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

Alexandra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

I wish I started my photography business sooner. I officially launched in 2018, but I had been taking photos and posting content for a handful of years prior because photography and editing were hobbies of mine since I was young. When I think about how much I’d love to travel through photography work, I wish I had started sooner. Now that I am older, more desires have started to grow, I am back in school, I work full-time in a corporate job – and all of these I love – I just sometimes wonder what my photography business could have looked like had I started younger. Not to say I can’t still travel, it is just now a matter of flexibility.

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

I fell in love with capturing memories when I was a kid. I am told that as a family, when we first moved into our home, we were among one of the first within our extended family that had a home that was built for entertaining. The open concept home with a pool. We would have many family gatherings on holidays and during the summers, and my dad would often video record our time together for us to be able to look back on those memories. I loved re-watching those videos and re-living those moments time and time again. The moments brought a great sense of comfort and joy. As I entered my young teen years, I was drawn to editing photos. I had a lot of fun cloning myself and others in photos through Photoshop or creating Apple iPod-type of key art. My initial goal of taking photos was so that I could play around with editing, but the more I continued to take photos, the more I started to fall in love with photography itself and taking portraits of people. Those feelings of comfort and joy come up, and I hope that those I am capturing in my photos feel that way too during and after our photo sessions.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a creative is being able to tell your story to help, inspire, or encourage others in beautiful and sometimes unexpected ways.

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

I have had to unlearn and continue to unlearn the idea of needing to stick to one field of work. When we are teenagers and young adults, we often get asked the question, “What do you want to be/study?” I remembered feeling a lot of pressure to figure out what career path I was going to take before even realizing what I was actually passionate about. I have had a variety of different jobs in different fields, some lasting a few months, others a few years, as seasons change and new chapters emerge. All of the jobs that I have had have helped shaped me into the person I am today and continue to grow into. All of those jobs have in some way, shape or form, strengthened my photography career, even if some of the previous jobs were seemingly unrelated. Never underestimate the powerful influence of customer service jobs and the skills that are being strengthened through those experiences. I worked in fast food for almost five years and learning how to serve, greet, practice patience, and interact with hundreds and hundreds of different customers and personalities a day have shown to be extremely helpful in not only owning my own business but also in other jobs that I have worked in, both outside of and within the corporate world as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alexaustinphoto.com

Image Credits
© 2023 Alex Austin Photo.