We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Lambert. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The year was 2020. The world was absolutely unknown. Prior to shutdown I was still working my 4 days a week serving job. I honestly loved that job. Serving is what I had known for almost 20 years at this point. I loved the company I worked for, my hours, the easy money. I had been building Mandy Rae Photography on the side for 3 years at this point. In October when it was time to go back to work full time, I made the decision to not. I was like I think I can be successful and not work both jobs. I think I can build this business to be something more. Now looking back, this was the best decision I had made. I ended up having my busiest year yet. I now make triple what I made back then working both jobs and being able to just focus on building this business, being more present for my clients, my family. It isn’t always easy but it’s been 1000% worth it.

Amanda, 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?

Being a wife, daughter, sister, friend of many and mother of three, capturing life’s most precious moments has always been dear to my heart. Yes, I was that person who always had my camera wherever I went to make sure no memory was ever forgotten.

I started voluntarily taking pictures for family & friends. Then I started receiving compliments about how good my photos were & was actually being requested to take pictures.

I kept being told I should consider getting into photography, so I decided to buy a decent camera & take a class with a local photographer. I learned a lot, but I also realized how much knowledge I already had which gave me confidence in taking the next step.

I decided to go for it & made a photography page on social media sites. I started to advertise my photos, offer great deals on mini shoots & gaining followers. It started slow but kept getting more & more people booking with me. I am so grateful to how far I’ve come with each session giving me new insight, knowledge & skills that I can continue to use moving forward.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Consistency. Post post post! I don’t believe having a lot of followers makes you successful, I’ve learned that through the years. But I do think getting your name out there and people learning about your business is huge. On facebook & instagram I have almost 4k followers. This isn’t considered much these days. I’m fine with that. These are just numbers. They don’t define you or your work. However if you want to gain followers I always say to post lots, I held a lot of giveaways, I still do. I like to give back though and that’s why I hold the giveaways, not so much for the followers. I would definitely say that if you are just starting out, posting and sharing is huge to get your name out there. This doesn’t mean multiple posts a day, I would stick with one post a day. If you are posting more than once I think that gives too much for people and it takes away from your content you have to share. I would post one time a day, and on stories (aka instagram) post a few times a day there.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

It isn’t easy. I don’t think most people know what goes into being a business owner. Being a creative. I’ll be honest, I didn’t. You think oh I can make my own hours, and it will be easy. No, lol. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job. I love what I do. I love the people I get to meet. I love the memories I get to capture. But it is HARD work! I don’t get to just show up and take the pictures and that’s it. There is session prep, driving to and from many many sessions, late nights, editing non stop, marketing, emails, non stop texts, bookkeeping, I can go on and on. You can be successful but you have to put in work. I see time and time again of new photographers expecting to be successful right off the bat. You have to invest in yourself. Invest your time, your knowledge. You won’t know it all immediately. I am still learning often and it’s been almost 6 years. Also don’t start out charging crazy prices. You have to build up to that. I did a lot of free sessions, then my first pricing amount was $35 for an hour session. It’s taken a ton of work to get where I am now.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mandyraephoto.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/mandyraephoto
• Facebook: facebook.com/mandyraephoto