We recently connected with Kirsten Hartzell and have shared our conversation below.
Kirsten, appreciate you joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today
When I first started doing photography it was merely for the joy of it and proof of existence. In 2016 I shot my first elopement which led to smaller sessions, and eventually my first paid work and weddings. There’s so much that could be rearranged in hindsight but the thing that sticks out to me most is my own limiting beliefs and a lack of knowledge that entrepreneurship even existed. I was fed the ideal life path of getting good grades, participating in the right clubs, getting a degree, having the right jobs, getting married and I’m sure you can guess the rest because I believe you were probably fed the same meal. I remember thinking to myself or when friends/family would ask me about photography that this was just something to do on the side, for fun, just because. It was not a career path or a valid means of income. If I could change anything about when I started, I would change that belief because I held myself back for far too long and I feel myself becoming more and more of what I always dreamed I could be.
There is a separation between those early years and when I decided to pursue photography in earnest, I always wonder what might have been without the stops and starts. Knowing what I do now, I would empathize with my younger self, pull her in for a hug and whisper that she doesn’t need all the answers, her art is good enough to share, and she could in fact do whatever she set her mind to. I would share that it wouldn’t be simple but it would be worth it, it wouldn’t be easy but just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s bad. I would tell her the highs would be the highest she’s ever climbed and the lows would be lower than she thought imaginable but if she could steel herself and see it through, always learning and growing, she would be just fine. The longer I walk this path I’ve chosen the more I realize that anyone could do it but choosing to keep doing the work, not always seeing the results on the good days and the bad days is where you find out what you’re made of.
I think so often we are our own worst enemies, holding ourselves back from what we love, hope and dream for. Who I am today is better at getting out of my own way, she’s done the work, she shows up consistently and she keeps her promises, especially to herself. To do it all again now I would keep showing up, always keep learning and asking myself the hard questions, I would find myself someone I trusted who I could be vulnerable and grow with, I would be willing to be bolder even if that meant making a mistake. Most of all I would set and hold some boundaries for myself to know that I exist as a human first and foremost and my business is a by product of me, not my identity.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I would consider myself an old soul constantly in need of making sense of the world around me. I’ve been an artist my entire life but photography was the one thing that struck me like lightening because it captured the messy, beautiful imperfection of human existence. Even in middle school me and my best friend would steal our parents camera’s and put on these wild photoshoots where more often than not I would direct the styling, aesthetic and vibes of the shoot as she modeled for me. I started getting paid to shoot as far back as 2016, but in 2020 as I was working a soul crushing job and the world was forced into a standstill I knew I had to take a chance on myself and pursue photography fully.
I’ve done it all through the years from families, events, portraits, weddings and more but my first love has always been portraiture. There is nothing quite like capturing someone’s essence in a photograph, making them feel so comfortable and at home in their own skin that they can’t help but just be. I think that connection is what drew me to weddings and boudoir because you get to truly help someone be embodied and present in some of life’s most amazing moments. As someone who has gone through the wedding planning process myself I remember not feeling truly seen, feeling so overwhelmed and not being able to be fully present during that time. There are so many aspects of my brand, work and experience I give to my couples that reflect the care and intent I wished for during my bridal era.
I work to empower and educate my couples throughout the entire process because the wedding world is overwhelming and I want them to feel seen, heard, and true to themselves every step of the way. My boudoir work is the same and has a heavy emphasis on being fully in tune with yourself, while feeling empowered in the body you have. One of the best things I hear back from clients is how safe, present and relaxed I was able to make them feel as we worked together or how much they felt cared for and served. That’s really what I believe the heart and soul of photography is all about, creating space for another human to be fully and authentically be themselves so that their messy and imperfect moments can live on indefinitely.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
It took me quite a few months of working my full time job and then working evenings and weekends to have the freedom to find something more part time that would allow me to focus more on my business. Thankfully I was able to take on a part time nannying position for a friend that I keep for about 9 months while I continued working on my business until I could sustain working for myself full time. All in all it took about a year and a half to go from full time working for someone else to being a full time entrepreneur. I had to say no to a lot of things along the way to and keep my focus on what I was working towards but it was worth the late nights, long work weeks and all the sweat along the way.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Hands down being known and on people’s minds. When I was doing the back end work to restart my business in 2020 I showed up online as much as I could and just kept talking about what I was doing and how excited I was. I had someone tell me once that I talked so much about the new website I designed, that they had to go see how it all turned out. As the world opened back up and we were allowed to start doing more things after the pandemic I kept the momentum going online and reached out to people to model for me, grab coffee and just connect. I was always trying to build a positive community online and just serve the people around me by providing value first and not asking anything in return. Eventually I feel like people knew who I was and word of mouth referrals brought in a lot of my business because people’s friends and family had heard such good things about me. I never assume anyone wants to work with me but instead I just try and connect with whoever I am with. In turn I’ve actually had a lot of amazing people come back to work with me or refer me somewhere because I wasn’t trying to sell them on anything but just building a relationship with them during our time together.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kirstenhartzellphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lancasterweddingphotographer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirstenhartzellphoto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAadaIWg30e-bFoe-bPaMw
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kirstenhartzellphoto
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kirstenhartzellphotography/
Image Credits
Image 2 of groom in white tux:
Tux @tuxedojunctionhanovertwp
Venue @stegmaiermansion
Image 3 of bride:
Venue: @632onhudson
Day of Coordinator: @withvalerie.co
Image of bride in water and on top of the cliff:
makeup: @ohdarlingmakeup
video: @blkswn.media