We recently connected with Amber Garrett and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber, thanks for joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I couldn’t imagine ever going back to a regular 9-5 job. I have often thought of how much less stressful my life would be if I wasn’t self-employed, but I also realize how rewarding my life is because of it. I have learned in the time of being my own boss that I thrive on the go-with-the-flow pace I set for my day-to-day schedule. Of course, I have plenty of self-imposed deadlines to meet to keep my business thriving, but knowing that I can take an afternoon, a day, or even a week off if I need to is so satisfying. Because of my self-employed lifestyle, I’m able to travel just about whenever I want, which was always a goal as a child.

Amber, 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?

I’m a wedding photojournalist based in Las Vegas, with a huge desire to see the world.I’m lucky enough to be newly married to the love of my life, John. Together, we have a home full of animals, go to too many concerts, and cook amazing foods in a tiny kitchen.

I earned my bachelors and masters degrees in photojournalism from the University of Missouri, *cough cough* known as the best journalism school in the nation. Throughout my schooling, I trained closely with award-winning photojournalists Rita Reed and David Rees, and I’ve worked with organizations like USA Today, The Nature Conservancy, and Trust for Public Land.

I always thought I’d end up as a National Geographic photographer chasing down wildlife (a la Tiger King), but I think my job now is way better.

My journey to becoming a wedding photographer was a tad accidental. It began in 2014 when I had contacted a local wedding photographer to be a subject in a project on small business ownership. After I completed my project, she offered me a side job helping out at her photo sessions. What started as an easy minimum wage job grew rapidly, and two years later, she had me managing her company nearly full time. By 2017, I had dreams of leaving my small town in Missouri and moving somewhere coastal that following year.

SURPRISE! I pitched this to her, and she fired me instead. But this turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, because a year later, I was flying everywhere to document weddings across the country, and even internationally, which took me to Nicaragua, D.C, Arizona, and Texas, just to name a few.

It’s been a wild ride, but all of these experiences have made me the kick-ass wedding photographer you see in front of you. 💥

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started out photographing my friends’ senior photos in high school for $100. It was an easy way to gain a lot of experience using my camera and posing people. Fast forward to college, where I studied photojournalism in hopes of becoming a newspaper photographer, while working a side job in portrait photography. I started my LLC in 2016, which is when I began to get a bit more serious about my photography career. I moved a few times around the country before landing in Viva Las Vegas in 2019. I kept treating my business as a side hustle, and secured a full-time job working at a nonprofit, doing their photos, videos, and graphic design for their marketing department.

The pandemic hit, and I can truly say that it was one of the best things that happened to my business. I am so lucky to have been employed during that time, but I’m also lucky to have been a wedding photographer in Vegas. This city was only shut down for a few months, and by the time everything re-opened, thousands of couples from all across the country had their weddings either postponed or canceled, and they just wanted to be married. So, they came to Vegas, and a lot of them hired me to document their elopements!

By February 2021, I was taking on more work in my business than I could handle while also being employed, so I said goodbye to the 9-5 life, and officially became a full-time small business owner.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Search engine optimization! Blogging and tailoring your website to be Google-friendly can be so daunting, but it’s easily where I see the majority of my clients come from. It’s a time-consuming process, but it pays off tenfold within months.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ambergarrettphoto.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ambergarrettphoto
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ambergarrettphoto

Image Credits
Amber Garrett Photography