We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer Stein recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I’m a wedding and family photographer, but my background comes from a completely different industry – Finance. When I worked as a financial planner, we always discussed leaving a legacy with our clients. In those days, that meant monetary gifting, leaving assets, basically what are you going to put in your Will or Trust for your children.

While beneficial, what about the legacy behind who we are? The life we built? The memories made? That’s where photography comes in. We don’t just snap your annual Christmas photo or the first kiss after a gorgeous outdoor wedding ceremony. We capture your children’s laughter, the final moments between father and daughter before she walks down the aisle, the love in the entire reception as the most important guests give their speeches. This gives leaving a legacy a whole new meaning, one filled with storytelling and emotion that really makes it feel like you were there, and one that can never be forgotten. This is the mission at Jennifer Kamen Photography.

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.

Of course! I’m Jen, a certified financial planner turned photographer! I first got into the photography world as a hobbiest, my Dad gifted me a DSLR (“Nice”) camera when I was in high school and I would take it to all of our family vacations, teach myself photoshop and even watermark my photos at the time.

While I loved the art of capturing all of the beauty around me, I never even considered that photography could be a career. I went into finance because I thought it was a stable job, but after getting engaged myself in 2019 my world opened up to the wedding industry – something I didn’t even know existed!

I dove right in learning all about photographing people and events, started with small family sessions and worked my way into weddings where I now serve the most wonderful clients and their families and get to experience those once in a lifetime events nearly every weekend. Even better, I have the privilege of growing with my families as they have children and achieve milestones in life, capturing it all and leaving a lasting legacy.

Our clients know that we are extremely detail oriented and we leave no stone unturned. It’s something that I’m really proud of and that has shaped our client experience to a white glove all inclusive experience from inquiry to gallery delivery and beyond.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I first started working in weddings, I thought I would automatically be trustworthy given my background. I had spent 7 years working in finance, had the credentials to back it up and worked at the worlds largest wealth manager for some time. I quickly learned how naive this thought process was when I was entering into a completely different industry, with a whole new set of skills and knowledge that I didn’t yet have.

The wedding industry is a tight knit community with creative entrepreneurs who are always pushing the envelope in pursuit of excellence. There are many wonderful mentorship opportunities for budding artists but the reality is you need to put in the work, serve your clients well and create relationships to form that trust that will allow you to grow your business. I’ve spent the last 6 years doing just that, and while the work is never done, I finally feel like I have some credibility within the industry and trust from my fellow colleagues and clients alike.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Yes, my “side hustle” turned into a full time career for me in late 2022 when I had my daughter. I started my photography business right as the pandemic was starting to gain news attention in late 2019. In 2020, when COVID was in full swing and businesses were shutting down, I was filing paperwork to open my LLC. That was a really tough time because I was working a full time corporate job, trying to master my skill and gain experience and hoping to just get a few clients on the books for the year. I spent mornings, nights and weekends either shooting or working on my editing skills and was lucky enough to have a few photographers let me assist their weddings while I learned the ropes. This allowed me to get a few weddings of my own in those early days and slowly build from there.

In December of 2022 I had my daughter and knew I couldn’t possibly keep up while being a present mother, but I was terrified of leaving a stable career that I had worked so hard for. It was with the encouragement of my husband (who I call my “unofficial business partner”) that helped me take that leap of faith. Since then, I’ve worked tirelessly to scale my business and am constantly pushing the envelop on our client experience to give our clients the very best. I’m proud of the work we’ve done so far, and have high aspirations for the future!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jenniferkamenphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferkamenphoto/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferKamenPhotography/