SRP Annual Conference Wrap-Up!

My Name is Elizabeth Bailey, and I opened the second Spoiled Rotten Photography franchise in 2013. This past week I had the privilege of spending several days with most of my fellow SRP franchise owners and photographers for our annual conference and then attend the Imaging USA 2016 convention in Atlanta.

This is most of us… missing Cathy from Charlotte, NC.  From Left to right Mark Treen, Charleston, SC, Heather Sams, Colorado Springs, CO, Fran Pacheco, Wilmington, NC, Me (Elizabeth Bailey, Alpharetta, GA), Melissa Tash, Huntsville, AL and Will Smith, Nashville, TN.  🙂 Forgive our sweat stained shirts and disheveled looks… this photo was taken after photographing 4 hours of preschool portraits at a homeless shelter in midtown Atlanta!

While several of us are well seasoned in our local areas, it was rewarding to share experiences with newer franchise owners. I remember going to my first Imaging USA convention, all by myself, 6 years ago in San Antonio. It was a leap of faith that I could make it and develop my own style in a sea of professional photographers. There are so many directions and areas you can specialize your skills that it can be overwhelming to a newer photographer. That was the first of many stepping stones over the next few years that grew me into a viable children’s custom photography business. For me, time and space stands still when I have a camera and a child in front of me. I am a firm believer that people and opportunities are put before us at the right times for paths we are to follow.

Two and half years ago, faced with a move from Birmingham to Atlanta, I put my custom photography business to the side and joined the blossoming Spoiled Rotten Photography family. I’ve had many people question why I would give up something I was already doing to go work for someone else. The short answer… It’s a proven successful business model that provides support and gives me time back in my life to spend with my family. I get to make a difference and provide custom photography for exponentially more families now than I ever would have reached on my own. As a franchise owner, you are in business for yourself, but not by yourself. It is incredible to receive support and share with a family of people that share the same core values and desire to make a difference in the scene of school photography.

This week we were blessed to be able to work with the children at Feed my Lambs preschool at the City of Refuge in Atlanta by providing beautiful portraits as part of our training together.  Our Mission was to bless their parents with these adorable pictures.

I took this photo and this sweet girl couldn’t wait to see it… and the third photo is of Heather from Colorado Springs, after they finished photographing the class, taking some time just to enjoy all the sweet goodness that comes from preschool kids.

During our 3 days together… we celebrated accomplishments from last year and tackled goals for this coming year.  It was a close match, but I was thrilled to pass the coveted “Purple Crown Trophy” to Will Smith in Nashville.  He earned the highest customer satisfaction rating for 2015.

We discussed how to make the children’s portrait sessions fun and add value to the parent’s preschool portrait experience. We also discussed our individual accomplishments and numbers, went over our profit and loss statements and reviewed customer comments submitted by surveys.

Here we are with charts and graphs… bench-marking (fun business stuff!).  From the left is Fran from Wilmington, NC, Will from Nashville, TN, Me (Elizabeth) from Alpharetta, GA, Jamie (our CFO), Mark from Charleston, SC (all bundled up and fighting a cold… but not going to miss!), and Heather from Colorado Springs, CO.

Each year we look forward to refining our skills through our print competition. There is so much you can learn from different personalities and perspectives on a team to make yourself better!  We had three esteemed Master Photographers critique our work. Image competition will make you a better photographer… but hearing the judges comments is hard sometimes.  Here are some of the winning images… (the two middle top images are mine… and the bottom center boy, too).

And Imaging 2016… About 12,000 photographers…  and dozens of classes… It was nice to be able to sit through the Imaging classes knowing that I already have a system in place and calendar booked for the next 4 months and can happily glean a few nuggets of inspiration here and there, knowing I don’t have to do it ALL.

We also spent 3 days in our trade show booth sharing the Spoiled Rotten Preschool Franchise opportunity with photographers across the country!  It is exciting to see the excitement in someone else’s eyes about the possibilities this opportunity could bring for their family financially as it has mine.