59 - Financial Planning to Build Wealth as a Photographer with Derek Kilgore
All Angles Photography Podcast
Release Date: 12/06/2024
All Angles Photography Podcast
What if your photography business could keep booking clients, serving couples beautifully, and generating revenue—even when you're going through the hardest season of your life? Most photographers think scaling means raising prices or shooting more weddings. But true scaling means building a business that runs without you, whether you're on vacation, navigating a personal crisis, or simply choosing to step back for a season. In this episode, I'm sitting down with Jess, one of my Scale It graduates who transformed her thriving-but-exhausting photography business into a sustainable model with...
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You don't need to shoot every wedding to scale your income — and my student Maddy is living proof. If you've been grinding through wedding season after wedding season, trading every weekend for income and wearing burnout like a badge of honor, this episode will show you exactly how to build an associate photography team that frees up your time while increasing your profit. Maddy joined my Scale It mentorship program in January 2025 after finishing her first full wedding season feeling completely overwhelmed. She had big goals but zero idea how to tackle them without spending her entire...
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You're working 70-hour weeks, manually tracking every client, taking days to respond to inquiries—and while your business looks successful on paper, you're completely drowning behind the scenes. What if I told you that your highest revenue year could also be your most sustainable one? That scaling your photography business isn't about working more, but about building systems, email funnels, and strategic outsourcing that actually give you your life back? In this episode, I'm sitting down with my Scale It graduate Nicole, a wedding and elopement photographer who transformed her business from...
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You know that feeling when you're sitting on the couch during your baby's contact nap, desperately trying to balance your laptop while answering client emails—all while wishing you could just soak up this precious moment? If you're nodding along thinking "that's literally me," then you need to hear Annika's story. She went from survival mode as a new mom photographer to celebrating back-to-back five-figure months, one of them while on vacation without her laptop. This isn't about working harder or hustling more—it's about implementing the right systems so your photography business can run...
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What if I told you that the photography inquiry you lost last week wasn't because your prices were too high, but because your business didn't feel professional enough? In today's behind-the-scenes episode, I'm sharing the raw truth about a recent $15,000+ wedding inquiry rejection that taught me everything about luxury client expectations, plus a $10,000 booking story where the couple chose me over cheaper photographers specifically because of my business foundations. These real client experiences reveal exactly what separates profitable wedding photographers from hobbyists in today's...
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Are you an exhausted photographer feeling trapped in the endless cycle of posting on Instagram, getting ghosted by potential clients, and watching your income fluctuate wildly while you trade every weekend for barely enough profit? What if I told you that one of my Scale It students went from that exact place to booking out her entire year with Google ads, hitting $22,000 months, and creating enough financial freedom for her husband to quit his corporate job - all while spending more time with her kids? In this episode, I'm sharing Trinity's complete transformation story, from struggling with...
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Are you convinced that outsourcing means losing control of your photography business? That no one can do it as well as you? Here's the perspective shift you need: every time you delay outsourcing, you're trading your time, energy, and presence with the people who matter most for the illusion of control. The truth is, outsourcing isn't about dropping the ball as a business owner - it's about stepping fully into your CEO role. Think about it: how many successful CEOs do you know who actually do everything themselves? They don't, and neither should you. In this episode, I'm pulling back the...
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Picture this: You're spending your entire weekend editing wedding galleries while your personal life sits on the back burner, and you're telling yourself "this is just what wedding photographers do." But what if I told you that's actually keeping you stuck in a cycle that's capping your income and burning you out? The truth is, you can deliver stunning wedding galleries in just 2 hours of hands-on work while maintaining complete artistic control—and I'm about to share with you exactly how. In this episode, I'm sharing my complete workflow for outsourcing wedding photography editing while...
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Getting nervous when it's time to talk pricing with potential wedding clients? You're probably not being salesy at all – you're just missing the strategy behind confident package recommendations. Most wedding photographers fall into one of two camps: either underselling by default because you assume couples want the cheapest option, or pitching low packages out of fear of rejection. But what if I told you that your highest package is often exactly what couples want when you know how to present it as the perfect solution for their dream wedding day? In this episode, I'm sharing how to sell...
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"The photography market is so saturated" – Sound familiar? Here's the perspective shift you need: your beautiful portfolio isn't what's keeping you from booking your highest packages, and market saturation isn't real when you master what actually makes photographers stand out. In this episode, I'm breaking down why competing on portfolio, pricing, and experience keeps wedding photographers trapped in the "starving artist" cycle, and revealing the one business foundation that eliminates competition entirely. Most photographers think branding means having a pretty logo and website design, but...
info_outlineAs a photographer or any kind of entrepreneur, it’s really important to have someone on your team to help you build wealth and plan for the future. That’s why I have my own personal financial advisor, Derek Kilgore. Derek is a wealth management advisor and growth and development director with Northwestern Mutual. He has been working with business owners for the past 8 years, so he understands many of the challenges entrepreneurs face.
During this episode, we talk about everything you need to know when it comes to financial planning and building wealth, including the first steps to creating a financial plan, how to balance saving for the future, which retirement accounts entrepreneurs should have, and more!
This episode is truly going to give you a financial planning 101 kind of feel. And if you decide that you want to prioritize planning for the future when it comes to finances in 2025, Derek is truly the best of the best!
In this episode, we cover:
- The first step in financial planning
- Where to start with investments
- How to pay yourself, especially when expenses are higher
- Recommendations for retirement accounts
- How much should we be saving toward retirement?
- Should contributions toward retirement accounts come out of our business or personal accounts?
- How to start working with Derek
- Derek's 3 final tips
SHOW NOTES: https://clairehunt.co/blog/financial-planning-to-build-wealth-as-a-photographer/
Connect with Derek:
Derek’s Phone: 303-579-7341
Follow Claire:
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