Jai Long: The Future of Wedding Photography Workshops
INTRODUCING JAI LONG
Jai is a creative entrepreneur, educator and photographer based in Melbourne, Australia.
He has built mulitple six-figure businesses over the years and helps wedding photographers reach their business goals. He runs a wedding photography studio called Free The Bird; he recently put together the very successful Wedding Photography Summit, and annualy offers his signature course The Six-Figure Business Map.
On top of all his paid offers, he is also constantly providing free content to his audience. I highly recommend that you tune into his podcast Make Your Break, which is full of tips, inspiration and interviews with industy leaders.
Hi, I am Aida, host of My Wedding Season -The Podcast!
If you prefer listening, this blog post is also available in audio format on my podcast: Episode 08.
MY WEDDING SEASON – THE PODCAST
MAIN TAKEAWAYS
I was so excited to chat with Jai about the heart behind putting together the Wedding Photography Summit – which ended up being the biggest in the world with over 8000 attendees. We talk about the future of wedding photography workshops as well as dive into the importance of knowing how to run a business and being ready to quickly pivot when things go south.
When Covid hit, it made a massive impact on the wedding photography industry. Not only weddings, but also workshops & conferences were being cancelled left and right. At the same time, it was clear that a lot of photographers were ill-prepared for such an unexpected event.
Jai believes that as a wedding photographer, it is so important to understand how business works and to be prepared for the different cycles that it goes through. He is also on a mission to change and improve wedding photography workshops, not only for the participants, but also for the speakers.
One of my favorite quotes from our conversation is when he said:
“The biggest shame in life is we don’t allow ourselves the freedom to fail because we’re trying to get validation from people that we don’t even know and we scared to put ourselves out in front of different people and because of that reason we don’t even live our own lives. And then we are on the sidelines all the time. We sit there and watch our lives go past … You know, that is just a crying shame. Instead of that, imagine just having an idea and going hey, I want to do a Summit, you know what, I’m doing it! Let’s contact everybody!”
– Jai Long
Jai also talks about the importance of having the right mindset in business and in life. For example he states that photographers who operate from a scarcity mindset often try to compete with other people or don’t want to show other people what they are working on so that their ideas are not stolen. They believe that there are not enough weddings, not enough opportunities, not enough money etc… He continues to explain that there is not a limit to the amount of success available. In essence, Jai believes that “money and success and everything comes, flows on the path of least resistance.” He just doesn’t compete with anybody. Just like with the Summit – he is not focused on competing with others, but he does compete with himself – and that is why he is excited to do another Summit, which is going to be even better than the first one.
I am personally excited to see what is in store for the future!
Can’t wait to attend the next Summit…
Episode & show notes: The Future of Wedding Photography Workshops
Website: Jai Long
Instagram: Jai Long
HERE IS A LOOK AT SOME OF HIS INCREDIBLE WORK
