A December Maternity and Family Session in Winchester, MA | Kristen Swain Photography

A few weeks before Christmas 2023 I received a lengthy DM on Instagram from Nic, explaining that he and his family had recently moved to Winchester from New York and urgently needed holiday photos. Nic’s message was chock full of helpful information and detail about his wife Laura (a sports medicine and ER doctor with a crazy schedule), sweet toddler Jackson, and Willa, their 4.5-year-old Vizsla. Nic had been referred to me by a mini session client I had worked with earlier in the fall (thank you Ashley!).

My books were pretty much closed for 2023 at this point, but in a single paragraph, Nic had: (1) clearly demonstrated what a great husband and father he must be; (2) painted a beautifully detailed picture of his family; and (3) made vividly clear just how much stress they were feeling between the move, work demands, and on top of it all, preparing for a new baby arriving early 2024!  Nic had me at hello (okay, maybe a few lines after hello, but you get the gist) – I immediately felt compelled to help this family out in any way I could.

The timing of Nic’s message was also quite serendipitous.  As the busy holiday sales season was wrapping up, I was finally starting to think about the approaching new year and new photography season, which was only a few weeks away (It always creeps up so quickly!).  I had been contemplating adding a new membership program to my offerings for 2024 and had just finished outlining how I wanted to structure the program and what it would include.  These thoughts were so recently formulated that they were still living in my Notes app – I hadn’t even added the Membership option to my website yet, or shared it with my existing clients.

Nic and Laura were a perfect fit for my Newborn Membership program, given that they were in need of both a family session while Laura was nearly 8 months pregnant, and a newborn session a few months later.  I floated the Membership option to them and they were on board.  It just. felt. right. 

As a small business owner, the first client who takes you up on a new offer, or purchases a new product, means so much — it provides that boost of confidence that steering the ship in this direction IS the right move, and that future clients WILL understand and appreciate the value you’re offering as much as you hope they will.  I needed Nic and Laura just as much as — if not more than! — they needed me in that busy, bubbly, and exhausting season.  The stars had aligned for all of us.  So it was no surprise that when we met in person just five days after Nic’s Instagram intro, we immediately clicked and had a super fun, beautiful, and successful session, ending my 2023 season on a high note, and with so much more to look forward to in 2024.

A December Maternity and Family Session in Winchester, MA | Kristen Swain Photography

A December Maternity and Family Session in Winchester, MA | Kristen Swain Photography