We were lucky to catch up with Alyssa Turner recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Alyssa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.
I am a photographer and run a media production company with my husband Jordan, who is a videographer. Of course there are pros and cons to running a business with your spouse – things like balancing responsibilities within the company as well as within the family (i.e. when we are each working vs when either of us is acting as primary caretaker for our daughter), working early in the morning and late each night, understanding/balancing how to support each other fully, figuring out taxes, insurance, etc. On the flip side – being able to share thoughts and dreams for your future and business with your spouse, learning and growing together, choosing your schedule, geeking out over gear, having the opportunity to travel all over the world capturing moments and creating alongside the person you love most is indescribable. I love that working together has helped us grow closer as we continue to create more memories and challenge ourselves to grow.
I would love to have our children join the business as they grow if they are interested in doing so. Some of our favorite memories with our family have come from times we have taken our cameras and just explored, playing with our daughter and spending time together.
After going full time with our media production company, we have had opportunities come our way that have helped us grow exponentially as individuals and as creatives. Earlier this year, we were flown to Saudi Arabia for a business project and spent 2 weeks between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, and Rome working on about 8 projects simultaneously over the course of the trip. Some of those projects were the initial shoots we were flown out for, and the other projects were personal projects we created as a way to generate future business. We spent the entire 15 days with cameras in hand, going on 10 different flights, running from one beautiful place to the next. Amidst the chaos of constantly going, I couldn’t help but feel immense gratitude for the opportunity to run a business with my favorite person and experience these once in a lifetime opportunities together. In addition to the countries we were able to go to for this trip, we have traveled to Utah, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, Georgia, and Alabama for work and are excited to continue expanding our reach and our company.
All in all, I would not trade these experiences for the world. Despite the fact that there will always be difficulties in owning a business, the joy and payout of working alongside your life partner has been something I never even knew could be so fulfilling. The thought of our children joining us as they get older is exciting to think of as well. I’ve seen how much we’ve grown in the last 5 years and cannot wait to see where we will be 10 years from now.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Alyssa – the lead photographer here at Flake Films, the media production company I run with my husband Jordan Turner, the videographer of our team. I am a lifestyle photographer – focused on capturing those moments in time you can’t get back – candid shots, emotions, etc. My current focus is weddings and family photography, but come 2025 I will be shifting direction and focusing on more editorial, branding, and product photography. Jordan is a corporate videographer – his side of our media production house includes marketing campaigns for businesses and creating organic branding videos to showcase company culture. I’ll be joining him soon in creating/ adding more photography options to services we already provide for the businesses we work with.
I got into photography initially when I told Jordan I wanted a creative outlet and he got a camera for Christmas early on in our marriage, when we were still living in Utah. I spent the entire first year with my camera sitting on my shelf – took it out twice and immediately came back because I was so scared of “failure” or “not taking good photos.” When we moved to Nashville, I decided that now was the time to banish those fears, take control, learn, and become. So I did. I soon came to find I had an eye for capturing feelings/emotions and I was HOOKED. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to take photos and capture memories everywhere I could. As I learned and grew in photography, Jordan did as well as a videographer, and eventually ended up switching from his background of audio engineering into videography. We soon realized we had a skillset that had endless potential and quit his day job to embrace the creative world full force – and we haven’t looked back since.
Flake Films is named after my maiden name, a homage to my beginnings. We wanted to create a space for memories to be captured and stories to be shared. Being a part of each of my client’s story is inspiring in a way that’s difficult to describe – best way to say it is it inspires me to do better, learn more, and be the best I can be every day so I can do these stories the justice they deserve. Between my love of learning about what makes people tick, and Jordan’s ability to use his audio and video background in a blend of creativity for his videos, we are always pushing ourselves to learn more and become the best we can be.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
A time I had to pivot in my career was going from being a recreational therapist to a photographer. I got my degree in Therapeutic Recreation and worked in 3 different mental health facilities as a recreational therapist for 4 1/2 years. After having a baby, I was not interested in going back to recreational therapy as the emotional burnout of being a therapist had taken its toll and I wanted to be more present for my daughter. At that point in time I had been doing different photo sessions on the side, but after my daughter was born is when I decided to quit my day job as a recreational therapist and pivot to being a stay at home mom/photographer. It has turned out to be the perfect fit for me, because I can focus on my daughter and her needs during the day, and devote nights and weekends to shoots and editing. My husband ended up switching from his day job of sales to corporate videography as we began drumming up more and more business and we have been living that creative life ever since.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson I had to “unlearn” is that imposter syndrome gets you nowhere. I know I know – sounds like something everyone should know, but I didn’t. I had all these ideas in my head that because I didn’t have x amount of years under my belt or “not enough” knowledge of a type of photography, I couldn’t do it. Turns out that is false. You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to. I truly believe that. I believe that it takes practice, and learning, to become successful, but you don’t have to put yourself in a box. The beautiful thing about being a photographer is that people are hiring me for ME. That’s right. There are so many photographers out there, but each one creates in a different way, whether that’s their composition, positioning, editing style, etc. I love being present, learning about the people I’m photographing, their hopes and dreams, the things they love, etc. For me, photography is a beautiful form of connection and a way I get to connect with others and help them see themselves in a different way. Once I let go of the imposter syndrome and realized I was being hired to just be me and share how I saw people through my lens it helped me become an even better photographer and person in general.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://flakefotos.mypixieset.com/
- Instagram: @flake.fotos (https://www.instagram.com/flake.fotos)
- Facebook: Flake Fotos (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091918420553&sk=about_contact_and_basic_info)
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssa-flake-turner/
- Youtube: Flake Films
Image Credits
Pics of me – Jordan Turner
(Beach pic in all white) – Lindsey Harper
Others – Pics of my own work