MORE THAN JUST A GATHERING OF WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS
From February 23-26, I attended The Hybrid Co conference at the Bahia Resort Hotel in Mission Bay in San Diego, CA!
As a first time attendee, I didn’t know what to expect. Going into this conference, I knew there would be some education, styled shoots, a highly anticipated lineup of speakers, and other like-minded photographers also wanting to grow their businesses.
After three days, however, I can definitively say that the Hybrid Co is truly more than conference. It is a convergence of learning and inspiration, a humbling and transformative experience, and most of all a growth-minded community.
At the Hybrid Co, their mission statement is:
“A community of photographers
taking on the world together.”
Walking away from the conference, I felt this kind of empowerment. I was immensely inspired to take on the world—or, at the very least, to take action to implement what I learned into my business.
WHY ATTEND?
As a wedding professional, I have a desire to continue elevating my brand and business in order to better serve my clients. With every interaction and experience, I am striving for excellence. Having the opportunity to learn from established professionals who are currently delivering excellence in every aspect of their business is both a humbling yet rewarding experience.
Many of our industry leaders began their craft years (or decades) ago, but they recognize how the landscape has changed. These amazing speakers offered such valuable perspectives to help us navigate through various challenges facing our current market. Lessons that have given me clarity with regard to both my own direction and purpose.
It’s not so easy trying to condense all the knowledge I absorbed during these three days, but if I were to summarize my 8 biggest takeaways, these would be it:
8 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HYBRID 2025
1) TO KNOW THYSELF IS THE BEGINNING OF ALL WISDOM
This quote by Aristotle came to mind while we were exploring the topic of how to stand out in this oversaturated market.
From Garrett Richardson, I learned that we are our greatest differentiator. Since there is only one of me, and one of you, each of us is unique. If we took ourselves out of the equation, our business would look entirely different. We are the main contributing factor to how our businesses differ from another, and ultimately that is how we stand out.
Kaleb Norman James shared about creating his ideal client avatar and drawing upon mood boards to inspire him everyday. He is so clearly attuned with his vision and aesthetic, that his style draws in highly specific clients who not only share that style but resonate with him deeply. (If I were a bride with a luxury budget, I would absolutely be drawn to his Old World European aesthetic. So much of that inspires my photography style.)
James x Schulze emphasized the importance of crafting a clear brand statement, so that our messaging is clear to our prospective clients.
From these different talks, I realized… the first thing I need to do is to understand who I am and whom I am trying to serve.
2) ARTISTRY VS. TECHNICAL SKILL
When you first start out in any field, especially a creative field, you focus a lot on the technical aspects of the job. In photography, that would be how to frame and compose an image, how to set the right exposure, how to work with different lighting situations, etc. But after a while—after you have honed your craft—you can begin to focus on the artistry, the high-end deliverables, the overall client experience, and your overall legacy.
One of many things I learned from Jose Villa is that no matter where you are in the market, how well you know your camera does not equate to being amazing photographer. Being an artist is less about the technical and more about your vision—the way you see your subjects, the light and surroundings, and your ability to connect with and to serve others.
Honestly, anyone can be a photographer, especially in this day and age. But not everyone can become a true artiste.
3) AUTHENTIC VS. CURATED—A FINE BALANCE
It is a humbling experience to get to be in the same room with so many of our industry leaders, many of whom I have admired from afar for some time.
Getting to hear them speak IRL (in real life) after only having been exposed to their online presence has shown me there are amazing individuals behind these amazing brands.
This week, I got a real behind-the-curtain look at some of these industry icons, and I am humbled by their humility, because they showed up to the conference as their authentic selves to share vulnerably with us.
Each of their journeys with photography and their varied paths toward the luxury market have not been without challenges. What amazes me is their ability to continue to be true to themselves, despite achieving success. This gives me greater confidence to show up—not just as a business—but as a real person to my clients, peers, and fellow vendors.
One of my favorite sessions featured Abby Jiu, whose talk inspired me to share even more authenticity and create more of a personal connection through both social media and my brand. Her case study on the French brand Jacquemus was a fantastic reminder of how people desire personability on top of professionalism (people want to know you’re a real person, not just a business).
4) CREATIVES ARE POWERFUL WITH THE POTENTIAL TO DO GOOD
We often think about the amazing contributions in science and technology, but rarely do we consider the power of the arts. Kristin Sweeting referenced one of my favorite concepts in psychology: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (if you’ve never heard of this before, you need to look this up). I’ve always been fascinated by psychology and loved how she tied this into our line of work.
Her talk was such a beautiful reminder of the value we can bring not only to our lives, but to our clients’ lives and to this world. She urged us to live out our values through photography and to create an impact of good. Through her own business, she has been able to consistently pay team’s salaries and even raise scholarship money.
This was such a sweet reminder that we are so much more than just creatives or photographers. Each of us, with rising success, have the power to create a positive impact and be a positive influence to the world around us.
5) SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY; IT IS NOT ABOUT ARRIVING
If I could share only one takeaway from this entire conference, this would be it: there is never a point in our profession when we have truly arrived.
Perhaps, some of us will feel we have “arrived” once we are charging $10K+ per wedding or $20K+ per wedding or become highly sought after destination wedding photographers. But the fact is once we hit that goal, there’s going to be that next big thing we are trying to achieve. And then the next thing.
Success, therefore, is not about arriving. Rather, it is about progressing.
The people we look up to for their accomplishments—yes, even they—are constantly evolving and growing. Even they are working to improve different aspects of their business. Maybe it’s no longer photography. Maybe it’s education or public speaking. Whatever it is, their success is not measured by having formerly reached a major goal, but rather the continual striving for greater and greater things.
6) COLLABORATION VS. A COMPARISON
The partnership and friendship between Corbin Gurkin and Ben Finch is an inspiration to all (and maybe one to be envied), because of their genuine desire to help each other grow. If all of us had that kind of person in our corners cheering us on, offering valuable guidance/feedback, and genuinely celebrating our wins—well, then, we really could take on the world.
There are things Corbin and Ben both admire about the other—their different strengths—but for them it’s not a competition but rather a “collaboration” (they consider how they are each able to complement the other with their strengths and help each other).
It’s important for us to recognize what value we each bring to the table, how we can contribute to another, and recognize the areas we can improve. When we approach people with a collaborative spirit, beautiful friendships and partnerships can be created. Exponential growth cannot happen in a silo. We all need each other.
7) BE HUMBLE. STAY HUMBLE. AND PURSUE HUMBLENESS.
These sound like reiterations of the same concept, but through this conference, I got to learn the nuances.
Be humble. I appreciate how Ryann Lindsey shared personal anecdotes in which her choice to be humble in different situations brought her closer to her goals. By taking her ego out of the equation, people got to see how pleasant she was to work with, and she was rewarded in the best ways.
Stay humble. Even after you become a master of your craft, like Jose Villa, continue to look for ways to serve and help out. If something isn’t your job, but you have the chance to help out, take it. People will remember you for it.
Pursue humbleness. Erich McVey mentioned how he routinely pursues humbleness in his life by doing things outside of his comfort zone. If something isn’t easy, do it, because it gives you humility.
And humility is needed, because humility is a strength.
8) YOUR NETWORK IS YOUR NET WORTH—BE IN THE ROOM
If there is any major area of growth that this introvert needs… well, it’s to learn to fall in love with networking. (For the lucky few to whom networking comes naturally, I am admittedly envious.)
David and Kristy Abel gave a detailed presentation on designing a brand that sells, and part of that conversation touched upon networking. Networking is important because you need to be able to build trust not only with clients but with planners, venues, and vendors. People want to know your personality, and what better way to get a preview than by being in the same room together.
While this isn’t always a comfortable action to take, I realized over the course of this conference that discomfort can often be a catalyst for growth. Comfort/complacency, which we so often crave, actually keeps you stagnant. It’s okay to be a little uncomfortable.
Through various conferences, events, memberships, I am seeking ways to be in the room in order to create genuine connections. Connections are the real gems.
LEARNING FROM THE SPONSORS
The amazing lesson on color theory by PhotoVision was by far the best technical experience of the entire conference. They offer so much valuable insight that I can now apply when color grading not only photos but video.
I could not be more grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with Paul Von Rieter, founder of The Editorial Edit. While every photographer’s style is different, most of us “fine art editorial” photographers are all trying to achieve a clean film aesthetic with perfectly balanced skin tones. His tips and tricks when it comes to his editing workflow got me thinking of new ways to edit!
I had so much fun photographing flatlays with Olive and Oak Mats. They offer high quality flatlay mats, which I am completely obsessed with—especially their newest mat made in collaboration with Kaleb Norman James. As I love styling flatlays for my wedding clients, I appreciated hearing their approach to and logic behind styling.
Salted Pages offered several practical simple tweaks that can be immediately applied to my own website copy in order to elevate my brand and services. As a fellow wordsmith, I appreciate their meticulousness and attention to detail when it comes to crafting a brand message.
AN OVERALL AMAZING EXPERIENCE
A special thank you goes out to Carrie and Belinda for their awesome efforts to keep The Hybrid Co going and for giving all of us a behind the curtain look at some of our industry leaders.
My impression of this year’s fantastic speakers is that, despite so much of their success, they are all so real and so humble. Their willingness to share both their triumphs and challenges showed me that these are real people behind their work. And that is truly inspiring.
Very special thanks to Laura Rose, with whom I once shared a mastermind, for creating the opportunity for me to attend this year’s conference.
If there is any thing I’d change about Hybrid, it would the addition of more opportunities for small group interactions.
Maybe it’s just me, but as an introvert at a large conference, it felt at times a little overwhelming. While break out sessions were wonderful, I think creating the space and opportunity for organic conversations and relationships to happen in a more structured (smaller) environment could be a great addition to the Hybrid Co experience.
While it’s easy to forget everything after the whirlwind of the conference settles, I decided to write out my reflections in the form of this blog post in order to ensure these takeaways stay with me for a long time.
Overall, it was a beautiful time, and I feel inspired to seek out more experiences like these. Because, after all, the best thing we can do for our busines is to invest in ourselves.
