2020 has been a year hasn’t it?! Thanks for hanging in there with me on this rollercoaster ride of a life update! I’m excited for you to read my final life update because I’m sharing what’s been happening on the JVP end! If you missed the first two parts, you can read them here: our journey back to the states & our house hunting  adventure. Ready for my JVP Business Update?

 

---

---

Chapter 8: New Seasons in Business

The past seven chapters covered January through August, it’s currently the last week in October as I’m writing this, and you’re finally reading this in November. So, what else happened? Glad you asked, because now I get to share all about my JVP business update. ?

I was finally able to get into a workflow after SO long. I’d been working a ton, don’t get me wrong. But, I would finally be able to have my own office and not be dealing with the dog-tango situation, so I could make major progress on the big project I’d been working so hard on. (More on that in a bit.) ?

A few weeks after moving into the new house, I got a message from my virtual assistant of two years at the time. She told me she was going a different direction with her business and was letting me know this would be the last month she’d be able to serve me, (and all the rest of her retainer clients for that matter.) She’s transitioned into becoming a copywriter/brand message strategist over the last year or so, and wanted to go full-time with that, which I totally understood. I’d been feeling about a month prior that I was going to need a VA that could do more for me, and provide more hours for me to use.

However, it was disheartening considering I’d be gearing up for a big launch in January and needed ALL the help I could get. It felt like the bottom was falling out from underneath me, and that I didn’t have time to replace her or figure out where to go from here. After crying it out, and talking to Clay, he said it was going to be okay. God was in control of this too, and we’d figure it out.

I remembered a company I had wanted to reach out to back when I was in Japan called “Rock Solid Virtual Assistants,” that specializes in pairing you (the business owner) with the perfect VA using their proprietary matching system. I knew I wanted to use a company that had it all together, and I knew this one did. (Plus the owner was a Christian, which really put me at ease.)

The only problem? At this point, I was SO completely booked that I couldn’t take on more work, because of the building of a program I’d been working on for the past year. Therefore, I couldn’t get more money coming in to hire a new person at the rate it would cost, until after my big JVP 2.0 launch in January. Clayton said,

“I want you to do whatever you’ve got to do, and I’ll help however I need to to make sure you have help for this big project.”

(This man was sent from heaven, ya’ll.)

I reached out and set up a call, and after speaking with Tracy, I knew I’d made the right decision. We had so many “God moments,” and I had so much peace surrounding the whole thing. A few days later, she messaged me that she’d paired me with the perfect person, a girl named Janine out of Navarre, Florida. (That’s the exact town I used to live in when I lived there, strangely enough!)

After mine and Janine’s first call, I was in awe. She had the sweetest spirit, and kindest heart. She’s a go-getter that thrives off of helping other women succeed, and she LOVES the Lord with all she’s got in that tiny Italian frame of hers. ?

Again — God knows my best.

He knew that for the substantial growth my business would be seeing in 2021 and beyond, that I was going to need more help. He knew there was a perfect person out there to come alongside me, that would share the vision and values of my company, and help to see things through. He knew I needed Janine, and He made the space necessary for her to come in.

Simply put, she was the girl for the job — and He made it happen.

I just had to trust him with my JVP business, and my life. Easier said than done sometimes, but after the year I’d had, I knew He’d come through for me. He’d done it too many times already. ???

So, without further ado — meet Janine! The new set of helping hands over here at JVP. You’ll be seeing and hearing from her here and there. Most of what she does for me is behind-the-scenes, well… for now anyways. ??

 

 

---

Chapter 9: Preparation for A New Purpose

Remember the part where I said I’d been working on a huge project all year long? As of now, October 29th, it’s been over a year in the making.

Last August, I hired a business coach and met her in Bali to work together. (She’s from Atlanta, but she was going to be in Bali for a few weeks, and it was much cheaper for me to meet her there!) Plus, Clay and I had wanted to visit Bali at some point anyways, so we just made a vacation out of it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The specific purpose for our working together was to come up with my “signature offer.” A signature offer is essentially your “thing.” I knew I’d wanted to teach other photographers (and had been already doing it for two years at that point,) but I didn’t have a system in order to do so. I didn’t have a framework or a curriculum built out to use, and I needed one. There are so many things you can do with a framework once you have it, and I knew it was the next big step.

The problem is, you’re just too close to your genius. It’s extremely difficult to pull the good stuff out of your mind, because you already know it all. So, the best thing you can do is hire someone that specializes in doing just that — pulling out your genius and helping you package it into a premium offer.

I worked with Maya Elious, and it was the best decision I’d ever made.

In two days we extracted and laid out a framework that I was PUMPED to teach. What she did for me in two days, I couldn’t have done for myself in months, or maybe even years. It was the jumpstart I needed to really do this. I was shooketh.

 

 

You see, most photographers that offer mentorships to others don’t have a plan. They charge you anywhere from $500-2000 for a day (or even half a day,) just for you to pick their brain, and ask any questions you may have.

The problem with that? You don’t KNOW the questions you need to be asking. You don’t know what you don’t know. It’s just left up to you to ask them all that you need to. And, if you come up with a question later that you forgot to ask, good luck! ?

I knew I didn’t want that. I wanted true support for my clients, a roadmap they could follow, structure, and proven results. This became the standard for the program I was building for photographers.

Due to being home for the Holidays in December of 2019, and spending January of 2020 with my mom and aunt in Japan, I didn’t get a chance to officially start building the program yet. February was spent packing and preparing to move back to the U.S., and in March I was getting the dogs and myself back to Texarkana. So, I was finally able to start building the program out in April. I haven’t looked back since then, and I’ve spent every week writing the curriculum for it. (Sometimes 60+ pages a week!)

I’ll announce what it’s called, and all that it includes really, really soon. ?

 

---

Chapter 10: The Purposeful Pivot

 

Throughout the three years I’d spent in Japan, the biggest lessons I learned were:

 

1. My role as a wife to Clayton, and what God wanted for, (and from,) me in my marriage.
2. The way God intended marriages to be, and how we’ve gotten it so wrong as a generation. Clayton and I got married the way we did for a reason, and I wanted to share that with others.
3. How to slow down, and stop glorifying busy. How to truly be present in the season of life I’m in, and not constantly wish my days away for what’s to come “tomorrow.”
4. How to truly trust God with all things, especially my business. He’s the best CEO there could be.

 

These lessons had taken such deep roots in my heart, because I walked through them myself. I had to do hard things, and learn hard lessons. But it was necessary for me to be able to fully understand what God was teaching me, and one day share it with others.

In October of 2019, I’d started to feel misaligned with my business and brand overall. The visual representation (my branding and website) was no longer “fitting” for where I was going. There was a misalignment, and I just couldn’t ignore it any longer.

The lessons I’d learned in Japan needed to take their place in my business, and I didn’t know how… but I knew they had to. It was just too big of a shift in perspective.

I told my biz-bestie, and we began brainstorming on a new brand for me that would fit the new direction. We came up with one, and it was beautiful, but after some time we both came to the conclusion, this one wasn’t it. Something was missing. We had gone too far to the black-and-white editorial side, and we needed something “out of the box.” Something that hadn’t been done before. There wasn’t quite another brand or site like it out there, it just simply didn’t exist yet.

So, we started from scratch. This time, I gave her complete creative control, and when she showed me what she’d drafted next — I was speechless. It was it. And we’ve been heading in that direction since.

An all-new JVP brand will surface in January, (EEEEK! ?) and it’s the brand I’ve always dreamed of.

My current site, (the one you’re on,) I loved for a season… but I always knew there was something more out there for JVP. This new brand has been a LONG time in the making, and we’ve come across so many obstacles, but I can’t wait to share it with you all very soon. ?

The new brand will tell my story, and reflect my heart for life, marriage, education, and photography. This time, I’m chasing the call God’s placed on my life with reckless abandon. I’m holding nothing back, and I’ll be calling you to do the same — too. Because it’s worth it, and it’s why we were put here in the first place. ✨

I’ll be over here continuing to put my head down, and I may not surface on social media for a bit longer. It’s been a really good year of “doing the work” over here, and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon. ?

 

Until I surface from under my rock *again*,

– Jess

 

---

IF YOU’RE REALLY STRUGGLING IN YOUR BUSINESS, BOOK A FREE CLARITY CALL WITH ME, (NO STRINGS ATTACHED,) FOR ME TO HELP YOU PINPOINT YOUR BIGGEST ROADBLOCKS.

Then, if you decide it’s a fit and you NEED us to work together stat, we can totally proceed with mentorship and get this education party started! 

I wholeheartedly believe that if you’re here and reading this page, it’s not by accident, girl. I’ve been praying for this years mentoring clients, and for God to truly equip me with the knowledge and resources, tailored just for you, to project you into your next season and help you to be more confident – because THIS is your year.

It’s time. No more excuses. Let’s do this, and rise up to who God has called us to be in both our lives and businesses. 

 

---

LOOKING FOR MORE HELPFUL PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS? FEEL FREE TO BINGE ON THESE BLOG POSTS, OR PIN ’EM ON PINTEREST FOR LATER! 

If you’re short on time, follow me on Pinterest – and you’ll get these kinda tips delivered straight to your feed! You know… when you’re scrollin’ through Pinterest with coffee in hand, ready to take on the day… or, procrastinate.

Whatevs. Pinterest biz sesh, anybody!?