Friends

So I see I had a text at 7 something this morning. It was from Jeremy telling me he fixed my logo here on the blog & will work on how big the photo is later.  What great friends I have! ;) THANKS Jeremy!  Truly when I sit back after being a whiny baby all week... I have been S-I-C-K, and me & my germ-o-phobia this does not settle well with me...  Come visit me & see my GI-NORMOUS bottle of hand sanitizer, and Lysol wipes, and Lysol spray in case someone touches my phone or computer at work! I so get teased for that! You outta see me wipe down the dang carts at the store! ha ha ha! Anyway I got to thinking in a drug induced state (too much NyQuil) how blessed I truly am! Yes, I complain a lot, but in my day-job I work with mostly all guys... which is like working with your annoying brothers constantly- just wait I have lots of stories to tell about what they do to pick on me there! But to be HEARD there, you gotta whine. I am so getting off track here. Oh well... Where I am going with this, is a few years ago I had hired on a gal whom I had been 'kinda' friends with, our husbands were friends, and she was one of those people we ran into EVERYWHERE. Anyway, shortly after I had my twins, she kept saying how she wanted to get into photography,  and literally would not leave me alone. She then asked me to take her daughter's photos (which to date are still some of my faves no matter how much I dis-like the mom now). Well rather than paying for them... she decided to 'trade' me stuff for them. Which I was fine with I had just preferred we discussed that prior to the session lol.  Well this gal is one of those kinds of people that is hard to say "NO" to, and I am known to be a push over... so that's setting up the story already huh? Well, she had asked me if she could "help me out" in my studio, or at weddings & what-nots. Me who can never say no said "Yes, but there are some papers I make everyone sign".  I explained how much I pay & how she has ZERO experience, so she'd have to work her way up the pay scale based on how she learned & she agreed to that. Well this was in 2008... when we were getting smacked with the economy issues. I had her assist at one wedding, alone, as Alicia had just had her baby & was unable to make it to that wedding, so I was glad to have this gal there to assist. The wedding went well, so I thought. I later had complaints from the mother of the bride & a bridesmaid (that I never did tell to this assistant) Then this gal tells me the same day of this first wedding she worked after we got home that the money she made was just not enough. It was not enough to even take her kids to Dairy Queen with, and she needed more money! At that point I had one more wedding to do for the year, and was not sure about Alicia with her just having had the baby, so I agreed to give her a bit more money as long as she got her paperwork signed & to me right away. This paperwork is stuff I have always had. I got it from another photographer & modified it, and had an attorney give me the OK on it. Just is a basic No-compete agreement.   Meanwhile... She had asked me if she could use the studio to get some "practice". She wanted to take some pics of her kids, and some friends/family. To make a long story short, she assisted on the 2nd wedding... and I had Alicia training  her in, yet this gal felt she did not need to be trained in by Alicia... (I think since Alicia is much younger... not real sure) We got some awesome shots that day, yet later heard from the wedding family about this particular assistant as well about her attitude & they complained about her again. UGH! I was not sure even WHAT to say to her.  "Hey keep your mouth shut & do not give your opinion on a wedding?" I mean really what do you say when it is some one's characteristic/personality that is not sitting well with these people? Things that she thought were OK to blurt out these people at the weddings were taking offense to.  Anyway...  a few months go by & I get a call from my landlord... I come to find out she had been up at the studio much-much more than she was telling me, according to my landlord... and when I asked this gal about the paperwork she said she refused to sign it. In case she found a better job, that offered more hours & better pay they the crap I was paying her she could not sign it. The economy she was not taking into fact obviously as I would normally been able to give her many hours, but just did not work that way. Alicia has been with me since 2003 so I must not be SO bad to work for.I had a bad-feeling about this gal from day-1 that I SHOULD have listened to. My husband even said from the get-go NOT to, that she was too pushy, and would try to 'take over" which in fact was what she was trying to do. When I put my foot down she became upset. So I asked for my studio key back & that we part ways. OH she was MAD! She came into my other place of employment, made a fool of herself & tossed my key at me. And ever since has been bad-mouthing me & my studio. So when I met Jill Fillyaw who is now part of Kellie Allyn Photography... I was "gun-shy" to say the least! But she has been a GOD-SEND! I am not kidding! She also knows of this 1st gal, and she & I both run into her, all we can do is ignore her right? FYI... she wears one of those hats I was talking about yesterday LOL!!  not sure how she is pursuing her photography 'career' now other than I know she is doing sports photos... not real artistic- but she wears the 'hat' anyway. lol.  So now having Jill working, and Alicia on-call, and friends who at 7 am are helping to make my blog look better I realize I am truly blessed! I am blesses to have that person OUT of my life, so better people could enter my life. If you just read this, take a moment to think about your friends. Some I do not talk to as often as I would like, and some I text non-stop. I am not a highly religious person, but THANK-YOU GOD for all my friends today! For those of you in business thinking about hiring that 'person' GO with your GUT feeling! I promise your gut instinct is RIGHT!