Ep 50: Service Series w/ Cat Ekkelboom-White: Niching Down Offers Out-Of-This-World Service

Have you ever felt the call of the wild prompt a radical life change? Meet Cat Ekkelboom-White, the elopement photographer who listened to that call, leaving the traditional wedding photography industry and doing it HER way!

With a camera in hand and an eco-conscious heart, Cat's story is one of passion, transition, and the art of capturing love in its most intimate and authentic form. Our conversation with her peels back the layers of what it means to live and work conscientiously, honoring both her clients' dreams and the environment that plays a role in how Cat is a woman of service.

In this episode, you'll gain: 

1. Passion Leads to Purpose: Discover how Cat's love for nature and photography fuels her mission to capture intimate moments.
2. Value Beyond Price: Learn how redefining your worth and specializing your offerings can transform your business and clients' experiences.
3. Sustainability in Business: Uncover the significance of adopting eco-conscious practices that honor our planet while delivering unforgettable memories.

Feeling inspired to align your passion with Service? Let Cat's story motivate you to take the next step in your own journey. Whether you're an entrepreneur, creative, or someone yearning for change, this episode is your catalyst.

Dive deep with us, get inspired, and start crafting your service path toward a more meaningful and impactful life and career.

How to Connect with Cat Ekkelboom-White:

• Photography for People and Planet
• On Instagram
• On Facebook
• On Podcast - Photographers for People & Planet

If today’s episode sparked a new perspective for you, don’t stop here!

Head to our resources page by Clicking Here.

You'll find exclusive FREE resources to help you streamline your business, charge what you're worth, and finally work smarter, not harder.

Let’s make 2025 your most profitable year yet!

Chapters

• 0:00 Elopement Photographer Kat Echoboom-White
• 13:36 Embracing Niche Market, Raising Rates
• 22:59 Niche Rebranding Success Convo
• 29:35 Elopement Service With Sustainability Focus
• 33:28 Niche Down for Sustainable Growth
• 38:22 Overcome Overwhelm and Boost Productivity

Transcript

Nikisha King: 0:00

Welcome to NK Production Leading Her Way podcast, where we see the human, evolving and resilient spirit in you. I'm your host, nikisha, and in the service series, I'm thrilled to have Cat Ekkelboom-White, a Fuji film ambassador and multi-award winning elopement photographer based in the breathtaking Alps. Now, Cat's love for the great outdoors and her commitment to living sustainably in one of the world's most popular vacation destinations have shaped her unique approach to photography. She's just not a photographer, she's a storyteller for people and the planet. In this episode, Cat shares her transformative journey from wedding photography to specializing in intimate, eco-conscious elopements.

Nikisha King: 0:44

Here's what you're going to take away from this episode today how transitioning from mass volume to crafting small, meaningful experiences can not only elevate your service but also positively impact your clients, your community and the planet. Cat will reveal the pivotal moment when everything clicked for her, teaching us that letting go of fear and taking bold steps can lead to ease and fulfillment in our professional lives. Get ready to be inspired by how niching down can create high value experiences that clients cherish. So let's dive into episode 50 with Cat Ekkelboom- White. Hello everyone and welcome to Leading Her Way podcast. On today's episode, we are doing the service series and we have a guest with us, and this is Cat. Welcome, Cat, to the show and thank you for being here with us. If you can share a little bit of who you are, what you do, and from there we'll take it off and share with our community what we're doing today, go ahead.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 2:16

Sure, absolutely. It's so wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me. So my name is Cat. I am originally from the UK. I live now in the Austrian Alps. I've lived here for about 10 years and in terms of what I do, it's many things, um, but I guess the primarily, the the biggest part of what I do is I am an elopement photographer. So I've been doing that since 2015. Um started off as a traditional wedding photographer, moved very much more into the allotment space when I realized that was kind of where I felt I should be and should as in wanted to be, and from that it's kind of led to me to discover other areas, other passions. So I also work as a business coach for, mainly for photographers. In recent years I also started a wedding blog and a sustainability project as well. So I do many things, but I guess my primary hat that I wear is a photographer.

Nikisha King: 3:21

Got it and you do elopement photography? Yes, now, how did you come from doing general wedding photography? Do elopement photography? Yes, now, how did you come from doing general wedding photography to elopement, like like? What brought you to that? Was it because of your location? Because where you're located, Australian, like Alps Wait, first and foremost, I got it right. Right, australian.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 3:39

Alps, austrian Alps.

Nikisha King: 3:41

Austrian. There we go, cause I was going to ask about that. Austrian alps, yeah, and is it usually cold there?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 3:46

because that's the number one question for me um, typically in the winter cold and in the summer very warm, although, uh, let's not talk about climate change and the fact that it's been the warmest winter ever right?

Nikisha King: 4:02

yeah, we have the same thing. Our winter is in northeast of our so usually snowy, but not anymore what seasons or what months are your winter and summer months?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 4:13

so for us it's very variable and the seasons seem to be kind of changing a little, but generally from kind of november through till april is winter. There's still typically quite a lot of snow around right May and June are slightly kind of changeable. May especially, and then towards the end of June through to kind of October, is more summer season of like the hiking outdoors, yeah, and the winter months it's the you're skiing and all the cold, cold weather Got it.

Nikisha King: 4:49

So it's similar to Northeast because some places are opposite and I'm assuming that's more South, but you guys are aligned with us. Austria Alps, like the Northeast I feel like you're up there as well. Yeah, oh, thank you for sharing that. Okay, so let's talk about I wanted to know that because I want to know when to come.

Nikisha King: 5:06

That's why I'm like I'm a I'm a warm baby. I'm like I don't like Come in the summertime. Yeah, exactly so. In regards to wedding elopement, how did you like go from doing general wedding photography to elopement? Like what created that for you?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 5:22

It was. It was a journey, for sure, and it kind of wasn't. It wasn't because of where I lived. So I, I didn't grow up here. I didn't grow up in the mountains. I grew up in the UK, um, in a fairly rural area, but I went to university in a big city. I worked in a big city before I left Um, but I moved to the mountains because I kind of felt like that was kind of where I felt I was supposed to be the first time. So I kind of had this what I called my pre-midlife crisis at around the age of 22, 23, and I quit my um, my job. I used to work in arts management. I quit my job and went to work a ski season in the Austrian Alps and kind of was just like, oh, I feel like this is where I should be. So I went and became a ski instructor and that's how I ended up living in Austria.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 6:20

And then it was only after my own wedding that I became interested in photography and wedding photography and I kind of was like, oh, I've always been looking for something. I've always had that entrepreneurial drive. So both my parents were self-employed and growing up, all the games make-believe games that I used to play as a kid, were always around running some kind of business, and I just never really found where that avenue was going to lead until after our wedding, when I was like I think I found it. I think I want to become a wedding photographer and I'm super stubborn, so once I get an idea in my head, I just run with it. Um, and so we got married in August 2014 and by 2015 I had registered as a business, bought a camera I didn't own one Studied the University of YouTube and just kind of threw myself into it, and so I started getting wedding bookings and I kind of realized after even just like the first kind of full wedding season, that maybe I'd made a mistake and that I loved capturing these really emotional days for people, but that actually there was something about the wedding itself that I didn't connect with, especially when I saw couples being super stressed and me personally. I hate being in crowded places like big parties, lots of drinking. It's just not me and I was kind of like well, I moved to the mountains because I love that being in the outdoors, being away from other people, and so maybe this is why there's a disconnect there, and I had a friend at the time, a colleague who was a wedding planner who we'd worked with a couple of times and the first elopement I ever shot, she was the one that referred me to the client.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 8:09

So she kind of said, look, they're doing something a bit different. It's just the two of them with their two best friends, um, and they just want to have a really relaxed day. They want to just go for a little hike somewhere really it was in the summer, so it was was up to this beautiful little Alpine chapel, um, and they just want to exchange vows, uh, and then just, yeah, drive around, enjoy the countryside, stop, go for little walks and then just have dinner together in the evening. Um, and I was like, well, that sounds lovely and. And so that was kind of my first insight into how a wedding could be different. It could be just purely focused on the couple and their wishes and how they wanted to experience that day for themselves. And it kind of was just like, oh, maybe there's something in this like, yes, it's not, maybe a mass market thing.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 9:04

At the time nobody really talked about what an alignment was right, but I was just like this idea of just being outside in the mountains, not having the pressures. I was like I love this, I'm just gonna go there and see where it takes me. Everyone told me it was a horrendous idea. They were like your business will fail, nobody's doing that, nobody wants to do that. And I was like, well, I was like I reckon I didn't want to do. I didn't want to be one of these photographers who shoots 100 weddings a year. You know two or three a weekend.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 9:34

I wanted to. Just I was, I was happy with 20, and so I was like surely there's 20 people I can find on this planet. That I mean because you need two people to get married, so it's like I only need to convince 10 people, or like you know out of the good idea. It's like I'm gonna try it and I did and kind of what brought me to today. It just, it just evolved of me kind of following my instinct of what felt like the right course.

Nikisha King: 10:06

What encouraged you to follow your instincts? What was it that you valued in elopements when you got a taste of it, Like there is something that said this feels good. Keep moving. Do you recall what that was for you.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 10:22

Do you recall what that was for you? I think it was a part of what felt good, but it was also a part of acknowledging what didn't feel good of the other things that I was doing and looking at the contrast between the two. So when I did the elopement, I felt in myself so much more relaxed and also just more present on the day. When I then compared that to the bigger weddings where I was stressed to the point that it actually to the end of the wedding season. It affected my physical and my mental health, I was just so, so stressed.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 11:05

On the days themselves it was just constant running around checking the schedule, making sure I've got the shots that everyone expects to have, checking the schedule making sure I've got the shots that everyone expects to have, and just kind of almost just looking at the two and going well, if I could choose to go towards more of one or the other, what makes me happier, what makes me be able to deliver a better service to my clients? Doing the thing that I'm enjoying, that's not stressful, is actually fun. Why wouldn't I choose to to go towards more of that than the thing that is hard work. It's stressful. I can't give my best, because for me I don't do well under stressful conditions, like I can get through it, but I'm not giving the clients the best service that they deserve how do you define service?

Nikisha King: 11:52

What does that mean to you?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 11:54

So to me, service is about giving the clients the best experience that you could, or the best experience of working with you, and for me that means in some cases, even putting your ego aside and going. Yeah, of course I could do that, but actually going am I really the best person for this client? And being confident in saying, actually, do you know what this client sounds wonderful, but I believe that maybe the best service to them right now is to actually refer them to somebody else who I know is even more aligned with what they want. So for me, that is the epitome of what amazing service is is doing something that is in the client's best interests, which also benefits you as the service provider, because you're saving your energy to work with those clients who are completely aligned and not putting your energy into something where you're not necessarily going to be able to give the best service to them either.

Nikisha King: 13:04

Right, right, that makes a lot of sense and that's the thing about service, right, it's putting your ego aside. Yeah, it's allowing you to show up and do the best that you can and offer that value. And if the client aligns with you, then it feels better in servicing them. But if they don't, I love that you have recommendations that people who may align with them In order for you to have those recommendations, is it people that you've cultivated a relationship with that's pretty much competitors of yours, or how people may look at it as competitors? Because I don't see it as competitors. I just see it as a community of people that you get to know and you can always pass something along and have that resource, which I think is amazing. So are these individuals in your market who do elopements as well? But they have a different feel and look for their photography elopement company.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 13:54

Absolutely. Yeah, I completely agree with you. I don't see others as competitors. I believe that everybody has something different and unique to offer. That's the wonderful nature of the broad spectrum of humanity that we are. We all have different things that we're awesome at and we all have different personalities. So these are, yeah, all people that that I know.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 14:19

Sometimes I've worked with them as a coach or I've just known them. Perhaps we started our photography journeys at a similar time and I've watched and seen their business evolve to, you know, to do something different to what I'm doing, or sometimes it's even very similar, but I might just know their personalities are a better match and and so it's. Yeah, it is. It's often people that I people that I know, or, in the cases sometimes with destination bookings where I don't take destination bookings anymore, sometimes I already know and have connections in these destinations. Otherwise, I will do the research to make sure that I'm recommending to the client, because sustainability is such a core part of my values. I will make sure that I'm finding the people who are local to the client, who can then give them that best service, that best experience for what they're looking for.

Nikisha King: 15:16

Got it? And in regards to you niching down to elopement photography, did you have any challenges other than what people telling you about finding people who want to do this? Or were there any other challenges as you were transitioning into this new, you know, feel of niching down? Because I think that's the thing people are concerned about. They want to niche down but one they're scared they're going to lose volume. But, like you said, there's billions of people on the earth, so there are more than enough fishes in the sea. But when you were doing that, how did your marketing change? How did your wording on your website change Like those? Did you have those challenges or did it come really easy to you?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 15:57

Oh no, it was really hard. It was really hard. It was it's. It's an ongoing thing. It's there's always challenges to it.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 16:05

One of the biggest things, I think, that made me stick to it and not give up when it got scary because it was scary for a very long time, um, and that was actually having a business coach. Having a business coach to have somebody to be there to kind of remind me on the days when I kind of had that is this a terrible idea? To kind of say let's, let's focus on why we're doing this, like what your reasons are for wanting to niche um, and that was such a huge help, kind of accountability, just somebody who kind of understood. Um, but yeah, I mean, there was a lot of, there's a lot of fear in these decisions of actually acknowledging and just kind of speaking out to the elephants in the room and going. I am dealing then with potentially fewer inquiries, right, fewer bookings, right, and especially at the start, when you're in that transition process, if you've gone from having so many inquiries but often looking at them going, well, either I don't have time or they're not really aligned, but it's just money. Like to then suddenly like be crickets and be like, oh, I only have two or three inquiries a month, right, actually, conversion rate is much higher. Or these are just, they're way more aligned clients than they were before. It takes time to kind of settle into their.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 17:34

Okay, this is the new way that things the photographers who I help with their niching process as well as soon as they start to change their messaging to be really clear about this is what I do these are the clients I work with that sometimes they'll message me in a panic and be like my inquiry rates have gone down. I'm like, yeah, we, we knew this was going to happen. Um, but are you still getting them? They're like one or two and I was like are the ones that you're getting? Are they the right people? 100%, they're great. It's like okay, well then, let's just stick with it for now. Um, but it is being in.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 18:11

I think it's being in the transition phase is really the hardest. Um, yeah, so it is. It is that acknowledging that you will get fewer inquiries potentially, but they will be of a higher quality. But it means that you can also raise your rates. So doesn't mean you have to reduce your income when you're niching, because I think that's also the big kind of thing that most people think is like, oh well, if I'm not getting as many inquiries, I'm potentially booking fewer clients. But then sometimes people don't realize. But actually then if you're booking fewer clients, let's raise your rates, and what you are then able to give to those clients is a higher level of service than you were able to do when you were just working with the mass market, because you you then, when your clients are more aligned, when they're in your niche, you can tailor the services you offer so much more specifically to their needs and give them the time that they that they deserve with you and whatever service you offer. But yeah, it's a big mindset shift for sure.

Nikisha King: 19:16

It is, and it's a big mindset shift because I think, as our audience is listening to, increasing your rates sounds scary. So there's two scary factors niching down, minimizing volume and then turning up pricing. And remember, I feel like it's 99% I could be lying 90% of people have money stories that are not valid. Growing up in a certain environment, we have a history in our global world of wars, famines, the Great Depression in the US All of these things were dealt with money scarcity. So a lot of us of this generation have that history because when people went through it, that became the story. You have to save, save, save, save, don't spend. So when people as business entrepreneurs hear increasing your rate, their money stories is a part of that, their history. So they're struggling with that idea because in their mind, no one's going to pay for it anymore. It's too expensive a word that's such subjective right. And they don't even see themselves as cheap because they just feel like that number works because they've always turned or converted at that number.

Nikisha King: 20:38

So can you imagine going. I'm no longer serving the mass market, I'm niching down, and you're telling me I have to increase my rates. There is no entrepreneur who can do that by themselves, because they'll be on a hamster wheel, overthinking, fear, all of it. So having a coach assist them is so necessary, and I very much know, because I had my coaches still do so. I totally get that and it's a part of the journey, right, we are not able to do this alone. We have our community, which I love that you shared with us.

Nikisha King: 21:09

But what I like is what you said about niching down and increasing rates, what you can do as a service-based entity, because in the event industry we're hospitality, we are service, right, products can come out after, but that's the cherry on top, it's the service. But when we niche down we can make it such a better experience for the people we're serving. Mass production doesn't give you that. We see that in commercial mass production. That's like an Ikea, right? That's like a furniture store. When you no longer have the craftsmanship, it's just like this piece of item which is beautiful but it might not last you a long time, or it can. It differs, but mass production doesn't give you that personal experience Right. So I love that you did share that, because service doesn't come from mass volume.

Nikisha King: 22:04

No, there's no. I don't believe I could give the service I give to my clients if I had 50, 60 of them, unless I had a team that was replica of me. And they're really good at doing it. And you can you can coach people, but finding people like you, like you said, it's not a thing. So, in regards to your challenges, in regards to what you were were doing, did you ever come to a moment where something clicked mentally? After a while, it didn't feel like it was hard anymore. It felt like this is really good, this is like, oh my god, this is the best decision I've ever made. Like, did that happen for you? I?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 22:48

think the the biggest one. That kind of comes to mind, and it was kind of twice and it was in the same year and it was that first full wedding season. Because if anyone has experience with the wedding industry either working in it or just being a client in the wedding industry weddings are typically booked so far ahead that when the client actually books to when their wedding takes place, there can be. It can be short, but it typically it's, you know, anything from six to 18 months in advance. For big weddings it can be more. Um, but it was two different clients that I had in 2019. And it was after I'd been through kind of this whole niching, rebranding, not in a typical branding type of way, but just rebranding in terms of just really getting more specific with my messaging who I wanted to work with, the type of work that I wanted to do. And finally these clients were were here and I was working with them. And there was two in particular in 2019 where we they booked me for multiple days, so we were together and it was just me and the couples, so no guests, nothing, and we had three days together both times and it was just that kind of reminder of this was all worth it.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 24:15

This was what I was doing, all that work for this was what those you know stressful days and sleepless nights were, when I did have that doubt of am I making the most ridiculous, crazy decision?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 24:28

Should I just be happy for any paying client and being able to run my own business? Um, you know, was I being just, you know, super kind of dreamy and like, oh yeah, I can just work with whatever clients I want and I'm only going to work with these kinds of people. It was like, actually, no, I, that's what I wanted to do and I did it. And now here they are, like they exist, these clients exist, and it kind of just made me then trust the whole process, because I think, until you're there and you're reaping the rewards of that difficult work that you've done because niching is really difficult, it's there's a lot of fear, anxiety and, yeah, a lot of shit that comes up in you know mindset stuff that you have to work through. Um, but then, when you're there and you're in the results, kind of just going this is why I did it, this is worth it, and now there's no going back like this is the reality I've built for myself and it's freaking awesome.

Nikisha King: 25:38

Right, well, congrats on that. I think that's so good.

Nikisha King: 25:39

And I love the fact that that moment did come for you Right. And sometimes that moment people don't realize that moment is your responsibility. We think that moment comes out of the blue. But when you actually release the grip of fear and all of the possibilities of what can go wrong and embrace the joy of your decision and niching down, when you embrace that thing, you attract that because the way you show up, as entrepreneurs, often you see this tendency of just like, yeah, but, and just kind of, kind of almost dismissing all of the really hard work that you've done and then being focused on the next goal.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 26:26

What's the next goal? But it's. It's that taking that kind of moment to just step back and go. I created this.

Nikisha King: 26:34

Yes.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 26:34

Yes, there was luck. But how did I create that? Yes, certain things came into place, maybe I had great connections, but ultimately I created this. And just taking that moment, I think, to be thankful and recognize the things that you achieved, because we so often just kind of brush it under the carpet oh yeah, you know, no big deal we do and in reality, we are creating it right.

Nikisha King: 27:00

I, I honestly don't believe in luck. I believe in it's how I show up, it's the energy I give, the energy I give I receive. So if I'm always in fear and I always think there's not enough in a scarcity, I promise you I will go through struggle. I will struggle, but the day something clicks because it just do something clicks is intuition and I go. You know what I trust? I trust you God.

Nikisha King: 27:23

I trust energy, I trust, and then I show up. Up when I trust myself, I get to show up. There's an act, the plan, and I do the action. And when I do that, I get to show up and create. And when I create, that's when my people find me, that's when they come into me, have a discovery call and speak my language. Right, that's what niching down is.

Nikisha King: 27:48

So that couple that came to you for three days you and them, and that was an experience for them, and to think about that moment happening for you and remembering what you said. Before you even started Elopement, everyone was like nobody wants that, that's not a thing, oh my, and how many people do want that? There's a book I read. It's called Happy Pocket, full of Money, and what it speaks about is if you can think about something, a demand, or if you think about doing a job or something, when that thought comes to you, what it means is that there's someone in the world who desires it. So when we have thoughts about maybe I can niche down to this, and then someone or something comes about and says that's not possible, it is because it's your thing. It's not the person who's saying it's not possible, it's not their purpose, and that's the thing.

Nikisha King: 28:43

When people tell you that it's not possible, you have to understand they're serving a different purpose. So they can't even see the vision you have. Therefore, the vision you have is yours for a reason. So they can't even see the vision you have. Therefore, the vision you have is yours for a reason. So you get to show up, you get to create that and, yes, it's not easy because it's new. You know what I mean.

Nikisha King: 29:02

Hard for me doesn't really mean hard. It just means I'm unfamiliar, it's new and I have to learn something new. And learning something new a language, a recipe, a business, whatever it is it's a learning curve, many of them when we had to walk. We just didn't get in our own head because we were too young to even get in our own head when we had to learn how to walk, but we just did it with guidance yeah, guidance, you know. So I love that. You have shared that retrospect, that way of looking at things. Now being in elopement and having these personal experiences, what are some of? If you can tell us one to three things that you do, that you consider service for your clients, especially when it comes to sustainability?

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 29:48

share a little bit more about that to sustainability, share a little bit more about that. So in my business specifically, sustainability is very much one of my core values and I over the last year. So for me as well, I will say I believe that even when you create a niche, it's always evolving, because we as humans are always evolving, so our businesses, our niches, evolve with us, and so part of that evolution with my business and recognizing that sustainability was something that was super important to me, was that I decided for my clients for their benefit as well as the benefit of the planet, that I was only going to work locally. So I stopped flying, I stopped taking destination bookings, I referred those to people locally who could could look after those. So to be a great service to other clients, um, and for me I was like I'm only going to work at home because I know this area so well and I know that the service that I can give to my clients when they come to where I live, which is just such a beautiful place in the world that it doesn't matter if the weather is horrendous because I've lived here for more than 10 years now, I know where we can go when it's bad weather, I know who to call. If they decide at the last minute that they do want flowers or they do want hair and makeup or something happens to the dress, that's like brilliant. I'll just go down to the shop. I know where to go to get whatever emergency supplies that we need, and I have that network and that local knowledge. That means that I can put the client's experience at the forefront of everything and knowing that I'm just supporting and promoting my local area as well, like that's, that's one of the ways that for me it's, it's about providing an amazing service to the clients, but also staying true to the the direction of my niche.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 31:54

Another thing that that I did personally was getting a certification as a local hiking guide, so that not only did I understand even more about the local area that I live in and that I work in and how to protect it more and learn about the challenges of, like some of the ecological damage and stuff that happens from tourism, knowing that I work partly in tour, I work in the wedding industry, but part of that is also tourism and knowing I can bring that knowledge to my clients as well and say, hey look, I know you're coming here because you also care about the environment.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 32:33

You care about nature because you want to spend your wedding day in it, so this is how we can be respectful of it. This is how we can protect it. I'm not just going to take you places because I think it looks great in photos. I'm also considering your safety, your well-being, making sure that you're prepared, in all the ways that you may not have thought of, for the adventure that we're going to undertake together. So for me, that's all part of using my niche to just make that service that I give my clients so much more tailored and specific to them, and also, yes, supporting that value of mine of being a more sustainable service provider as well.

Nikisha King: 33:10

That's so good and that it makes sense. I don't know if anyone else gets that, but it makes sense. So what I mean by that is when you niche down, when you align with sustainability because that's to your core. You stopped doing destination events, do it locally. You started to give back to your community because you're now using their services. So these other small businesses you invest in when your clients come and need something and at the same time they give you value because now you can support your client. And then you went and got your certification in part of being a tourer, like hiking tours and things of that nature. Now you know how to take care of the land that gives you these beautiful images and keep your clients safe, because anyone could take someone out, but if they're not familiar with the area, they can actually put people in danger, right. So what you're niching down, your vision got so clear that the way you serve even magnified and I think that's what people miss. When you are so big on what you're doing and it's only about volume, you don't get to see those details. You don't get to see how and when. I think you don't see those things.

Nikisha King: 34:34

Mass volume for me sometimes feel like it's an ego thing. I can get more. I can get everything right. It's all mine. I'm going to take the market, it's everything. And yes, you can serve, because we have big corporations that serve really well. I'm not going to lie. I'm always online ordering something that's right at my fingertip. It's just, but it becomes habit. You know, becomes habit. It's the easy way for me.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 34:59

Right.

Nikisha King: 35:00

So, but at the same time, these corporations are niched in a certain area. They know what they're doing. They're really not trying. I mean, one of them do try to get everything, but some of them don't. And I just believe, as small businesses, there are so many of us and if we did focus on niching down, we can serve in so many ways that we can serve everyone differently because we are different.

Nikisha King: 35:28

Yeah, so, Cat, I truly, truly appreciate your time and sharing one your challenges. Being honest, being open, being raw, it means a lot, because there's people in the world who are doing what we're doing and, yes, they're having hard times. But the question is is it worth it? And you showed us today that it is. You showed us how it's worth it. You show us the joy you can give us. You show us how we can show up and be responsible to mother nature in so many different ways Because, as we know, being sustainable doesn't mean just recycling Right, that's not it. It's how you do it. It's not that easy. Yes, so I thank you so much, but, Cat, I want you to share with our community. I, yes, so I thank you so much.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 36:24

But, Cat, I want you to share with our community. I will put it in the show notes, but how can people find you Like where's your favorite social media spot to hang out and share content, your website? Tell us a little bit more about those things, also from all kind of different areas, different industries, different backgrounds. So I never thought I'd be saying this, because I have like four Instagram accounts and I have four or five websites, but I would actually say, probably for most people here, the best place to connect with me is actually on LinkedIn, because I feel like the more I evolve as a person, I feel like that's a great place to just share the broader message of kind of what I feel like is my purpose to bring to the world, and not necessarily that this is specifically for photographers.

Cat Ekkelboom-White: 37:05

Some of the areas of what I speak in, the things I post on certain accounts are this is only for people getting married. So I think LinkedIn is a great one, and that's just under my name, Cat Ekkelboom-ite. Yeah, I think that's that's probably the best place. If you're interested in my alignment photography, um, or the sustainability work that I'm doing with more of a focus for photographers, then, um, I can give you you the Instagram accounts that you can drop in the show notes or the websites, but I feel like LinkedIn is the best place. And yeah, that's under my name, Cat Ekkelboom-White, which is long, so I think show notes is probably a good place for that.

Nikisha King: 37:43

Yes, I know, I will definitely put it there. So, everyone, thank you for listening to Leading Her Way podcast, and our podcast is about the human, evolving and resilient human beings in the world, although the acronym is HER, because I am a HER and I love the HER community. So, thank you so much, Cat. Once again, thank you everyone for listening and we will see you next Tuesday. Hey, before you go, I got a golden opportunity for you. Yes, you. It's a chance as to get to pass up, a chance to work with me one-on-one, practically for free.

Nikisha King: 38:22

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