Raw Edit

The client-service side of volume sports doesn't stop at the shoot — it's the emails after. Sarah talks through the reality of managing parent communication during season and the boundaries she's had to set to protect her time and energy.

In This Episode:

• The kinds of parent emails that come in during volume sports season
• How Sarah decides what needs a response and what needs a boundary
• The boundaries she's set — and how she holds them
• Why this side of the work matters as much as the shoot itself

The unglamorous but essential part of running a volume sports business: managing client communication without letting it run you into the ground.

Sarah currently shoots senior portraits and volume sports for seven schools — a client list she grew from just three. In this episode, she breaks down how she communicates with coaches and athletic directors, and how she keeps it all running without burning out.

In This Episode:

• How Sarah grew her school client list from 3 schools to 7
• Her approach to communicating with coaches and athletic directors
• Systems she's built to juggle multiple schools with different cultures, contacts, and deadlines
• How she protects her own sanity while managing it all

A practical look at multi-client management for photographers juggling several school accounts at once — from communication to boundaries to keeping your head on straight.

Sarah shares stories from past volume sports seasons — the moments that taught her the most — and traces how those experiences shaped the way she runs her business today, including how she now manages seven schools at once.

In This Episode:

• Real stories from past seasons that stuck with her
• What each story taught her, and what she changed because of it
• How those lessons built the systems she relies on now
• The throughline from "how I used to do it" to "how I do it today"

Sometimes the best systems come from the messiest moments. This episode connects Sarah's past experience to her present-day process.

Sarah and Kellie switch gears from business to personal style, sharing what they've learned working with the same stylist, Betsy, and how that's shaped the way they shop and dress now.

They dig into:

• Where they've been shopping lately and what's earned a permanent spot in the rotation
• The pieces they're currently loving and can't stop reaching for
• How working with a stylist changed the way they think about their closets
• Their "fun pieces" — the statement items that bring personality into an outfit
• The gaps they've identified in their own wardrobes and what they're on the hunt for
• How personal style ties into how they show up in their business and on camera

Style isn't just about clothes — it's about feeling like yourself, especially when your face and presence are part of your brand. This episode is a peek into how two creative entrepreneurs are building wardrobes that actually reflect who they are.

Sarah and Kellie get real about the launches that didn't go as planned. Recorded fresh off an editorial studio lighting workshop with Jai Mayhew, this episode is an unfiltered debrief on the missteps, misreads, and lessons that came from launches that flopped — and what they'd do differently now.

They dig into:

• The specific launches that didn't hit — and what they thought would happen versus what actually did
• The warning signs they missed (or ignored) along the way
• What they misunderstood about their audience, offer, or timing
• The mindset spiral that comes after a launch underperforms — and how they moved through it
• What they now do differently before, during, and after a launch because of these lessons

Why this episode matters: Nobody shows the launches that don't work — just the wins. This episode pulls back the curtain on the messy middle, so other photographers and creative entrepreneurs can skip a few of the same mistakes.

Sarah is deep in the middle of volume sports season, and in this episode she pulls back the curtain on what that actually looks like — how she preps, how she runs it, and what a real week in season looks like from the inside.

In This Episode:

• What "volume sports season" actually means for Sarah's business
• How she preps before a shoot — gear, scheduling, and what has to be locked in ahead of time
• A look at what her week-to-week season rhythm looks like
• The realities of running this kind of work solo, season after season

A behind-the-scenes look at the season that's currently consuming Sarah's calendar — useful for anyone considering volume sports as a niche, or curious what it takes to run it well.

In this episode, Sarah and Kellie get honest about money — specifically, what happens the moment a $100,000 month becomes real. It's not just a numbers conversation; it's about mindset, identity, and what abundance actually feels like when you let yourself imagine it fully.

They dig into:

• The first thing each of them would buy — and why that purchase says more than it seems
• How they'd actually spend and allocate the money (business reinvestment vs. personal life vs. just plain fun)
• What it would feel like in their bodies to hit that number — the emotional and nervous-system side of receiving
• The stories and blocks that come up around "deserving" that kind of month
• How thinking through this hypothetical shifts what becomes possible in real life

Why this episode matters: Money conversations are often reduced to spreadsheets. This one is different — it's a permission slip to actually picture the life on the other side of a big goal, and to notice what comes up when you do.

In this episode of The Raw Edit Podcast, Sarah and Kellie are back for a real, unfiltered catch-up after surviving what photographers know all too well — Maycember.

If you're in the photography world, you already know. May hits like December. Everyone wants sessions, schedules are packed, and life doesn't slow down just because your calendar is full. Sarah and Kellie pull back the curtain on what their May actually looked like — the wins, the chaos, and everything in between.

This one is a breath of fresh air for any photographer who needs a reminder that the people they look up to are in the thick of it too.

Kellie Rochelle Photography: https://kellierochelle.com/

Follow Kellie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellierochellephotography

Sarah Monson Photography: https://smonsonphotography.com

Follow Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmonsonphotography

What if your next biggest income stream wasn't something you went looking for — but something that found you?

In this episode Sarah sits down with Kellie to talk about the real story behind her real estate photography business. Not the marketing strategy. Not the perfectly planned pivot. The accidental yes that turned into five years of consistent weekday income from one agent relationship — and what that has actually meant for her business and her life.

Sarah shares how a simple conversation with her friend Lori — who needed a photographer instead of a graphic designer — completely changed the trajectory of her business. Five years later Lori's agency of ten brokers calls Sarah week after week without Sarah ever having to chase a single booking. Homes are selling in twelve to twenty four hours. One recent listing received five accepted offers within twelve hours of going live.

This episode is for the portrait photographer who has been curious about real estate photography but isn't sure if it's for them. The photographer who is tired of slow season anxiety. The photographer who wants a revenue stream that shows up consistently without constant marketing.

What you'll hear in this episode will change how you think about what's actually possible in your business.

Resources + Links Mentioned:

Real Estate Photography Retreat — September 13-15, Madison Wisconsin

Eight seats.

Application only. Click here to apply

In this episode of The Raw Edit Podcast, Sarah and Kellie dig into Kellie's brand new product — the One Take System — a custom ChatGPT tool built specifically for photographers who are great behind the camera but dread the content creation that comes after.

The concept is simple but powerful: after your session, you open ChatGPT, leave one voice note talking about what you just shot, and the system does the rest. We're talking a full Yoast SEO-optimized blog post, social media captions, reels, shorts, alt text, meta descriptions — all from one voice note. Say it once, use it everywhere.

Kellie opens up about why she built the One Take System in the first place — because she lived the frustration herself. She breaks down exactly who it's for, what the output looks like in real life, and why every photographer needs a content system that works as hard as they do.

Sarah shares how she's already been using it across ten senior sessions and what the experience has actually looked like in practice. If you've been curious whether a tool like this can really sound like you and hold up in the real world, this conversation is going to answer that.

This episode is a must-listen for photographers who:

• Shoot great sessions but never get around to blogging them
• Spend more time staring at a blank caption box than actually creating
• Want to show up consistently online without burning out

If content creation has been the thing that falls off your plate every single week, this one is going to feel like a solution you didn't know existed.

Kellie's One Take System: kellierochelle.com/one-take-system

Kellie Rochelle Photography: https://kellierochelle.com/

Follow Kellie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellierochellephotography

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Sarah Monson Photography: https://smonsonphotography.com

Follow Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmonsonphotography