If you’ve been grinding away in your photography business—booked solid but burning out, trading every weekend for income, wondering how you’ll ever scale without sacrificing quality—this episode is for you, friend. I sat down with one of my Scale It graduates, Maddy from Maddy Bethune Photo, who went from finishing her first full wedding season feeling completely overwhelmed to building a thriving associate team, cutting her own wedding load in half, and booking her first associate wedding for around $4,000 in profit—all within just six months of joining the program.
Maddy’s story is proof that scaling doesn’t have to mean working more or waiting years to start scaling. When she joined Scale It in January 2025, she was coming off her first full season with a mile-long list of goals but zero idea how to tackle them without spending her entire off-season stressed and overwhelmed. She wanted to serve more couples through an associate team, set up systems that would give her peace of mind, and finally gain back time to be present with friends and family—all without income loss.
Fast forward just a few months, and Maddy hired two associates plus her sister, received 22 applications for her team, created workflows that save her hours every week, and finally feels like she has clarity and freedom in her business. In this episode, Maddy shares exactly how she made these shifts happen—from building her team the right way to outsourcing strategically to organizing her systems in small but revolutionary ways. If you’ve ever wondered how to scale sustainably (whether you just finished your first wedding season or you’ve been doing this for five years), Maddy’s story will show you what’s possible when you have the right strategies and support in place.
Listen to the episode below, or keep reading for a summary of what’s covered.
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Where Maddy Was Before Joining Scale It
When Maddy came across Scale It, she was in a season that so many photographers find themselves in—excited about the business she’d built but completely overwhelmed by everything she wanted to accomplish. She had just finished her first full wedding season, and while she was grateful to be booked, she was also burnt out in ways she didn’t fully recognize at the time.
“I vividly remember the week before I found Scale It,” Maddy shared. “I was talking to my boyfriend about my off-season and this million-item list of things I wanted to get done—email marketing, starting a team with my sister, getting organized. I had this really ambitious plan, and then I came across the sales page for Scale It. As I was reading through it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is every single thing I’ve said I want to get done this winter.'”
What resonated most with Maddy wasn’t just that the program covered all her goals—it was that I would actually give her the step-by-step roadmap to accomplish them without spending her entire off-season grinding. As a very type B person (her words, not mine), Maddy knew she had her own organization systems that honestly didn’t make sense to anyone else. She needed structure, accountability, and clear direction to make real progress.
Her biggest goals when joining were:
- Building a clear long-term vision for her business
- Creating systems that would take the 24/7 workload off her plate
- Gaining back time to work on the business instead of just in it
- Having more time with friends and family
- Serving more clients through an associate team with her sister
- Knowing that what she was working on was actually driving results—not just shooting in the dark
“I wasn’t necessarily burnt out in the traditional sense because it was all so new to me,” Maddy explained. “But looking back, I definitely was. Towards the end of the season, I was exhausted. When I found Scale It, I was excited about the fact that it was a clear map to accomplish all these things I wanted to do while still being able to truly take a break. I knew if I tried to figure this all out on my own, I wouldn’t have gotten half of it done and it would have taken up my whole winter.”
Why Maddy Decided to Join Scale It
The biggest reason Maddy joined? Building an associate team. While the program covered multiple aspects of scaling that spoke to her, the team-building component was the game-changer she needed most.
“I really wanted to build a team, particularly with my sister who had just had a baby,” Maddy said. “I had no idea where to start with that. I feel like there’s not a lot of knowledge out there on how to actually build a team and market it and do it well—so that I’m not adding more work onto my plate and jumping into something I don’t know what to expect from.”
This is something I hear constantly from photographers—they’ve seen bad examples of associate teams in the industry. You know the ones: the photographer who books a couple, then gets an international inquiry for the same date, so they frantically post “Can anyone associate shoot this day?” and hand off that couple to a complete stranger. That’s not how I teach team building, and I’m determined to change the narrative around associate teams in this industry to be more about a strategic team approach where couples are excited (not disappointed) about the option.
What also stood out to Maddy was that we hadn’t had any prior contact before she joined. This wasn’t a low-ticket investment, but she’d been listening to my podcast and following my content, and everything I shared just resonated deeply. “I could tell you’re a really good person that I could trust and knew you would guide me in the right direction,” she said. “It was a no-brainer for me.”
Building an Associate Team the Right Way: From 22 Applications to Her First $4K Profit Wedding
When Maddy started Scale It, her plan was to train her sister to be her first associate. But as she went through the program and learned my approach to building teams, her strategy evolved in the best way possible.
“My sister was really just starting to learn alongside me—second shooting but not quite ready to take on her own wedding yet,” Maddy explained. “Once I started the program and you talked about how you hired your associates, I really resonated with finding someone who already has their own business and is maybe just looking to step back from running the business side and focus on shooting weddings. That felt right to me because I had a lot of inquiries coming in, and I didn’t want to wait until the end of this season to start booking for my sister when she’d truly be ready.”
So in late May or early June, Maddy launched her associate application. She received 22 applications (incredible for someone so new in business, and proof of how well she’d established her brand). After conducting five or six interviews using the exact questions and framework I teach in Scale It, she hired two photographers—one who just moved to Boston and was excited to join the team, and another new mom who’ll start after maternity leave. Her sister will eventually join as well, creating a strong team dynamic.
But here’s where it gets really exciting: At the time of our recording), Maddy sent out all the details for her associate team—portfolios, pricing guides, all of it. And literally that morning of our podcast, she booked her first associate wedding for around $4,000 in profit without having to shoot it herself.
“I was so bad at math off the top of my head,” Maddy laughed, “but I’d say it’s somewhere around $4,000 in profit for me, which is amazing.”
This is the power of intentional team building. When you understand how to market your team in a way that gets couples excited (not disappointed), when you hire the right people who align with your brand, and when you implement the sales psychology and buyer psychology (not in a sleazy way—just understanding what makes people genuinely excited), you create something sustainable and profitable.
“Even before I shared any information about the team, people seemed really interested,” Maddy said. “I was using a lot of the things you told me, and that gave me the motivation to get my stuff together so I could finally launch.”
Overcoming the Fear of “They Won’t Want Someone Who’s Not Me”
One of Maddy’s biggest fears before starting a team was her very specific, documentary photography style. She worried about finding someone who could emulate a similar style while still having their own approach—someone who wasn’t just trying to be her showing up to the wedding.
“Once I got into the program and you started talking about how to interview people and the certain things to look for and questions to ask, I felt like I had all the information necessary to find someone who was a good fit,” she shared. “It really helped ease my nerves.”
Even on a smaller scale, she tested the waters this summer when she was unavailable for a maternity shoot. She mentioned her sister was on her team and available, and her sister went and shot it for her. “I was sitting on my couch watching TV, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, Hannah’s out right now shooting this for me.’ It was just the best feeling ever. Even for that one-hour shoot, I used the language and everything you taught me to make my couples feel cared for and know that the person showing up would do just as great of a job as I would have.”
This is what I want for every photographer who’s hesitant about teams. When you’re intentional about the process—from hiring to training to marketing—you build confidence not just in yourself, but in your couples. They see the team as an exciting option, not a disappointment.
The “Small” Win That Changed Everything: Organizing Her Gmail
One of my favorite parts of Maddy’s story is what she identified as her first major breakthrough—and it might surprise you. As someone who describes herself as “an organized mess” and very type B, Maddy struggled with systems that made sense to anyone but herself.
“I think that was like the first thing I did in the program,” Maddy said. “Maybe day two, I organized my Gmail the way you taught, and I was like, ‘I already got my money’s worth just from organizing my email.’ I know it can seem small, and I know you consider yourself more type A with everything together, but to me, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is genius.'”
This is why I love Scale It—because the transformations aren’t always the “cool” wins. Sometimes the most impactful changes are the foundational systems that free up your mental load. For Maddy, organizing her inbox meant she could finally stop worrying in the back of her mind about whether she forgot to send an email or look over a questionnaire.
“Even when I wasn’t working, I would always have in the back of my mind, ‘Did I forget to send this email? Am I forgetting to look over this questionnaire?'” she explained. “Understanding how to set up my inbox so it was organized—even just that tip was so helpful.”
Creating Workflows That Save Hours Every Week
Beyond the Gmail organization, Maddy created detailed workflows for all her client types so her clients are served without her needing to manually remember every step. In just the first week of having these workflows set up, she saved herself several hours and gained a sense of peace knowing she wasn’t forgetting to respond to anyone.
“Setting up the workflows directly tied back to my goal of wanting more free time and being able to be more present in my actual free time—not always having things in the back of my mind that I’m forgetting to do,” Maddy said. “Now that aspect of my business can run on autopilot, and I’m able to focus on other things that actually help me scale and grow my business.”
This is the difference between working in your business and working on your business. When you’re constantly in the day-to-day grind—shooting, posting on Instagram, responding to emails manually—you have zero time for long-term strategic thinking. But when you implement workflows and systems, even though they’re daunting to set up initially, they free you up to focus on the money-making activities and growth strategies that actually move the needle.
(Quick side note: If you’re curious about the outsourcing worksheet Maddy mentioned where she wrote down everything she was doing and figured out what to delegate, I give that away for free as a resource. Download it here so you can start identifying what’s taking up your time that doesn’t actually need you to do it.)
Shifting Her Mindset on Outsourcing
Maddy wasn’t skeptical of outsourcing—she’d tried it before with Pinterest and blogging—but she always came back to the thought, “I don’t know if someone can do this the way I would do it.”
“I think in the program when you talked about all the things you actually need to be doing versus the things you don’t need to be doing in your day-to-day, that was super helpful,” she said. “When I looked at the hours I was spending on things I didn’t need to be doing, it gave me a lot of clarity. I needed to take stuff off my plate.”
The biggest fear around outsourcing for most photographers? The investment. It feels scary to spend money on tasks you know you could technically do yourself. But here’s the mindset shift that Scale It helped Maddy embrace:
“All that time I get back, I could be using to create a course, build my associate team, or work on something that would help me scale my business further,” Maddy explained. “That investment would pay for itself in the long run.”
This is exactly right. If you’re always just posting on Instagram or always just out shooting, those aren’t necessarily revenue generators in the same way that building strategic offers, creating systems, or launching a team can be. You have to be mindful of your capacity and what actually moves your business forward.
For me, there was a season where I had a team of seven or eight people doing different things in my business. I’ve scaled that back very intentionally, but I can’t tell you how much it wouldn’t have been possible to reach my revenue goals without that team support. You either see a revenue return from outsourcing, or you gain time back to work on the money-making things. Both are valuable.
What’s Next for Maddy: Cutting Her Wedding Load in Half
Looking at her calendar for 2025, Maddy admitted it’s a little scary in a good way—she’s grateful to be booked, but it’s a lot. For 2026, she’s already cut the number of weddings she’s taking on in half, which means she’ll have significantly more free time to spend doing things she loves or diving into other areas of her business.
“I’m almost looking forward to next year where I have a lot more free time,” she said. “Booking more weddings for my team is a main priority, and I’m super excited about it.”
She’s also interested in potentially getting into education down the line (and I fully believe she should—her documentary photography style is incredible and so specific). That’s her next off-season task: diving into the education modules in Scale It and seeing what feels right.
This is what I want you to understand about scaling: It’s not a short-term thing. You have to plan intentionally for the long term and be patient to really see the effects on your business and life. Maddy joined in January 2025, and at that point, she already had most of her weddings booked for the year. She couldn’t magically cut her load immediately. But by planning ahead, implementing systems, building her team, and being strategic, she set herself up to have the business she actually wants in 2026.
You have to start now to feel the benefits later. That’s the reality of sustainable scaling. But I promise you, when you get there, you’ll be so grateful you put in the work.
Why Maddy Says Scale It Was Worth Every Penny
When I asked Maddy what she’d tell someone considering Scale It, she didn’t hesitate.
“I opened up module one and I was like, ‘Okay, this is perfect.’ Anything after that was a bonus,” she said. “If you resonate with anything listed on the sales page, that alone is a great sign it’s a good fit for you. You’re going to get way more out of the program than you could ever imagine.”
She went on to say that I over-delivered tenfold beyond what she expected—especially with the Notion workbook that gave her the checks and balances to know she was actually getting things done and staying on track.
“In the past six months, I’ve been able to gain a lot of clarity in my business and scale in so many different ways that I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do without you,” Maddy said. “If it resonates with you at all, that’s your sign to go for it.”
Honestly, hearing feedback like this never gets old. My heart behind Scale It has always been to equip photographers with the foundational strategies and long-term systems they need to build businesses that serve their lives—not consume them. Maddy’s story is proof that when you’re willing to invest in yourself, be patient with the process, and implement what you learn, transformation is absolutely possible.
Key Takeaways from This Episode
- Building an associate team doesn’t have to take years. Maddy went from having zero team members to receiving 22 applications, hiring two associates plus her sister, and booking her first $4K profit wedding—all within six months of joining Scale It.
- Small systems create massive mental relief. Sometimes the biggest wins aren’t the “cool” ones—organizing her Gmail and creating client workflows saved Maddy hours every week and freed up her mental load.
- Outsourcing is an investment that pays for itself. When you gain back time, you can focus on the money-making activities that actually scale your business, like building a team or creating new offers.
- Scaling is a long-term strategy. Maddy joined in January 2025 and is already planning for her 2026 calendar to look completely different—less shooting for her, more bookings for her team, and more freedom in her life.
- Marketing your team the right way gets couples excited, not disappointed. When you’re intentional about hiring, training, and positioning your associates, couples see it as a valuable option, not a downgrade.
What’s Covered in This Episode
- Where Maddy was in her business before joining Scale It (burnt out after her first full season but ready to grow)
- Why building an associate team was her number one priority
- How she received 22 applications and hired two associates within months
- The exact moment she booked her first associate wedding for $4K in profit
- Overcoming the fear that “couples won’t want someone who’s not me”
- The “small” Gmail organization win that changed everything
- Creating workflows that save hours every week and free up mental load
- Shifting her mindset around outsourcing and investing in support
- Cutting her wedding load in half for next year while increasing profit through her team
- What’s next for Maddy as she continues scaling and potentially explores education
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Join the waitlist for Scale It and get immediate access to my brand-new freebie, “From Reactive to Proactive: Your CEO Day Framework,” plus exclusive discounts, one-on-one time with me, and first access when enrollment opens
- Download my free outsourcing worksheet to identify what’s taking up your time that doesn’t actually need you to do it
- Follow Maddy on Instagram at @maddybethunephoto to see her beautiful documentary-style work and team updates
- Visit Maddy’s website at maddybethunephoto.com
- Listen to more Scale It student success stories on All Angles Photography Podcast
Thank you so much for tuning into today’s episode, friend. I’ll be back in your ears with more photography business education every two weeks, so be sure to subscribe to the show. If you’re loving these episodes, I want to welcome you to leave a five-star review on Apple or Spotify so the podcast can reach more listeners just like you.
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Until next time, my friend.
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