Working with Marcie as my photography coach had the greatest impact on my professional photography career than any other investment I have made besides my camera! My biggest frustration was knowing my photography should be better and could be improved, I just couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Over the past two years, I have invested well over $10,000 in photography courses, coaches, masterminds, and mentoring sessions. They all helped in different ways, but I could not seem create the beautiful images I wanted to desperately to create and was very frustrated as a result.

 Investing in 1:1 coaching with Marcie was significant in that it was the largest amount of money I have paid at one time for photography education but I felt like that leap of faith would be the turning point I had been searching for. An important part of my decision was the trust I had in Marcie. Prior to this coaching opportunity, I had invested in three, one-hour mentoring sessions with her and attended her Roadtrippers retreat all within the six months prior. After each coaching session with Marcie, I was in awe of the amount of detail, attention, and effort she poured into our sessions. Instead of answering one of my questions, which every other photography educator would do, Marcie would respond with a video detailing step-by-step how to solve whatever my issue was. Never have I experienced that level of attention from an educator, coach, or mentor.

My biggest takeaway was; I invested in Marcie’s knowledge, experience, and expertise as a photography coach, and at the end of each training I realized Marcie had invested way more in me. She doesn’t compare to any other photography coach, educator, or mentor I have ever had.

The homework assignments she gave me were challenging and forced me out of my comfort zone, but I knew pushing through these exercises so carefully thought out by her would make me a better photographer than I thought possible. And, although I was learning so much and learning to study the light and its effect on my subject, the unfolding of small improvements in my skill came about slowly. With each session, I would hear Marcie’s coaching in my head as I struggled to figure out how to implement it in each senior session. Finally, in the middle of my last scheduled senior session, I was striving for the breakthrough I so wanted. I kept hearing everything Marcie had taught me as I assessed the location with a huge semi-truck parked right where I wanted to be with my senior. As stressed as I was, I kept reminding myself of all of the concepts Marcie and I had discussed while I moved around my subject looking for the best light. The images on the back of my camera were underwhelming, but I couldn’t figure out why. I finally asked my subject to turn his head to the right and look down the street and it was like the largest fireworks display ever!! I remember gasping at the realization that what I saw in my viewfinder was the culmination of everything Marcie had been coaching me on! I will never forget how my subject's face went from flat to illuminated! All of the problems I couldn't figure out how to solve were solved in that instant. Who knows how many years I would have continued trudging through mediocre work had I not taken that leap of faith and invested in 1:1 coaching with Marcie. I am forever grateful for all of the energy + thoughtfulness she invested in me. No matter what issue I brought to her, she was always ten steps ahead of me. She knew what I needed before I even knew what I needed or how to ask for what I needed.

The resources she shared with me were not created for anyone else but for the specific problem I presented to her, as opposed to a pdf she created for the masses. I had so many aha moments from her way of teaching. For example, if she knew I was struggling with a homework assignment, she would do the same homework assignment, sometimes pulling her children out of bed early before school to demonstrate a concept in a video for me. If I had a question about social media or email marketing, she would go through my Instagram account or Flodesk emails as if she were a potential client and offer invaluable insight that only would have been discovered from digging deeper and having the passion to ensure from her coaching I would finish our time together as a much-improved photographer.

Marcie was fully committed to my growth and goal attainment. She gave everything of herself and tapped into every resource available to her to help me improve my photography. She was open and generous in sharing with me knowledge that likely took her years to acquire. The most significant validation of the effect of Marcie’s coaching happened this past January at a retreat with a mastermind group I had joined the year before meeting Marcie. We had not seen each other in a year and during one of the heart-to-heart chats, several women mentioned the significant improvement in my photography over the past year. They wanted to know what I attributed it to, and as I was telling them about my 1:1 coaching with Marcie, it struck me how much more I gained from being coached by her compared to what I invested. The growth, learning, confidence, clarity and so much more propelled me years ahead of where I would be had I not made that decision in 1:1 coaching with Marcie.