Professional Accountability

Recently I taught a seminar to my master networks group on professional accountability, we were discussing it in a sense of how you are accountable to your clients, yourself and to others. It got me thinking about how we hold ourselves accountable in our everyday lives and business. How does accountability change how we interact with people? How does it make you kinder to your waitress at lunch or give that 35 in a 45MPH zone sunbird just a little extra grace?

What does professional accountability really mean to us as far as business, personal growth and in our lives in general?

Accountability to us as photographers means always showing up for clients and being there during the highs as well as the lows, to ensure that there are more great planning days than bad ones.  We also want to show up for them in a way that makes a difference on their wedding day. One of my favorite pictures of myself at a wedding shows me adjusting a bride’s dress. While this picture probably doesn’t create much impact visually to others, it really does show my heart in that we pride ourselves on being a part of our couples’ day. While being there for them as a vendor, we also give them small intimate touches of ourselves that make all the difference. One of the biggest things that we get asked about as photographers as you can imagine, is pinning boutonnieres and bustling the bride’s gown. These two things are huge unknowns to new brides and grooms and while we have seen and done it every single weekend, it allows us to be a helping hand on the wedding day. I love getting to see the bride’s choice in a gown and how it looks for the ceremony and then being able to quickly take a frustrating task, like bustling it, off of their hands to create a whole new look for the bride to enter the reception. This along with many other small details of the wedding day is why we feel our service is different from others and why we feel our clients know how much we truly care about them and their wedding day.

Show up, everyday!

So, when it comes back to accountability it’s not only being accountable to ourselves to show up every day when the times are tough, and the editing hours are long. We also show up for our clients on their wedding day to do more than just a job, we capture images of memories that they will have long into the future. Having these photographs helps to stitch time back together.

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If we can impart any knowledge onto anyone who reads this, it would be to always be accountable to yourself as well as your clients. It shows integrity, it creates trust, and shows the type of person you are when times are tough as well as great.

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