My Entrepreneur Story
I always thought I would work for a big company, slowly working my way up, with 3 weeks of vacation and all the security that comes with full-time employment. Needless to say, things didn’t quite work out that way. And a good thing too.. because as I found out, a corporate job is anything but secure.
In this post, you can get to know a bit more about my background and how exactly I ended up being a full-time portrait photographer with a photo Studio in Greenwich!
The corporate career
I went to school for graphic design (plus interactive media) and ended up getting a web design job with an advertising agency. It was a little insane, but mostly fun since I was a young 20-year old with not much responsibilities (albeit I did get married about a year into it). Knowing that I wanted to start a family, I quit to work closer to home in Connecticut. Now, if you want a challenging agency job in CT, you’re basically still working for a NYC advertising agency, just one that has a Connecticut outpost. I can tell you plenty of stories about those days, but the outcome was that that the CT office got shut down after a few years, almost everyone got laid off, and I got another job at an even smaller agency outpost in Wilton. Fast forward to a few years into that job (and after having my second child), when I got laid off once again because I essentially couldn’t commute to NY (someone had to pick up the kids from daycare, and that person was me). This is the point at which I got the hint and took my on-the-side photography business to full time.
The Side Hustle
I am the type of person who needs a creative outlet. If I’m doing graphic and web design at work, then I needed photography outside of that. Now that I’m doing photography as my primary job, I have gardening and a few other small hobbies to serve as a creative outlet. The truth is, once something becomes your job, it’s very different than doing it just for the pure joy of the creative expression. After all, my clients count on me to produce a specific result, a family photo session is no time to experiment (and that’s a good thing!).
But getting back to the point… photography started as a side hustle (really before there was a term for such a thing). I did maybe one or two sessions each month, some paid, some for my portfolio, and made just enough money to afford equipment upgrades. During this very interesting time in my life, I was working full time in corporate and taking care of my two boys as the primary parent during the week (since hubby works in the city and gets home after 8pm), plus all the regular cleaning and cooking that needs to get done. I have no idea how I did all of it, but probably not very well, which turned out to be totally fine in the end.
Looking back, it was important to make mistakes in my business while having the security of a full-time job. So many people jump into starting their own business because they think that’s what real entrepreneurs are supposed to do, but it’s actually a lot easier and less stressful (not to mention smarter) to take the time to establish a baseline of knowledge without the strain of having to produce an income.
The difference between hobby and full-time business
The real difference between having photography as a hobby and a photography business is the time and money it takes to keep things running. A hobby is fun. A business is work. You can’t half-ass a business (well, you can, but it won’t last very long). I’d like to say that the moment I took my business to a full time thing I got super successful and everything took off. But it didn’t. Mostly because I still had so much to learn. I was living in a little isolated bubble of corporate office job, picking up kids, and photographing friends. I had no contacts and no network. I was too afraid to invest in learning or coaching, and it showed!
Growing and Learning
I signed a lease for my Studio about 6 months after deciding that photography would be my sole source of income. Even then, it was hard for me to start to meet other people in the area or reach out to start building a network. My business steadily grew as I implemented the things I was learning, and having a Studio definitely made things real. I signed up for coaching (a $5,000 program, btw) and took that learning seriously. The changes I implemented in my business followed what I thought was right for me, which made it important to cherry pick the best approaches from several successful leaders in the industry. And I think that’s important. It’s important to try things, see if they work and resonate with your soul, and go from there. You have to follow your intuition in a sense and see where things take you - and adjust if needed!
Kids and work/life balance
You have to know your priorities. For me, my family and my children were always number one. And yes, that meant not compromising on a NYC commute and basically losing jobs because of it. My boys weren’t easy as babies and are certainly not easy children now. They demand a lot of patience and have taught me just how impatient I can be with them.
As they’re still little, I want to be able to dedicate time to their school events and to be there for them since my husband can’t. Having my own business, and dictating when I do and don’t work, allows me to have that flexibility. But putting my children first also limited how much time I could put into my business at the beginning (and to be honest, even now). It was only in the fall of 2019, when my youngest went to kindergarten, that I starting having a significant chunk of time to myself and for my work. The truth is, those first 5 years of raising a child demand a lot of us. Those are also the years when you want to be around for your children. I don’t regret not pushing my work during that time, because a slow growth is just as good, if not better, than a rapid rise.
Systems and Consistency
That slow growth also allowed me to pivot (switching from outdoor sessions to Studio portraits), as well as implement some really great systems and processes in place for my clients. I was able to experiment and see what worked best, and because I’m the sole owner of my business, I can implement any changes I see fit right away. This was something a corporate job never allowed. I never fit in because I was always trying to improve things. I wanted to focus on what isn’t working or could work better - which isn’t something my boss ever wanted to hear about.
How I work with clients is the number one most important thing in my business, and that process is always getting refined (even today). I want to make things as easy and effortless as possible, but also completely custom for every client. The truth is, there are lots of great photographers out there, but only a handful of them are able to provide a consistent level of service to the people they work with, which is exactly why that part is sometimes the hardest to get right.
I hope you enjoyed this little foray into my background! Please feel free to post any questions or comments in the little box below - I would love to hear from you!
