My Journey Into My Photography Business
If you would have told me five years ago that I would be a stay at home Mom and run a successful photography business in 2021, I would have laughed at you! You had to be joking, right!? I was the girl focused on her accounting career, highlighting my CPA accomplishments all while being groomed for a position as CFO. I had just got married in 2016 and knew children were in the future but I also knew that being a stay at home Mom was not something for me. Major props to those Moms who were at home with their kids because at the time, I knew I simply couldn't do it but I highly respected all of those women.
Here is my story. In 2018, I had my very first photo session with a friend's daughter who was a senior. She had received her senior photos from a previous photographer and hated the way they looked. She looked stiff and didn't look like herself. Long story short, I told her that I would do the session for free if she wouldn't mind being my guinea pig. I will try to put into words how I felt during this session. During that hour and a half, I forgot who I was and where I was. I was IN THE ZONE! I had nothing to lose and my client had nothing to lose. I forgot about any and all stress I had that day. My worries disappeared and I felt ALIVE!! It's so dang cheesy to say but I said what I said. I couldn't get enough and did not want the session to end. Well good news, she loved her pictures and even better news, I loved who I had become that night. I gave her the confidence to laugh and get comfortable while she gave me the confidence to pursue this new and exciting path. (all while I was seven months pregnant with baby number two!)
I spent the next four years working at my accounting job, having a second baby, becoming a boy mom and wife while balancing a slowly growing photography business. My hands were full!! I knew at some point things would come to a head and I would have a very big decision to make. This is where my husband came into the picture. He flat out told me to quit my accounting job and I nearly fell over when he said that. He saw all the stress my job was causing me and it was limiting the growth of my photography business. This was the scariest, yet most thrilling decision I had ever made in my life.
In 2021, I quit my accounting job to pursue full time photography and be a stay at home Mom. Now I feel like I'm exactly where I am supposed to be and where I WANT to be. I ABSOLUTELY love what I do and I finally feel fulfilled working with some incredible clients, gaining new friendships and building memories while doing so. I want to be at home with my "babies'' before they head off to kindergarten. We never get this time back and I'm realizing that more now than ever before. I want to be photographing all of my beautiful clients I have gotten to know and document their big day as well as everyday moments.
Fast forward to today. Just wow. So much of my life has changed. I've changed. We are not meant to be the same people we were in our 20s or 30s. Or even five years ago. Priorities change as we continuously grow as human beings. I wasn't feeling fulfilled in my 8-5 job at a cubicle once I became a Mom. I didn't really feel a purpose preparing journal entries and bank reconciliations. In a very geeky way, I'm such a math and numbers girl so it was a little satisfying but I couldn't help but feel like something more was waiting for me.
I'm so passionate and proud of how hard I have worked and even when things seemed absolutely impossible, I went all in. No fear. No room to fail. I wish this for all of you too! Don't let anything stand in the way of your dreams. You just never know who you can become if you put your mind to something. I'm always encouraging my friends to chase their passions. Even if it is teeny tiny baby steps to get there. The type of energy you feel while doing something for yourself is unmatched.
My life is full and I count my blessings every single day, sometimes I count the good ones twice.
