Building flexibility into a photography business is easier said than done, especially once kids enter the picture. Newborn and family photographer Carly Matthews knows that tension well. On this episode of The Messy Middle, TMA Community Manager Ali Payne sits down with Carly, a Space Coast, Florida photographer who has been in business for five years and just welcomed her fourth baby in 2025. Carly discusses how her approach to photography work-life balance has shifted with every season of motherhood.
The Two Questions That Guide Every Decision
For most of Carly’s five years in business, she built her newborn and family photography work around weekday mornings. Sunrise and sunset family sessions filled her calendar on the beach, and newborn sessions filled weekday mornings while her older kids were in school or preschool. It worked well for years, until her fourth baby arrived and the math no longer added up. Suddenly she needed childcare, a pumping and feeding schedule, and a plan for a newborn client list that did not pause just because her family had changed.
Rather than push through, Carly leaned on a simple framework she now uses for every business decision: does this allow me to serve my clients well, and does this allow me to serve my family well? When the answer was no on the family side, she made the swap and moved her newborn sessions to weekends. She kept her weekend session fee in place for clients who can only book midweek, and now temporarily waives it for the families who need a weekend slot during this season. As she put it, “I view it as a temporary shift that my business is working for me, not the other way around.”
Carly applies the same framework to every part of her business, not just her schedule. She has chosen not to add mini sessions or portrait events, even though they work beautifully for other photographers inside TMA. Stacking ten or fifteen families in a single afternoon would bring in income, but it would not let her create the caliber of work her full session clients are hiring her for, and that does not pass her second test. Knowing herself as a creative, and being honest about what she can sustain, has kept her decisions grounded in what works for her family and her clients rather than what looks good from the outside.
Wins Worth Celebrating
One of Carly’s biggest 2025 wins was spending three weeks in Michigan with her family this summer, all while keeping her business running. She stacked sessions before and after the trip, lined up a trusted backup photographer for any newborns who arrived while she was away, and still brought in about seven thousand dollars in sales that month between digital galleries and custom albums.
Much of that ease came down to the Super Simple Sales system, created by TMA mentor Annemie Tonken and built into Pic-Time’s automation. The system pairs a session fee with a print credit, which keeps the post-session experience simple for clients and largely hands-off for Carly once everything is set up.
Carly’s third win was less about logistics and more about mindset. She has learned to treat client questions and clarifications as neutral rather than reading stress or disappointment into a short email. When a client recently asked a simple pricing question after receiving her gallery, old Carly might have panicked and offered an unnecessary discount. Instead, she answered plainly, and the client checked out and purchased an album without any extra back and forth. Letting client communication be exactly what it is, rather than a referendum on her pricing or her worth, has made her business feel calmer and more confident.
Comparison, Confidence, and Why Community Matters
Like most business owners, Carly still feels comparison creep in from time to time, especially when she sees other photographers pursuing growth in ways that do not fit her current season. What has helped her most is remembering that every family runs on a different level of support and outsourcing, and that someone else’s path says nothing about whether hers is working. She credits fellow TMA mentor Shannon Griffin with a line that has stuck with her: “There’s only one of you. There’s only so much of you.”
This is exactly what TMA’s mentors and community exist to offer. Members are not handed one formula for a successful photography business. They are surrounded by educators and peers who help them figure out what success looks like in their own season, whether that means weekday mornings, weekend sessions, mini sessions, or none of the above. Carly has been a TMA member for a few years, and she credits that support directly: “I honestly would have never had the confidence to make the jump from when I first started shooting $300 sessions to actually profitable rates that do give my family an income without TMA.”
Listen and Learn More
Carly’s full conversation with Ali is full of practical encouragement for any photographer trying to build a business around a changing season, from pricing policies to backup plans to simply giving herself permission to pivot. Click the link below to hear the whole episode.
Find Carly at carlymatthews.com or on Instagram at @carlymatthewsphoto.
Ready to build a business that reflects your own creative voice? The Motherhood Anthology membership gives you access to expert mentors, live coaching, monthly marketing suites, and a private community of photographers who are invested in your success. Learn more and join at themotherhoodanthology.com.
Episode Sponsor: Picture Perfect Rankings
This episode of The Motherhood Anthology Podcast is brought to you by Picture Perfect Rankings. Melissa Arlena is a TMA mentor who helps portrait photographers get found on Google through strategic SEO and blogging. Learn more about her work at Picture Perfect Rankings, and check out her Found & Booked program if you are ready for a done-with-you SEO system with personalized feedback on your website.
The Motherhood Anthology is a community and educational resource for photographers who want a profitable and sustainable business they love. With 15+ expert mentors and 7+ years of proven content, TMA helps portrait photographers build confident, thriving businesses through monthly education, mentorship, and a supportive community of 700+ members.
