Known for her life-changing career shift from being a luxury wedding photographer to a Business Coach For Wedding Professionals, Aislinn McKenna is filled with incredible knowledge and mindset techniques that will help you achieve your goals as a wedding professional. She uses her experience from her decade-long career as a wedding photographer to help wedding professionals shift their mindset to create abundance in their businesses and lives. We sit down to discuss Aislinn’s top wedding business advice and tips for transitioning into a new phase of your business!
Before creating a successful coaching business, Aislinn was a luxury wedding photographer for 13 years. During that time, she was published in Martha Stewart Weddings and Brides and flown all over the country for celebrations. Now, Aislinn helps women in the wedding industry with established businesses revolutionize their mindset and create more money in their business. She also help 6 + 7 figure coaches who want to master the art of creating bingeable video and reels.
An Interview With A Business Coach For Wedding Professionals
1. What is the best advice that someone has given to you in your business?
I’ve been a business owner for nearly 15 years so I’ve been lucky enough to receive a lot of advice over the years. The one that has stuck with me most is this: Nothing changes if nothing changes.
If you have big dreams for your business, you’re going to need to be willing to change. Change your language, your environment, the way you show up, the people you talk to, your systems. You are not beholden to who you were a year or 5 years ago so let yourself change and watch how your big dreams start to show up in your reality.
2. What has been the best investment for your business?
Hands down it’s mentorship. Mentorship will save you time and money in the long run because you’ll be moving faster and supported as you move. I’ve invested in masterminds, 1:1 private coaching, group programs. They all have their place in growing your business but I truly love closer proximity spaces like 1:1 and masterminds. I actually made sure that my signature offer, Success Accelerator Program includes some 1:1 support and group coaching because I know the transformation that can happen with that type of support.
3. What has been the most rewarding shift as you changed careers from photographer to coach?
Being able to help women make more money and feel better in their businesses is deeply fulfilling to me. Knowing that what we’re doing together inside of my programs is creating an impact on them, their families, and their future generational wealth. More money in the hands of good people will change the world and part of my mission is exactly that. I attract incredible women into my coaching containers and their success has a ripple effect not only on them but their clients as well. What if there were more women in the wedding industry who were able to communicate effectively, hold boundaries, create exceptional client experiences? Imagine what that would do to the wedding industry.
4. Can you share more about your experience as you retired from wedding photography & into coaching?
Of course! I created my first educational shop for wedding creatives in November 2020 and started my coaching business in the spring of 2021. I retired officially from weddings in June 2022. There was definitely a transition period there where I was juggling a thriving wedding business and a thriving coaching business. I really learned a lot about my capacity and ability to navigate it all. I was in a mastermind for a year and a half from 2021-2022 and that support really helped me so much as I made the transition. My first offer was a high ticket 1:1 structured program that I sold throughout 2021. This later turned into what is now Success Accelerator Program because my clients were seeing such good results and I knew I could support more people using what I teach in SAP. I’m so proud of what I’ve built with the coaching business and I am excited to keep building and scaling something that I know has a huge impact on the industry I was part of for so long.
5. What is one thing you wish someone had told you during your recent career shift?
Everything you’re learning, struggling with, navigating is going to make you a stronger leader and nothing is wasted. Moving to a new career does not diminish what you created as a wedding photographer.
6. How did you build your new business while managing your old business simultaneously?
I used a lot of Agile techniques for task management and project management. Agile is a task management system that I teach my clients inside of SAP because it focuses on prioritizing tasks and determining what is ACTUALLY moving your business forward. One big thing I did was designate certain days for certain tasks. So I would have a content creation + recording trainings day. Then I would have a day full of meetings with wedding vendors for networking. This helped me really focus my energy and serve both sets of clients.
7. What do you believe is the most important thing when it comes to making a career shift or making major business changes?
Support. It’s easy to talk yourself out of big moves because our subconscious hates changes. But when you have someone in your corner who knows your business to get support from you are able to rewire your subconscious and actually BELIEVE you can make those moves. Almost all of my clients who come to me are going through some pivot. Maybe they’re adding on a course or they are raising prices, or they are moving to a new market. Having mentorship support is where you will find belief in yourself you didn’t know you had.
8. What advice do you have for a wedding professional who is hoping to get into coaching/mentorship?
Go for it. There are people out there who are half as talented or knowledgable as you who are coaching and creating courses. Your unique perspective and what you bring to the table is needed in this industry. A lot of my clients come to me with wedding businesses that are already successful and they want to add on coaching. I usually recommend they start with a high ticket 1:1 structured program that they can sell a few times a year. Take that same program and turn it into a group program after you’ve mastered launching, selling, and running it. Then build out the rest of your offer suite. This is something I love helping my clients with!
9. What are three tips you can give a wedding vendor moving to a new market?
- Have a plan. I moved my wedding business 5 times across the country and every time I was able to already have work in the new city I moved to. You need a visibility plan, a marketing plan, and a messaging plan.
- The wedding industry is smaller than you think. You’re probably only 1-2 connection points away from a connection you need to make in the new market you want to reach. Be willing to use those connections.
- Don’t cold message people with template emails or DMs. It’s poor taste and doesn’t reflect well on you and if you ever did that to me I would immediately write you off as not professional. What to do instead: find a connection point, build rapport, and build relationships.
How Aislinn Can Help You And Your Wedding Business
In Aislinn’s signature program, Success Accelerator Program she helps women in the wedding industry who want to revolutionize their mindset and the way they create money in their business. Learn more about Aislinn’s 1:1 coaching and group programs as a Business Coach For Wedding Professionals here.
No matter if you are a seasoned wedding professional or if you are new to the wedding industry, Aislinn is sure to help you create a successful business strategy that is aligned with your business goals. As a Business Coach For Wedding Professionals, she has experience helping wedding vendors of all types and has a personal passion for helping you see your value and worth as a wedding professional. Follow along with Aislinn on social here!
