Holy smokes, this quarter I am celebrating FOUR YEARS of Quianna Marie Weekly! In today’s episode, I’m telling the story of my podcast and how my life has changed over the last four years. Plus, I’m sharing four lessons I’ve learned about business, four things I’ve learned about life, four thank yous, and four dreams for the future. 

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Today’s episode is brought to you by The Green House, my resource garden for photographers! Let me help you AMPLIFY your heart online and in real life to turn bridesmaids into future brides through templates, workshops, and freebies!

Review The Show Notes:

Four Lessons I’ve Learned About Business (5:30)

Four Things I’ve Learned About Life (11:26)

Four Thank Yous (14:56)

Four Dreams For The Future (16:47)

Content Clarity Call Giveaway (21:30)

Four Affirmations For This Season (24:17)

Mentioned In This Episode:

Easy B-Roll Ideas For Business Owners: quiannamarie.com/broll

The Green House Resource Garden: quiannamarie.com/shop

50% off your first year of Flodesk: quiannamarie.com/flodesk

Apply to be on the podcast: quiannamarie.com/podcast

Episode 213 What Taylor Swift Taught Me About Showing Up Online: quiannamarieblog.com/2025/10/20/213-what-taylor-swift-taught-me-about-showing-up-online-the-life-of-a-showgirl

Episode 212 Letting Go To Make More with Nata Salvatori quiannamarieblog.com/2025/10/13/212-letting-go-to-make-more-with-nata-salvatori

Episode 4 Radical Curiousity with Natalie Franke: quiannamarieblog.com/2021/10/04/004-radical-curiosity-with-natalie-franke

Episode 2 My First Art Gallery (Was In The Bathroom at Trader Joe’s): quiannamarieblog.com/2021/10/01/002-my-first-art-gallery-was-in-the-bathroom-at-trader-joes

Connect with Quianna:

Website: quiannamarie.com

Instagram: instagram.com/quiannamarie

Review the Transcript:

Holy smokes. This quarter I’m celebrating four years of never missing a Monday. I’ve been dropping a podcast episode every week since 2021. As a business owner and projector in human design, my best ideas come through talking things out. Podcasting is the best platform for long-term content. And gives me the opportunity to talk my way through New Seasons, pivots, business strategies, and new offers.

I started this podcast speaking to photographers and couples planning their weddings. Yes, I literally have an entire series on wedding planning and educating photographers and wedding vendors with ways to build brand awareness and book more weddings with intentional marketing. I’ll make sure to circle back to that, to cover all of the series in case you missed anything.

Four years ago, podcasting was on the rise and social media was buzzing with reels and content for podcasters. Literally anyone with a microphone called themselves a podcaster. There are about four and a half million podcast worldwide as of 2025. That sounds like a ton of competition, but get this podcast listeners globally are estimated at over 584 million in 2025.

That’s up from over 547 million in 2024. So yes, that’s a lot of people yapping on mics, but there’s clearly way more listeners than podcasts. It’s also crazy to think that if you’re a podcast listener, you probably listen to about five to 10 podcasts weekly. Maybe you have a favorite that you never miss, and some you tune in every now and then.

So with that in mind, my math is math that almost 6 million listeners are double dipping and listening to even more podcasts weekly. So really there’s saturation for our industry everywhere, but it’s really not as saturated as we think. Since starting my podcast, I shared how my very first photo gallery was in the bathroom at Trader Joe’s.

Make sure to add episode number two. Yes, number two on your playlist. My friend Natalie was my very first guest on episode number four, radical Curiosity with Natalie Frank. This episode was recorded at my brother Mike’s condo when they lived near the beach in Aptos, California. Thankfully, his girlfriend at the time, his now wife Lauren, allowed me to stay with them for weeks at a time during my busy wedding seasons.

I had recently moved to Arizona and even during 2021, I was juggling COVID Brides and trying to book more weddings while I was back in my home state of California. During the episode with Natalie, the gardener down her street started mowing and making a ton of noise. She started the episode recording at her desk and then ended up in her closet to reduce the noise.

That was my first lesson in podcasting and making the best of it while prioritizing the sound quality. Thank you, Natalie. I love you so much. Literally, that was such a big ask, and it was just so fun to have her be the first guest. So make sure to check out episode number four. You gotta scroll way back for that one.

When I started this podcast, I was a full-time wedding photographer with my eye on the future. I wanted to make a goal for myself to be able to work from any kitchen table and literally it’s sort of working. Now I am tuning in and recording from my nephew’s bedroom. I am sitting on the carpet that has race cars on it.

It looks like a little road. I mean, there’s stuffed animals everywhere. It’s just monster trucks are everywhere. And it’s just, it’s just so fun that I’m sort of doing that, right? So my goal was to work from any kitchen table with good wifi. I knew that if I wanted to slow down on weddings, I’d have to pivot into more branding, online coaching, and digital sales.

It would be a dream to work 15 to 20 hours a week from my kitchen table without ever having to leave the house unless I wanted to, right? Like I love photo shoots. I think I will forever and ever and always be a photographer. But my lifestyle is changing, right? These seasons are changing, and as I prepare for this next season of marriage and praying for my future babies, I started planting the seeds of podcasting before I was even ready.

I’m sharing my life story with you today to hopefully bring some awareness and clarity to you and your business. Just like I mentioned recently on the podcast when sharing about Taylor Swift, the life of a showgirl, all of her marketing strategies and just the way she launches. And oh my gosh, I was just totally geeing out on her marketing strategies.

Make it to checkout, episode number two 13. I’m confident that podcasting isn’t for everyone, but it’s something that I am passionate about. Trust me, I’ve considered quitting, or at least pausing to pivot and relaunch, but there’s this gut feeling and tenacity to keep going. Over these last four years, I’ve learned a lot in business and I’m excited to share with you four years, four lessons, four thank yous, and four dreams for what’s next.

Make sure to stay until the end for a chance to win a free content coaching opportunity with me. Grab your bubbly or clink that ice in your ice coffee. Let’s get this party started. Welcome to Keana Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase.

Really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode@kianamarie.com slash podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party.

Ready? Let’s go.

Alright, let’s start with number one. Four lessons I’ve learned about business. You don’t need to go viral. You need to be visible and valuable. Now here’s the thing. You already have that going for you. I know you’re valuable. I know you are incredible. Your mom raves about you. Your past clients adore you.

We just need more eyes on you and not just more visibility, more social media like virality, whatever that I kind, it’s hard to say that word, right. We need to prove that value. And I try to be careful with the word prove. ’cause I do think that could be a little triggering because we are inherently valuable.

So I try to lean more towards the word of share, like sharing your value. This is why I am so passionate about capturing B roll and behind the scenes you are already doing the work. We need to see you in your element. We need to see that glimmer in your eye. We need to see you troubleshooting. We need to see you interacting with your clients.

All of that comes from literally investing in a tripod, hitting record on your phone and documenting the magic that’s happening in front of your eyes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with clients and I literally kicked myself thinking, shoot, I wish I had a GoPro on my head to record that, because the conversation was so incredible.

They literally were just yapping this commercial for me that I wish I could get online. So please stop wishing that, okay. If I can give you any advice today on the lessons I’ve learned in the last four years of podcasting and even taking it further to share the last 20 plus years of being a photographer, start documenting, okay.

It is not in the power of becoming viral and having everybody around the world know you. It’s truly becoming a local favorite, okay? Being the go-to person in your business, and that’s only gonna happen when you hit record and get yourself online. The other lesson I’ve had for four lessons I learned about business consistency compounds, even if growth feels slow.

This is something that I’ve committed to. I’ve committed to dropping an episode every single Monday, and I have not quit. That right there just gives me the chills and makes me feel so proud. But I will tell you this, consistency builds compounds, and it will always win over comparison. Like it’ll win that comparison game, right?

You hear that phrase a lot. Oh, I’m struggling with the comparison game. It’s not a game. Okay. Like this is real life. I’m making a nod to say that you will always win that comparison game with consistency. Show up. Be consistent. Do yourself a favor and follow through on the things that you tell yourself that you’re gonna do.

All right. And then, um, number three for this four lessons I’ve learned about business community over Competition. This has been a resounding phrase that I’ve just, I’ve lived by and it’s absolutely true. I’ve always had friends in the industry and I’m so thankful for those connections and friendships, and it wasn’t until I really became close with photographers that my business like it just blew up because we were able to share referrals.

Best friends that I have that are also photographers that were either in the wedding industry or they were sending people for branding sessions, whatever, there was no competition because we were literally helping each other fill each other’s calendars. More connections and friendships I made with photographers literally equated to more revenue, more self-esteem, more confidence.

It validated the stuff I was doing helped answer questions. We shared knowledge. It’s just so powerful and this is why I love walking into every single room thinking, how can I help people? What type of connections can I make? Who can I connect with other people that they may not even know yet? Right? One of my favorite things to do.

Is to make connections with friends that I’m like, wait, how do you not even know each other? Right? So for example, side Story Commercial Break, I just hosted our six annual Witchy women party, and two of my friends, Judy and Jade, are powerful business owners, and I’ve grown really close with them over the last couple of years since moving to Arizona.

And they have not met yet. And it was one of those weird moments where you’re like, wait, how have you guys not met yet? Right? And so just being able to facilitate those connections has been so fun. And once again, this is why I will always stand on community over competition, which also brings my roots to the Rising Tide Society, bringing in Natalie Frank, and all the incredible leaders and connections I’ve made through that community.

Like I’m still benefiting and still creating those connections from those roots. All right, and number four, for these business lessons, your business evolves as you do. It’s okay to pivot. This is why I prioritize the email list. I’m gonna say this until I’m blue in the face and I literally don’t even care.

Everything from weddings to mini sessions to boudoir to my everyday adventures, affiliate link opportunities and more. Having an email list is something I wish I would have done years ago. I just sold out my mini sessions, so I’m traveling. I’m currently recording here. I told you I’m recording here in Brody’s bedroom.

I’m here for like the week, and I sold up my mini sessions within a couple days. The only way I was able to do that is because of my email list. I’ve been collecting emails over the last couple of years. I’ve, I’ve inputted my past clients into the system, into flow desks, and I am confident that I would not have sold out my many sessions if they didn’t buy directly from the emails that I was sending out.

I encourage you, this is your challenge for this week. Please tap into flow desks. I have a link for you to try. Check out keana marie.com/flow desks. That’s F-L-O-D-E-S-K. Check it out. Literally, they’re gonna be raising their prices soon, but I just wanna make sure that you get on that because I don’t want you, and this is me just being a big sister, you, I mean, take it or leave it if you want, but I don’t want you to create another reel to look up another trend until you have that email list established and start collecting emails.

Let’s roll into the second segment of this, which is four things I’ve learned about life. Number one. Rest is a revenue strategy. Seasons of stillness are sacred. This is really hard for me. I just had a conversation with NATA recently on the on the podcast, and I highly recommend you go and listen to that.

We talk all about delegation and outsourcing. She literally created this mic drop moment about how we don’t earn rest. We need it, right? Like it actually is a business strategy to rest. I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say you need more rest, more self care, and I totally get it. We hear that all the time.

But it’s so true. It needs to be in your calendar. You need to create space for it, and I highly encourage you to even just carve out 15 minutes a day, right? It doesn’t have to be this like full blown week at the beach where you don’t touch your phone, just carving out ten, fifteen, thirty minutes a day to find peace and just be in this, this season of, of listening.

Right? I highly encourage that. I’ve definitely been leaning more into that. Okay. Another tip for things I learned about life, true love is worth the wait. This can be an entirely new podcast and I love chatting with, with friends and new people that I meet that are in the dating world, or even just couples that I admire, and it’s so true.

Waiting for Mike was worth everything. There were seasons of my life where I really struggled with self-doubt, with my self-worth and wondering what the heck man, like I have this business I’ve been working towards for years and I have this lifestyle, I have this schedule, I have this flexibility and, and I’m growing this income and I, you know, I have all the potential in the world to just be a wife.

I just wanted to be a wife and I want to be a mom so badly. But I will tell you this. I’m so grateful that I did not start a family with the wrong man. I know if I had followed through with those past relationships, if I had kind of grin and beared at whatever that phrase is, I would be unhappy. And so I’m just so thankful that it was worth the wait.

I have the business I’ve always dreamed of. I’m constantly learning and growing and expanding. It’s not exactly where I want it to be now, but it’s on its way it, and I’m just so grateful for Mike and the beautiful life that we’re building. We’re planning our wedding and it’s just so exciting. So like I said, that could be a whole other, less like a whole other lesson and a whole other podcast.

But I had to add that to my list of life lessons. And then number three for this segment, stop being fearful about what people think of you. Be fearful of them thinking you’re not chasing your dreams. This is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately where I know sometimes I feel extra or cringe showing up online, but I would rather people look at me and be like, oh, there goes Kiana again.

Right? Like, she’s on her way, she’s living her best life. Or look how much fun she’s having. Look. Instead of not seeing me or seeing me pursue other things that are just distractions and think, Hmm, I wonder how that wedding venue thing is going. Or, oh, I wonder, you know, when her next mini session is, or her lucky 13 shoot, or, I wonder how things are going.

Like I wanna show them that I’m actually making moves. Right? I would rather be fearful of them thinking I’m not doing anything than doing too much. Okay. And the last life lesson for this segment, surround yourself with people who see your vision and tell you to bet on it Go bigger. Life gets so much better when you surround yourself not just in business, but in your personal life with people that have really big goals and really big dreams.

And number three, I’m really excited to share my four thank yous celebrating four years of podcasting. First of all, I wanna thank you. Yes, you, thank you for listening and sharing this podcasting journey with me. None of this would be possible without you. Thank you to my guest for sharing your hearts education, encouragement strategies, and so much love.

I’m grateful to extend my network and appreciate the opportunity for these basically coaching calls with my mentors, business besties and coaches. The conversations I’ve had on this podcast, I have taken notes. I have every listened to them because I’ve asked the questions I wanted and then I was so. In the mode of like Barbara Walters or Oprah, like interviewing, and then I always had to go back and listen to take notes, so thank you to my incredible guest.

Thank you to my amazing clients and students. Through the years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some incredible people, and my circle keeps growing bigger and bigger. If we have yet to work together or hug in real life, I cannot wait for that one day and I look forward to it beyond what you can even imagine, like literally, I’m so excited and I’m just so thankful to the incredible brands I get to work with.

The couples that have worked with me in the past that are still booking mini sessions today, I, I’m literally the luckiest photographer in the world, and I, I don’t take that for granted. Sorry if this sounds cheesy, but I also wanna thank myself, my future self. Wants to thank my past over showing up consistently, putting in the time when it feels like no one cares.

No one is listening, and no one even talks back. I’m just yapping over here on my microphone. I’m here to be a resource for my community and love giving advice you didn’t ask for, but really I’m thanking myself and I hope you thank yourself too. So often we wanna burn everything down with pivots, changes and new offers.

Please don’t forget to thank yourself for getting to this point, so this could really be a nod to all of us to say thank you. Thank you to ourselves. And number four, four dreams for the future. I love to dream big with you. I wanna share with you where I’m at and where I’m going. I love to talk about where I’ve been.

We could talk about that for days, but I also love to dream with you for this first one. I’m dreaming that B with B-roll reaches thousands of photographers. This is something that I’m so passionate about. I talk about B-roll all the time. Documenting your, your journey, documenting your business, your brand, your growth, your timeline, share all of it, not for others, like yes.

There’s, there’s strategy in that, but share it for yourself. Right. The cool part too that I am just obsessed about with b b-roll is that when you make that investment with b b-roll, this mini course, you are not only helping your business grow, but you’re also helping the local vendors and businesses around you expand, as well as just being just a resource for like these little mini home videos for your clients that they’re gonna love.

They will cherish those as well. I’m also dreaming of hosting in-person podcast retreats and content Weekends. I literally have really big dreams of hosting retreats and weekends where we make a buttload of content. We take headshots, we make reels, and then we also go over a whole bunch of like masterminding hot seats and just really dreaming big and growing together.

I just think that sounds fun. I’m really leaning into having more fun in the future. I’m also looking forward to getting married and starting my family. Our wedding as of right now, this recording is four months away. Holy smokes. It’s, it’s crazy that it’s actually happening and coming true, and I could not be more excited.

We literally were just looking out suspenders for the boys last night and we were measuring their boots and figuring out with new boots for Christmas, we’ll be ready for the wedding. And, uh, it’s just, it’s just been so exciting and I am so, so grateful. I’m also dreaming of reaching 1 million downloads and making podcasting my most magnetic marketing tool.

This is something that I’m going full send on. I’ve been kind of, I know I’m so hard on myself, but I really feel like this has been a passion project that has been a hobby and moving forward, I’m really excited to treat this like a business. This is an extension of me and my brand, and I’m putting effort into this, so I wanna make it count, right?

And I’m just so excited for that, and that’s something that I’m dreaming of. So thank you. Thank you for being a part of it. This year marks four years of dropping an episode every single week, and none of this will be possible without Haley Gaffin, my podcast producer, owner of Gaffin Creative and her incredible editor, Megan Ren.

Megan is the only human honor that that I know of. Let’s be honest, that has listened to every single episode. Thank you, Haley and Megan for your dedication, attention to detail and encouragement to stay consistent. I also wanna mention that I’ve had the opportunity to learn from Haley in our podcasting group coaching program this fall, and it’s been incredible.

Haley hosts business coaching for podcasters, leveraging their show for visibility and revenue growth. I’ve had the opportunity to learn even more marketing strategies, refine my messaging, generate content ideas, and create a game plan for future shows without scrambling to come up with last minute ideas.

I’ve taken the, let’s just see where this goes. Mindset to turning my podcast into a resource to build credibility, clarity, and sell my offers confidently. Sell Bloom with B. Roll book, photo shoots, all the things. Lately I have been feeling lukewarm with my content, trying to appeal to all business owners, and recently I’ve made the decision to speak directly to photographers.

I built a business over the last 20 years that I’m really proud of, and I’m thrilled to help coach you through content ideas, building lasting friendships with vendors that bring repeat referrals and becoming the local favorite. As always, business is business, and I’m thrilled to bring on guests from different industries to never stop learning and to introduce you to my real life friends and mentors.

I truly believe that every industry has business strategies we can learn from, so that’s not stopping. I just wanna directly speak to the education portion of my business to photographer. I’m still booking branding sessions for all industries, all the things and fun photo shoots. It’s all happening. Not much is changing in my head.

I’m just really trying to focus on speaking directly to photographers. So if you’re here and you’re not a photographer, I am so happy that you’re here. Thank you. I’ve learned a lot over these last past decades, and I’m here to help you thrive through every season. If you’ve ever listened to an episode, shared it with a friend, or quoted something that sparked an idea, thank you.

You are part of this blooming community, and as we step into this next season, I’m so excited to pour even deeper into the photographers and creatives who are ready to turn their talent into sustainable revenue. Revenue that fuels our dreams, creativity, and makes an impact. Before I wrap up, as promised, I’m thrilled to share a giveaway with you.

I am offering three 30 minute content clarity calls to my listeners. All you have to do is screenshot this episode, share it to social media, and join the Quianna Marie Weekly newsletter almost every week. And I say almost, ’cause it’s not every week unless I forget. I try. I am trying to get better at it.

But I love to send an email drop to share the takeaways, tips and encouragement for every new episode. And I also love to send a wrap up email to gather the best mic drop moments and share anything you might’ve missed on the show. My guests often share generous gifts, discount codes, and juicy offers you don’t wanna miss.

So I just wanna keep you in the loop. So if that’s something that sounds fun, you can join the Keanu Marie Weekly newsletter by scrolling to the show notes, or hop over to Instagram and check out the link in my profile to join the list. The Friday after this episode releases, I’ll be randomly drawing three names to get on my calendar to discuss fun content ideas for your business brand and any upcoming launches.

This is your sign to get on the list, babe. Come celebrate with me. You can also send me a DM and just share the word podcast and I will get you on the list. Okay. Oh, I’m so excited. Thank you so much for listening and supporting this wild dream. I’m forever grateful for you and the incredible souls that my podcast has introduced me to.

Oh, Ann, before I close out, I did wanna remind you if you’re a new listener, I love a good series. Make sure to scroll back to find the branding series, helping you prepare for your next brand. Shoot. Amplify your weddings series helping couples plan Intentional weddings and photographers. Book your next wedding while working your next wedding.

Plus the mindset series and so, so much more. I have big plans coming soon for sharing more series on mini sessions, boudoir studio photography, filling your calendar with generation shoots, a money series, digital products for photographers, and so, so much more. Oh my gosh, we’re gonna have so much fun.

This is why I’m obsessed with series. They help me stay on track, and it’s so fun to create binge-worthy content. I love listening to podcasts that keep me coming back for more, which reminds me it’s been four years of me yapping and bringing on guests that I think you would love. If you think that you have someone that you would like to recommend to me on the show, maybe it’s yourself.

Please, please pitch yourself. Head over to kiana marie.com/podcast and then scroll to the bottom to apply. I would love to hear from you and possibly have the opportunity to interview you. Please slide into my dms at keana Marie or send me a fricking old school email. Send it right to hello@keanamarie.com and let me know what you want to hear next.

What episode did you love? What are some topics you’d like me to share about? I’m doing all of this for you, bestie. Tell me what you need. I am here to listen, keeping up with this week’s celebration theme. I wanna leave you with four affirmations for this season. Number one. I am proof that consistency compounds every email sent, every photo shared, every episode recorded.

It all matters. Even the quiet seasons are planting seeds for abundance later. Number two, I trust that clarity comes through creation. I don’t have to have it all figured out to take this next step. By showing up, I gain the wisdom and confidence to keep refining my craft. Number three, my work is a ripple of light.

It inspires others to shine too. Each behind the scenes clip, photo, or podcast I share gives someone else permission to be seen, to show up and to believe in their magic. And number four, I’m open to receiving more ease, more support, and more aligned opportunities. I release the hustle and lean to flow the right clients.

Collaborations and blessings are already on their way. Thank you so much for being here. I am sending you the biggest hug from Brodie’s bedroom. Trying not to flip on any monster trucks over here, but I, I love you so much, and I just, I’m just so grateful for you and to be here on this journey, and can’t wait to chat soon.

So cheers to four years, babe. Thank you so much. That’s a wrap on another episode of Kiana Marie Weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at QuiannaMarie.com/podcast, I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app.

Until next time, keep on on dancing.

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