In this episode of The Portrait System Podcast, host Nikki Closser speaks with Knoxville, Tennessee, portrait photographer and educator Saray Taylor-Roman about how her business has developed in the last three years since she put her focus on restructuring it for her family and the self-care she needs to enjoy her work and not feel burnout or resentment.

Taylor-Roman was The Portrait System Podcast’s very first guest three years ago with the episode, From Full-Time Teacher to Making $200,000 Doing What She Loves. At that time, Taylor-Roman had great reason to celebrate as she was then making every month what she had previously made per year as a high school Spanish teacher. Shortly after her podcast appearance, the world changed with the onset of the pandemic. While she was forced to put her business on pause, Taylor-Roman had the opportunity to reconnect with what her life had been like before she placed all her extra energy into making her business a success. Reconnecting with cooking, spending time with her family and taking time for self-care helped Taylor-Roman realize just how much she valued these things, and she began to think about how she would restructure her business when it reopened. 

[Read: From Shoot & Burn to Sustainable & Successful]

She says, “The pandemic and the shutdown really helped me rethink what my values were and where I wanted to focus. So, going after that, I was like, okay, how can we structure this? How can I bring more people into my team, so they can also get more financial freedom while they give me more time? Because at the end of the day, time is not renewable, and you can always make more money, but you cannot make more time.” 

Taylor-Roman’s first upgrade to her business team was to train her makeup artist/assistant to be a photographer. After six months of training, she was ready to take on clients. Her next associate came to her as a high school senior who wanted to shadow her at work. By the time she had graduated high school, she had a sales average of $4,500. Taylor-Roman also took on a virtual assistant who she has trained in how to do initial client consultations. In this way, Taylor-Roman has freed up more time for self-care and to spend with her family.  

[Read: Heather Wanninger’s Tips for Growing Your Portrait Business]

Taylor-Roman recently launched a new online course that teaches photographers her business system that has helped her generate $45k a month with headshot sales. You can find it at Take Action with Saray. All throughout this year, Taylor-Roman is also doing online coaching in how to start a portrait business or optimize an existing one in the 12-Month Startup with The Portrait System. You can also see her teaching live in Las Vegas at WPPI this March, where she will be teaching two courses—one in English and one in Spanish—on how to make big portrait sales. As well, she will be doing image reviews.

To learn more about Taylor-Roman’s work visit Taylor-Roman Fine Art Portraits.  

The Portrait System Podcast helps portrait photographers navigate the world of photography, business, money, and much more. Hosted by Nikki Closser, the podcast is powered by The Portrait System, a comprehensive, online educational platform that teaches all aspects of running a successful portrait photography studio.