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

Mary, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

There are times as a business owner when I struggle. Some months in the past barely made enough money to pay my bills. When I was working for a corporation I always had more than enough money to pay my bills and I didn’t have to worry about my business bills and taxes on top of it. Unlike in my portrait studio business, money always came in regular intervals in my old corporate job and I always knew when my next paycheck would be. But even in those hard months I realize how much I love what I do now. I love seeing the excited look my clients have when they receive their portraits. I love going into their homes, hanging their framed canvases of their families on their walls where they will be proudly displayed for years to come. Or even better, when a client sitting in her portrait reveal appointment cries and tells me that I have made her love the way she looks for the first time in her life. It reminds me that what I do matters, what I give my clients is important. In my old corporate job I never felt this level of passion or the drive to make something truly lasting and beautiful for my clients like I do now. I didn’t have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on their lives like I do now. I am lucky to now be booked out a few months in advance, so the struggles of my past are not the same struggles that I have now. I am really glad that I stuck with it and pushed forward in those slower months to continue to serve my clients and continue to change lives and give people, especially women, their power and self-worth, along with portraits that will be cherished for generations to come.

Mary, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I own Mary Pacheco Photography, a professional Portrait Studio located in Downtown Pueblo, Colorado. I’ve been a portrait photographer with a studio for over 16 years now. I am a 3rd generation artist and try to create more of an artistic look to my clients portraits and make my clients wall art of their portraits that is timeless and will be proudly displayed on their walls for generations. This is my legacy. I focus mainly on women’s portraits, family portraits, and high school seniors, but also do a lot of corporate headshots and personal branding sessions as well. I meet with my clients before their sessions to plan out what the final images should look like to match their home decor and personal style. We select clothing and locations or backdrops to match their style as well. Before the portrait session they can come into my studio and have their hair and makeup done by a profeessional hair and makeup artist, and can even wear clothing from my client wardrobe. At the portrait session, I have a lot of fun getting creative and creating the poses and compositions with my clients. I then show them their portraits and let them choose their favorites in my studio before the final retouches and artistic enhancements are added. My clients then get a digital copy of their final image that they can keep and share and they can have the final approval before it is sent off to one of my professional printers. I work with printers from all over the world, and some of my favorite products are made in a castle in Italy! I care deeply about the quality of the final prints so I give them one more final check before we hang them professionally in their homes.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I think as a small business owner it is extremely important to continue to learn and grow. The 3 books that have impacted me most recently in my business are;

1) “She Sells” by Megan DiPiero- Megan is a Portrait Photographer like me, in a market similar to mine, and has gone from selling an average of $75 per client, to having a 6 figure Portrait Photography business and even has multiple sales per year over $10,000 each. I often recommend this book and Megan’s other courses to new photographers.

2) “Atomic Habits” by James Clear- If you’re in any sort of business I am sure that you have heard this book mentioned a lot in the last year or two. Little habbits stacked over time create a big change. This book has helped me in my health journey as well as my business.

3) “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D Wattles- This is an oldy but a goody. It helped my mindset. I used to be afraid of money, think money was evil, etc when the truth is, money is just money. It isn’t something to fear or resent. Money is a tool that can actually be used in very good ways and we shouldn’t feel bad about abundance or wealth.

There are a lot more books out there and I read all the time but these are the first three that come to mind.

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

I grew up believing “money is the root of all evil”, so I was afraid of earning too much. I had a love/hate relationship with money and I was afraid of charging enough in my business to sustain it. After running my numbers and a few bad months I quickly realized that I either had to sell products and charge enough to run a sustainable business, or I would have to give up my dreams and go back to work for corporate America. I deserve to earn a living wage doing what I love, and I shouldn’t be forced to be a starving artist just because there are others out there who charge less. Comparrison is also unhealthy and there will always be people fighting for the bottom of the barrel, it’s better to rise above, make enough to not only sustain my business, but enough to be able to spend the necessary extra time with each client to give them an amazing experience. I make more and serve fewer clients but give them a better product and service. It’s a win-win. And now that I no longer fear money I can also donate to charity and it can be used to bless others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pachecophotography.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/marypachecophotography
• Facebook: facebook.com/marypachecophotography
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/pachecophotography
• Twitter: twitter.com/marypachecophotography
• Other: tiktok: @marypachecophotography

Image Credits
All images are by Mary Pacheco Photography.