10 • 01 • 15

I QUIT MY DAY JOB & KATIE LEE IS A FULL-TIME BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!

[80’s work Celebration]

They say, “Don’t quit your day job”, but I just did!!!! What a bittersweet day today will be. So many emotions running through my mind and heart. I am sad to announce that I have officially resigned from the day-time banking job with the Richwood Bank…

Nearly seven years ago, I received a phone call from the Richwood Banking Company during my winter break of my freshman year in college. They asked if I could start TOMORROW! I thought, just like that, I’m hired?! Thankfully, while I was still in high school, I actually met with Chad Hoffman (current RBC President) about initiating a program that I wanted the bank to sponsor. He was more than happy to partner with my high school dream. Sadly, the program did not take off as planned, but little did I know, this interaction was opening the doors for my future at RBC. I remember putting in an application, but had never heard anything until I received my phone call from Ashley Bugg.

There was a project Ashley was working on that needed to be completed by the new year & that’s where I found my introduction to RBC. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t take a job where you get to skip the interview process?! On certain days, I even found myself in the shred room simply shredding papers. One day Chad walked back into the shred room & told me to let me know when I would be out of school & they would train me to be a teller for the summer. That’s exactly where I found myself for the next couple years, on the front line of the teller station.

Senior year of college was coming to an end & I knew I would be starting my own Photography Business upon graduation. I had received an email from the bank asking what my plans were because they had someone going on maternity leave, but had thought I may be a good fit to cover that position. I gladly accepted to come back & that is where I have found myself 3.5 years POST college graduation.

During the (almost) 7 years as a bank employee, I worked in the shred room, on side projects for the bank, on the teller line, in the operation/bookkeeping department, debit card & online banking department, the payroll department, served on our HOOPLA team, learned the in-house printing duties, and recently served in the call center. I had gained such a wealth of knowledge because I had been cross-trained in so many departments within the bank. Not only did I gain such a wealth of knowledge in the banking world, but I have literally worked alongside more people than half of the employees ever have during their time at RBC. In ONE week at the bank, I worked in 4 different buildings in different departments!! If you know me at all, you know I LOVE that aspect of it because I simply love people. I’ve gotten to know the lives and hearts of so many other employees & I have gained life-long friendships with SO MANY OF THEM.

My heart is SO SO SO SO grateful, thankful, humbled, and appreciative of my time at Richwood Bank! The Lord clearly opened doors for a season of my life to serve this team & I’m overwhelmed by how seamless it all worked. God always provided for me through this job. It financially helped me pay off $82,800.28 of student loan debt and that’s beyond humbling (full story on that HERE).

With gratitude I announce that I am leaving the banking world, BUT IT IS WITH PURE JOY I ANNOUNCE THAT I AM GOING FULL-TIME IN MY PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS. I can’t believe this is happening!!! I have NO idea what the future will hold, but I know God has been calling me away from the security of the bank’s paycheck to lean on his financial trust (once again)!!! I have received confirmation after confirmation that I must take this leap of faith and genuinely trust the Lord has plans for the days and years to come. I have to admit, this is VERY scary because I don’t get paid unless I book. With that being said, I do not take for granted YOU, my clients! You must know how humbled I am that you choose me to capture some of life’s most precious moments. You choose me, which allows me to have the opportunity to do something I absolutely LOVE.

And because you have chosen ME, I am choosing to better serve YOU! Recently I have been overwhelmingly swamped & I feel as though I am drowning. I genuinely can’t keep up with post work between working at the bank, running to sessions after work, going to my nephew’s soccer games, bible study on Tuesdays, and weddings on the weekend. I would LOVE to invest in the lives of others & I heard myself say out loud, “I don’t have time to invest in other people!” <—- THIS WAS A TURNING POINT FOR ME! It was the truth, but it is wrong. Once I heard myself say that, I thought about all the people who have invested in ME – the mentors, the accountability partners, the prayer warriors over my life & I thought to myself, how can I not have time to serve other people outside of work?!?!?! I still do not know what that will look like specifically, but I know there are other things I want to do besides be a workaholic, EVEN IF THAT MEANS I TAKE A PAY CUT! Life is too short not to travel, invest in others, and spend time away from work. So that is what I am doing!!! THANK YOU for all of your patience during the most busiest time of my life. I know I have a lot of room for improvement in the flow of my business & I’m hoping one door closing is only going to open new doors and new opportunities to better serve my current and future Katie Lee clients.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU RICHWOOD BANK for the opportunity to serve the RBC team & THANK YOU TO KATIE LEE FANS & CLIENTS for faithfully supporting and believing in me. I can’t believe I was blessed enough to work at a place that worked with my photography schedule, had a 3 minute commute to work, and received an admirable pay in my own local town. Even 25 of my RBC co-workers have become Katie Lee clients!!!! So AWESOME! I could not speak more highly of the treatment I received at RBC & I have such mixed emotions about leaving, but when God calls you to fly, you fly.

ENJOY SOME PICTURES FROM MY TIME AT RBC

*disclaimer: Judgement day FREE on image quality (:

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