Last week was a hectic blur of busy-ness (not sure if that even makes sense, but that’s what came to mind when I recall last week’s events and preparing for our travel to Mexico!) In a whirlwind of emails, I found an email in my inbox from Thirst Relief. It was my first time hearing about this organization and the email explained that I had been nominated to participate in this year’s Mentor Auction. (A warm thank you to the person(s) that did so.)

I researched more about Thirst Relief and I became anxious to help when I read about their mission and last year’s mentor sessions:

“Last year the sponsors and 90 mentors who participated in the Mentor Auction raised more than $40,700 which directly provided 8,147 people with clean water! 100% of the proceeds directly benefit Thirst Relief International, who provides at least 25 years of clean drinking water to the more that 1 billion people who don’t have it! Add to that the incredible wisdom and talent that is being shared in the one-on-one mentor sessions and you have better and more successful photographers/business owners! So, not only are lives being saved, but the lives of many business owners are being made better! It’s truly a win win for everyone involved!”

Thirst Relief is a non-profit that has set out to “overcome death and disease resulting from the consumption of contaminated water by providing safe, clean drinking water to those in need around the world.”  They have provided a way for all of us to HELP by sharing our knowledge, experience, and time. To accomplish this goal they’ve asked some of the best and brightest in the industry to donate 90 minutes of mentorship time and anything else they feel like giving to be auctioned off to a winning bidder!

The Mentor Auction will start tonight, the 14th at 11pm EST and go through the 17th 11pm EST. You will be able to bid on a 90 minute session with a mentor of your choice/field and the highest bidder wins the session.

Here are the details about my mentor auction:
90 minutes of mentorship time by phone, Skype, Google Hangout, or in person (if in person, includes lunch at one of my favorite restaurants!). The sky is the limit on what we can discuss- fashion, the latest Dexter episode, your latest adventures and any topics of photography and business including social media, connecting & working with your clients to get the most relaxed and natural poses, marketing, shooting destination weddings, shooting & submitting stylized editorials/weddings for print and online submission. Your session will be catered to meet the needs of your business. If you aren’t a photographer or just getting started, you can still bid- this mentorship is open to everyone and includes a hug!
Also included: A goodie bag that includes our exclusive studio resource guide & much more valuable information. A follow-up 30 minute phone call with Mariana three months following your initial mentorship session to revisit areas of discussion.

I am thrilled to be a small part of the 2012 Mentor Auction! If my involvement impacts at least ONE life, it’ll be worth it to me. Please, take the time today and bid, spread the word and impact lives.

You can also help by:

• Donating your FaceBook status to say: Mentor Auction is happening right now! Save some lives today: http://bit.ly/sX1dwN PLS RT
• Donating your Twitter status to say: Mentor Auction is happening right now! Save some lives today: http://bit.ly/sX1dwN
• Blogging about the Thirst Relief Mentor Auction: http://bit.ly/owO063

When I’m looking forward to something, my imagination paints a picture about what it will feel like, taste, smell, play out. Now, mind you, I have a very hyperactive imagination, but the Inspire Smart Success Experience was beyond anything I could have ever imagined! My talented friend, Lauren Harper Grove of Every Last Detail and new friend (thanks to Lauren and ISSE), Caroline Smith of CSE Photography decided to car pool and room together for this event. Let’s just say that it was an unforgettable adventure, right ladies? We stayed at the Waldorf  Astoria, where the ISSE event was held. Brides, this gorgeous hotel is a beautiful setting for an elegant and artsy wedding and we had a great experience on our stay. The evening of our arrival was the welcome party and what gal doesn’t like to get dolled up and mingle?! I met some amazing women, had fabulous conversations, and had my first inspire-tini! Delish! I have to thank Staci Francombe (founder of ISSE) for so much, but especially for creating the opportunity to finally meet two of my favorite online peeps, the fabulous wedding planner/coordinator,  April Dorsey of The D-Tales and the super-talented photographer, Garrett Frandsen, along with all the other talented individuals at this event! The Get Published and Get on TV ISS panel consisted of Diann Valentine, Tiffany Cook, exectutive producer-Dave Francombe, Leigh Duncan-editor of Orlando Weddings Magazine, Karlena Wallace-editor of Stiletto Woman Media, and Lauren Harper Grove-editor of the online blog, Every Last Detail. The knowledge, advice, and experience that Stacie and the panel provided was beyond overwhelming! To say that I left ISSE inspired is an understatement! I loved how approachable everyone was, how interactive the talks were, and the smooth flow of the day! Add in the mix the vivid and alluring colors, amazing details, yummy delicacies, the best vendors working together and a fun-filled atmosphere-you have one heck of a party!

I seriously wish I could attend every ISS experience! I recommend all entrepreneurs attend and experience this for themselves. Stacie also offers mentoring sessions, so contact her for more information!

A HUGE thank you to everyone involved in this amazing experience and to Stacie, for this wonderful opportunity!

Update: You can watch a recap film created by Key Moments Productions here.

Vendors:
The D-Tales
Diann Valentine
Waldorf Weddings
Every Last Detail
Orlando Wedding
Wrapped Couture
DJ Carl Entertainment
Over the Top Rental Linens
Cupcake Jubilee
Bottle Your Brand
Flourish Floral Productions – Event, Wedding and Floral Design
Sweet Maralyn’s Chocolates
Amy Raith Artistry
The Paper Shop, Inc.
A Chair Affair, Inc.
Our DJ Rocks
Natural Impression Design
Key Moments Productions
Christopher Confero

PASS is sharing…PASS is community…PASS is love!

We never imagined that our comments on a FB giveaway created by Zack & Jody from Gray Photography would result in receiving a FB message from them at 1 o’clock in the morning with the awesome news that we had won free tickets to attend Showit PASS Premier in Orlando later that same day! Say what?! An opportunity to meet this awesome photog duo that we respect and admire? NO WAY! Besides that, a chance to finally meet David Jay, a great entrepreneur, speaker, and one of  the individuals who has significantly influenced the photography community and heavily influenced the way we view our photography business. He is also the founder of  Showit, a web designing tool (which we’ve been using since we started our business) that helps photographers and business owners create their websites in a simple drag-and-drop fashion with the freedom to be as creative as their imagination allows.

We had already read a bit about PASS, a new product Showit is launching, but our curiosity was peaked and we didn’t really know exactly what is would do for our business and our clients. We just knew it would be something good, something VERY good! PASS basically replaces discs. Yes, you read that right. No more endless hours burning images to a disc. With PASS, your clients can experience instant gratification and share their images in an easier manner while keeping your photos credited. Win.Win. Simple. PASS is a tool that will make your clients LOVE you so much more! It’s an online tool that allows photographers to easily upload, manage, and share their images. Once you upload your images, you can choose to allow your clients to download their images right from their event PASS site and yes, you may even allow them to purchase a DVD as well. PASS has a ton of cool features!

The first speaker at the Orlando PASS event was Promise Tangeman. THIS.GIRL.ROCKS.OUR.WORLD. Seriously. As David Jay stated, she is definitely “creativity on crack!” Promise is an art director and an awesome graphic designer. She shared with us her passion, from the process of finding your business identity to designing your website and having a solid online presence. Focus. Style. Confidence. Basically, start with YOU and the rest will fall into place. I would love, love, love to work with Promise on our brand and design, and if Khaled doesn’t get our website up soon, I already threatened, ahem, assured him with taking our grocery budget and giving Promise a call. Ramen noodles for a year, anyone? In all seriousness, Promise is the best and I do hope to work with her someday! For now, we grabbed her e-course that she is offering. It is loaded with information and resources. Click here for more details. Promise and Brian, it was an amazing experience chatting and having some laughs at PASS! We hope to see you both very soon!

Every photographer knows that creating and designing wedding albums is usually a tedious and long process. At least, that’s what we thought! Kevin Swan, the second speaker for the evening and the KISS Wedding Books founder, presented a great solution for wedding album designing and the client ordering process using an online tool called S.W.A.T.  We were also enlightened with Kevin’s marketing insights and a quick demonstration of the software. Thank you Kevin for all your awesome advice and for introducing us to smarter and faster way to create albums!

Zack and Jody from Gray Photography, the sweet husband and wife photog team that made it possible for us to attend PASS! We are grateful beyond words! This couple is based in Nashville and are committed to serving couples and photographers and sharing their knowledge. They are super talented and have so much experience to share with the photography community. It is so inspiring to see how Zack and Jody’s genuine care and love are reflected in their interactions with their clients and peers. We had many aha moments and learned a great deal about what we want our clients to experience before, during, and after they work with us. We were truly blessed to meet such an amazing couple. Zack and Jody, thank you. We hope to have an opportunity to see you guys again, very soon!

All attendees received a PASS booklet full of product hook-ups! David Jay also gave away some PASS goodies- I got a cool PASS t-shirt  which was quickly snatched up by our daughter, Karina. I think she’s the youngest PASS promoter, what do you think?!

You can catch a glimpse of how much fun we had with the crew and the photo booth by peeking through our slideshow!  We made new friends and got to reconnect with old ones. Besides meeting great people, this event left us with so many ideas and full of inspiration. Thank you to everyone who is part of this tour and made this event possible!

Sandy Puc and Jerry Ghionis are extremely talented individuals and it was a pure blessing to be in the same room with them. The energy, the great advice and experience they share is priceless. This event brought out many of my  dormant thoughts and ideas to light and motivated me to commit to them and see them through to fruition. Jerry helped me further understand the importance of genuinely connecting with your clients and he shared posing techniques to play up the beautiful and unique qualities of each individual. Sandy shared great marketing strategies and emphasized how important education and pricing correctly is for your business and for the entire photography industry. Sandy feels so strongly about education for photographers, that she has pledged to help 1000 photographers get certified!

I highly recommend catching these two gems at the next Power of Passion event! I had a great time and it was so much fun seeing lots of familiar faces and catching up with some local photogs from my area!

A huge THANK YOU to SMUGMUG for making this event happen for me! Candice, their marketing diva, was a tremendous highlight to my night! She has the most infectious laugh and I literally wanted to jump on the bus and tag along for what seems to be an unforgettable experience!

Cameras weren’t really allowed at the event, but I was able to snag a few photos with Candice, Jerry, and his amazingly-sweet (and did I mention, gorgeous) wife, Melissa! They were recently married, so be sure to check out Jerry’s blog for their out-of-this-world stunning wedding images!

My head is spinning, my heart is racing…so much inspiration, new ideas, hopes, and goals for our business! Breathe Mariana, breath… it’s all in God’s time. That is just a part of how I feel after returning home from my trip to New York & New Jersey last week. What a phenomenal week! Fortunately, I was able to mix business with pleasure and I spent a few days with my brother and his family. In between flights, trains, crowds, noise, city life, beautiful scenery, pumpkin farms, fall colors, delicious restaurants, family love, and much, much, more- I was able to tune out all of life’s obstacles, negativity, doubts- and simply…focus.
I had no idea that I would be coming home with more knowledge (a lot more) and determination to succeed in the art and business of photography. The GoingPro2010 BootCamp was exactly the bucket of cold water that I needed! Scott Bourne, Tony Corbell, and Skip Cohen are beyond talented and gave so many valuable resources, shared priceless experiences- that I can guarantee that every photographer there went home with more than what they expected to get!
On top of all the information, meeting & networking with other photogs, learning about some fabulous new products from vendors such as: WHCC, AsukaBook, Marathon Press, and other cool vendors-I thought it just couldn’t get any better! Boy, was I wrong!

Scott Bourne is well-known for his twitter give-aways (hint: if you are currently not following him, do so asap! And, if you don’t have a twitter, get one of those too!) Well, after a few prizes were given out throughout the day, Scott announced that he was giving away a Kubota Starter Pak (these bad boys are about $400!!) My inner voice was screaming, “me, me, me!” But, never would I have imagined that his next question would be, “Now, who’s the person that said earlier they came all the way from FL?” The rest is a bit blurry but I know it consists of me jumping up and down and a few seconds, if not minutes, of embarrassment! But, it was SO worth it and I am extremely thankful for a wonderful experience!

Here’s a little preview of the day. I will most likely post a part II so that I can share some fun images from my time with my brother and family. It was amazing to me how NY could be so busy and full of buildings & minutes away in Jersey, you could find yourself in a picture-perfect country scenery! Look for that later this week!

Below are a few random favs from my time in NY! I think I need to live on Fashion Ave & the view from the Empire State Building was breathtaking!