Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anita Louise. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Anita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.

When I was in school, I didn’t know that photography was a career path I could take. You’re always taught you go to college to get a degree to become some high-paid lawyer, doctor, or engineer and if you end up majoring in art, I’m going to live in my mom’s basement forever.

Listening to what I was taught, I didn’t major in art, I majored in architecture. One year in, I realized architecture is far from the art degree I wanted and switched to a business instead. I finished my BBA at Kent State and had the post-grade, “now what?” Was I going to work at The Cheesecake Factory for my career? I needed to figure out something quickly if I wanted to be out of the food industry.

I’ve always had an artistic eye in whatever medium I chose. I had been taking photos of my friends when we’d hang out for years, since high school. Post-grad, I saw people on Instagram making photography a career and thought I’d pick my camera back up and give it a try. I liked it a lot. Photography filled my desire to do art for a living, while simultaneously allowing me to control my environment and work hours.

In 2017, I decided I wanted to take the leap and try to make this a full-on business and not just extra cash supplementing Cheesecake Factory tips. Every second I got, I brought my camera, took and edited photos of people I knew for very little or for free, and I posted them on my Instagram. People noticed and they started to hire me for family portrait sessions and high school seniors. At the time, I had no desire to do weddings. Bridezillas—no thank you.

I helped a friend second shoot a wedding at the end of 2017 and I admit—I was wrong. I instantly loved it. I loved serving the couple and making the art they’ll remember forever on the happiest day of their lives. I decided after that first wedding that I want to do my own weddings.

Then, I faced the problem, “How the heck do I get clients with only ever doing 1 wedding? And I wasn’t even the lead photographer??”

I knew that for people to trust me in photographing their wedding I needed to practice and memorize weddings and every type of wedding, start to finish, so new clients would be confident in booking me. I needed to photograph more couples and more brides.

Firstly, I reached out to every wedding photographer that I knew and wedding media company in Cleveland and asked to either be a subcontractor, associate, or a second shooter. I booked 25 weddings from this alone. Maybe I wasn’t the lead photographer for all 25, but I was ready to learn the ins and outs of the craft from wherever I could absorb. I used all of these 25 weddings as marketing for my wedding business.

In addition to these weddings I assisted in, I also gave myself a side project. I asked married couples if they would put back on their wedding dress for me to take bridal portraits of them. This was really fun because I got volunteers of all ages participating and I got to practice with strangers in wedding dresses who weren’t just models. I’m so grateful to all the ladies that participated in this mini project. I used all of these images in marketing for my business.

After a whole year of working 2 jobs, I still didn’t have enough of my own clients to make photography full time where I could live comfortably. I wanted to invest in online advertising. After taking the risk and investing months of income with The Knot, the tables turned and I started getting inquiries.

I couldn’t believe it! Being scrappy with my photography and gigs was finally paying off. In fact, my initial investment paid itself back in just 1 month.

After investing in 2018, I booked 35 weddings with my own clients and I finally got to quit the Cheesecake Factory. In 2020, I bought a house by myself, funded by my love of photography and people.

Anita, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Anita Louise and I am the owner of Anita Louise Photography based in Cleveland, Ohio specializing in wedding photography and available worldwide.

Being a wedding photographer, I have the privilege of capturing the best day of people’s lives. It is the most fulfilling job. To be in the wedding industry as a photographer, you must be client-focused. You have to let your inner art-diva ego go. A lot of photographers get it wrong. Yes, I am there to take pretty pictures and make meaningful compositions, however– it’s not about me.

Weddings can be chaotic, high-stress environments where you have to stick to strict timelines and pray that strangers cooperate with you. You have to acquire the ability to read the room, go with the flow of the day, and perform, not letting external environmental forces affect your workflow or attitude.

Clients come to me because I not only have all of these skills, but as a bonus, I also take pretty pictures.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I think I’m really good at Instagram stories. I don’t have that large of a following compared to others, however, I know that the relationships I’ve cultivated on Instagram through Stories and messaging are real. Sometimes, I overshare. (Okay…a lot of times) But future, past current clients, can relate to me more the more I put out there.

If you stay consistent on social media, that’s where people notice you. Even if you’re just posting something twice a week, that’s more than most.

My Grandpa has an Instagram and I’m not sure how often he opens the app, but he always tells me how amazed he is with how much he sees me doing. That’s the algorithm working, pushing me to the top of his feed without paying for ads.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Social media is a big player in this. I always follow and am active with my clients on social media, building rapport. Messaging and commenting does wonders. This allows you to dig deeper into your clients lives and make everybody feel like, “Oh, yeah I was just chatting with them.” And it works both ways and now you have new friends.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.anitalouise.co
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/anita.louisee
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/anitalouisephoto

Image Credits
all by Anita Louise Photography, except photo of Anita by Rachel Shields Photography