We were lucky to catch up with Allyson Jaimes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Allyson thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I am a maternity and newborn photographer. From a young age I always adored babies, and I’m so fortunate I was able to establish a career working with them! When it came to having my own, it was not an easy journey. I suffered two miscarriages during our time of trying to bring new babies into the world, so both of my living children are rainbow babies. A rainbow baby is a baby born after a pregnancy or child loss, and as common as it is, it is not often talked about openly because it is a sensitive and uncomfortable subject. My goal is not to change that, it will always be sensitive and uncomfortable, but my goal is to change how we approach moms who have gone through this devastating event in life.

My losses almost caused me to quit photography entirely, but thankfully my husband talked some sense into me and encouraged me to really think about that decision before making it while we were grieving. My first maternity client after my second loss was another rainbow baby mom, and her story is one that brings me to tears every time I read it again. She took her experience and created a community of support for moms who have experienced loss and a nonprofit that provides care packages for parents of babies in the NICU in honor of her late son, and it made me think maybe I could do something like that too.

So, I did! I created a rainbow baby program called In Loving Emory (in honor of my first baby lost, who we named Emory) where I do three shoots a year that are completely free to the participants, everyone wears a dress from my client closet to represent each color of the rainbow. Both pregnant moms and moms of earthside rainbow babies can participate. Each family shares their story in an effort to bring more awareness to the topic, and everyone receives the photos from the shoot as a thank you for their participation and emotional labor. Together I believe we can spread the word that there are many of us out there who have experienced this and we are here to support one another through an incredibly difficult situation, one I don’t wish on anyone.

Allyson , 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?

When I started photography in high school, all I wanted was to take fancy pictures of flowers. I never really considered taking photos of people until my youngest sister asked me to do her senior photos when she was graduating high school. Of course I obliged, then her friend wanted me to take her photos, then another friend wanted me to shoot her wedding, and it just spiraled from there!

My main niches now are maternity, newborn, and family photography. My goal is to create beautiful art families will look back on to hold those memories in place. I do a lot of my studio sessions in home, as I believe in making things easier for my clients, especially those who just had a baby or are still pregnant. Pregnancy can be difficult, and when the baby makes it way into the world, it can be tough for the parents to get everyone ready and out the door on time, especially if they have other children. I aim to remove a lot of that stress by bringing everything to them! Wardrobe and props are all provided for my clients.

For my rainbow baby work, many clients have told me they were very hesitant to even book photos because they were nervous about experiencing another loss, afraid they would jinx it, or felt guilty that they were doing it for this baby when they weren’t able to for their babies they lost. I do my best to show my clients that you can celebrate this new life while still honoring the ones that are no longer here, and I encourage them to let me help them do that in my photoshoots.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’m sure many business owners that survived the pandemic have a similar story, as everyone was drastically affected by the world shutting down. Not all businesses were negatively affected, but unfortunately many didn’t make it.

Prior to the lockdowns, I was primarily a wedding photographer and had just had my first son at the end of 2019. The COVID pandemic of 2020 brought a large part of the wedding industry to a halt right as I was recovering from birth. On top of the pandemic, my second miscarriage occurred in 2020. After an entire year of no wedding bookings, no new business, postpartum depression, being stuck in the house, and now another devastating loss, I was ready to throw in the towel. My husband was very supportive and reminded me after all the hard work I put into my business, it was very important to make the decision to close with a clear mind, and to give myself some time to grieve. I’m glad I listened. Despite my pain and hesitance to work with pregnant moms and babies given my circumstances, I knew that was where my heart wanted to be, so I took the remainder of the downtime I had to do research, get safety training for newborns and get my CPR and First Aid certification for all ages, and decide how I was going to run my business going forward. It was the best decision I ever made, as my new path has been so much more rewarding.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I have always been a very transparent person when it came to struggles of daily life. Life is hard, even if it’s easy, and I’m not about painting a fake picture of my life on social media to make everyone think my life is perfect. It’s not, it never will be, and I struggle as much as the next person. My first birth experience was very traumatic, so I use that experience when talking to clients (especially first time parents) who are nervous to give them pointers on what to expect and things that helped me. I’ve shared my struggles with my nursing experience and postpartum depression with many clients and even other moms who were not clients to let them know they’re not alone and there is help for them. I’m not just a business person, I’m a human, and I feel that it’s easier to connect with my clientele by letting them see the human side of me and not just act like everything is “business, business, business” all the time. Not in an unprofessional way, but my job is very up close and personal, so they need to have a level of trust with me that they may not need with other businesses.

I also teach mentoring classes for maternity and newborn photography, as well as general photography for those who are just getting started. Knowing I have a lot of experience and safety is my number one priority helps my clients feel at ease that everything will turn out as it should.

Contact Info:

• Website: adctexasphotography.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/adctexasphotography
• Facebook: facebook.com/adctexasphotography
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@adctexasphotography

Image Credits
Headshot: Lanza Manage Photography