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

Jenny, 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?

Hi, I’m Jenny! Thank you so much for taking time to read this article. I’ve been photographing weddings since 2018 and it was an insta-love! Now I’m a full-time wedding photographer running my own business and truly living a dream come true. I serve the Kansas City area but I am the proud owner of a passport, international driver’s license, and certification of ordination (feel free to call me Rev. Jolley)! I’ll go where you go! I’ve already been to Italy, Aspen, Chicago, New York City, and St. Louis, with Switzerland and another trip to Italy on the docket!

I am proud of the human connections I’ve made along the way – it truly feels wrong to call my couples “clients” because they are more than that! I am honored to have not only been booked for wedding days, but for proposals, maternity sessions, and newborns sessions with my couples too!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I have loved connected with engaged couples on Instagram! It can be time consuming to create content consistently on the app, but my posts have many couples searching for engaged couples, which is great! As of now, I don’t use hashtags or list keywords in my posts, I just show up authentically and share my favorite work. The goal is to share content every day, or at lease close to every day!

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

I am lucky that, in the early years of my business, I had a few experienced photographers I looked up to as mentors! I learned so much and I’ll forever be grateful for the experience. What I learned from them help build a foundation I was able to grow my business on!

So here comes the however/but/except…the experience wasn’t all positive. In the time I was absorbing as much information as I can, I didn’t realize that just because a mentor recommends or does something, doesn’t mean I have to do it. too In the beginning, I took all the information I received as fact, when in reality, there are SO many ways to run a successful wedding photography business. I wasn’t being taught the “wrong way” to run a business, necessarily, but sometimes I was being taught the wrong way to run a business *for me*. I found myself creating policies and methods in my own business that didn’t work for me.

For example, I worked with a photographer that required her couples to take sunset photos on their wedding day. It was even in her contract! I heard so much about sunset photos in the wedding photography world, I adapted a similar mindset. I never required it, but I heavily encouraged sunset photos. After a year or so, I found myself hating pulling couples from their wedding reception and didn’t find them necessary. Plus, even in the Midwest (which I believe have the prettiest skies at sundown), a colorful sunset isn’t guaranteed. I started to only take newlyweds out for sunset photos if it was requested and felt so much more aligned with the new mindset!

Contact Info:

• Website: jennyjolleyphotography.com
• Instagram: @jennyjolleyphotography
• Facebook: facebook.com/jennyjolleyphotography