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

Hi Ashley, thanks for 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?

I’ve been owner and photographer of Ashley Lynn Photography for over 17 years and it has been a roller coaster, for sure. I’m now at a place in my business where I’m charging enough per session to make a living wage. For years I just looked at what everyone else around me was charging, but I found that it wasn’t sustainable to make a living wage at those rates.
Once I had kids about 6 years ago I quickly realized that something had to change in my business if I was going to keep going. If I was going to be taking precious time away from my kids in order to work, then that meant having childcare and I wanted it to be worth my time away from home.

It’s really a simple math equation to figure out what you need to be charging in your business. I added up all my expenses for a year to find my break even number. Then I added my desired income or how much I needed to make each year to my break even number. Next, I divided that number by the number of sessions I wanted to shoot each year. That total would be what I need to charge per session.
To say I was scared to triple the amount I charged was an understatement, but I knew it’s what needed to be done in order to stay in business.
We are in a very difficult time for small businesses. I’ve seen so many people have to close their doors over the past 5 years. My biggest advice for anyone in a small business or anyone thinking of starting a business is to know these numbers and charge appropriately. I wish I would have started charging this way from the beginning. It’s much easier to start charging correctly from the beginning. Otherwise, you’ll be building up a clientele just to lose them when you have to start raising your price. Then you have to start building a new set of clients all over again.

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

Hi, I’m Ashley Dickerson owner & photographer of Ashley Lynn Photography! I’ve been capturing family photography sessions in the Lebanon & Dayton Ohio areas for over 17 years. I’ve wanted to be a photographer since I was in middle school. I graduated with honors with a Portrait and Commercial Photography degree.

It is a complete honor getting to preserve memories for my clients year after year. I’m passionate about helping my clients get their cherished photographs off their computer’s hard drive and creating heirloom artwork that their family will enjoy for years & generations to come!

I know getting family photos taken can be stressful! I remember sitting in a dressing room crying a week after my son was born, because I couldn’t figure out what to wear for his newborn photo session.
After that, I was determined to create a stress-free photography experience for my clients where, I offer wardrobe for women and children along with hair & makeup for mom. These were the top two stress points for my clients when I polled them on “What you hate most about having family photos taken.” It’s hard for moms to plan it all, pick wardrobe for everyone and get themselves ready too. I realized this once I became a mom.
I want my clients to have the luxury just showing up to their session and all the work is already done for them. That way, when they look back on their photographs years from now, there are only good memories associated with the day.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Not everyone is blessed to have their passion also be their profession. I’m truly thankful that I love what I do. I’m honored that I get to be a part of my clients’ most important life moments. I offer people a tangible way to revisit their memories and I don’t take that lightly. Among the hundreds of thousands of pictures I’ve taken over the years are someone’s first and last memories captured on earth.
I’m humbled by the fact that long after I’m gone, my work will still be cherished and hung on the walls of my client’s great-grandchildren. It makes what I’m doing so much bigger than me. My photographs are gifts I’ll leave behind for generations and that makes me smile.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think it’s hard for non-creatives and non small business owners to understand a lot of what goes into what we do. I see people posting on social media all the time asking for service providers that “don’t cost an arm and a leg.” And I think the better questions to ask are for someone that offers great quality, someone who is trustworthy, someone knowledgeable in their craft or who has ethical work practices.
People have become so accustom to immediate gratification and super low prices from big box stores that they fail to realize that small businesses aren’t able to compete in those areas, but we can offer something so much better. Sometimes that means paying a little more and waiting a little longer for a higher quality product.

For example, I make sure to only use American made photo products, because it’s something that is important to me & I believe the quality is superior. I do this even though it typically means paying & charging higher prices. But I want to only offer end products that I’m proud of and can stand behind.

Contact Info:

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