We were lucky to catch up with April Onstad recently and have shared our conversation below.

April, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I had a lot of time while struggling with the diagnosis of a brain tumor and then Meningitis to ponder what exactly a legacy would look like for me and what I hoped it to become. A short answer would be that I hope to be remembered as a person who loved well. That when the people who have hired me think of our time together they look back with a smile. When I gave to someone, they would remember the love that delivered the gift.
This became the anthem of my business because of the way people came to my rescue when I was so devastatingly sick. Complete strangers showed up to my door and provided for every single need. I thought, I have to survive this. People need to know the action of what love looks like and that became my fuel to get better.

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

I was born with an inherit love for the arts. Specially music and photography. The daughter of a rock n’ roller turned CFO for The Musicland Group and the granddaughter of a photography professor at OSU, to say they are woven into my DNA is an understatement. I was always singing and taking photos of everything for as long as I can remember. I followed in my fathers footsteps and worked my way up at The Musicland Group. Starting in the warehouse, shrink wrapping CDS all day long was so much fun for me as I could listen to all of the new releases right away. We were living in England at the time and there it was very easy to immerse yourself in the arts. I went to every concert, every play and musical I could possibly go to because all aspects of music and music production fascinated me. I had amazing teachers in school there who really saw my love for photography and always gave me a platform to utilize my skills. The marriage of photography tied together when I met two heros of mine in the field. Kieron “Spud” Murphy, he photographed so many amazing artists, but my favorite sessions of his were the John Lennon Imagine series. Kieron taught me the art of being the quiet photographer in the studio whose job is capture the energy in the room. His photography told the stories behind the music. Bill Francis, he was another family friend who I would say is one of the first rock n’ roll photographers. Doris Day, Buddy Holly and Nat King Cole. It was beyond coincidence that these two hero’s of mine would come into our lives and teach me how to be the the reason people remember getting their pictures taken.

What sets me apart from others is a few things, I would say. My education is such that I have taken photography classes globally and have always worked in the music industry to some extent. I believe going through a major illness gives you a new lens to look through. I see everything in beauty and I hope to always capture that for others. Also, moving around as much as I did gave me the ability to talk to just about anyone without inhibition.
All of these things come together to have built my little business.

Today I work for may musicians and a local record label to promote, to photograph, to capture all that I can with my lens of experience so that others can get a behind the scenes look into their favorite artists world.
I never would of imagined that I would be taking pictures today of artists that I know and love. I respect and I walk away learning something new with each session. Being in a field that grows you continually is so rewarding.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I contracted chemical meningitis from a pain pump that was improperly placed. people say surviving a brain tumor was a miracle, the biggest miracle for me was surviving meningitis. No one expected me to live. I spent six week in Neuro ICU, in a dark quiet room. The sounds of machines became my soundtrack and all I had time to do was dream. It was my sons birthday, the day they told me that I would need to be moved to hospice. My dad came into my room and played “The Sound of Wind Driven Rain’ by William Ackerman. my soul responded in such a way that you would think I had forgotten about what music can do for it. Like a healing balm to every part of me that hurt, I was able to sit up in bed and ask my nurse to let me walk again.
I never imagined that I would be here on the other side of all of that to tell you that with determination and will power anything is possible. Music does heal and it is such a source of admiration to all who support me that I get to place music in the hands of others who may need a reminder of that too.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Light in the Valley started as a way of raising funds to go on mission trips. I did pay for donation mini sessions to help fund my way to Honduras. That became the heartbeat of my business. I always wanted to give back to those with a need, single parents, vets, anyone I felt led to give to. It also became a vehicle for me to realize that even though I still battled a very chronic illness, that I could still work to some capacity and that I could in fact give back to not only my community, but to communities in other countries as well. I posted on Facebook mainly, and from there I took off. My business is 100% word of mouth both with family photography and my music photography and promotion. I am to the point now where I am able to sustain myself just on what I do with the musicians that I work with. Which was always the goal for me. Key milestones for me in this journey was learning when to say no to certain things that I didn’t feel I was the right fit for. It is easy to say yes to everything, but if it is not a project I do not feel is on point for my brand or if it is a type of music I do not necessarily know how to promote, I am not afraid to say so. That is a huge accomplishment for someone who has always identified as a people pleaser. What it does for you as a creative though, is it leaves room for the next project that you are passionate about. I think it is so important to have those boundaries in place for growth. Some of the artists I have worked with this past year are PK Mayo, Pam Linton, Allison Sounds, Jimi “Prime Time” Smith, Mick Sterling and Vanilla Fudge. It has been such a blast and I am looking forward to an even bigger year ahead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lightinthevalleyphotography.com
• Instagram: @aprilonstad
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/lightinthevalleyphotographymn
• Linkedin: April Onstad

Image Credits

All photography by, April Onstad