As most of you know already I’ve settled on closing shop for a week out of each month to help manage orders & keep a happy balance in my life. So far, this has been a really great thing & my husband & children are loving it!

My next move:

I have decided I will not accept rush orders any longer. I thought about this & have been back & forth for a few months now.

While I believe rushing an order, pulling a later nighter to get it done early and generally giving it 110% to make my customers happy & help them out equates to my high standard of customer service I’ve strived for since day one.

I’ve worked my tail off & BBB has grown significantly. I have many, many LOYAL and WONDERFUL customers. I can’t stress enough how {blessed} I am. This has surpassed my wildest dreams! At this juncture I have decided to {1.} Back of giveaways & other forms of “growing” my business {2.} Focus on  keeping my current customers more than happy, I want you folks THRILLED.

That being said, I hate to get a message with an order that the item is needed in a week’s time. First class mail alone can take up to 9 days to arrive- not even counting my turnaround time. I have one lonely negative feedback in my Etsy shop & that was given to me because a package was lost by the USPS when it was a “rush order”. It seems obvious that is no fault of my own but I think “rushes” increase liability for me & your satisfaction. I have NO control over packages once they leave my hands. I can’t be help accountable for them.

That being said- I myself am as impatient as they come. I order something & I WANT it…. yesterday. I strive to make that happen for you. If you’ve planned accordingly,I don’t think it’s reasonable that your order be pushed back a day because someone else is willing to pay extra to get theirs moved forward in queue.

As much as I wish I could clone myself & make 100 bands a day, I am a mom of 2, a pilot’s wife, and a relied upon sister, daughter & aunt. I work every. single. day. I give BBB 200% & I always will!

Thank you for understanding, supporting & loving BBB!

This month I am featuring another one of my favorite photographers, Ashley Behrle of A Family Affair Photography. What a perfect month to share a little about this sweet lady… she is so full of love & happiness.  Ashley oozes that love out of every pore & into every picture she takes!  I am so happy our paths crossed & she decided she loved my work.  Many of my products are photographed on her beautiful daughter & many of my days have been brightened from chats with Ashley!

A little about Ashley & A Family Affair Photography in her own words….

1. Tell me a little bit about your journey to
   becoming a photographer.

Honestly, it was a LONG journey in
the making and definitely driven by God. Here’s the short version:

I’ve always been an artist but
I started photographing in high school about 10 years ago. I was really into
photographing things that could be framed and go into someone’s home or what
aesthetically “looked pretty”. When I started college I was told by my family
and husband (then fiancé) that it would be VERY difficult to make a living as
photographer or an artist. My best bet was to be an art teacher since it was
consistent money. My husband and I sat down with his priest for our marriage
classes and he asked me what I was going to school for. I told him I was working
on my art education degree and that I hoped one day to find a job. To my
surprise he hired me for the art teacher position on the spot.

  While I was teaching, I was
going to school full time and had to take a digital photography class. Crazy as
it is, I had all this knowledge in film and dark rooms but knew NOTHING about
digital SLRs and Photoshop. I was intrigued. For one of our projects I had to
photograph people. I chose to photograph my husband’s brother and his family. I
fell in LOVE. Fast-forward 2 years and I was SO unhappy with my teaching job. I
knew that this wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing but super scared to go out
on my own and do my thing. During those 2 years I was creating a business and a
plan, meeting amazing people along the way. Well I prayed and prayed and prayed
and let’s just say I got my answer at the end of the school year in 2010. I quit
and never looked back! Today I am trying my hardest to put myself in everything
I do, full heart. I’m happy to say that I still get excited about every shoot I
do.  I’m always trying to better myself, as a person, a Christian, a mother, a
wife, a business owner and an artist. So technically my journey is FAR from
over! 

2. How would you describe your style?

This is a very good question. I have
spent the last 4 years trying to find my identity in this business. There are A
LOT of photographers out there. A lot of GREAT photographers. I spent a lot of
this past year telling myself to not compare myself to them because it only put
myself down. I gained more and more confidence and found myself and my niche. I
would say I am a “natural light, journalistic, lifestyle, in the moment,
colorful, portrait photographer”…most of the time! One this is for certain, I’m
really big on using natural light and letting the moments happen well,
naturally. I feel like you get the most genuine responses this way.

3. Who or what inspires you as an artist?

I hate to admit that other
photographers inspire me, but they do. They are what keep me going. I have a
goal in mind and they are a reminder that it is possible and attainable! There
are so many successful photographers I follow and I hope and pray to be just as
successful in skill and in business as they are. It humbles me
actually.

4. What is your favorite type of photography
{newborns, babies, children, candid,
lifestyle, etc.}?

ALL the above and for different
reasons. Newborns and babies are awesome because they are so innocent and
beautiful and so much fun to photograph. Plus they smell good. Children are just
crazy fun. Enough said.

But above all, candid and
lifestyle photography are my favorite. This encompasses all subject matter in my
opinion. I absolutely love seeing the relationships and interactions of my
clients. I love seeing a bride hug her 92-year-old grandmother on her wedding
day because she’s so fortunate for her Nana to have “made it”. I love seeing new
parents and their babies because you just know they thank God for
entrusting them with this new soul. I love seeing families interact with such
ease and comfort and realness. This is why I do what I do. To capture these
little moments that would have been forever lost.

5.  Where do you see yourself in 5
years?

What I’m doing now but add 1-2 more
babies J Right now I am living in the moment with my
husband and our 10!! Month old. She is the center of my world and if I think too
hard about 5 years ahead it’s only going to make me sad.

Area: St. Louis, Missouri and
surrounding counties!

www.a-family-affair.com

www.afamilyaffair.zenfolio.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Family-Affair-Photography/259814841336