Sarah Petty: Today’s episode is a special one.
Allie Klein is a military spouse, mom of three and a student of mine.
Her story is so great and I wanted you to hear it.
Give everybody a little bit of your backstory.
Where were you before you took Boutique Breakthrough in your photography and your life?
Allie Klein: From 2020 to Boutique Breakthrough, I was a couch potato.
I took a job because I was trying to avoid being a full-time photographer again because I had just moved my business to a new state for the third time.
I’m a military spouse and Marine Corps veteran myself.
Sarah Petty: What does it look like to be in the military world and have a photography business?
Allie Klein: Before I was a hybrid model.
I was trying to use digitals as an incentive to push people to buy larger packages.
Sometimes that worked out great for me and sometimes it was very disappointing.
It’s about getting new clients every single time.
My market had to be all military members because of our status agreement there in that country.
It’s just very difficult.
Sarah Petty: In those three years did you know who I was or had you followed me at all?
Allie Klein: I found you on a podcast and then I read your book.
I had a lot of head trash that I needed to work through so I wasn’t ready.
Honestly, in those three years, I didn’t even pick up my camera and that was probably the most depressing thing.
I didn’t feel good enough and I didn’t think I could be a photographer and have a family.
Every excuse that there was, I was using it.
Sarah Petty: What changed for you?
Allie Klein: I saw a challenge of yours and I went all in.
I joined Boutique Breakthrough and followed all the steps in the program.
You helped through my mental stuff and that was the biggest aspect for me.
The training that you gave us through the program was amazing, helpful and so uplifting and led me to where I am now.
Sarah Petty: So you’re juggling a full-time job, three boys, and your photography business.
What changed your mind?
A lot of people are sitting in those three years like you and not making money.
Do you ever look back and look at what you didn’t make in those three years?
Allie Klein: Yeah, absolutely.
You discussed I made $12,000 in a little over 30 days.
Why haven’t I been doing this the whole time?
Sarah Petty: So you jumped in and how did you tackle the course?
Did you just trust the process and do it step-by-step?
Allie Klein: Yeah, absolutely.
I had to tell myself to trust the process.
Obviously I’d done things on my own before and it wasn’t working for me, so I trusted the process.
Sarah Petty: In our program, we start by scrubbing your branding and getting your business legal.
Did you have to do all of that?
Allie Klein: My logo changed a lot and I was really happy with the one I had just created a few months before.
Ultimately, it got changed around and I’m actually really happy with it and I’ve had a lot of feedback from other people saying it looks very luxurious.
Sarah Petty: There are a lot of branding disconnects that we scrub through.
Did you like seeing that?
One of my favorite things as a coach is getting to watch everyone in the group learn from one another.
Allie Klein: Yeah, absolutely.
I think working together as a group was the best part of the program.
We’re doing individual things, but seeing what everybody else is doing and they’re all on the same page as you, that really helps.
Sarah Petty: I love that.
After that, we do your pricing.
We give you templates and have it calculated for you.
How did that feel for you?
Allie Klein: I wasn’t terrified about the prices.
Hearing the coaches explain the pricing was really reassuring.
After I got my first two clients, I was more comfortable with it.
Sarah Petty: That’s amazing.
You’re in North Carolina?
Are your clients multi-multimillionaires?
Allie Klein: I’m in eastern North Carolina.
It’s kind of rural, not really a city area.
I’m about 30 minutes from the coast.
No they are not.
Sarah Petty: Normal people who value decorating their home with this beautiful artwork.
It’s the best place you can put their money.
You got through pricing, and then you ordered your price lists.
When you got your price lists, how did you feel?
Allie Klein: Having a price list that I can give out was so exciting for me.
It really solidified it for me.
I’m not sending an email anymore with my prices.
Sarah Petty: Then, we taught you how to talk to people, so that when you market, and you get them on the phone, you can book them.
How did that go for you?
Allie Klein: That was the scariest part for me because I am introverted.
Before, I relied on emails and messaging on Facebook to communicate with clients.
But going through the process, it taught me how to introduce myself, how to talk to people, how to let people know what I do, why it is important to me, and why it might be important to you based off of my story and everything else.
It really helped me because I never was able to define my why.
I would never even return phone calls when people would call me before.
I would just send them an email.
That’s how afraid I was to talk to people.
Sarah Petty: This is so important because that fear is what holds everybody back.
How did the community support you in this?
Allie Klein: We are in a Facebook group with everybody who’s in the program, and it’s amazing.
There was a group of five of us who really just connected and we still chat today.
Whenever somebody’s having a struggle or challenge, we give feedback to each other.
Being able to role play with each other was super helpful.
Sarah Petty: How did you juggle getting the work done with a full-time job?
Allie Klein: I would listen to the training as I was driving to and from work.
As far as getting everything put together I would do that in the evenings after my work hours were over.
Sometimes I had to wait till after the kids went to bed.
I was probably spending about 16 hours a week on it, which isn’t a ton of time, but it was enough to get everything done.
Sarah Petty: You learned how to talk to people, then we gave you a bunch of marketing ideas.
Were those things hard or scary for you?
Allie Klein: I’m still using those strategies today and it’s super helpful.
I ended up getting seven first phone calls in one afternoon.
Sarah Petty: How long did it take you to get your first Julie ($1k or more client order)?
Allie Klein: That one was right away.
That person found my website online, randomly.
Sarah Petty: Then we went into the pre-planning session.
We call it boutique in-person consultation, so we call it “BIPC”.
How was that different from what you’d been doing in the past?
Allie Klein: Before I was just sending an email with a welcome guide of what to expect and things like that.
But now I actually meet with them and bring samples of what I do and my price sheet.
Sarah Petty: I love it!
Then you learned how to build the presentation.
Were you doing any kind of presentation before?
Allie Klein: I used to take my iPad with me, and I would create a little slideshow and then we’d go through and then I’d write down which ones were their favorites.
But the software that you guys had us using just streamlined the whole process and it made it so much easier to present.
Sarah Petty: So tell me your three orders that came in that 30 days.
Allie Klein: The first one was 4,400 and it was a solo child.
The second one was 3,300 and it was a maternity couple.
The last one was 5,000, and that was a solo child as well.
Sarah Petty: Wow. How do you feel?
You made $12,000 in a month.
Allie Klein: It gets hard for me to walk into my full-time job every morning knowing that I’ve had this success.
My goal is to keep it consistent before I leave my full-time career.
Sarah Petty: I love it.
Last question, do you feel like you are showing up as a different version of yourself, as a mom, as a wife, as an entrepreneur, as a leader in your community?
Allie Klein: Yeah. I go out and talk to people now.
I never would talk to people before.
My husband has already told me that I have much more confidence now than in the last four or five years.
I feel better and I’m smiling a lot more.
So there’s definitely been a change since starting this program for me mentally and emotionally too.
Sarah Petty: I’m so proud of you for that.
Allie, thank you so much for being here today.
I know your message is going to resonate with so many people.
Download the Episode Transcript Here
