We were lucky to catch up with Monique Dao recently and have shared our conversation below.

Monique, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.

I’ve always been a creative person, from playing music to loving the arts, to mastering analytical skills earning my English B.A. I was never cut out for the corporate world but thrown into it for about twelve years. Even though I had cushy jobs, living comfortably with little stress, I’ve always felt something was missing. There was a lack of motivation, inspiration, and overall joy. I knew I had to make a change and that it was a “now or never” thing.

I had gotten into photography during my corporate years and been doing wedding and portrait work on the side, putting in hours and hours of hard work juggling both jobs. I did it as a creative outlet and to earn extra income. Then life just became hectic due to me constantly working – 40-50 hours a week at the office, and then nights and weekends shooting and editing. I told myself this isn’t the life I wanted. Something’s gotta give.

One day while sitting at the office, I randomly started doing calculations in my head and suddenly realized what I was making with photography could sustain me all on its own! That was when I said, “It’s time to quit!” It was the biggest risk I’ve ever taken my whole life and I never looked back.

Monique, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into photography a little more than ten years ago as a way to be creative, relieve stress, and escape from reality. Largely influenced by romantic-era literature from my university English courses, I’ve always found and drawn my inspiration from nature. Photographing wildlife, flowers, insects, and sunsets gave me great joy. It allowed me to be alone and reset. It’s where I’m the happiest and most comfortable. But never in my life would I have thought it’d become a career.

I was halfway through my corporate life when I started having second thoughts about what I was doing. Sure it provided me with financial stability but did it give me joy? It was simply this question that I asked myself almost daily. I wondered if I wasn’t doing this job, what else could I be doing that would make me happier and make money as well?

One day I took portraits of some friends and shared them on social media. To my surprise, the images received so many compliments, with many of them asking if I was charging. I then realized maybe there was something there. I started to focus more in people photography, learning everything I could, from camera gear to settings, composition, framing, lighting, posing, directing, etc. Yes, there was so much to learn and it was overwhelming. But I was excited about it all. Before I knew it, I was booking my very first portrait session ever. Making money with photography for the first time felt amazing. The feeling that I did something on my own that earned me some type of income felt liberating.

I spent the next several years mastering my craft, upgrading my gear, and exploring different ways I can make money with photography. I applied for a business license, built a website to showcase my portfolio and offerings, created an online shop to sell art prints of my nature/wildlife/bird photography, and photographed engagements, weddings, events, and families. I found myself learning how to be a business owner, wearing many, many hats. All the while still holding down my 9-5. Whew! I was doing it all on my own. Yes, it was hard and overwhelming, but it just felt right. I finally found the inspiration and motivation to wake up every morning.

I am now a full time Wedding & Portrait Photographer serving California and beyond. I’m also a Wildlife Photographer offering nature & birding tours and workshops around Southern California. I’m finally able to turn my passion and hobby into a profitable business and I couldn’t be happier.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I quit my corporate career in July 2019, just about half a year before the pandemic hit. Who would’ve thought a whole world would come to a standstill due to a virus? Just when I was going all in with my wedding photography business, the universe found a way to say “Up yours!” to me. Everything was shut down. Venues were closing and postponing events. My couples were postponing their weddings to later dates hoping Covid would be gone by then. But most ended up postponing 2-3 times. Just like many other industries, I was out of work and had to live off of my savings.

At the time I felt like giving up. But as the saying goes, “When a door closes, a window opens.” Many couples started having “micro weddings”, meaning they would still have their wedding, but on a much smaller scale, limiting to just family and a handful of closest friends, with social distancing and mask-wearing. And they would still hire me to document their day. So even though I wasn’t making as much as I would with a full-scale wedding, I was still making partial income from these micro weddings. In a way I felt blessed that I wasn’t left out in the cold and that I still made enough to last for the duration of Covid. It was a scary time, sure, but with a little resilience in sticking with it, I overcame whatever thrown at me and it made me stronger.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

You can say I’m a bit of a financially responsible individual. I have never needed outside help to start my business. I had been saving for the past 15 or so years, with the advice of my financial planner friend. I had money saved up from both my corporate job and all the years doing photography as a side hustle. And I had invested some of that money, which gave me enough capital to invest into my business venture. It was a very satisfying thing to do and made me feel proud of myself that I’ve gotten this far in my business without anyone’s help.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.moniquedao.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moniquedaophotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moniquedaophotography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@moniquedao.photography
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/monique-dao-photography-anaheim-3
• Other: https://www.moniquedao.com/birding https://www.instagram.com/moniquedao.photography

Image Credits
All the images are mine. :)