Should Going Full Time Always Be the Goal?

Jill C Smith
May 19
3 min read

We hear it all the time. If you’re not full-time, you’re not doing it "for real." The idea that the only successful photographers are the ones who quit their day job and leap into entrepreneurship with both feet is everywhere. But what if that isn’t the only path? What if staying part-time is actually a smart and sustainable move?

In this week’s episode of The Business-First Photographer, I talk with Lydia Fine of Apollo and Ivy Photography. She’s a lifestyle photographer based in Iowa City who photographs families, seniors, and newborns. She’s also a marketing professional with over two decades of experience in her day job, and she has no intention of leaving it.

Here’s why I think this episode needs to be required listening.

Lydia’s Dual Career Setup

Lydia loves her day job. It gives her benefits, financial stability, and work she genuinely enjoys. Photography fills a different part of her creative brain, but she doesn’t rely on it to pay the bills. That means she gets to run her business with intention, choose the clients she enjoys, and scale at her own pace.

Her story is a refreshing reminder that going full-time is not the only measure of success. You get to define what success looks like.

What Being Part-Time Makes Possible

Lydia shared how her part-time status gives her freedom. She can:

Niche down and focus on the types of photography she truly loves
Set pricing based on value, not desperation
Walk away from sessions that don’t align
Protect her creativity and avoid burnout

She even scaled back her day job to four days a week, giving herself a full weekday to focus on photography. It’s a decision that helped her avoid the late-night editing marathons and keep both careers sustainable.

Pricing with Purpose

This part of the conversation hit hard. Lydia talked about how she used her salaried hourly rate as a benchmark when setting her photography pricing. That was her starting point. She factored in all the time spent per session—before, during, and after—and made sure she was earning a fair rate from the beginning.

She’s raised her rates every year since. Clients who once paid $125 now pay over $1,000, and many have stuck with her throughout the journey. Why? Because they love the experience she provides and see the value in her work.

Systems Are a Must

Lydia is a CRM superfan and HoneyBook alpha tester. She runs a tight ship on the backend and isn’t afraid to dig into automations, financial dashboards, and booking workflows. And she makes a great point—when you’re working with limited hours, you can’t afford inefficiency.

Systems protect your time. They give your clients a better experience. And they help you stay in love with your business.

You Don’t Need Permission

This episode is such a great reminder that your business doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. You don’t need to go full-time to be legit. You don’t need to chase growth for the sake of it. You can build something sustainable, intentional, and profitable on your terms.

Lydia’s story shows what’s possible when you work with your life instead of trying to force your business to fit someone else’s definition of success.

Listen to the episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1XHCHz7zJkp7fLgsoEcCgx?si=yrcIfcZZQhG-Byw2OhwN7Q

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