Scale It Review
Ever feel like your photography business is running you instead of the other way around? Like you’re constantly glued to your laptop during every precious contact nap, desperately trying to keep up while secretly wondering if you’ll ever get your life back? If you’re nodding along thinking “that’s literally me,” then Annika’s story is going to show you exactly what’s possible when you have the right systems, support, and strategies in place. In this episode, I’m sitting down for a Scale It review with one of my graduates who went from survival mode as a new mom to celebrating back-to-back five-figure months — one of them while on a true vacation without her laptop. We’re diving into how she scaled her fifth-year photography business through strategic outsourcing, album sales, advanced marketing, and launching an associate team with three photographers. Listen to the episode below for her entire Scale It review, or keep reading for a summary of what’s covered.
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From Survival Mode to Thriving: Annika’s Starting Point
Welcome back to the show, friend. I’m so excited to have Annika with me today. She’s one of my past students who just graduated from Scale It back in June of 2025, and I cannot wait for her to share her journey with you. But first, let me introduce you to this amazing woman.
Annika owns Annika Frame Photography, a wedding photography business based out of the Madison, Wisconsin area. She’s been in business for five years now, and she’s a mama to a feral toddler who keeps her on her toes whenever she’s not behind her camera or at her laptop. She’s married to a firefighter paramedic, which adds its own interesting dynamic to life. In this season, you’ll find her taking lots of stroller walks to the coffee shop for her iced latte (because caffeine is essential), reading romance books on her Kindle, tending to her cut flower garden, and she’s currently in her sourdough bread era. Honestly, hearing all of this, I’m like—we have so much in common! Everything she loves resonates with me so deeply.
When Annika joined Scale It back in January of 2025, she was wrapping up her busy season and in a completely different place. She had an eight or nine month old baby, and she was navigating her first wedding season as a mama. She was absolutely exhausted and couldn’t imagine doing another wedding season with a baby who would soon be mobile. The balance of becoming a mom while managing her business felt overwhelming. She had once had unlimited time, but now time was so limited and so valuable that she didn’t even have the bandwidth to decide where to focus.
Annika shared with me that she loved what she did and felt so lucky to have photography as a career, but she needed to change something so she could feel present with her son and her husband while still being excited to work. She was in survival mode—so deep in the day-to-day that she couldn’t even see what was next for her business anymore. She didn’t have the bandwidth to dream about where her business could go. She was focused solely on serving the clients she had and doing everything she could to do that well, but she couldn’t think about the future or what that would even look like.
Why She Chose Scale It
So what made Annika decide that Scale It was the right program for her? She’d been following me for a while and had seen past student stories and wins, but when she actually took a closer look at the program, something stood out to her significantly. It wasn’t just these overarching ideas of “you can do this” or “you can incorporate that” into your business. Instead, Scale It offered new strategies with step-by-step actionable steps where the mental load was taken off her shoulders.
She gave the example of albums—the program provided step-by-step instructions on how to implement them, complete with templates to help with emails and other materials. She knew she had the bandwidth and energy to digest the information and then apply it to her business. She’d looked at other programs with lots of good information, but she didn’t want the big overarching ideas. She could come up with those herself. What she needed was the nitty-gritty details.
I love that she said that because even though I talk about scaling in other episodes, there are truly so many ways to scale your business. What I did with Scale It specifically was identify the five modern ways to scale—I call them modern because some other educators might tell you to purchase a studio and rent it out, but that’s so much time and work to maintain. For me, scaling means finding ways to actually work less while making more and achieving true work-life balance, not feeling constantly on and overwhelmed.
Scale It Review + Transformation: Two Five-Figure Months and True Freedom
One of the most incredible wins Annika shared was that she had two five-figure months in a row, and during one of them, she was on vacation and able to store her laptop away completely. As a mama, being able to know that your business is running in the background without you while you’re fully present—that’s the dream, right?
Annika told me she doesn’t say it lightly when she says Scale It changed her home life balance incredibly. Looking back at the same time last year with a six-month-old and no daycare help, she was doing absolutely everything. She remembers so vividly that anytime her son would fall asleep for a contact nap, she’d think, “Okay, how can I get my laptop and do some editing or answer emails?” She’d be sitting there on her couch wanting nothing more than to soak up that precious time with her baby, but she couldn’t because her business needed constant time and attention.
Now, with the steps she’s implemented through Scale It, she can completely turn her laptop off. She knows she has systems running in the background and has help now so she’s not doing all the things herself. Her clients are being served with her whole heart and very intentionally, but she’s also taking care of herself—not just as a mama, but as a person. She feels like her clients can sense that energy too. Her husband is so happy that she’s not on her computer every single night after bedtime, and they can actually sit down and chat. She honestly feels like she has this new energy and is back to her pre-baby attitude towards work where she’s genuinely excited again. It’s not about pushing that laptop away anymore—it’s gratitude for getting to do this work.
The Most Impactful Implementation: Organization and Outsourcing
When I asked Annika what was most impactful from the program, she immediately mentioned organization and outsourcing. Learning that she didn’t have to handle everything herself took a huge weight off her shoulders. Now she can spend time at her laptop doing only the things that she can do and that she likes to do in her business, while handing off many other tasks.
This organizational structure and outsourcing strategy was crucial to pivoting her business. Before, she was wearing all the hats and doing all the things. Every day she knew she should be doing X, Y, and Z, but could realistically only focus on certain tasks. Now she’s able to pour so much more energy into her business across many different areas instead of just surviving.
I know outsourcing can feel scary for photographers. There’s often skepticism or nervousness because you’re seeing money go out, and the mindset shift needs to be understanding that when you’re scaling strategically, yes, you’re investing money, but there’s so much more that’s going to return to you—especially if you’re outsourcing strategically like I teach in the program. You know that what you’re outsourcing is either a money-making task or something that frees up your time to be more present for your life goals.
Annika admitted she was definitely skeptical at first. Over the course of being a business owner, she’d tried to outsource things before with mixed results. Nothing had really moved the needle in her business or taken a significant weight off her shoulders. But after going through the module and hearing my personal experiences, she felt ready to give it another opportunity. Hearing about what others in the program had found success with gave her the confidence that she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t figure it out on her own.
Advanced Marketing and Advertising
Beyond outsourcing, Annika also found the advanced marketing and advertising strategies incredibly impactful. Before Scale It, she relied very heavily on Instagram specifically, which can be absolutely exhausting—especially when you have a very personal brand that clients connect with. It’s draining to show up every single day and think of new content constantly.
Being able to implement other advertising strategies was huge for her because she didn’t have the confidence to do it before. She didn’t want to waste money and time trying to figure it out on her own. She’s had her Google ads running for about four or five months now and just got her first inquiry from Google a couple weeks ago, which was super exciting. She feels so much more confident knowing her business is still out there even when she’s turning her phone off for the day.
I think this is such an important mindset shift. There’s this perception that ads are a get-rich-quick strategy—just turn your ads on and immediately make millions. But the reality I’ve seen with my students and myself is that it can take about three months to really start seeing traction and for Google or Meta to put your ads in front of the right people. Once it does though, paired with organic marketing strategies like blogging, it becomes incredibly impactful for the long term. These are long-term strategies that create sustainable results, not overnight success.
Adding Albums: A Game-Changing Revenue Stream
Albums were another major win for Annika. She’d always offered albums through her online gallery store, but it was never something she was super hands-on with. It always felt like so much work and she didn’t know where to start. After going through the Scale It module, she felt so inspired because the steps I share make it feel very approachable.
Before she’d even fully implemented everything, she was on a consultation call and simply mentioned that she was starting to offer these new heirloom albums and was really excited about them. She casually mentioned that couples could add it on to their wedding collection if they wanted to. The couple immediately said they absolutely wanted to add that and loved that she was offering it. She realized she needed to get her systems in place quickly because she hadn’t actually set everything up yet! But it was such a good sign that couples were wanting this.
Annika shared that she’d always felt like when she saw other photographers execute albums, it seemed a little money-hungry—like they were just adding one more thing. She loves the approach I teach of viewing it as truly serving your clients by making their lives easier. It’s one less thing on their shoulders—all they have to do is pick their images and she handles all the rest of the backend work. The workflow manages itself so it’s not one more thing she feels like she’s constantly managing.
She’s had so many clients get over-the-moon excited about albums. One client who booked her lowest package because they were having a really intimate wedding decided to add the biggest album option during their conversation—they absolutely loved it. The approach taught in Scale It is very thoughtful about how you integrate albums into your business. It’s not just one more add-on—it’s truly about serving your clients, and that really resonated with her.
The Associate Team Journey: From “No Way” to Hiring Three Photographers
Here’s where Annika’s transformation gets even more incredible. When she initially applied to Scale It, she was adamant that an associate team wasn’t for her. She wouldn’t be doing that. She’d seen so many people in her area approach associate teams so differently—very much a “if I’m booked, I’ll send somebody else” mentality with no team environment. It felt icky to her.
But after going through the module and hearing from other students in her group as well as my experience, she had a complete shift. She realized it doesn’t have to be this icky thing. How cool would it be to serve more couples and give more couples the experience she’s crafted? She had this mindset shift thinking about how many photographers out there don’t give the same client experience she does, and it made her sad thinking about couples who don’t get this warm, inviting experience that she feels every client should have. So why couldn’t she offer that to more couples?
At first she thought, “I can barely take care of my own couples, how am I going to serve even more?” But after implementing all the other steps from Scale It, she realized she could actually do this and do a really good job. She could offer something truly unique in her area where it’s intentionally built as a team, not just sending somebody in her place.
Annika launched her application and received five phenomenal applicants. She did such a deep dive into the core of her business before launching the application that it helped pre-qualify all applicants—they all connected so well with her brand voice and values. She interviewed four of them and ended up hiring three, which she acknowledges is a little crazy, but location-wise with how Wisconsin weddings work, she knows it’s going to work out really nicely.
She’s currently planning their first team day for onboarding, headshots, and in-person training. This process has brought her so much joy and excitement. As soon as she gets the backend systems set up, she plans to start marketing the team and booking weddings for next year. I’m so proud of her transformation—going from “absolutely not” to confidently hiring three team photographers and creating this incredible opportunity for her business and her life.
Key Takeaways From Annika’s Scale It Review + Experience
- Organization and outsourcing were game-changers for reclaiming time and mental energy
- Advanced marketing strategies like Google ads provide sustainable, long-term inquiry generation
- Albums can be integrated authentically as a service-focused offering, not just an upsell
- Associate teams are possible even when you think you’re too busy—if you have the right systems in place first
- Investing in mentorship cuts through trial and error, providing clear, actionable steps
- You can have five-figure months while on vacation when you build proper systems
- Your business can run in the background while you’re fully present with your family
- It’s possible to love your business and your life simultaneously with the right strategies
What’s Covered in This Scale It Review Episode
- How Annika went from survival mode as a new mom to back-to-back five-figure months
- The mindset shifts that led her to invest in Scale It
- Why she chose Scale It over other programs (hint: it’s the actionable, step-by-step approach)
- How organization and outsourcing transformed her daily life and business
- Her experience implementing Google ads and seeing results after a few months
- The album strategy that led to immediate bookings and upgrades
- Her complete 180 on associate teams—from “no way” to hiring three photographers
- What it’s like to turn your laptop off and know your business is running smoothly
- The importance of implementing with intention, not just for money
- How the Scale It group community provided real-time support and answered questions before she even asked them
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Annika Frame Photography: Follow Annika on Instagram at @annikaframephotography or visit her website at annikaframe.com
- Scale It Mentorship Program: My five-month group mentorship program for established photographers ready to scale their businesses. Join the waitlist for first access, exclusive discounts, and bonus offerings.
Like Annika mentions at the end of the episode, if you’re thinking about investing in Scale It and you’re already in the right place looking at the program, there’s a reason you’re here. I know it can be intimidating—it’s a significant investment in your business. But this program has truly changed not only businesses but personal lives for my students, allowing them to love their business and also love their life alongside their business. It’s so much more than big ideas you’ll implement “someday.” It’s broken down step by step so you can truly leave the program with a business that’s ready for wherever you want to go. The group setting is invaluable—you’ll hear from other photographers in the exact same spot implementing the same strategies, and their questions will often answer ones you haven’t even thought of yet.
Thank you so much for tuning into today’s episode. 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’d be so grateful if you’d leave a five-star review on Apple or Spotify so the podcast can reach more listeners just like you. Screenshot this episode, share it on Instagram, and tag me at @itsclairehunt—I’d love to know what you’re enjoying most so I can create more episodes that serve you right where you’re at. Until next time, my friend!
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