Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lauryn Schalk. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lauryn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

When I was in high school taking all the “what career suits you best” tests that were supposedly meant to spit out a track for your future, I knew in my bones that I needed to do something creative. Art class was my favorite. Colors made my heart sing and teaching myself Photoshop was what I did after school for fun. So when it came time for me to pick a major and a college, Photography was what I wanted to do. But, my parents were die-hard business people. And art? That wasn’t something you went to college for. On the flip side of my creative brain, I knew I wanted to be “successful.” At 16, success to me was making 6 figures, a house with a white picket fence and a husband by 25. You know, the classic American dream. To a high-schooler in the early 2000’s, that’s all I wanted.

Fast forward. I ended up going to college for Advertising and Marketing; the most creative business field I could find. While I loved that field of study and enjoyed my work in that industry, I was always photographing my friends for fun on the side and even taking mini gigs here and there, slowly but surely building a small side hustle.

When advertising shifted from bringing me joy to stress, I knew I had to make a change. By this point, my photography was actually making me money. I made the tough call to be honest with my parents and tell them, “hey so I’m quitting my salaried position that I went to college for and trying to make a go of this little photography business.”

It was a risk. But I was young, no mortgage to my name, no kids and no husband. It was the perfect time to take such a risk. I told my dad “if I’m not making my salary within two years, I’ll go back to the corporate world.” It was a deal.

I’m proud to say that 11 years later, I’m still running my business full- time and haven’t even slightly dipped my toes back into the corporate world. For me, it didn’t matter if I had the house, the husband or the 6 figures. My success was the fact that I built a business from nothing and turned it into a business that feeds me, creatively and literally.

Lauryn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started photographing people in 2008 and took my business full time in 2014 where I steered the business into the wedding world of the industry. From that point on, I’ve focused on weddings and engagements for couples in Chicago and the surrounding areas. I strive for my brand to represent unfiltered joy and love while still maintaining a refined look to the style and approach to the day. We’re capturing the stylish giggles over here!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think in the photography industry there is this thread of keeping up with your competition. Paying attention to what they’re doing; how are they pricing themselves, what are they offering, where are they shooting? In the beginning of getting your footings in this field, it’s only natural to check out your competition because how else do you know what the status quo is? But one thing I’ve learned and done well at is avoiding comparing myself (or even paying attention for that matter) to what my competition is doing. If I did what my competitors were doing, what would make me unique to my potential clients? It’s important to ignore that chatter and do you. Stay in your own lane and do what feels right to you and your business goals. In the end, that’s what is going to make you stand out from the crowd.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being myself. It sounds like such a cliche’ answer, but it’s the truth. My goal is to always bring my couples honesty, comfort and be a sounding board for them to bounce ideas off of. I don’t want to be the photographer that shows up, snaps the camera and delivers photos. I want to provide my couples a true experience and by doing that, they talk. They talk about their experience with me to their friends. I also extend this same mentality to my vendor peers. On a wedding day, it’s a team effort. I don’t ever want to be the player with the bad attitude. Adopting this mentality has allowed me to be-friend many vendors in different industries within the wedding world. When you give people something good to talk about, they’re going to talk about it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.photographybylauryn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photographybylauryn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photographybylauryn

Image Credits

Photography by Lauryn