We were lucky to catch up with Katie Kiely recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

When I reflect on being a business owner for the last 10ish years, on the whole I feel so fulfilled and happy with my path. Being a business owner is limitless and with that comes a lot of responsibility. To design a life and work you love… no one else is showing up to tell you how or when to do things. I personally love this and take a lot of pride in forging my own path. I can work as hard as I want, as much or as little as I want, I can take months or years to rest of pivot or push harder. I’ve dabbled into other jobs before and once took on a full time office job in my 20s because I was craving some certainty and stability at the time but after a short time I went back to working for myself. I truly love being able to design my days and my time in the exact ways I want to.

Katie, 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 currently do photography for my career focusing mainly on human connection and weddings in a storytelling and documentary style approach. In the last few years I’ve been incorporating other mediums like film and polaroids along with digital because I love the feeling and realness of moments on film. I strive to allow people to see themselves, their love, their families in the truth and beauty of what it really is. I love capturing the fleeting life moments we can never get back. I think it’s the best job in the world.

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

Photography started as my passion and over many years slowly turned into my full time career. I started with food photography for a blog I wrote throughout college. This piqued my interest in food styling and photography and I tried to learn as much as I could while also starting to bring my camera everywhere I went- documenting life, friends, and everything else. Slowly over time I would get a small branding shoot or a friend would ask me to document a milestone. Then about 12 years ago a friend asked me to assist her shooting a wedding (just carrying gear for her etc.) and I really loved being part of the day. A few years later, two close friends asked me to shoot their wedding and that was about a decade ago now. It took about 5 years from there to make it my full time job!

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

I joined a networking group that’s local to my area more recently and it’s been amazing to share resources, ask questions, reach out for assistants, share in the entrepreneur journey with others who understand the ups and downs of it all. It’s also been great to make connections when working alone can get pretty lonely after a while. I think all solopreneurers should reach out to others in their industry or in a similar field to them because it’s invaluable to make those connections.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.katiekielyphotography.com
• Instagram: katiekielyphotography