Peter: I'm joined by Adara Crawford of Adara Jade Photography. She started with us about three months ago and has some crazy results. Adara, give us a quick intro.

Adara: I've been a photographer for almost 10 years. I started when my son was born, and I've focused heavily on weddings for about eight years. I'm in the St. Louis area, and over the last two or three years I've been working to move into a higher-end market. My background is in property management. I started in the apartment leasing office, and two years ago I moved into human resources at the same company as a talent acquisition manager. I'm also a wife and a mom of three, so I've been wearing a lot of hats.

Adara: Earlier this year, I had my come-to-Jesus moment. Did I want to keep climbing the corporate ladder in HR, or invest in my business and grow? After lots of talks with my husband and prayer, I decided to choose myself and my business. I did a complete overhaul. I rebranded, honed my editing style, and got clear on who I am and who I want to work with. But I was still struggling to get inquiries. A friend told me about you, we connected in late August, and I took a huge leap of faith.

Peter: When we first talked, you said that if you got to $100K, you could do this full-time. What was the motivation?

Adara: A big part of it is being with my kids. We have a 12-year-old, a 9-year-old, and a 1-year-old. Having the baby made me realize I didn't want to be at a full-time job all week, come home mentally drained, and give up photography, which I'd invested so much in. I wanted to be a better person for my family while doing something I enjoy.

Adara: As soon as I got access, I dove into the videos. I listened to them in the car and re-listened at home. When I put my mind to something, I become a sponge. We got my ads up quickly, and the leads started coming in. The biggest learning curve was that these are cold leads, people entering whatever you're putting out there. Learning to nurture them and navigate those conversations was really challenging at first. I knew it wouldn't be an overnight success, but those first couple of weeks were about pushing through, following up, and responding, even when it felt like nothing was happening, until it was.

Peter: Most wedding photographers don't actually have a client acquisition system. They have word-of-mouth referrals and the occasional booking from an Instagram post. Taking people from never having heard of you to high-paying client is a skill, and like playing the piano, you're not going to be good at it on day one.

Adara: I got my first booking two or three weeks in. Some people said I was way out of their budget, but you educate them and move on. Then, in October, things went crazy, and I booked my highest package ever that month.

Adara: Even before I was booking, I was impressed by how many people were following me because of the ads. One bride who booked me never even entered the ad, but my ads kept popping up, so she emailed me directly. A lot of my clients say, "I've been following you, and I love your personality, your energy, and your vibe, because that's who I want around on my wedding day." My stories aren't all photography. I give updates about the baby, and people love getting to know who you are.

Peter: People tell me it's so hard to keep up with the Instagram algorithm, but that's because they're trying to use organic content to generate leads. We use Instagram to nurture leads. The ads generate the leads, and then people come into your world, watch you, and build a connection. People don't just buy photography. They buy photographers.

Adara: My work can be just as great as someone else's, or even not as good, but if I'm showing up with my personality and couples have no idea who they'd get with someone else, they'll choose the person they'll enjoy working with.

Peter: When you talk to couples who don't have a venue or date yet, they might not be ready to pull the trigger, but you're the first person they're talking to, before they've gotten any referrals. That's a crazy advantage.

Adara: One bride entered the ad and ghosted me, even after I followed up. About a month later, she wrote, "Adara, I'm so sorry I ghosted you. I didn't think you'd get back to me, and when you did, I freaked out because we had nothing planned. Now we have our date and venue." She booked that same day. I'm naturally sensitive, so I had to learn not to take it personally when people go quiet or say I'm out of their budget. Sometimes they come back once they've figured things out.

For couples who just got engaged and haven't planned anything yet, I wrote a blog post called "I'm Engaged, Now What?" I'll say, "Planning is a lot. Here's a quick post to help you navigate the next step." It shows people you truly care.

Peter: It probably took you a couple of hours. If you help couples before they're even your clients, they start seeing you that way, and most photographers don't do that.

Adara: Because I gain their trust so early, I've also been able to recommend vendors I love. I have four or five weddings next year with one of my favorite florists, because I could say, "Based on what you've told me, I think this florist can really execute that."

Peter: When we started, you had three weddings booked for 2026. How many do you have now?

Adara: I have 15 for 2026, plus two for 2027 and a proposal out. From January through August, I had about $33,000 in booked revenue. From September through December, I booked $81,200, so I'm at $115,000 in booked revenue for the year. October, my first full month with you, was just shy of $40K, about $38,000. November and December were roughly $20,000 months. I brought in about $15,000 in cash in October, and I'm on track for about $17,000 in December, with a week still to go.

My highest booking was $12,500 in October, at the Ritz-Carlton here in St. Louis. It's a Hindu and Western multicultural wedding, which is a dream for me to photograph. Before that, my highest was $7,000.

Peter: You said $100K would be your reason to quit your job, and you're at $115K, in about 90 days. And $12,500 in the Midwest is significant.

Adara: I thought it would take 90 days just to build up and start seeing something. Now that we're heading into a slower season, I'll use the time to figure out where we go next, and hopefully submit my notice.

Peter: Now's a good time to lay the groundwork for the next level of growth. Once you solve client acquisition and can repeatedly book $20,000 to $40,000 a month, your fulfillment usually breaks next. So you look at raising your prices, bringing someone onto the team to book for, and making sure editing isn't fully reliant on you.

Peter: How many couples are you talking to in a month?

Adara: About 15 discovery calls a month, and probably five to seven consults. With my busy season and full-time job, I probably could have done more.

Peter: So if you average six consults and close about four, that's around 60% or more. For people listening, we recommend a two-call close when you're running ads: a quick 10- to 15-minute discovery call, then a consult if it makes sense. Do you have sales experience?

Adara: Only from leasing apartments. What really sets me apart, according to my brides, is a personalized proposal. It's like an investment guide with their names, their wedding date, and their venue, plus photos from that venue, or ones that fit their vibe if I haven't shot there. I personalize the intro too. I have a master version, so I'm just swapping in photos, not starting from scratch. I love serving my clients however I can, and showing them up front that I took the time to create something for them sets the tone for the whole experience.

Peter: When people struggle to close, it's never a surprise once you watch the call. There's no structure, it feels robotic, and they're not digging into what matters to the couple or showing them anything that gets them excited.

Adara: We all think our businesses are our babies and that we know everything about them. Come into this program open-minded, as if you know nothing. I had the people side down from leasing, but I didn't know everything about sales or how to do what you do on the back end. Be a sponge and soak up all the information you can. And show yourself grace, be patient with the process, and keep going, because consistency is what gets results.

Peter: We call that a beginner's mind. If you're used to doing things one way and it's not getting results, you have to change, and change is hard. Everyone has their own journey. Some people make $40K in their first 30 to 45 days, and others take a couple of months before booking 80 weddings in 12 months. As long as you show up and put in the work, it's inevitable.

Peter: A lot of people are jaded after spending money on courses and mentorships. What would you say to them?

Adara: Clearly you love what you do, because you keep investing in it. So why not give this a try? The worst thing that happens is that it ends and you don't continue. If you don't have the money yet, make it a goal and start working toward it.

What sets this apart is how the ads get people into your world, so when you present the investment, they've already bought into you. And then there's the support: the community in School, the videos, the weekly calls, and my client success manager, Joe, who cheers me on in our group chat and hops on a call when I need to run something by her.

Peter: You're a mom and a wife with a full-time job, and you're doing $40K a month in your wedding business. How much does not having to run the ads yourself help?

Adara: Without it, it would have flopped. September through November is our peak fall season in St. Louis. There's no way I could have learned to run ads, monitor them, and pivot at the same time. Everyone is an expert in their field for a reason, so pay the experts to do that work.

Peter: We used to just sell the information, but our clients kept asking, "Can you just do this for me?" That's why we started running the ads for people in 2021. Now you just focus on talking to couples.