Pop the Bubbly! It's launch day!!

POP THE BUBBLY!! It's launch day!! I am so excited for my brand refresh and website launch. It's been a few months of nailing down exactly who I am, what I love, and what I want my clients to know about me and my business! Talk about soul-searching! I am so thrilled it is done and ready to share with everyone!! After having a DIY website I pieced together on my own the past 5 years, this has been needed for a long time coming!! 

I could not have done ANY of this without the amazing Ashlee Proffitt! I have no idea how she did it, but she took all of my jumbled up brain and designed exactly what I wanted (even if I didn't know what I wanted!!) Her process, vision, communication and encouragement were exactly what I needed during this undertaking! 

I seriously have the greatest support team ever. Thanks to Michael for seriously being the most patient person ever. Thanks for your encouragement, editing skills, and ability to know what I'm trying to write when I don't even know! Miranda, for staying up late writing & editing with me- and for the bottle of Cab to celebrate!! And to Kelsey, Micah & Jenny for calming me down when I was stressed, helping me make decisions & answering my millions of questions through this process!! 

Thank you so much for joining me today! I was so excited to share my new site, blog and brand, I decided to publish it all early! I'm going to be sharing my inspiration and individual brand pieces soon!!  The good news about that is I'm going to be announcing my online launch party soon- with some amazing giveaways!! Sooooooo, take a look around the new site. There are so many amazing details Ashlee pieced together- I want to know all your favorite parts!! 

Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, Roanoke, Farmville, and surrounding areas.  Available for travel worldwide. Currently booking a limited number of weddings for 2016 and 2017.  Contact me today for additional information! 

Taking Time Off: For Small Business owners || Lynchburg Wedding Photographer

Happy Friday Friends!! We are so excited for this weekend- and not just because this Saturday calls for 60 degrees! YES- you read that right!! I'm so excited because I have the weekend off- no babies to photograph at the hospital, no photoshoots or client meetings scheduled- just two entire days of no working! I'm so excited to be spending time with my family! This is going to be one of the last free weekends I have until after Easter, so to say I'm excited is a bit of an understatement! ;) Oh, but don't be too jealous- there's already talk of more snow next week. sigh. :/ 

Taking time off when you own your own business can be so difficult, but it's so important to take some time for yourself- and most importantly to me, for your family! I'm going to try my very best to unplug (haha easier said than done on my part!!) and enjoy this early Spring weather we're going to get! One of my big goals for 2016 is to schedule days off- and stick to it. This is one of the negatives that people don't really think about when they think of people owning their own businesses.  When you work a typical 9-5 job, you get to clock out, head home, and not think about the work needing to be done when you get back in the office on Monday morning.  A lot of times, I find myself using these "days off" to catch up on work, but for 2016 I'm going to be serious about recharging to avoid burnout! I know I'm not the only creative & small business owner that over-extends myself, says yes to way too many things, & stays up late when the creativity and motivation hits! I know, you guys, it's so difficult to take days off- to tell a client no, you don't have that day available- but I know in the long run, I will be so thankful for that scheduled time off! 

Taking these breaks will make me a better photographer, friend, wife, and mom.  I never want to look back at my life and be thinking about how often I worked and how much of her little life that I missed.   So, dear fellow small business owner, I want to encourage you to take some time off! Schedule some unplugged, planned days off to spend with your friends and family. I promise you- you will not regret it!! And please, help keep me accountable too!! I know I'm going to need that accountability! 

And, because I know that was a lot of words, here are some of my favorite photos from our family session with Lindsey Hinkley this past November.  (I know- shame on me for not sharing until now!!) 

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Ashley Eiban Photography is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia- serving Lynchburg, Wintergreen, Charlottesville, Richmond, Roanoke, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide- we LOVE destination weddings! Ashley Eiban is currently booking weddings and portrait sessions for 2016 and 2017 weddings.  Contact us today for additional information! 

Feeling Overwhelmed? What I do when I'm feeling stressed

Photo by Lindsey Hinkley

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that balancing life and business is overwhelming.  Part of owning your own business means there are constantly things adding up to get done, appointments to attend, laundry to get done, meals to be prepped, guides to be created, emails to be sent… I think you get my point- there’s a lot of things!

When I have a week that just feels so overwhelming I’ve found that sitting down for a few minutes and doing one, two, or all of these things can help! This, and a glass of wine! or two!  ;) 

1- Learn to say no.  Ugh. this is the hardest thing ever. But, I have learned the hard way with this, saying yes to everything will so quickly burn you out.  You’ll be shooting or doing things that you aren’t passionate about, and that is the quickest way to kill your creativity.  Get rid of the stuff you don’t want to do- it’s holding you back! 

2- This is one of my favorites.  Get yourself a good planner.  There are some AMAZING ones out there- I have a erincondren.com planner, yes, it’s pricey but oh my goodness, it’s SO WORTH IT.  I write down EVERYTHING in my planner- from my appointments to what the plan for dinner is that night.  

Photo from ErinCondren.Com

3- If you are seriously feeling like there is no time, this is the tip for you.  Print off a blank week page and start by writing out ALL of your current obligations.  I mean everything.  Write down appointments, preschool drop off time, weddings, ballet lessons, workouts. Every.single.thing. Don’t forget sleep, meals. I’m serious here.  If you’re OCD like me, you can highlight based on what the activity is. (don’t judge.) this is the best way to see exactly how much time you have to get things done that week.  It may only be 12 hours, but now you know that you have exactly 12 hours to get everything done that you need to! 

4- Next, I write out a list of all of the things I need to do.  I then pull out my highlighters again, and will highlight the things that are URGENT and must get done today, and then the ones that must get done this week.  If it’s a super busy week, there are going to be a lot of things that aren’t going to get done.  

5- If you can’t tell, I love lists and anything that helps me be organized.  I am so excited to share this free tool with you! It’s called TRELLO and it’s seriously amazing!! Trello is a program that allows you to create boards, lists, checklists, and best of all you can add your images to it to make it pretty!! 

Ashley Eiban is a Wedding Photographer based in Central Virginia- serving Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, Roanoke, and surrounding areas.  We are currently booking weddings for 2016 and 2017.  Contact us today for additional information! 

Finding Balance in my small business... & Emmie's Tea Party!

One of the most challenging things about being a small business owner is BALANCE! It's super easy to get caught up with all the work I have to get done- not to mention all the ideas I have to make my business better- those things always get pushed to the back burner until I have some down time! Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do. I am so passionate about photography and forming these genuine relationships with my couples, but I am also quickly learning that I have got to take breaks. My family is always my number one priority.  I'm excited to be sharing more about how we find that balance with owning a business! 

A few weeks ago to celebrate Emmie's birthday, we took her out to the Ploughcroft Tea Room for her first 'grown up tea party.'  She dressed up in an Anna dress and loved drinking out of the China tea cups and putting in sugar cubes! 

Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Lynchburg, Virginia- serving Central Virginia and surrounding areas, and we also LOVE traveling! Contact us today for more informations!