We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sierra Rudkowski a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sierra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

Since having children I often find myself thinking about my legacy, about what I will leave to my children, to this world. I strive each day to tear down the stigmas that come with being a young business owner as well as a mom. I want to be remembered as someone that took the challenges in life as a young woman and mother and used them to inspire me in my work.

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

It came natural getting into the photography industry. I started out photographing my surroundings on my moms Minolta film camera. By the time I was a senior in high school I had switched to a Nikon DSLR and photographed my first wedding at 17 years old. I fell in love with wedding Photography and from there my business has grown into what it is today. My clients tell me what drives them to my work is the way I capture a moment. I just want to create an environment that allows people to be who they are. The best way to capture genuine moments is to allow the person in front of the camera to feel at ease.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After having children I had to pivot in my business, in my life. It was so hard to juggle the balance of home life and business. My daughter is four now and I think I am just getting to a place where the boundaries I have set are showing real results. Some of the boundaries I have set is turning off social media notifications, giving myself set hours for work and being as intentionally present in my home life and work life. Social Media has become a huge part of business owners marketing and it is so easy to get sucked into it all. I found that scheduling content ahead of time has been helpful and making sure potential clients know the best way to reach me is through email. When you are self-employed it is easy to get cared away with “free time” and procrastinating on the admin side. I think being an artist I find the “business stuff” to be what I try to put off and now that I am in a place in my company that I can out source those things. I have found I am able to be more intentional in my work when I am not distracted on figuring out things like taxes and bookkeeping and marketing. I want to give my clients my all and my family my all so I try to be as present as possible.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I first laughed at this question because just like Drake said “Started from the bottom, now We’re Here!” I started by photographing my friends senior photos on my moms Minolta and having the film developed at CVS and put on a CD. I used the mom my friends paid me to get my first DSLR. I took on any photo gig I could get to save money more camera gear, better editing software and education workshops. Through all those gigs I gained true experience and figured out what fuels my soul.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.east-passage.com
• Instagram: @east_passage
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastpassage

Image Credits
East Passage Co.