I'M SO HAPPY YOU ARE HERE!
If we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, my name is Charlotte, I am a 30-something year old living in the South of England navigating life running my own business as a photographer and building an online business to empower female entrepreneurs along the way!
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU COULDN'T LEAVE YOUR JOB TO PURSUE YOUR DREAM BUSINESS?
Long story short, I grew up living on the South Coast of England in Dorset, for as long as I can remember I knew I wanted to run my own business one day – I didn’t want to work for someone else, in a desk job that I hated, with no flexibility or doing something that didn’t light me up.
Around 2011, my boyfriend at the time, now husband, encouraged me to really let myself dream and work out what I wanted to do in my life – and which of my passions I could turn into a business. This is where Charlotte Bryer-Ash Photography was born!
A small spanner was thrown in my way in 2013 as I was put forward for a job in London which I couldn’t turn down, but really at that point I wanted to leave my job and pursue my business full time – but I didn’t have the confidence to do it, I felt I wasn’t ready!
So I took the new job, we packed up our first apartment and headed to the city, where all of a sudden I was totally in the thick of corporate London, suited with my pair of heels, feeling like I was exactly in the place I didn’t want to be!
I spent a couple of years working there, committing 50+ hour work weeks, taking any spare moment I could on my lunch break, commute and in the evenings to work and build my business, then I would shoot weddings on the weekend! Week in week out – it was tough but I never wanted to give up trying to build my business to a point where I could replace my London salary and hand in my notice!
Fast forward to May 2015, I wrote my resignation letter dated October 2015 – I had had enough! I came up with my exit strategy – I gave myself 6 months to be in a position where my business had grown, I saved over 6 months salary, and had a promising year ahead forecasted. I spent the last of the money I had to invest in an amazing business coach to help me grow in confidence and to bring my business to where I needed it to be!
October 2015, I walked out of my corporate job, I moved back to Dorset to pursue my business and dream of being a wedding photographer….And I did it! Ever since I have been growing my business, learning and growing as an entrepreneur, having great successes, making mistakes along the way, and I am beyond proud that year on year I have increased my income, clients and profits – building my business online and in person!