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

Hi Kelcee, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I have been blessed with the opportunity to go full time as a photographer within the first year of starting my business. Not every creative can say they’re able to go full time in a short timeframe after starting their business, and I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to say that.

From day one it was not easy, I can promise you that. My days looked like spending 10 hours on the computer working on my website, blogs or social media, and going to new locations to take photos of my dream couples for free to build my portfolio. I used the drive I had then to build the business and artistic skills to where they are now.

One major milestone I had to really work on was my mental health. I saw so many talented photographers take the most beautiful photos I’ve ever seen in locations I’ve never heard of and wishing I took that photo. That awe and wonder turned into imposter syndrome quickly and started holding me back from wanting to work on my business and thinking I wasn’t a talented photographer.

It was hard to get over imposter syndrome, and honestly I still live with it today, but I had to teach myself that I’m comparing my skills and experience as a year one photographer to someone who’s on their year five or seven of their business. I’m celebrating my year four this year (2025) as a photographer and I can tell Kelcee who just started their elopement photography company in January of 2021, she wouldn’t believe the things I’ve been able to do in just 4 years of launching my business.

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 got into photography during COVID in 2020. I became depressed spending the days in my room doing nothing but watching tv and building puzzles. I needed to get out of the house and wanted to do something more creative than crocheting. I picked up my dusty camera that lived in my closet after I “retired” from being a wannabe YouTuber and started taking photos of my animals in my backyard.

Once I got the hang of taking photos I remembered my mom hired a photographer to take my high school senior pictures and thought about how she makes a living taking photos of seniors. If she can do that, I can do that. I took photos of seniors, newborns, and families in the Summer and Fall of 2020. When I photographed my first engagement session, I knew this is where I belonged.

Shortly after I photographed my first elopement on Halloween in 2020 and was hooked. I wanted to help couples get married in nature. I wanted to start traveling and plan destination weddings for adventurous couples wanting to escape from the traditional wedding experience. My heart was set on being an elopement photographer.

I spent the last months of 2020 working on my business, Escape and Adventure, helping plan & photograph love stories for adventurous, nature loving couples all over Arizona. Since then I’ve traveled all over Arizona, to Big Sur, California, Oregon, Utah, and even underwater in the Florida springs. Being able to travel for a living and showing the beautiful world we live in is what makes me heart the most happy and what I am proud of as a creative and business owner.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Honestly, just post everything you’re proud of. I used to be a perfectionist on how my grid looked and if it’s not up to my standards I won’t post that day. With that mindset I wasn’t able to show off my work to potential clients and build my audience. If you don’t show something, no one will see anything.

The people that follow you on Instagram or TikTok, they might not be in the market to hire you at the moment. But maybe in a few months or a year from now they’re be ready to hire you because they’ve seen your work and you posting constantly. If you go months without posting anything, someone that sees your profile for the first time may think “oh, does this person not offer their services anymore. They haven’t posted in 4 months.”

Post what makes you happy. If it makes you happy it’ll make others happy, guaranteed.

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

Community is so important! Being a creative can feel so lonely because you are the artist and it’s mostly a one person job. Surrounding yourself with likeminded people with the same goals as yours and someone you trust to piggy back ideas off of is so important.

Don’t be afraid to play! When I first started photography I used to lay on the floor to get a different angle or hide behind a bush to see what it’d look like to shoot through the leaves. As I’ve grown my photography skills I forget it’s ok to play and be creative. Even if you think the shot may not be the best looking, still take the shot! You can learn from your mistakes and improve on what you can do better. You don’t know what looks good if you don’t try it out.

Lastly, books and education are resources everyone should look into. I believe investing in good education is so important when building your business and creative skills. Do your research, journal all your thoughts, and post in Facebook Groups what people recommend for when you’re needing help – which ties back to how important community is.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://escapeandadventurecouples.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/@escapeandadventure
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/escapeandadventurecouples
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@escapeandadventure

Image Credits

Photos taken by Escape and Adventure