I’m a little embarrassed that it’s taken me so long to share this post. It was well over a year ago, maybe even two years ago, that I was finally able to articulate a vision statement for AGP, and since doing so, both my work and my life has changed as a result, all for the better.

This past March I had the privilege of speaking at the Creative At Heart conference on the topic of vision, and though I could write paragraph upon paragraph here, we’ll sum it up in Andy Stanley‘s words: “Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by a conviction of what should be.”

Business vision is one of those things that doesn’t happen overnight- it’s most often a long process, figuring out the heart of what you do. And for me, the answer came in a photograph of my parents on their wedding day:

In 1980, when they were married, choosing a wedding photographer meant picking the poses/photos you wanted before the day of, and you received only those pre-arranged images. There was no candid, photojournalistic approach, that was just how things were done. Your photography package price depended on how many photos you picked out beforehand.

THIS photo, however, was taken by a family friend as their wedding day wound down to a close. My dad was sitting on the stage of the church basement, where their reception had taken place, and my mom collapsed back into his arms in a moment of blissful exhaustion from it all. And my great aunt Anne snapped this image.

Over the past 35 years of their marriage, there’ve been ups and downs (as with any marriage). But I would argue that there’s likely been more strife and struggle in their marriage than your average nuptial union. Chronic illness, misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis, family trauma, and making plans to move to China to serve as missionaries have all played a part in that. All of that to say, I grew up watching two people fighting over and over to save their marriage.

I remember, during one particularly hard time in their marriage, looking at my dad’s iPhone lock screen, and on it was that photo from their wedding. And I remember being really confused. “Why does he have a wedding picture as the thing he sees every time he picks up his phone? They don’t even like each other right now!”

And then I got married, and it all made sense. That photo from my parents’ wedding was an intentional, daily reminder for my dad of the woman that he married. Of the fact that no matter how difficult things were at that point, she is who he promised to love for better for worse, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. And it’s no wonder that he chose the photo that represented a particularly blissful moment of that; it reminded him how he FELT on the most important day that they exchanged their vows. Not just that the day happened, but how he, Tim Field, felt in that very moment on the afternoon of August 9th, 1980 at Grace Church in Roanoke, Virginia.

After all of that, now knowing where my story comes from, I’d love to share my business vision with you all.

THIS is where my heart is. This vision statement is the compass for my business- it serves as a guide for everything; from which couples I choose to work with, to the way I curate my social media presence, down to the way I respond to an email from a mother of a bride. That vision statement is so much more than just pretty words paired with a breathtaking image; it is the very anchor on which my company stands.

If you’ve never given thought to what your business vision might be, I recommend you start to turn that over in your mind. Give it time- it’s not something you can force prematurely, but when you’ve finally discovered the core of your vision statement, I promise it’ll change your business.