Let’s get this party started – 2022 we’re ready for you!

Happy New Year!

 

Yesterday was the first working day of the year for me, and it was spent with the fabulous Philippa as part of our monthly co-working days and it was the perfect start, as my resolution this year is to have time protected to work on the business and make sure that I’m always heading in the direction of my goals.  And boy do I have big goals for this year.

Like many businesses, the last two years have been really impacted by “C”, like feast or famine with 2020 having so many shoots cancelled and then playing catch up in 2021, it’s now fresh into 2022 with some incredible shoots lined up.  But what the last couple of years (which were also my first couple of years full time in the business, having left the corporate world mid way through 2019) has shown me is actually how I want my business to function and grow.

So this year, you’ll see me releasing shoot dates in seasons, so that it aligns with the ethos I have behind the Seasonal Edit® whereby images should reflect the seasonality in your marketing and launching.  The website got a face lift last year and I have a content plan that I’m so excited to bring to you – each month bringing you advice and resources to help you embrace your brand imagery and make those images work hard for you.  If there is anything you’d like to see on the blog, or you’d like to receive via email (you can sign up here) then drop me a message.

 

However, I thought I’d take a little bit of a look back on 2021… the biggest thing to happen to us actually wasn’t business related, but was the birth of our miracle baby Jack – now nearly 8 months old it’s certainly changed our lives and has been a big driver for some tweaks to the business.  But here’s a look as to what 2021 held:

 

 

86 brand shoots which resulted in 7,660 images being edited (I haven’t counted how many that means I actually took!) with shoots happening in London, across the UK, Croatia and Barcelona.  I can’t wait to see where this year takes me.

49 train journeys, 4 flights and 3756 miles driven which has resulted in 305 trees being planted through Ecologi as part of our drive as a business and family to offset our carbon as much as we can (just one part of our pledge to be more socially and environmentally considered).

2021 also saw me work with the amazing Joanna Fisher Law, not just as her photographer but with her taking a look at my contracts and trademarks so that everything is ship shape – so I’m excited to say that AKP Branding Stories® and The Seasonal Edit® are now both trademarked entities!  It feels great to know that my business is protected, and that in turn my clients are protected on all fronts too.  2022 is about scaling and growing the business, and to do this solid foundations are needed so the trademarks are a step I’m really proud of.

So here’s to 2022, a year of sustainable growth, and that’s my word for the year – sustainable, in everything that I do in life and business, because there have been too many years for so many of us where the candles are burnt at both ends and sometimes in the middle.

What’s your focus and drive for this year?