We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anna Holden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

As a Chemical engineer turned Florida elopement photographer, I’ve trial and errored my way through building a business. For the last 11+ years, I have worked as a materials engineer in the aerospace industry. Two years into my engineering career – already overwhelmed and under appreciated – I remember sitting in my cubicle thinking “this can’t be what it’s all about.” I felt handcuffed to a 40 hour a week desk job that provided zero location or time freedom. I felt stifled. I spent the next year or so trying to find a way out.

That’s when I discovered photography. One Christmas, my husband gifted me this awesome point-and-shoot camera. Over the next few months, that thing went EVERYWHERE with me. I was taking tons of wildlife photos and landscapes. At one point, someone asked me to shoot their wedding. I would spend the next few months trying to learn everything about portrait photography and how to capture a wedding.

After making my first $500 for a 12-hour wedding (I’m cringing on the inside), I realized that I can make money doing this. At first, I used this just as a side hustle to get some extra income. After a few years and getting burnt out, I found a business coach that promised I could make 6-figures doing elopement photography.

It seemed too good to be true. Replace my income as a chemical engineer? What? No way. But I gave it a shot.

After implementing all the strategy I learned and going all in with elopements, I’ve managed to build a thriving elopement photography business in Florida. I even teach other photographers how to book $5k+ elopements even if their location is not known for elopements.

Being able to make my creative work into a full time career came from a two-year long transformative process of realizing that $1500 elopements was not paying the bills, understanding who I was trying to speak to and reach, learning to market effectively to my target client to show my expertise and value, raising my prices to a sustainable value, using Instagram and TikTok as ways to build trust with my clients, and using SEO to book $75k+ elopements in Florida all while still hustling in my 9-5.

In hindsight, I could have gotten here a lot faster if I would have invested in education through coaching programs. Once I had the pieces of the puzzle, everything took off. I spent 5 years trying to do everything myself and it just wasn’t working.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Anna is a chemical engineer turned Florida elopement photographer fueled by stickin’ it to the man. Having transitioned from a demanding 11+ year engineering career where she felt overwhelmed and underappreciated, Anna found solace and success behind the lens. After some self-discovery and strategic business decisions, Anna was able to successfully quit her six-figure engineering career to pursue elopement photography full-time and now teaches others to do the same. When she’s not coaching students or helping couples plan their elopements, Anna can be found hanging out with her husband and German shorthaired pointer, mixing up a craft cocktail, or adventuring on the boat or in the woods.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Business coaching! I was stuck in the mentality that I could DIY everything on my own. After 5+ years of trial and error that got me no where, I hired my business coach and ended up having expontial growth within the first year. It really is an investment into your business.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Google has been a game changer for my business. Once I learned the power of Google and SEO, I was able to reach people that never would have heard of me before. Think about it – if you’re looking for a local florist, the first place you’re going to is Google, right? Same goes for photography. Couples are on Google searching for that areas best photographers.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.annaholden.co/
• Instagram: @annaholdenphoto
• Other: TikTok: @annaholdenphoto