We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tara Lynn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to inspire people to embrace life’s authentic moments, to love themselves and others, and practice kindness and grace. Inspired by the love of a dog that saved my life, I capture and share stories that celebrate the simple pleasures, imperfect moments and the relationships that make life worth living. By celebrating the deep love we share with our families and pets, I aim to remind everyone that all living things deserve love and compassion. I believe that the more love we share, the safer our world will be for the most vulnerable among us – especially our pets and children.

There was a time in my life where the dark cloud of depression left me begging God to not let me wake up the next morning. I continued to get out of bed because I had a dog that depended on me and clients whose photos were too precious to leave behind on my computer and never deliver. I was eventually able to see that I was loved, even if I didn’t know how to love myself.

This time taught me the importance of belonging and embracing life’s imperfections. In a world full of “Instagram-worthy” worshipers, we need to remember that life doesn’t have to look perfect or even be perfect to be worth living.

My goal is to help my clients feel comfortable just a they are in front of my camera. For moms not to stress when their toddler refuses to wear matching shoes, or if there is dog hair all over the new jeans she just bought for our photo session. Creating memories and having printed photos for you and your children to look back matters more than matching outfits.

It’s these moments that ground us and give us a foundation to revisit when life is hard. To look at the photo of the dog that loyally stayed by our side through new homes, new jobs, babies, and unexpected life adventures. To see the chubby cheeks of our first born who is about to graduate college.

Ultimately, by capturing our own love stories, we have a constant reminder that we belong, we are loved, and we can then better love others.

As a brand photographer, my goal is to showcase the work of compassionate business leaders so they can not just grow their business, but increase their impact in the community.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

It started with a photo. A snapshot of a frightened puppy, unsure of where he was or where he would be going.

At the time, I knew exactly where I was going. I would move up to a top 25 TV market, get a job as a network reporter for NBC and end up on the Today Show. That was the plan…before a single photo changed everything.

It was a photo of a little blonde beagle, Baxter, my husband saw online. He had just lost his childhood beagle and wanted to adopt again. A few days later we drove 2.5 hours to take this puppy home. My husband (we were dating at the time) was finishing law school in NC. I was living in S.C. I couldn’t believe how much I missed this puppy that I had only met once and would only see every few weeks.

I started volunteering at a shelter down the street to get my extra dog fix. The staff weren’t always able to photograph the animals to showcase them online, so I started snapping some photos with my point-and-shoot camera. Seeing one photo of Baxter online convinced us to drive two hours to make him part of our family. Imagine if I could help other animals find their forever home too through photography!?

My love for animals and photography collided and blossomed quickly. I bought my first DSLR camera and rarely put it down. My photos of the shelter animals were helping them be adopted! I was hooked.

I purchased my first URL around 2010 and started building my business.

In 2016, I left my 10-year career as a TV news reporter to build my photography business. I specialize in pet photography in Raleigh, N.C. AS a mom of three, I love working with families with young children and capturing the dog they will grow-up with.

One of my passions is to also capture senior dogs with their owners. Being in business for 14 years, I’ve now served clients through the lives of many of their pets. We’ve grieved together. We’ve celebrated together when they were ready to welcome another dog.

I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve built with my clients. I often will receive emails, phone calls or texts letting me know when a client’s dog has passed away. They tell me how the photos are helping them grieve and heal.

When Baxter died in July 2023, my clients poured out so much love and support to my family. These are people I never would have met if it hadn’t been for Baxter. He didn’t just change my career, he changed my life in a way that brought more love everyday. Even now that he is gone, these relationships push me forward.

Chances are, we will outlive our pets. It’s the hardest part about loving them. Through photography, I can help dog parents keep their best friend’s memory alive with photos to display around their home. These images serve as a reminder of a love that will never fade.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

As a creative, you are usually driven by the art, not running numbers to see if you can actually make a living doing what you love. I would encourage any creative or person considering starting a business to look into the local programs run by counties and cities in your area. Many municipalities have “start-up” hubs or programs to help you in the process of setting up your business successfully. We have a local community college that has a small business incubator. There are so many moving parts to a business. Getting started legally is a crucial first step as you decide the correct type of set up (sole proprietor, LLC, S-Corp.), to accounting, and finding money needed to run a brick and mortar location. Join your Chamber of Commerce or “Shop Local” organization to take advantage of community leaders who share their knowledge and have listings of free resources to get started. Chances are there are also other creatives who have made it through these hurdles and may now offer their knowledge through courses. It’s always easier to learn from somebody else’s mistakes.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I’m still here. Most small businesses close before they reach ten years in business. I’m now celebrating 14 years of pet and family photography. But it’s not been without many ups and downs. My biggest challenge…self-doubt.

When I first started photography, it’s what most would refer to as a side hustle. I was still working full time as a news reporter. I didn’t have kids yet, so I was able to fill my weekends and evenings with practicing photography. I was still learning how to operate my camera. As my skills improved, I began to charge a small amount and gave my clients the digital files. I didn’t know at that time how to sell art work, design albums or even where to purchase products. It was a nice time to earn a bit of money so that I could eventually invest in some business courses to reach the next level.

As my photos improved and I learned new techniques, I raised my prices and eventually started offering products.

It was so thrilling to have clients with art for their homes after years of “ooooh we still haven’t printed those digital files we bought.”

Each time I’ve made a change in pricing, I’ve freaked out. I’m always worried nobody will be willing to invest in photography at my pricing. It’s especially hard when you pour so much effort into creating something special like a themed-mini session only to have another business copy the idea and charge half of what you’re charging. I’ve even had a photographer copy parts of my website several years ago. Those moments are really defeating and leave me wondering “why bother?”

Just like in any industry, there will always be a competitor trying to copy you or undercut you. But what they can’t do is serve clients with the same care, time, and attention as I do. Because they are there for the money, not to serve their clients.

That said, money and profit have been my biggest mindset struggle. As a soloprenuer, the business will succeed or fail based on my work and decisions. The easiest way to measure “success” is if I grow my revenue. Or so I thought. Yes, I need to be able to pay my bills. I need to know my numbers. But at the end of the day, my worth doesn’t rest on the success or failure of my business. I do this because I absolutely love it. Meeting families. Rolling in the grass with dogs. Chasing toddlers and making them giggle. This year, I’ve been keeping a list of “non-revenue victories” that has transformed my thinking on success.

It’s like a diet and exercise program. If you workout five days a week and revamped your eating habits and lost ten pounds, but your body still looked the same and your clothes still felt the same, you probably wouldn’t feel that great about the work you’ve done. The scale tells you there is a result, but you can’t see any results. What if the number on the scale stayed the same, but could play chase with your kids without getting winded, had more energy, younger looking skin, and your clothes were loose? Now that’s a win.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.taralynnandco.com
• Instagram: @taralynn_andco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taralynnandco/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-lynn-39838b78/

Image Credits

photo of Tara Lynn and Baxter – Whitebox Photo