This blog was written as a summary of my conversation with Heather Lahtinen for The Focal Point Podcast.  Click here to listen to that episode. 

Breaking Free from Your Default Money Philosophy: A Conversation with Heather Lahtinen

Talking about money makes people uncomfortable.  Most of us are taught from a pretty young age that asking about money or discussing it in public is not polite at best, and very rude at the very least.  This idea haunts many people, especially photographers trying to build a successful business, as they try to build businesses based on profitability. But what if I told you that the biggest obstacle to charging what you're worth isn't your market, your experience, or your competition? It's those money beliefs you absorbed as a child.

In a recent conversation with Heather Lahtinen of The Flourish Academy, on The Focal Points Podcast we dug deep into what she calls your "default money philosophy" and how it's silently sabotaging your photography business. 

The Uncomfortable Truth About Wanting Money

Heather opened our conversation with a bold statement: 

"I love money and I want to be rich."

When's the last time you heard someone, anyone, say that out loud in a room of strangers?  Especially a woman in business? Do you feel uncomfortable reading those words? Are you sitting there thinking, “I could never say that out loud?” If so, that discomfort is your default money philosophy at work.

Personally, I love this statement.  When people ask what drives my business, my answer is simple: to provide financially for my family. Yes, I want to help people. But if I'm running a business, I need to make money doing it. Otherwise, it's just an expensive hobby.

Would You Let Your Grandfather Price Your Sessions?

Here's a thought experiment Heather posed: Would you want your dad or grandfather influencing your photography price list?

Absolutely not, right? Yet for most of us, they already are.

Your default money philosophy is the unconscious set of beliefs about money that you inherited from your parents, grandparents, and childhood experiences. It's working behind the scenes in your business every single day, and you probably don't even realize it.

How Childhood Messages Shape Your Pricing Today

I still remember a specific incident from fourth grade. My dad was being asked to sponsor my softball team for $100, and he repeatedly said it was too much money. I can still hear those conversations today whenever something costs $100.  

It wasn't really about the money (he could afford it). It was about the business investment not making sense. But my young brain absorbed the message that $100 was a lot of money, and that neural pathway is still there.

Heather grew up very poor in Western Pennsylvania.  The home she grew up in didn’t have a furnace and they relied on her mother's garden and canned food. She heard that money was hard to come by, that you had to trade time for dollars, and that there simply wasn't enough to go around. Those beliefs kept her from making money for years until she recognized them and started working to change them.

The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of "My Area Won't Pay That"

When I am coaching photographers the number 1 objection I hear about raising prices is: "You don't understand my area. No one here will pay premium prices."

Unless you have a degree in macroeconomics, you're just making that up based on your thoughts. And if your thought is "nobody will pay this," then you're absolutely right. When you say this over and over your brain will scan your environment looking for ways to prove you correct.

When I work with coaching clients on this, I immediately pull up median income data for their area. The median means 50% of people make MORE than that number. Then I show them the next largest metropolitan area, usually within two hours. If people love your work, they'll travel. Or you can meet them halfway.

The truth is, there are people who will invest in premium photography in every market. You just need to believe they exist and position yourself to find them.

Creating Your Conscious Money Philosophy

Heather teaches that once you identify your default money philosophy, you need to consciously create a new one. This isn't about denying where you came from.  But as we grow we need to realize that our parents did their best but they didn’t always get it right and recognizing which beliefs serve you and which don't can greatly impact your success. 

Heather uses what she calls a "possibility drop".  That is simply planting the idea in your mind that a $10,000 or $15,000 sale is possible. Because we have evidence that these things happen. Other photographers are doing it. Why not you?

The key is awareness. You need to know your default thinking so you can catch yourself sliding back into it during sales conversations or when setting your prices. Then you can ask yourself: "What else could be true? What do I want to believe about money?"

Stretching for Growth

Building wealth in your photography business is like learning to do the splits. You can stretch and become more comfortable over time, but it takes consistent work and it's never fully "done."

New level, new devil. You'll get comfortable with $1,000 sessions, then $2,000, then $5,000, then $10,000. But each new level requires stretching through discomfort.

It's Usually Just a Thought Problem

Here's what Heather has found: If you're not where you want to be in business, it's either a math problem or a thought problem. And since you have a calculator, you can do the math.

Which means all problems are really just thought problems.  How you think about your business, your pricing, your market, and your worth.

Your business will be as successful or unsuccessful as you think it's going to be.

The Bottom Line

You can study pricing strategies, cost of doing business calculators, and sales techniques all day long. But if you don't believe you're worth $2,800 per session, you'll never be able to charge it.  The numbers won’t matter unless you believe those numbers can be achieved. 

The good news? These are just thoughts. And thoughts can be changed. It takes work, awareness, and consistent practice. But it's possible.

So ask yourself: What would you do if you truly believed there were clients in your area willing to invest in premium photography? What would you charge if you weren't afraid of being judged as greedy? Who would you be without the thought that "nobody will pay that"?

Your business, and your bank account, are waiting for you to find out.

For more information about Heather's work or to connect with her, visit The Flourish Academy or find her on Instagram @flourishacademy.