We were lucky to catch up with Andie Ingagliato recently and have shared our conversation below.

Andie, appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Our oldest daughter, Ava, just celebrated her second birthday this week and it has me reflecting on our lives and how so much has changed for us in just 2 short years. I am a better business owner BECAUSE I’m a mom. I have learned to prioritize what is most important and not apologizing for being a mom when it’s time to make that a priority.

From having to pump in a shared women’s bathroom to being told that we lost a wedding booking due to pregnancy, we need to change how we think about motherhood and work, not just get tougher skin.

Part of the problem is that workaholism is praised in our culture. We honor the people who get up at 5 a.m., stay at their desks until 10 p.m., and never take more than 10 minutes to answer an email. If you’re busy, it means you’re important, and it’s in our nature to want to impress other people. But “more” doesn’t mean “better,” and again, there’s a lot of evidence that the opposite is true: having full lives and meaningful relationships outside of work makes us more productive, not less. Tunnel vision isn’t always a good thing; sometimes it hurts.

Personally, I know our family clients LOVE that we are parents. They want to see our entire life, both professional and personal. Honestly, I think our wedding clients love it too – but the biggest issue I have seen is the shift in the wedding industry as a whole.

As vendors, the wedding industry and those who work in it believe that you can not share both. That clients will be deterred from your kids because they are not in that chapter of their lives yet. And yes, this is not a false statement because we have seen it first hand that even being pregnant has led to a loss in a wedding booking – because apparently you can’t be pregnant and be a wedding photographer at the same time.

But would you really want to serve clients who believe that way of thinking? I say not. I want to serve clients who love their nieces and nephews so much that they are part of the wedding day. Client’s who love their furbabies so much, they are the “flower girl” that escorts a grandma down the aisle. I want to celebrate those parts of their lives with them, and I want to serve clients who love to celebrate my highest achievements as well. Having children has been the biggest blessing for me and I’m proud to be a mother.

So, let your clients know who you really are. I think this can only make respect grow. For example, if your child, partner, or even pet shows up on the screen during a video call, you should introduce them. When you admit that there’s more to your life, you make it easier for other people to do the same. Let your kids know what you do for a living so they can respect you for more than just being their mom. Put your own values into the way you do things at work. Be yourself and be sure of everything you do at work, and let your clients do the same. For example, if your kids play soccer every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., you should be there and let your clients know. They will see you as someone who cares about the same things they do. Someone who values family and legacy. Someone who wants to make an impact on the world, not just in their career, but in their day to day lives as well.

Andie, 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?

Here at Costola Photography, we take timeless, personal, elegant photographs that you will cherish forever.

We are more than photographers, we are family heirloom architects – capturing and preserving memories that can be seen, touched, and felt over and over again as you experience them in your hands, throughout your home and within your heart.

Because, First and foremost, I’m a mom and wife. I understand the importance of creating numerous perspectives of your memories with a concierge level approach in a style that encapsulates you and all of your greatest milestones.

We have made the decision to exclusively provide full-service to every client who we welcome into our studio. That means giving you an unrivaled experience, discovering the meanings behind your most special moments, capturing them creatively and artistically, and delivering showpiece commissioned artwork that exudes the elegance, beauty, and emotion of those times, allowing you to relive those memories for years to come.

From motherhood portraits, to extended family sessions, we view each session as a work of art. Your most treasured heirlooms are the memories of your family. We are here to capture those precious moments and give you the bespoke pieces you deserve.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner is actually my husband! Although we went to the same elementary school, middle school and high school together – we never ended up connecting until I was in my senior year of undergrad at VCUarts.

I had the biggest crush on him in high school! But he was a few grades older than me, and was also one of those jock type boys, whereas I was an art kid, and in the marching band. Our circles just did not overlap to say the least! ha!

However, we ran into each other at a local bar, and after a few shots of tequila, I mustered up the courage to talk to him, and he immediately asked me for my number. He took me on a dinner date downtown that same week and the rest is history!

Nine years later, and we are happily married with two beautiful baby girls.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

When I was a little girl, there were neither mobile phones or tablets, and there were just a handful of computers available. By the time I was in my early teens, the majority of these gadgets had just recently begun to arrive. I had a point-and-shoot film camera at the time. It is difficult to imagine that this occurred less than 20 years ago.

I’ve always had a passion for photography. My heart was originally grabbed by nature and landscapes, but as I got older, it changed to include pictures of the people I loved, their faces, and their emotions. I wanted to commit every detail about them to memory. I can still remember how excited I was to finish my roll of film and how the excitement grew as I hand-developed the roll in a darkroom. I spent hours in a dimly lit room with nothing but a red light to show me what I was doing. Faces on prints slowly emerging from a water basin were usually a moment of excitement. The images smelled wonderful, and I adored the process.

I would file these darkroom prints in a plastic binder. Some prints were horrible, but I kept them anyway. I kept every roll of developed film “just in case” I wanted to print the pictures again.

In 2016, tablets and smartphones, as well as cameras of different shapes, sizes, and brands, became more common. Whatever became of the printed image? In any case, it is essentially gone and is now just a curiosity for others.

The world appears to have changed in an instant. How did I age so quickly? Nowadays, it seems that everyone considers themselves to be photographers and has a fancy digital camera that they got for Christmas.

One moment, I was a teenager having fun with my camera, printing my photos, and putting them into albums. I have memory cards with thousands of pictures on them. I can keep shooting, catching anything that strikes my fancy. I’m not the only one who takes pictures all the time. Even my grandmother uses her phone to take photographs!

What a bizarre and amazing moment, yet the harsh reality of it all makes me sad. You no longer need to be picky about the images you take since you have access to almost endless amounts of data. The days of waiting are over. So even though I am “technically” surrounded by mountains of gorgeous, amazing pictures, I never actually see them because they get lost in a feed or on a computer hard drive.

I used to wait anxiously for my photos to develop in the darkroom, but now I can see them right away.

Time and I have a real love-hate relationship. I have a part of me that appreciates the advancement of technology and another part of me that longs for simpler times. I love the suspense, the thrill, and the effort spent painstakingly arranging photos in an album.

I am aware that everyone could and ought to print out images again, as I do, but we are victims of technology. In the modern world, we can download photos to our computers or phones right away and share them with everyone. Years go by, and all that is left are the memories waiting, imprisoned in a hard drive. Will they be printed or kept on a computer in the basement, out of sight of those who need and desire them the most?

Your pictures are both here and elsewhere at the same time. Hundreds of thousands of photographs have been taken by me over the course of nearly 30 years. The photographs taken in the earlier days of my career were on USBs, social networking sites, blogs, and photography websites, yet I still feel like I can’t find them anywhere. I am unable to reach out and touch them, to keep them near to my heart, to take them out of a cupboard and see that they are marked with the word “love,” or to travel back in time.

Yes, you can still print a little now and again, but not as much as I’m sure you used to—just a few here and there. I’m sure you are now so far behind that you doubt you will ever catch up. I want to be that photographer who helps because I love taking portraits, but I really love having real photos. Something for your children to hold. I want them back in your life, the lives of your kids, and ultimately the lives of their kids as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.costolaphotography.com
• Instagram: costola_photography

Image Credits
Costola Photography