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

Hi Vic and Sasha , thanks for joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

Oh, we would most certainly start it much earlier! Although, it’s rarely so simple. It certainly wasn’t easy to decide that in the early stages. What we mean to say is that it’s easy to look back once you’ve made it through the storm of launching a brand – and while we would most definitely “start sooner” it would be more realistic to say that we would have dared to dream even earlier.

In 2018, we were committed to the 9-5 schedule just as much as the next private sector employee. But, life comes at you fast. Between medical emergencies (Vic’s open heart surgery) and an unexpected lay-off, we were forced to take a good long look at our future to determine where we wanted to dedicate our time and energy most. So, we took a leap of faith and decided to gamble on ourselves, never looking back – for better or worse. We took photography (Vic and Sasha Photography) full-time and our web design studio (Mariposa Design Co) followed shortly after. It required many iterations of the brands that audiences have come to know and love to get to this point in our career.

We figured, if we aren’t afraid of stepping off the ledge, we weren’t dreaming big enough. So, our advice? Dream BIG.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We’re Vic and Sasha Barrera, the husband-and-wife duo behind Vic and Sasha Photography, and the founders of Mariposa Design Co., a brand and Showit web design studio based in Shafter, California, serving creatives worldwide.

Our story began in 2012 when Sasha took a film photography course in college and fell in love with photography. Then, as time went on, Sasha began taking portraits for family. One portrait session led to another and that eventually led into photographing weddings. When Vic and Sasha began dating in 2015, Vic naturally jumped in to assist Sasha. Carrying gear, second shooting, and learning the flow of a wedding day. In 2016, after we got married, we decided to rebrand as a husband and wife team. The rest is history. Years spent documenting love stories and creative brands through our camera lenses gave us a deep appreciation for visual storytelling. Over time, we realized that the same artistry we brought to photos could be used to help other creatives elevate their online presence. That’s when Mariposa Design Co. was born. Out of a desire to design websites and brands that don’t just look beautiful, but feel aligned with the heart behind the business.

Today (in addition to photographing weddings on weekends) we specialize in creating intentional brand identities and custom Showit websites for photographers, wedding professionals, and creative entrepreneurs who are ready to step into a more refined and elevated version of their business. Our clients come to us when they’ve outgrown their DIY phase or when their brand no longer reflects the quality of their work. We help them create cohesive, strategic designs that attract their dream clients without losing the personality that makes them unique.

What sets us apart is our dual perspective. As both designers and photographers, we understand the creative industry from the inside out. We know how a client experiences a brand, what visuals actually convert, and how to blend artistry with strategy.

We’re most proud of the relationships we’ve built along the way in both the photography and design world. Seeing our couples relive their wedding day through timeless images, or watching our clients confidently launch their new brands and book higher-end projects never stops being rewarding. At the end of the day, we want people to know that working with us, either Vic and Sasha Photography or Mariposa Design Co. means working with two creatives who genuinely care about the details, the design, the strategy, and the story behind it all.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

There are certainly some struggles of the creative journey that might fly under the radar of a more traditional worker. And that’s not to say that it’s some unique characteristic that only entrepreneurs exhibit. But, we do feel it’s easier to recognize that struggle when you’ve shared in such a struggle yourself. When you’re a creative, you don’t just clock in and out. You carry your work with you. In your thoughts, your late nights, your quiet moments of doubt, and your bursts of inspiration that hit at 2 a.m. On the surface, we get to attend “parties” for a living and take pictures. But, what they don’t see is the in-between. what most people fail to realize is that our job begins the moment the wedding prep starts and it doesn’t end at the grand exit. The hundreds of tiny decisions, the scrapped concepts, the hours spent trying to make something not only beautiful, but right. It doesn’t “end” until the gallery or website is in the hands of our clients.

For us, it’s always been personal. We built Mariposa Design Co. from the ground up while running our wedding photography business, raising a family, and figuring out what “balance” means to us. There were times we designed at the kitchen table or edited from the passenger seat on road trips just to keep the dream alive. Photography is one of those professions that everyone assumes can be managed by Ai or anyone with a phone. But, as anyone who has ever had the job of being the volunteer family photographer at Christmas can tell you, it’s so much more difficult than just pressing a button. We are in the business of composing memories within the bigger moments.

Much of the same can be said for Branding and Web Design. If we do our job properly, the creative websites we design should provide a seamless user experience that seems almost effortless to navigate – and while it seems “effortless” there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes.

That’s the part people don’t always understand. Creativity isn’t just a skill, it’s a calling. It’s something you can’t really turn off. You’re constantly observing, imagining, refining. And while it’s hard work, it’s also deeply fulfilling. Because at the end of the day, when a client sees their new brand or website and says, “That finally feels like me,” every late night is worth it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The pandemic required so many people to take a good hard look at their creative businesses and determine if they would be able to survive another aggressive halt of business. After all, that’s when most people learned what it truly meant to “pivot”.

Like many other creatives, we had to future proof our brands. Shaping them in a way which allowed them to grow with the shifting landscape of the economy and buying trends. Our web design studio, Mariposa Design Co., was our way of “pivoting” – although we had just launched it a few months prior to the pandemic. It allowed us to maintain growth while our photography brand slowed significantly from the restrictions placed on events. Starting Mariposa Design Co enabled us to fortify our brands while also leaving us with room to grow exponentially.

In this way, our pivotal moment turned into a stream of reliable passive income. So, if there’s a specialty service you can provide that works hand in hand with your current creative venture, consider the many ways you can turn that into an experience in and of itself – that could ultimately become your “pivot” protection in case the flow of income rapidly slows.

Contact Info:

• Website: vicandsasha.com and mariposadesignco.com
• Instagram: @vicandsasha @mariposadesign.co
• Facebook: Vic and Sasha Photography / Mariposa Design Co

Image Credits

Lupe Juarez Photography, Lauren Dinh Photography, Vanessa Mestas of XO and Fetti