We were lucky to catch up with Eva Lempert recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eva, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Oh yes, do I love a vacation! Vacations are key to being a successful business owner. We talk a lot about finding balance and self-care in today’s world and I firmly believe things like vacations and “me-time” fall into these categories. If we can’t take time to take care of ourselves first, then how can we take care of our business (and others)?

I guess it’s all in how you define a vacation. Vacations don’t have to be these pre-planned, 2 week long adventures through some country that you’ve never been to (don’t get me wrong, these types of vacations are amazing), vacations can also be a day-long adventure or a weekend staycation. I think what makes a business successful is when you’re able to take time away from your work to do things that make you happy and spend time with people (or even, just yourself) so that your soul feels fulfilled by the end of your time away. When I return to my work after some time away, I’m often feeling less cluttered in my brain and more inspired to create!

The best way to get this balance? Schedule it! That’s what works for me. As a mom and a business owner, if it’s not on the family calendar, it isn’t going to happen. When it comes to taking time for a getaway or even an hour to go to my favorite yoga class, I put it on my calendar. And during that scheduled time, I make sure do anything that is work-related. Emails, Slack messages, texts…all of those things can wait until you get back. You just need to remind yourself that your business won’t fall apart if you take that time away and you’ll come back even better equipped to make your business more awesome.

Eva, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

To be honest, I didn’t find the photography industry, it kind of found me! In college, I was a photography major but I couldn’t have told you back then that my life’s goal was to be a photographer. I knew I wanted to do something creative as a career but wasn’t sure what I really wanted to be when I grew up. In typical college student fashion, I had a friend who asked me to shoot her wedding. I never thought I’d ever shoot weddings but I told her I’d do it for a free meal and the price of my film (back in the days, digital photography didn’t exist yet). Before I knew it, she spread the word about my work and before I graduated from college, I had a year’s worth of weddings booked on my calendar. So…what else did I do? I started my wedding photography business! After 15 years in the wedding industry, I felt the need to evolve and slowly retired from weddings and took on more portrait photography work. Today, in my 26th year of my business, I’ve evolved some more and have expanded into personal branding, educational marketing, product photography, head shots, and even some graphic design work.

I think what sets me apart from others is the client experience. I really love working with people and creating relationships with my clients. I think my experience working in various photography industries has made it easy for me to connect with the people who are in front of my camera. My main goal for anyone who works with me is to make them feel comfortable (and beautiful), ease them into having fun in front of the camera, and making sure they feel good in their skin; with a promise that the session will be effortless and awesome! I believe each of my sessions is an adventure in itself; each frame unfolding a story about the individual who stands in front of me.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

As a 20 year old, I jumped right in! I didn’t think about putting together initial capital or starting a business! My business journey started with the Canon camera my mother gave me when I was in college. She let me have it when I changed my major to photography during my freshman year. While I went to college full time, I also had a full-time office job. On the weekend, I photographed weddings with my one camera until I saved enough money to buy a second one. And when I graduated from college, I had saved up enough money to buy a Mamiya 645, my biggest photography purchase as a 20-something. I was so proud of myself.

With enough weddings, I was able to buy more equipment, start renting a small studio space, dive into the world of marketing my business, and even participated in wedding expos. Learning how to budget played a major role in running my business because I knew that business loans weren’t for me and I didn’t want to carry debt. If something didn’t work, I removed it from my budgeting. If something did work, I’d focus my budget towards that. As my business and the industry evolved, my business model has stayed the same. These days, I’m happily working out of my renovated home studio and work solely off referrals!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability to connect with people and tell their stories through imagery. There’s something so amazing about capturing a moment or a subtle emotion and knowing that image will hold meaning for someone, whether it’s for personal reflection or as small part their overall story. I love how one photograph can bring joy, evoke nostalgia, or spark change. I’ve always believed photography is a way of preserving a slice of time, and being asked to do that for someone is truly rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.evalempert.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evalempertphoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evalempert.co
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evalempert/

Image Credits

Personal photo by Greg Loza of Belle Amie Studios