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

Hi Alicia, thanks for joining us today. Is your team able to work remotely? If so, how have you made it work? What, if any, have been the pitfalls? What have been the non-obvious benefits?

When I started my business in 2013 it was just before I got married and working a full-time 9-5 (technically 7-3) left me to running a growing business on evenings and weekends from our couch. By early 2016 I was a mom with a rapidly growing business and completely burnt out. I was convinced that having endless time at home with my toddler and my business was the right move, so with no real plan, I quit my full-time job on a whim. I quickly found out that an incredible amount of structure is needed to work from home. I went from a bedroom corner office to a dining room office when we had our second child in 2017.

Despite the rollercoaster of life changes and the decline in my health I dealt with following the birth of our second child, surprisingly my work from home life in my dining room office was easy and my business was thriving. But, once we outgrew the mini kids desk and baby items next to my desk we needed a shift. We moved to a new home and I turned our smallest bedroom into an office. It was a great solution for a couple years until my kids got older. I could no longer pull off the long work days in my office while they played around me because my oldest child wanted more time with me and our youngest child was diagnosed with Autism and required my undivided attention for safety at home. We spent years trying every version of child proofing + making our home sensory friendly. Eventually I turned my home office into our youngest daughters bedroom and I returned to my bedroom corner office, it did not work with kids at home. I tried having an office at my studio, it did not work because I have limited time there. Last year I moved my office to our living room, something I said I would never do because it is our dedicated family space but guess what, it works! I am on our main floor so not only is it ideal and safe to care for my kids while focusing on work, I also have quick access to our kitchen, laundry area and backyard and so I can maintain doing cooking, cleaning and watching after our dogs throughout the work day without having to get up from my desk every 3 minutes. I’d estimate I get up every 30 minutes which may not seem like much time but it’s a huge improvement!

To anyone struggling with work from home balance, my only advice is to: move your work space around your home. It can be every few weeks, every few months or every year, move it to different rooms or different areas in a room until you find the right fit. And don’t settle on just one area, be open to change to fit every stage of your life.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’ve been a Photographer for 10 years! I have tried every niche in the this profession over the years but I am completely in love with weddings and family portrait sessions. Weddings and Family Portraits get my creative juices flowing, not only do they inspire me + motivate me, I feel I do my best work in these niches. To me, a photo gallery is a body of work, my version of creating art based on aesthetic and emotion.

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

From a wedding perspective, I used to take things like “Industry Standard” and “Wedding Advice” as absolute guidelines. I have learned every business is unique and there is room to be flexible. I have also learned that all advice that clients and other business owners consume is based on the personal opinions, personal preferences and first hand experience of whoever wrote the advice.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had to pivot my life and business schedule when I took on weddings. I still struggle with how much I miss on weekends in my personal life (birthday parties, travel, family gatherings, celebrations, etc.)

The best thing I have done for my business is dedicating Saturdays to Weddings and Sundays to Portraits only. i occasionally have a Friday or Sunday wedding but planning out my working days 1 year in advance to do things like block out holidays, birthdays and taking days off has made an improvement.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aliciawiley.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/aliciawileyphotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/aliciawileyphotography