My Business Turns FOUR Today!
I can’t believe it, we’ve been in business for FOUR whole years today! It sneaks up on me every year, and makes me extra emotional.
Starting a small business is terrifying, exciting, and the bravest thing I’ve ever done. (And yes, I put terrifying first, because that’s exactly how I felt when I was laid off from my full-time agency job four years ago.
After graduating from Michigan State University, I moved to New York for an internship with Cosmopolitan Magazine. I worked in the art department, and got to see all of the magic behind the photoshoots in a magazine that I grew up idolizing as a young girl.
It was the summer of 2006, and Cosmo moved from their 57th street home to the Hearst Tower. I was charged with combing through the archives, and even got the chance to take some of these beauties home (including a 1997 issue featuring Mariah Carey, who will always be my baby!)
I spent that summer falling in love with magazines and photography, and for the next 20 years, I worked in-house as an art director, photographer, and managing director of design for both publications and advertising agencies.
I am so thankful for all of the teams I got to be a part of; I learned so much through my journey.
In 2022, I was laid off from my full-time NYC agency job, working as an art director. (The client had cut the budget for the magazine we produced, and my role went with it.)
I had two small children at home, and I had never been without a job. I was absolutely terrified.
My husband Karl and I sat down and talked about the options. The kids were still SO little. We were still in the middle of a pandemic, though things were getting better. Running a business was never part of my plan.
And then suddenly, it was my entire plan. I dove in head first, created an LLC, and took some business courses. I had that tingling feeling that I was on the right track, and my husband and my sister believed in me before I did.
Suddenly, I knew I was doing exactly what I was meant to be doing. Serving families, agencies, and businesses through photography.
Now, I am so proud to serve clients such as the Pink Boots Society, Hudson Headwaters Health Network, Sidekick Creative, Workshop, Greene County Tourism, American Oak Distilling, Bolton Landing Chamber of Commerce, and spend my summer evenings capturing families on vacation in Lake George, and my days with my kiddos (now 8 and 6).
My husband is now a licensed video drone pilot, and on the occasions we get to work together, it all feels like it was meant to be.
It’s not always perfect. (Like five minutes ago, when I was trying so hard to write this blog post, and my 6-year-old was having a meltdown; can anyone relate?!) But we’re doing the best we can, one day at a time. And somehow four years has gone by, and we’re growing stronger than ever (not without the occasional meltdown, of course.)
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to my husband and kiddos, my family for helping support me and watch the kids when I have photoshoots, my friends for lifting me up, and my clients, for believing in me and turning this business into something that will last. I can only do this because of all of you.
Cheers to many more years!
