We recently connected with Emily Leonard and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I never had any idea that I would be a photographer. From a really young age I wanted to be an author, to share my story and to help others through the pages of my books. But I had no idea that I would do that through the art of photography. At the age of 16 I was in a really bad car accident and had a severe head injury. my TBI causes issues with my memory that have persisted over the last 13 years and even worsened. Because I could no longer trust my memory, I started taking photos of everything in high school. My friends, my family, sunsets, things I liked at the store, quotes I wanted to remember. If it could be photographed, I had it saved on my phone somewhere. However, as often as I pulled out my phone to snap a photo, I definitely didn’t consider myself a photographer or even a decent camera phone user. So imagine my surprise, looking back then, at what I do. When God called me to pick up a camera, I had never used a professional camera before and honestly was really intimidated by them. But, God told me clearly – this will be how you serve and love others – so I leaned in. Naturally one of the first thing I did upon hearing a calling from the Lord was open social media, where I saw a post from an old classmate, selling all her photography equipment to someone wanting to start their own business. God couldn’t have been more clear. I reached out and she and I struck a deal and I began learning my new equipment. I dragged my cameras around everywhere, anxious to learn all the buttons and functions. God pieced it all together for me. The families I have already served, the couples I have captured the proposals of, the families and their multitudes of generations.. Each one specifically brought to me by God because I am not that social media savvy and I know it wasn’t any genius on my part that got me to the success I have seen in such a short time. When God started this passion in my heart and helped me through the fear of diving into something new, he did it with the assurance that it would be a forever passion, to capture the milestones and moments of other peoples life. That didn’t just mean the standard senior photos, or posed families – but also the aging generations, the survivors of sickness, the foster pets needing homes, the success of sobriety.. Those moments deserve to be captured. I wanted to create a space for the every day moments to be momentous and the average human to be able to afford the professional skill that is my photography service. So – to balance out everything I do, I like to capture stranger sessions of families out for a walk, couples enjoying a picnic, runners with their dogs etc. Offer cancer survivors sessions with their families, volunteer at animal shelters and for local sports programs as the team photographer so parents can remember all the seasons of their kiddos lives, not just the school pictures my mom had. I may not remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, I may not remember conversations or people I have met and one day I may not remember myself.. My doctors have told me that that is highly likely with the damage my brain has sustained. BUT. I will know that my camera served others. I will remember the moments I gave other people. I will remember that all along, God ran a business through me and I was blessed enough to work for Him.

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?

My name is Emily and I am a Kansas City native and will be a Kansas Citian forever! It is my all time favorite place and is the most beautiful place I have ever been – and trust me, I have been many places because I am quite the travel bug. I am 29, a lover of all doggies, all babies and all oat milk vanilla lattes. I believe in reading books that are printed on paper, not on a tablet. I believe in shopping small and locally and not shipping things from amazon. I believe in using my camera for good, not for profit and fully LOVE all that photography is, from the clients, the opportunities and the continuous educational curve, to the editing and the anticipation of delivering a gallery. I am always fighting for joy even in the hard and dark places not just for me but for everyone I interact with. I believe there is always something we can do to bless and support others. I want others to see themselves the way God does when they get their photos back from me and I want them to have felt His warmth from their time working with me.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Honestly I hate to say it, but social media. I have to be incredibly consistent about posting and hash tags and sharing my business’s posts on my personal page. I more of less just went and friended a whole bunch of people on my personal page, invited them to follow my business page, and then always share my business posts on the local pages as well as my neighborhood pages. That seems to be pretty effective but even then.. I think God is the reason I have found my clients the way I have. He sends them to me!

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

So aside from my standard portrait and milestone photography, I also sell prints, canvases and stationary of local Kansas City photos I have taken! I sell that at local vendor markets, a couple local stores and on Etsy! I think my city is SO beautiful so its really fun to share my city with people this way!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.roadsandreasonsphotography.com
• Instagram: @roadsandreasonsphotography
• Facebook: @RoadsandReasonsPhotohgraphy

Image Credits

All photos are mine!