We were lucky to catch up with Allison Upchurch recently and have shared our conversation below.
Allison, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
It took me seven years to get through college, I cash flowed my way and worked full time. I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to do and plugged away at general education until I realized I could have a career helping underserved youth, working with teenagers that were struggling with mental health or parents who had been in and out of jail. The kids who were often forgotten, I wanted to be the one to show them they didn’t need to settle for the life they were given and actually make something of themselves. I knew these struggle first hand because I walked the same path.
So When I finally graduated and felt like my career was coming together, only to quit after getting married and decide to raise my babies, I felt like I was giving up everything to “just” be a stay at home mom. In return was the biggest blessing because my passion for photography, which I had since high school, was able to come to life and I never thought I’d be able to be a stay at home mom, homeschooling and run a successful business.
Allison, 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?
Of course, I’m a wedding and lifestyle photographer based out of Auburn, Ca. Even though I specialize in weddings, I like to consider myself your forever photographer because I capture life at all stages and seasons from couples to marriage through motherhood and I also do boudoir and branding. I’ve been doing photography for over 20 years but turned my hobby into a business in 2018.
When I first quit my job in the mental health field, I had just had my second baby and I was looking to stay busy, It’s just in my blood to work and to provide, so I became a private photo editor for a local photography company. I remember sitting and editing and I’d tell my husband “I can’t believe people pay this much for these photos!” they were so poorly shot, and the galleries would come in just like another number or client that didn’t matter. I decided at that moment, clients and couples deserved more and I would be the one to provide that. With my background in human services, I will always put service over sales, I just truly love what I do and want to connect with my clients, and I’m strongly motivated by the connection of others, the way they naturally interact because I believe at the end of the day, those are the moments we all want to remember. I built my own website in a day and Allison Upchurch Photography, as an actual business was launched.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My goal first and foremost will always to be to create a life that allows me to pour into my kids, be a present wife and mother while allowing me to continue to provide for my family.
That we don’t need to settle for any life that we don’t want to live. I didn’t want to live a life anymore dropping my kids off at daycare at 6am only to be stuck in hour traffic and getting them at 6pm at night. it was miserable and I just knew I needed to do something else. I’ll never forget crying at work, and my husband said “just quit”
Family is everything to me and giving my kids a life that shows the world differently than what typical society shows and more quality family time, is definitely my strongest driving force.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was the fact that creatives can’t be successful.
I took photography classes all through High School, as well as college until I just couldn’t afford it anymore. Although this was a time before social media, I very distinctly remember a college professor telling me “It’s easier to become a model in LA than to become a professional photographer.” Things were different back then, nearly 18 years ago, we didn’t have social media for free advertising and also the technology we have now. I was shooting on film and developing in the dark room, which is extremely costly and I was a broke college student, and even though I had to sell some stuff to make ends meet, I still have that first film camera that I bought myself with my first highschool paycheck and the first DSLR I bought myself for my college graduation, which is what I used to shoot my first wedding six years later.
There’s the notion of the starving artist but if you run your creative business like an actual business rather than a hobby, you can have success. Success looks different for everyone. But I think creatives in particular do have a hard time with the business aspect, most creatives are right brain thinkers, I always say I’m more left brained who happens to be creative. I will always believe everyone can create a life where they decide what success looks like. It’s been from working with mental health clients, to my own life and to helping others with their businesses, then I get to take photographs and capture that for others, which is incredible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.allisonupchurch.com
- Instagram: MrsAllisonUpchurch
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonupchurch/
Image Credits
Allison Upchurch Photography