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

AnnaMarie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Absolutely! It took a long time and a TON of work on my end, but it’s great to be able to say I make as much as I would at a “regular” job, if not more. It has been 3 years of constant marketing, building my social media presence, learning new skills and editing techniques, the list goes on and on. I have never stopped learning and never stopped trying to improve. What’s nice is that once you get to this point where you have a solid client base and a decent social media presence, you can relax a little on marketing. I’m still hitting it hard as often as I can, but if I miss a day of posting or forget to advertise in a local group one week, it’s not a make or break type thing.

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

Hi there! I’m AnnaMarie, and my goal is to capture all the precious (and not so precious) moments that go hand-in-hand with motherhood. I specialize in family, maternity, and lifestyle newborn photography. My clients come to me because they want a fun session where they can simply relax and be themselves. I want them to look back on their images and remember not only how enjoyable the session was, but also the sense of adventure that comes with all my sessions.

I’m a mom to a wild and silly little boy, the sweetest baby girl, and a wife to an amazing and incredibly patient man. I’m also a dog mom to a husky mixes and a goldendoodle. Most of my clients are young families, and I feel that I can really relate to their season of life since I’m in it too. So often, my clients are worried about how their kids will act during their session or that I won’t know what to do to keep their attention. I have about 73 different tricks up my sleeve, and believe me when I say I get it! Kids cry. Sometimes they don’t want to sit still. Be warned, I will be making jokes, being super silly, and making some crazy noises and singing “Baby Shark” at the top of my lungs during your shoot. Whatever it takes to get those genuine connections between you and your tribe, I’ll do it!

We are a family of adventurers. We love to go hiking, white water rafting, skiing and snowboarding and on bike rides. We travel out of state (sometimes out of country) several times a year to experience new things and teach our kids about the world. I want them to grow up knowing how beautiful our world is and how unique the people in it are. We’re all just trying our best at this crazy thing we call life, why not enjoy it while we’re here?

I’m the type of person who will nag you for using a straw or not recycling. If I see an animal, I’m going to think it’s cute, no matter what it is. That’s just who I am. I’m an earth-lover, an animal-lover, I think all babies are just the sweetest thing, and I’m a pretty laid-back person all around. In my spare time, I love reading and binging the latest TV show I’m obsessed with.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Honestly, getting paid to do what I love and making my own hours has been huge for me. As a mom, it’s so nice for me to be able to set my work aside for the day, put down my phone, and just be there and interact with my kids. I feel like I have my own purpose in photography, but I also get to live out my dream of being a stay at home mom and spending a ton of time adventuring with my littles. It really is the best of both worlds.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Facebook kind of just came naturally to me. At first, most of my followers were friends and family. Once I really started taking on clients and advertising, my Facebook page grew pretty quickly. At first, I just joined a bunch of local moms’ groups that allowed advertising and I was religious about posting every single week on the days they allowed it. I made sure to always link my Facebook page in addition to my website.

It always bugged me that Facebook was so easy for me, but I could never really get the hang of Instagram. Last year, I decided I was really going to try to grow my Instagram presence. I enlisted the help of a good friend and she gave me all the tools I needed to get started. Since then, I have doubled my amount of followers on Instagram, started making reels (which I LOVE!) and gotten really consistent about posting and sharing stories. I have started getting more inquiries through Instagram, too, which is always a plus!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wandermamaphotography.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/wandermama_photography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wandermamaphotography

Image Credits
Headshot was taken by Kimberlin Photography