We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer D. recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In my opinion and experience, being successful and achieving longevity in your industry relies largely on how you treat everyone you come into contact with, no matter their role. I have received huge jobs off of tiny mini sessions where the family happened to own a corporation I had no idea about, and their experience in their little family shoot led them to ask me to rebrand their entire roster of clients. I have received calls from other vendors that worked events with me for their own special events, or find out they threw my name out to a client because we had a great experience working together. You never know who you are meeting, you never know who will remember that you were on time and smiling. Don’t underestimate good manners, kindness, and bringing a good vibe into all your encounters, in my career those moments are what have brought me the amazing clientele and all their cool contacts in tow.

Jennifer , 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 did not begin my photography journey with a camera, I began it with all my Type A tendencies! I started out as a studio manager for a big photography company that really let me run with many ideas for marketing and events, and allowed me to write a lot for their blog. As I began assisting at shoots, I eventually started picking up the camera gear. I branched out into my own virtual photography studio management company, then branched again into an editing company, and finally started my own photography business. I proudly still run the management and editing company, and have been so lucky to work with the same fabulous lady editors I began with over a decade ago, like a well-oiled machine! I began shooting in San Diego in 2014, after establishing clients in a few other states (military family we moved a few times!) and have fallen in so much love with all the amazing backdrops this city provides.

I am most proud of simply maintaining a thriving business through moves, through COVID-19, through the event industry almost dying out completely for two years post-COVID. It has taken a tremendous amount of work to keep us all going, and watching business ebb and flow has taught me to stay the course and keep turning out solid work for all clients. I hope what sets me apart from others is my quick turnaround and the fun I make for your sessions! Photos can be really stressful for new parents, experienced parents, wedding couples, and businesses hoping to rebrand, I hope I am always bringing a fun fresh take on things for you, and making you feel at ease. I have a busy boudoir factor to my job and I am really proud that every nervous, shy, unsure woman than comes to see me leaves wanting to do it again!

I hope the problem I solve for clients, particularly the awesome women I get to photograph, is showing them how I see them, the gorgeousness I am trying to capture and take away the self=consciousness they’re feeling. I hope my clients see a little glimpse of what I’m seeing behind the lens, because I don’t see the flaws you’re worried about, I have never had a client that didn’t sparkle in front of the camera!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I am lucky to manage the same amazing editors in my editing company for the last ten years, that have grown with me and stayed with me, and this is majorly tied to the fact that I always back my editors. If my editor tells me a client is not a good fit for them. I believe them. If an editor tells me the workload of a client is too much for their schedule, I personally act as their overflow backup. In the rare instance an editor tells me a client is not honoring their end of the deal, I back them up. We have so much trust in each other that we are a team and all in together. I would never place my editor’s needs last in my company, and I would never put them in a position where they are exhausted/feeling like they are failing/unable to keep up/feeling alone. We all help each other, we all collaborate when needed, and they know I am on their side. They’re never on this job solo, they have a group behind them to help out anytime.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Early in my business building days I would work quite literally nonstop. I had management and editing clients in multiple time zones and I was juggling so many moving pieces on my own that I would answer emails around the clock, I had no business hours. I also took pride in this hustle. I was working HARD, I was boss lady’ing it UP! The thing is, after a few years of that, along with having two kids along the way and a husband that deployed a lot, my body started taking the brunt of that lifestyle. I prided myself on booking wedding contracts from my postpartum delivery hospital bed (true story), but the aftermath of that drive was that my health was suffering. You only have so much before burnout has real consequences. I was forced to unlearn the pride of nonstop hustle. I needed real business hours. I needed to learn a person can wait until 8am to get an email back. They can wait until 9am! It’s so hard in the beginning when you feel like every client could be your last, but eventually you have to set some boundaries that also allow you to have a life, not just a business. Kids teach you that REAL fast. A bedtime story is cannot wait, your inbox can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://plainjanephotography.net
• Instagram: @plainjanephoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainjanephotography.net
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-dergunov-2595a1170/

Image Credits
Plain Jane Photography