Today was one of those days that could have ended in a disaster. I have this new beautiful little girl in my system. She lives in Florida. I have a NY client that wanted to direct book her – which is super exciting. She purchased plane tickets and a hotel and flew to NY for this booking. She went to the fitting and they had told her that her daughter didn’t fit the clothing properly and they were not booking her. My assistant was disappointed for this mother- she knows that being let down is hard in the midst of being so excited. We all were. So I sent a very polite email (you get more with honey than vinegar) to the client requesting a cancellation fee. Next thing I hear … they are booking her anyway and paying in full. Phew 😅 we all took a sigh of relief. They book the baby, she went to the booking, she was paid – but the client never shot the little girl, which feels personal right?
After all of the confusion, the mother was still grateful , kind, and handled this situation with class and understanding. Some things are out of our control. I was so thankful for the mother’s grace. I imagined how other parents would have handled the same situation and I was so utterly grateful it was her.
These moments happen in this business. To be frank, they suck. It’s never fun to be the bearer of bad news especially when there is absolutely nothing you can do. It’s one of the absolute worst parts of this job , but that is life. What made this situation noteworthy was this mother’s amazing attitude. She showed up, stayed happy with her baby and communicated she was happy to be there and was hopeful they would use her daughter in the future. Imagine how this scene could have been different? The next time I have a client that needs a little girl with her description, I will recommend her, because we all need this attitude at our shoots, and in life. I will make it up to her- all because she was kind and professional- but something tells me, I won’t need to try hard because actions speak loud.
What you can take from this story is to be kind. We are human. Things happen that are out of our hands. Sometimes, they are out of productions hands and the clients hands. It’s not personal. We will work with confidence for your child if we feel that you can take industry issues in stride, see the silver lining and still be grateful for us at the end of the day. We want this for you as bad as you want it for your child.