here today, for always listening to the podcast, even when it takes a few unexpected weeks off, and for allowing me the space to be vulnerable and share a bit more of my story with you. I hope you all have a great rest of your week and I will be back next Wednesday. Thank you so much for listening.
(Outro music) Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time. (Music fades out)
About Sandra
Sandra Henderson is a photographer, systems strategist, and podcast host based in Ontario, Canada. She specializes in helping photographers create strategic systems for their businesses to help them get their time back so they can spend it doing the things they love most. As an entrepreneur who also navigates chronic illness life, Sandra takes a unique approach to using systems that will help businesses thrive no matter what life throws your way.
On a personal note, she loves tacos, all things Bravo, 90’s music, travelling, and spending time at home with her husband, stepson, and two cats!
[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: Welcome back to the very last episode of my special March series, all about endometriosis awareness month. If you missed the last couple of episodes, I shared what my story has been first leading up to getting my diagnosis and then an update of what my life has been like over the last couple of years.
[00:00:17] So if that is at all of interest to you, make sure you go back and give those a listen. And today is just going to be a short and sweet episode where I am talking all about my endometriosis toolkit. These are things that I have with me on the go and at home at all times to just make my life a little bit easier.
[00:00:36] (Intro music) Welcome to Keeping it Candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way.
And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three wing too who’s obsessed with I’m obsessed with tacos. My love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.
Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode. (music fades out)
02:13 Endometriosis Surgery Details
[00:01:25] Quickly, before I get into that, I had quite a few people pop into my DMs after last week’s episode to ask me about what my surgery is that’s coming up next year. And I realized that I completely forgot to talk about that in my last episode. I’m going to blame it on the fact that it was day one of my cycle.
[00:01:43] And Honestly, I thought it was a great idea to record on that day given that it’s Endometriosis Awareness Month, but in hindsight, it was a terrible idea. I felt horrible. I feel like you could hear it in my voice and the brain fog was so, so bad. So. I will probably never do that again, but just to give a quick little update on what my surgery is going to be, I don’t have a date for it.
[00:02:08] It’s going to be sometime in 2025, but I am going in for a hysterectomy. Now, it’s really important to note that a hysterectomy is not a cure for endometriosis. There is a similar disease, it’s kind of like endometriosis-sister disease called adenomyosis, and that is when the tissues start to embed themselves into your uterus.
[00:02:29] Whereas for me, those tissues are going elsewhere in my body. So when you have adenomyosis, removing your uterus is absolutely a cure for that because there’s no more uterus for the tissues to embed in. But with endometriosis, removing my uterus is essentially just going to stop my periods. It is not going to do anything for any tissues that are elsewhere in my body, but I’m not mad at the idea of not having periods anymore.
[00:02:54] I gave up my fertility a long time ago, and so if this surgery means that I have a couple of days less pain a month, then I am totally okay with that. I am having the hysterectomy performed by a surgeon who is an endometriosis specialist. And so while he’s performing that surgery, he’s also going to be looking elsewhere for any tissues that may have grown on my diaphragm is a big area that we’re going to be looking at.
[00:03:17] Also looking at my ovaries, the ligaments over top of my uterus, um, Where else? We’re going to be looking inside my bladder and looking at my bowels. They’re also going to be taking a look at my appendix and removing it if there are any issues with it. So it is going to be a very invasive surgery. they’re going to be doing a lot of looking around.
03:26 Invasive Endometriosis Surgery and Remission Period
[00:03:39] If they do find any tissues while they’re in there, they are going to remove them. So that’s kind of what that looks like. Hopefully having this surgery performed by a specialist is going to mean that I get a little bit of relief afterwards, almost like a remission period. After my last surgery in 2019, I was told to expect about five years minimum of remission and I had not.
[00:04:04] So I’m a little hesitant to get my hopes up. up about what life is going to look like after this surgery, but I do know it’s a necessary next step and it’s one that I’ve been pushing for. When the day comes, I am looking forward to it and I’m just going to have to take those unknowns as they come along.
[00:04:21] So I hope that clears everything up for you. If you were wondering what that was all about, and if you have any other questions at all, by all means, please feel free to pop into my DMs. You can find me on Instagram at SimplySandraYvonne, and I am totally an open book when it comes to talking about endometriosis.
04:40 Heating Pads and Robax Heat Wraps
[00:04:40] Okay, so now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to my endometriosis toolkit. First, heating pads of any capacity, but specifically some Robax heat wraps. I wish I was a Robax affiliate. I swear the number of people that I’ve had go buy these, they should be paying me a cut at this point for all the referrals.
[00:04:58] But these wraps are pretty much like those hand warmers that you can put in your pocket. So they come in a package and as soon as you open it up the air will activate the crystals inside and it has up to 16 hours of heat I believe. I’ve never worn it for the full 16 hours but let me tell you on a wedding day these are absolutely amazing.
[00:05:18] They are really thin and sleek so they hide under your clothes. The material is almost like a stretchy diaper tab but Giant size. They’re one size fits most. I don’t want to say one size fits all, even though that’s what the box says. Because we all know that there is no such thing as one size fits all.
[00:05:36] So one size fits most. It does have adjustable self adhering velcro type material to hold it on you. And I just put it under my clothing. They do have ones that are specifically marketed towards being put on your uterus. But anybody who’s familiar with the pink tacks knows that those are actually more expensive than the ones that I use, which are just for your back.
[00:05:59] And all you need to do is just spin it around so that it’s sitting on your front. save yourself some unnecessary money. So those are something that I have in my camera bag for every wedding day, every session. I bring them with me when I’m travelling. And then of course I have my heating pads that I can plug in for when I’m going to be inside.
06:18 Ergonomic Seat Cushions
[00:06:18] Next is my ergonomic seat cushion. I have ergonomic seat cushions in my office, in my car, and one to travel with. Sitting on hard surfaces is really, really painful for me because of the tension I have in my pelvis and the damage that’s been done to my pelvic floor because of having endometriosis. So I was finding that I couldn’t even sit in my office to edit without being in pain.
[00:06:44] If I was driving for a long time, I was having a hard time walking when I was getting out of the car. And so getting these ergonomic seat cushions has been absolutely amazing. They just make sure that my hips are positioned properly. If you have any sort of back pain, regardless of what the cause is, this is going to be really helpful.
[00:07:03] This is going to be really helpful for you as well. and yeah, I just bring them on the go. So I have one with me on a wedding day so that I have that to sit on during a reception. I also have a pop up stool that I bring with me so that I can always sit if I need to and I can just put my cushion down on that.
[00:07:18] I bring it on airplanes because airplane seats are so comfortable. So uncomfortable. So yeah, I absolutely love these cushions. Highly recommend. I’m also going to be putting together an Amazon list for almost everything that I talk about in this episode. So make sure you pop over into the show notes to check that out if you’re interested in grabbing any of these.
07:37 Proper Shoes for Support
[00:07:37] Third is shoes. I’m officially in my sensible shoe era. I’m not gonna lie, I hate it, but I finally got some cute runners that have really great arch support, and that’s been making my life a little bit easier, making me feel a little bit less like my mom. , but, Wearing proper shoes has been so necessary for the pressure it puts on my joints, for the pressure it puts on my pelvis and my back.
[00:08:03] As much as I love wearing cute shoes, something had to give and I am already in enough pain without adding to it. So sensible shoe era it is. I just ordered some cute arch-support sandals from Amazon. So I’m hoping that those can replace my runners in the summer, but make sure that you have shoes that support you regardless of what kind of shoe that is.
08:23 E-Reader for Reading Comfort
[00:08:26] That is going to be super important for your toolkit as well. Next on the list is my e-reader. Now, this could be a Kindle, a Kobo, an iPad, whatever that may look like for you, but I made the switch to using an e-reader rather than reading books because of the pressure it was putting on my hands, especially on days that I was recovering from a wedding or was dealing with a flare.
[00:08:51] I love reading. I love the feeling of turning pages and the smell of books, but it was really discouraging for me that on days when I was in pain, I wasn’t able to read when reading is something that I do to be able to take my mind off of how I’m feeling. So I officially made the switch to using an e-reader and it has been so nice to be able to just pop my screen up and have it there and not have to worry about holding the book.
[00:09:15] And I’ve gotten so much more reading done since then. My goal for 2024 is to read 20 books. I am on book number five right now. So fingers crossed that I can keep up with it, but that would definitely not be able to happen if I was still reading paperback books, sorry. Even worse, hardcover books.
09:43 Water Cooler and Water Bottle
[00:09:43] The second last thing on my toolkit is, strangely enough, my water cooler and my water bottle. These are, I know, two things, but we’re going to combine them into one. Getting a water cooler was one of the best purchases I ever made for my house. I know that we have water coming out of the tap, I get it, but I just don’t like it.
[00:10:00] If you drink water all the time, you know that water has a taste. and I will die on this hill. Water has a taste and every kind of bottled water tastes different. Every tap water tastes different. And I just really don’t like the tap water at home. So we got this water cooler and now that’s all I drink. I drink water all day long.
[00:10:19] Like, I have probably increased my water intake by about a thousand percent since we got this. I also always have an insulated water bottle with me so I can bring cold water on the go, but I actually call it my emotional support water bottle because I literally have it with me everywhere. At this point, it doesn’t even stand up straight anymore because I’ve dropped it so many times and the bottom is so dented, but I love this water bottle.
[00:10:43] And having it with me at all times means that I’m always able to stay hydrated, which is really important for keeping down my inflammation levels.
11:43 Cannabis Products for Nausea and Endometriosis Pain
Now, the last thing in my toolkit, this is one that I will say being able to include it is going to depend on where you live, what laws are like in your area, and what your comfort level is.
[00:11:04] But for me, I am a 420-friendly person. This is a 420-friendly household and living in Canada, cannabis products are legal here. So using cannabis products, I use a vape currently, and this is something that I use every day to help with my chronic nausea and pain levels. I know a lot of people may hear this and just be like, no, that is not for me.
[00:11:29] But if it’s something that you partake in, no, I fully support that decision. If it’s something that you’re curious about and want to ask questions in a safe space, by all means, slide into my DM. I am here to help support you through this. but yeah, it’s something that has been prescribed medicinally for a long time.
[00:11:48] I think that there are a lot of benefits for it and how it can impact my body. And of course, yes, there is the argument about the damage that it’s doing to my lungs and I understand that, but it’s just another one of those conversations about the juice being worth the squeeze. The amount of damage that I would be doing to my body if I was allowing my chronic nausea to run rampant all day long if I was not able to eat properly, if I was in extreme levels of pain.
[00:12:16] And having to use narcotic pain medication, all of those things would be doing so much more damage to my body than consuming cannabis. And I think it really goes to show how important it is to get rid of the stigma around using cannabis products because not only can they really help people with chronic illnesses, but it doesn’t mean that you’re not capable of doing other things.
[00:12:37] I’m running two businesses and being there for my stepson and a part of my household and part of my relationship and my marriage, all while still consuming cannabis, the idea that it’s going to turn you into this stoner who is not capable of doing anything and just wants to sit around and eat all day.
[00:12:58] You know, maybe that happens every now and then, but it’s definitely not true a hundred percent of the time. So if there is one thing that we take away from this part of the episode, I hope that it’s just to let’s end the stigma around a lot of things, but especially around using cannabis products.
13:25 Recap and Conclusion
So as a quick little recap of what is inside my toolkit, we have heating pads, but especially Robax heat wraps for your back that you can either use on your back if you have back pain or spin them around to the front to help with cramps.
[00:13:28] An ergonomic seat cushion that I bring everywhere and have in my office, in my car, comfy shoes with lots of arch support. A water cooler and a water bottle so that I’m always staying hydrated. An e-reader so that I don’t have to worry about the pressure that books are putting on my hands on bad pain days.
[00:13:46] And my cannabis vape. I hope that these are helpful to you. If you have anything that you include in your toolkit that you want to recommend, by all means let me know. I love having endometriosis friends in my community. I always say that it sucks that we have to bond over something so shitty, but at least we have each other and there is so much comfort in just knowing that someone else gets it.
[00:14:10] So pop into my DMs if you have any recommendations, and next week we are going to be back to our regularly scheduled programming. My friend Alex from Alex Collier Design is joining me for an interview to talk all about your website homepage, things that are important to have on it, things that you want to avoid, and hopefully give you some ideas on how to spruce up your homepage without feeling like you have to completely redo your entire website.
[00:14:35] And for me, I’m actually heading to Florida on Monday for a couple of weeks. It is going to be a working vacation, but I am going with my husband, my best friends, and their family, and I cannot wait. I am daydreaming nonstop about the endless hours of sun that I’m going to be getting. Hopefully, by the time I am back in my office, I will be a bronze goddess with a tan that is going to last me through the end of this Canadian winter.
[00:15:00] Anyways, friends, have a great rest of your Wednesday and I will be back next week.
(Outro music) Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time. (Music fades out)
About Sandra
Sandra Henderson is a photographer, systems strategist, and podcast host based in Ontario, Canada. She specializes in helping photographers create strategic systems for their businesses to help them get their time back so they can spend it doing the things they love most. As an entrepreneur who also navigates chronic illness life, Sandra takes a unique approach to using systems that will help businesses thrive no matter what life throws your way.
On a personal note, she loves tacos, all things Bravo, 90’s music, travelling, and spending time at home with her husband, stepson, and two cats!
I am back today to share part two of my endometriosis story. If you missed last week’s episode, I re-shared a recording that I had done back when I was first starting the podcast to give you a little bit of context about what my past with endometriosis has been like, what led me to get a diagnosis and things like that.
So if you haven’t checked that out, definitely go give it a listen. But today I am recording this episode on the very day that it is going to be launched. It’s currently 830 in the morning. I am watching the sun come up through my office window. My cat is nagging me to pay attention to her. I am also on the first day of my cycle, which I thought would be really appropriate for an episode during Endometriosis Awareness Month, where I’m talking about what my life is like right now.
So if you’re ready for a little update and all the things that have changed since I first made that episode [00:01:00] and what my life looks like today, we’re going to get right to it after the intro.
(Intro music) Welcome to Keeping it Candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way.
And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three wing too who’s obsessed with I’m obsessed with tacos. My love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.
Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode. (music fades out)
02:19 Effects of Medications
Towards the end of last week’s episode, I was talking about how I went on to medications for endometriosis that gave up my fertility [00:02:00] and were meant to help me manage the symptoms that I was having from endometriosis. I was told that these medications were putting me in menopause and that stopping my period and managing my hormones was going to control the pain and things that I was experiencing throughout the month.
And Well, part of that was true. I learned after I stopped taking most of the medications that it did not put me into menopause. These hormone medications stopped my body’s ability to be able to produce estrogen while I was taking them. And so that’s what stopped my period. It also gave me horrible side effects like hot flashes and all the things that people experience when they’re going through menopause.
But as soon as I stopped taking them, my period came back, but the hot flash just stuck around, and for a while, it was a whole mess. I wasn’t sleeping well, all these things. It was like having the worst of both worlds between having a period and being in menopause. I hated it. So when I finally [00:03:00] got in to see an endometriosis specialist last summer, which would have been July 2023, more than three years after my initial referral was sent to the specialist, I was finally accepted and that doctor had me stop taking all medications that I was on.
03:05 Waiting for Surgery
The reason for that is that we were trying to get my body back down to a base level to see how it Acts on its own without any sort of hormonal intervention so that we could get a better visual of what’s happening before I go in for my next surgery. My next surgery is currently up in the air and when that’s going to happen.
I’m on a waitlist and we’re hopeful for 2025. This just kind of paints a picture of what our healthcare Looks like in Ontario and in Canada, I’m not going to get into a whole tirade about it. I totally understand the privilege of having access to free health care, but if it’s something that I can only access every few years and it’s that difficult to get care, then.
04:00 Managing Symptoms
[00:04:00] Something needs to change, right? But anyway, side tangent, little soapbox there. And so going off all these hormone medications and getting my body ready for surgery has meant that my period has come back. I didn’t have it for a few years, and again, all those medications that I was taking, that was kind of the goal, was to stop my period so that I could at least have a few days where I had a little bit of relief from the symptoms I was feeling.
I will say, there’s no such thing as relief when you have endometriosis. There are some good days, and there are some bad days, but even on the good days, you still have symptoms and you are still in pain. And so, I’m glad that I took them. I think they did serve a purpose if even to just give me time to learn more about the disease and how it impacts my body, how it impacts my daily life.
But now that I’m off them, I would say that I would never go back on them if I had another choice. If there’s anybody here that’s listening that has endometriosis or is on [00:05:00] their own journey to getting a diagnosis, please don’t take that as any sort of you should or you should not go on any hormones or medications yourself.
Do What’s Best For You
I think that especially I think that with anything in life, you really have to do what is best for you, and I double down on that when it comes to your health. There are a lot of passionate people in the endometriosis community, and a lot of them will swear up and down that you should never touch a lot of these medications, but I have no regrets.
I think that with some of the medications that I took, I made an educated decision on what was best for me, and while some people would never consider it, I credit that to giving me the ability to get some rest and start being able to walk properly again and stop being able to eat and start being able to eat properly again back in 2020.
And so even though I don’t want to go back on them in the future, I [00:06:00] have no regrets. So I just wanted to make that very clear for anybody who is listening, because I know how disheartening it can be when you think you’ve found an answer and someone tells you that it’s not. a bad option or whatever the case may be.
06:18 Tracking Your Menstrual Cycle
So, just remember, ask your doctor questions, talk to your support system, and just make whatever decision is best for you. Since my period has come back, I do track my cycle even more religiously than I did before. I have talked about this a lot on the podcast, but I’ve actually started using an app called Moody, I call it Moody.
I think it’s like Moody Month Cycle or something like that is the full name of it, but it’s available for iPhone and Android systems. , I’m not an affiliate in any way. I’m just legit obsessed with this app. There are so many statistics. It’s so many customizations. There are graphs and info and I just nerd over it so much highly recommend it for anybody who gets a [00:07:00] period.
Understanding Your Hormone Levels
It has really helped me. Just have a better understanding of what my hormone levels are doing throughout the month, and how long each phase of my cycle is, which I used to think that each of the four phases was seven days. I’ve learned that in my winter, which is when I get my period, that part of my cycle is only about three days.
And then the next section is actually ten days. So that has given me a lot of clarity on how my body feels on different days, and I am very particular about making sure that I’m staying healthy. Scheduling on days that I typically feel well and not scheduling on days that I typically feel awful So like I said today is day one of my cycle; I’ve known for the last few weeks that today I was going to expect to have low energy Quite a bit of body pain I have been wrapped up in my heating pad all week long because it feels like there is a vice grip around my abdomen And so this week my schedule is really light and clear I had a couple of meetings yesterday and I have [00:08:00] to forward and launch this podcast.
08:05 Adjusting Work Schedule
But other than that, I don’t have any deadlines on my calendar. And that is super important to make sure that I’m giving my body the time that it needs to rest and to make sure that I’m giving the best version of myself to my clients. I’ve also really cut back on how I am booking my calendar. I limit the number of sessions and things like that that I’m taking on.
But I’m taking on even fewer weddings than I have previously. Because what used to be a one-day wedding hangover for recovery, the day after now is about four days or so, which leaves me absolutely no time in between if I were to do weddings every weekend. So I’ve really had to cut back on that. , and I limit myself to one full day of sessions per week.
So if I have a full day of mini-sessions, that’s going to be all that I booked that week. If I’m booking regular sessions, I limit those to three a day. And these are just things I do to again, make sure that I am showing up as the best version of myself for my [00:09:00] clients, but also limiting the amount of time that I need to recover afterwards because those recovery days are days that I’m not getting anything done in my business and your girl’s got some bills to pay, right?
I am so excited to tell you about my quiz called Let’s Talk About It: What your taco preferences reveal about your wedding photography business. When I was growing up, I loved nothing more than taking quizzes in the back of teen magazines. If any of you listening were born in the 90s, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
They were in the back of teen magazines. They were in the back of Cosmo magazines. And now if I’m being totally honest, at 36 years old. When I see a quiz pop up on my Buzzfeed, there is no better way to waste a few minutes of my day than to take that quiz. I just love them. So if you are like me and you love taking quizzes or you’re just interested in finding out what your taco preferences reveal about your wedding photography business and what the hell the two of them have anything to do with each other at all, I want you to head over to [00:10:00] my website, simplysandrayvonne.ca/quiz and you can find out.
And then don’t forget to pop over to my Instagram @SimplySandraYvonne and let me know what your results are. As I was putting these episodes together, I really was stopping to think about how and if things have improved since I recorded part one of my story. Which would have been back in 2022. And there are definitely some things that have gotten better.
10:18 Personal Growth and Coping
But I don’t know if it’s necessarily that the symptoms have gotten better, or if it’s just that I’ve become a lot better equipped to handle them. In the spring of 2023, I did decide to talk to my doctor about getting back onto an SSRI medication to help me with anxiety and depression, so that has been a huge game changer.
But in terms of the pain I get through my cycle, and symptoms like chronic nausea, my chronic [00:11:00] migraines, overall just general body pain, I really don’t think that it’s actually gotten better. I do think that I’m just mentally in a better place to handle it all.
There are still days that I have a hard time walking up my stairs. Days that I have my husband pick up a smoothie for me on his way home from work so that I can at least have something to eat that day, but I’m at this place where I’m not as scared. There are not as many unknowns as there were for me back in 2020 because when I had my first surgery I was given strong hope and belief that this was going to put me into remission for at least five years…
I didn’t get any remission, and so as the pandemic started and I had no access to speak to my doctors I was just left wondering what was happening with my body I didn’t know why I was feeling certain ways.
I didn’t know [00:12:00] what to expect from the recovery from the surgery. And I was left with a lot of unknowns. I had six weeks between when the surgery happened and when I saw my surgeon for a follow-up, where I had no idea what they had done to me during surgery. The doctor had come to talk to me and my husband, but I still hadn’t fully woken up from being put under for surgery.
Future Surgeries
And my husband, understandably, being there by himself with his wife going in for surgery, his anxiety was at an all-time high, and he didn’t remember a whole lot of what the doctor came in and said. After my surgery was over. I don’t blame him for that at all. We have already said that for my next surgery, we’re going to make sure he’s recording all of the information that they give.
So, hopefully that doesn’t happen again, where I’m just left wondering what happened, why I’m feeling certain ways, all of those unknowns. contributed to so much anxiety for me and that I really believe hindered my healing process after the surgery was over. So over the last few [00:13:00] years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot more about endometriosis.
I’ve had a lot of opportunities to learn more about my hormones and I pay really close attention to how things like food and stress, different temperatures outside, and different clothing that I’m wearing. I really pay close attention to how all of these things are impacting my body so that I can do what I can to alleviate symptoms, and alleviate that stress on my own.
And it’s given me a lot of confidence back in combination with maintaining my schedule so that I can get some control over this otherwise completely unpredictable disease. I wanted to wrap this episode up by sharing just a few things that you can do for somebody in your life that has endometriosis or who even suspects that they might have it.
13:44 Supporting Someone with Endometriosis
I want to say that self-diagnosis is completely valid. There is so much disinformation out there about endometriosis. There is a significant lack of education when it comes to our medical professionals where [00:14:00] most who are studying general medicine only talk about endometriosis for about an hour. An hour out of their entire medical study career. An hour.
Because of that, so many medical professionals are not skilled to be able to diagnose endometriosis. My own doctor, at 29 years old, told me I was too old to have endometriosis, and I had to see several more doctors after that to finally get a diagnosis. So if that’s something that you’re dealing with and you are convinced that you have endometriosis, I want you to know that self-diagnosis is completely valid.
And so if you are looking to support these people in your life better, the first thing that you can do is be as understanding as possible. Know that if they’re talking about being in pain, it’s probably because their pain is at a level that they can’t handle. There’s a good chance that they’re in pain every single day and that they just don’t talk about it unless it’s something that is serious.
Just pushing them outside their limits. [00:15:00] There’s a good chance they might have to cancel plans at the last minute that they’re going to try and participate, but their energy is not going to be completely there. Just be understanding with them because they are dealing with a lot that they’re probably not telling you about.
And never, ever, ever make their illness feel like a burden. Along with being understanding, I think that it’s really important to remember that when you are supporting someone with endometriosis, or any sort of chronic illness, disability, or anything like that, is to not take that person’s autonomy away from them.
A Person’s Autonomy
What I mean by that is that you may know that this person needs your assistance. It could be your partner, it could be a sister, it could be a friend, anybody. You may see them struggling. You may know that they need help. And it is hard for us as humans to watch our loved ones struggle. But one thing that my husband and I went through a lot when I was going through that period in 2020 when I was really, really sick.
Was that he wanted to jump in and help and do all the things because that was how he was able to feel helpful. He felt completely useless when it came to my disease and not being able to do anything to help me in that aspect. And so to combat that, to help him deal with his emotions, he started doing anything and everything he could for me without me being there without me asking him to.
And I know that sounds so sweet. I absolutely love him for it, but it got to a point where he was taking away my adult decision to be able to do something on my own. And when you are fighting for control of your body and you are going through so much in that aspect, to have other people start to make you feel like you’re not capable of doing things is really difficult to deal with and so it’s important to remember that our loved ones that are going through this, [00:17:00] even though they have this disease and they may be struggling, they still have the right to decide if they are going to struggle through that or not.
Sometimes we need to struggle. Sometimes we need to feel like we can still do things. And if we need the help, we’re going to ask you for it. You have to allow that conversation to happen. There are definitely still things that I need help with, and there are still things that I am stubborn about that I probably should ask for help with sooner.
And I know it’s really hard for my husband to sit back and watch me struggle, but, uh, As a grown woman who is capable of making her own decisions, it’s up to me to decide when I need help.
Learning More About Endometriosis
And then the last thing that you can do to support somebody in your life with endometriosis is to just learn more about the disease.
One of the hardest things that I had to go through after I got my official diagnosis, again going back to that time in 2020, One of the hardest things to deal with, I had a lot of people who would say things like, Oh, I know somebody with [00:18:00] endometriosis, it’s just a bad period, or don’t worry, all you need to do is get pregnant, it’s no big deal, I had no problems after that.
And all of those comments are so diminishing and so demeaning. And also so not true. Everybody has a different experience with endometriosis. There is a world of symptoms that not every person experiences. To dismiss it as a bad period or say that your experience was no big deal is so dismissive of the person that you’re speaking to and what their experience is.
And so when you learn more about the disease, it stops you from asking questions that could unintentionally be hurtful or dismissive to the person that you are asking them to, or making comments like I experienced. And it also just becomes really hard to talk about over and over and over again, especially when you’re going through the thick of it yourself.
So I hope that those three tips are going to help [00:19:00] you support somebody in your life with endometriosis because I can almost guarantee you probably know somebody who has it. The statistics are at least 1 in 10 women have been diagnosed with endometriosis, an unknown number of women have been undiagnosed with endometriosis, and trans, and trans and non-binary people are completely underrepresented in these studies.
So if 1 in 10 women has been diagnosed with endometriosis, that really paints a picture of how many people have not been So yeah, there’s a very, very good chance that you know somebody who has endometriosis. Now, as for me, I’m about to go head to the couch to snuggle back up with my heating pad and going to edit this episode and get it launched for you later today.
And then I’m going to enjoy the rest of my quiet week. Enjoy is definitely the wrong word there because it is day one of my cycle today So the next [00:20:00] few days are going to be long and tiring but by this time next week, I will be back on the other side of things Hopefully feeling a little bit better and getting ready for one last endo related episode for endometriosis awareness month where I’m going to be sharing my endometriosis toolkit.
These are all the things that I have that I use when I’m on the go or at home to help me feel a little bit more comfortable. Whether you have endometriosis or not, I know that there are going to be some takeaways in this episode that you can apply to your own life. So if you are looking to just make your life a little bit more comfortable, endometriosis, chronic illness or not, Make sure you tune back in anyways, friends.
Happy Wednesday. Enjoy the rest of your week, and we will talk again soon.
(Outro music) Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time. (Music fades out)
About Sandra
Sandra Henderson is a photographer, systems strategist, and podcast host based in Ontario, Canada. She specializes in helping photographers create strategic systems for their businesses to help them get their time back so they can spend it doing the things they love most. As an entrepreneur who also navigates chronic illness life, Sandra takes a unique approach to using systems that will help businesses thrive no matter what life throws your way.
On a personal note, she loves tacos, all things Bravo, 90’s music, travelling, and spending time at home with her husband, stepson, and two cats!
00:00 Introduction and Background
[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. It is a month that is near and dear to my heart because I am one of one in ten people in the world who have been diagnosed with endometriosis. If you’re a long-time listener of the podcast or if you follow me along on Instagram, you are probably familiar with a bit of my story. But, I want to reshare part of an episode that I recorded back at the beginning of this podcast.
Back in episode six, I shared a look at what my story was up until that point. Now, I will say things have changed a little bit since then. But before I dive into everything that’s happened over the last couple of years, I thought for anybody who wanted a refresher about what endometriosis is all about or anyone who isn’t familiar with my story… I thought that I would reshare this so you have a little bit of context and then next week I’m gonna be back with a little bit of an update.
Now, as you’re listening to this, if you have [00:01:00] any questions about endometriosis, I would love it if you popped over into my DMs on Instagram. You can find me at SimplySandraYvonne. I am an open book when it comes to my experience. I am more than happy to answer any questions that you have or just share any support that you might need in your own journey with this!
So friends, thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this replay episode. And I’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
(Intro music) Welcome to Keeping it Candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way.
And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three wing too who’s obsessed with I’m obsessed with tacos. My love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.
Join me every week for a candid behind [00:02:00] the scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode. (music fades out)
As I begin to talk more about what I’m doing behind the scenes in my photography business here on the podcast, especially when it comes to systems and workflows, I’m going to be sharing more about what that looks like for me, from the perspective of a business owner living with a chronic illness. So for all of my listeners out there who are living with a chronic illness themselves or who maybe have someone in their close circle like a friend or a family member that they want to support, I’m gonna be diving into some topics a little bit further because things can be a little more complicated when you’re running a business and navigating chronic illness life.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to a podcast or watched a webinar and thought to myself, those tips sound great, but it’s not that easy. That won’t work for me when I have so [00:03:00] much else on my plate. And that’s why I think this aspect of the conversation is so important. Let me take things back for a minute though, and tell you a little bit more about me and my story.
3:12 Diagnosis and Understanding Endometriosis
On June 24th, 2017, I was photographing a wedding. While we were doing the bride’s getting ready photos, I was suddenly hit with period cramps so severe that I could barely stand. I was sweating and felt nauseated. And then I looked at my assistant with panic in my eyes as I silently motioned for her to take over while I got myself out of the room without anyone noticing.
I grabbed some water and some Advil. Five minutes later I pulled myself together to fight through the pain and get back to work. That was the day that I knew something was wrong. Over the next two years, I saw countless doctors. Was sent for endless tests. And tried treatment after treatment after treatment, and each time I left with no answers.
Then I finally met a doctor who, after listening to my story, said some pretty [00:04:00] life-changing words. He said “you have endometriosis. I have to go through the proper procedure to be sure, but I can say this pretty confidently”. So, I finally underwent laparoscopic surgery on Christmas Eve in 2019, and the biopsy results confirmed what my doctor had said.
I was officially diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis. For anyone who isn’t familiar, endometriosis is an incurable disease where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other places throughout your body. If you could see inside me with a camera right now, you’d find that tissue in multiple places from the organs in my pelvis up to my chest.
It causes chronic pain, severe inflammation, nausea, scar tissue, organ failure, infertility, and so much more. There’s a seemingly endless list of other symptoms. In fact, I’m even snuggled up with my heating pad right now as I record this episode to help manage pain in my hips and lower back while I get through [00:05:00] the recording process.
Endometriosis affects approximately 1 in 10 women and a countless number of trans and non-binary people who are underrepresented in studies. That’s more than 176 million people worldwide. And yet, there are only about 200 specialists appropriately trained to treat this disease. The more I learned about endo, the further I was actually able to trace back my own experiences.
And it turns out that I had been managing symptoms on my own since I was 13 years old. Not long after I had my first period. But it would be another 20 years before a doctor would ever acknowledge that something was, in fact, wrong. I could do a whole episode on the absurdity of it all, but I will save that for another day.
6:20 Struggles and Challenges
When the pandemic hit in early 2020, I was three months post-op and still not feeling great. I was told that after my surgery, I would be in remission for at least a few years now that the tissues they found had been removed. [00:06:00] Instead, things started spiralling pretty quickly. Between the stress of the pandemic, lack of access to my healthcare team, and a somewhat unsuccessful surgery, by May, I was in more pain than I’ve ever felt in my life.
Over six weeks, my symptoms flared up three times for more than a week each time. I couldn’t walk more than a few feet without help. Getting up my stairs to go to bed sometimes took me more than 20 minutes. And on the rare chance I was able to muster up enough energy to actually get outside, I needed help getting up the two steps from my back patio into the house.
I was nauseated all day, every day, and I started losing as much as five pounds a week because I couldn’t keep anything down. It never really feels less surreal to talk about. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. For four months I didn’t know what to do, where to go for help, or how I was ever going to find a way to keep living my life, let alone run this photography [00:07:00] business I’d been dreaming of since I was 17 years old and had spent my entire adult life building.
Every day, I just kept going through the motions. I didn’t know what else to do, honestly. Then one day, I decided that I had given up enough of myself, my body, and my life to this disease. Enough was enough. My business was not going to go on that list, too. I didn’t come this fucking far to stop now. I had to find a way to start actually answering the question, How am I going to do this?
7:38 Finding a Way Forward
First came getting some help from my doctors. After four months of living in my own personal hell, I was finally able to get onto a new symptom management plan. I gave up my fertility in the process due to the medications I needed to take. But I started getting other parts of my life back in the meantime.
I could walk and eat a full meal again, and I started to get some of my strength back. [00:08:00] I never went back to how I felt physically before the surgery, but I’ve had time to make peace with that. This is my new normal. I had to find a way to stop fighting against it. To embrace this new life and start building a new version of what it could look like instead.
On the personal side, rebuilding that new version is still a work in progress. I think it probably always will be, and I’m okay with that. Therapy and doing a lot of internal work will help me heal mentally and emotionally along the way. But on the business side of things, I knew that streamlining every aspect of my business was going to be my key to success.
8:56 Streamlining the Business
There were obvious places to streamline, like within my systems and workflows in HoneyBook. But as I started piecing this new puzzle together, I saw that there were so many other areas with streamlining potential. And prepping my clients ahead of time was one of them. Creating a system that keeps my clients prepped and excited for their time in front of the [00:09:00] camera became even more important when I started making these shifts in my business.
Chronic illnesses like endometriosis can be unpredictable on their best day. So that means I’m not always able to be at my computer doing all the things. There was nothing worse on those off days than not feeling well, trying to focus on my health and getting the rest that I needed. But being weighed down the entire time with guilt and anxiety because I had these sessions and weddings coming up that needed my attention.
It made already hard days feel unbearable. Setting up an email series to send out to my clients throughout our time together helped me rest easier. I loved knowing that they were being taken care of and were getting excited about what was to come, all without me having to be actually present at my computer.
HoneyBook Automations lets me schedule everything so I never miss a beat. Everything that I talked about at the beginning of this episode, like sending out galleries, answering questions, and educating my clients on what to wear, where to [00:10:00] meet, and how to reach me. Instead of pushing myself past my limit to stay on top of things, I’m able to rest when I need it.
10:26 Creating a Dream Client Experience
So when I do need to get behind my camera, I’m showing up as the best version of myself. I’m focusing my energy on capturing memories for my clients. My clients are showing up excited and ready to go because they know what to expect. That takes a lot off my plate mentally as we get started. If you’ve ever experienced chronic illness, I know you understand. Taking even one decision or one task off your to-do list on a day when you don’t feel well is everything.
But no matter what your day-to-day life looks like, chronic illness or not, I hope that today’s tips help you start creating a dream client experience that takes some of the work off your plate in the process.
(Outro music) Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time. (Music fades out)
About Sandra
Sandra Henderson is a photographer, systems strategist, and podcast host based in Ontario, Canada. She specializes in helping photographers create strategic systems for their businesses to help them get their time back so they can spend it doing the things they love most. As an entrepreneur who also navigates chronic illness life, Sandra takes a unique approach to using systems that will help businesses thrive no matter what life throws your way.
On a personal note, she loves tacos, all things Bravo, 90’s music, travelling, and spending time at home with her husband, stepson, and two cats!
For tips and updates follow me on Insta @simplysandrayvonne
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