We were lucky to catch up with Angela Steele recently and have shared our conversation below.

Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Close your eyes, imagine achieving your greatest success. What does success look like for you? If you ask 100 people you would get 100 different answers and that is what makes it such a powerful question. For me personally, it’s an entanglement of personal and professional achievements, with one in particular that seems to encompass both aspects is owning my own business. That business stemming from a my love of photography, it is truly my dream realized.
In order to to reach this success, I had to come to a place within myself that was confident enough to push through any obstacles to make it happen. Have you ever heard you can be your own worst enemy? It’s true but I used my struggles to challenge myself to find solutions. There is always a way through. Remember that you are always learning, use your resources and continue to grow yourself within and the success will follow. Push yourself even when it feels uncomfortable, change and challenges are a part of success. You need to be adaptable in your field or industry, which will help you to navigate anything that comes your way. As a photographer and owning my own business in a male dominated field is one of my greatest achievements, keep pushing and you will find yours to.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a photographer, I fell in love with photography in 9th grade after taking my first class in high school. I grabbed my dad’s old SLR camera and never looked back. While in high school I took photography all 4 years, learning how to develop film and process my own photographs in the darkroom. Being able to have a hands on experience with producing photography at a fundamental level gave me a true appreciation for the art itself and it created a deep love of it.
After high school I was accepted and attended Daytona Beach Community College’s School of Photography, one of the nation’s top college programs. Then I went on to attend Florida State University, where I graduated from their Fashion Merchandising program with the intention of getting into the fashion photography world.
Fast forward and it’s 2019, my family and I had moved to a small mountain town nestled in the Cascade mountains just outside Seattle. I had spent the last decade raising a family and it was time to get back to what I loved to do…photography. I was in a position where I wasn’t working, my kids were older and could take the time to reflect on what my next step would be. My husband bought me a new laptop and camera, I was ready, I was always ready.
It took me 2 years to build up the confidence to turn my passion into a business. In 2021, I officially launched my website and was ready to start taking clients. For the last four years I have continued to grow my business and expand my portfolio. My passion is capturing the natural beauty of world and the people in it. My clients come from all over the country to come explore the Alpine Wilderness of the Cascade Mountains, they trust me to take beautiful images of time together with their families or capturing a special moment in their live. Whatever the occasion is, it is my pleasure to be able give them those moments to look back on and remember. Life is precious, treasuring those times in a photograph evokes wonderful memories.
I look forward to all my photography adventures yet to be.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

We live in a small mountain town that has a unique market, we are rural yet centralized. That is one of the reasons we have such a strong community. Most of our businesses are locally owned, we all strive to work together and support each other’s businesses. After we moved here we made efforts to become involved within our local community and it has paid off in so many wonderful ways. We volunteer, attend local events, donate and spent time getting to know the people who live and work here. It has helped us to make connections, friends and made it home.
This naturally helped to grow my business and reputation in the most positive ways. I accredit most of my business from recommendations from others, this I feel as been invaluable to me. Words hold such weight and being in a small area it is everything.

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

Life is full of pivots. I always felt pivoted anytime we moved. My husband would get a new assignment while he was serving in the Air Force and we would have to pack up to move to another base. It felt like starting over every time; different house, town, community, school, job (for me), and having to find new connections. After we came to Washington, my husband finished his time in the service and this was the first time we have been able to make a place our true home. We bought a house, we feel settled for the first time since we made our first move out of our home state of Florida back in 2010. We are lucky to call the town of Cle Elum, home.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.angelasteelephotography.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/angelasteelephotography
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/angsteelephoto

Image Credits

Headshot of me by Gabrielle Leann Photography

All other images are by myself Angela Steele Photography