We recently connected with Ashley Loth and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Many people think success is in a form of materialistic, or financial wealth. Before I became an entrepreneur I thought the same thing. I have been a photographer for over 15 years, and have achieved many milestones in my career, but the thing that has stood out to me the most has been the people I’ve created with. Even if I work with them only once that moment, we came together to create a magical image and moment to cherish forever. When I am in a low or feel as though I should have more fame or notoriety for my work, I look back on how far I have came and remember all the beautiful souls along the way. Success is measured by who knows you, it’s by if you wake up in the morning loving what you do, excited to see the day and what may come. It’s also the peace of mind that comes with the knowledge of all the growth you have done to get to this point in your life. Just think 10 years ago did you imagine you would be here? One of my favorite stories of about my one of my many “successes’ in my career would be going on tour with my favorite band Queens of the Stone Age, it was a dream I never thought I would ever accomplish or at least not as early as I did. I remember thinking as I got off the tour bus at the end that leg of the tour thinking “Wow, I can die now, I accomplished what I could never imagine.” I am so grateful for all the people that supported and encouraged me to go after that dream. What was so amazing after that was not even two weeks later I hosted my first public Art Gallery Showcase and released my first Book. My book was a project I worked on for about 5 years and shot with over 100 different people, throughout that experience I grew as a person and an artist. The project started taking on a life of its own and brought so many people together. I still reminiscence about how tears flooded my eyes watching the 200 plus people walk through the gallery, looking at my images and reading the stories that went with them. It was a beautiful moment, and to this day I will never forget it.

Ashley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Where do I start? I have lived MANY lives in my short amount of years on this earth from being a Burlesque Performer, to touring with bands, to bartending at your local dive bar.

My love story with Photography starts in my youth but really our story gets good in my 20s. I was waiting tables and worked a 1000 different jobs but nothing started a fire in me. In 2013 I decided to start taking my hobby seriously and start my journey on becoming a full time Photographer, Sound Snap Photography was made in 2009 but didn’t become an LLC till 2015. I mostly shot small gigs doing weddings for $20 (HAHA what?!). Working at a local radio station is how I got my start shooting bands and shows (13 YEARS WITH THEM!). I started getting more and more opportunities to shoot and landed a HUGE gig, photographing a BURLESQUE FESTIVAL in JAMAICA! That is when I realized this wasn’t just a hobby for me it was my passion and I was pretty good at it. Working freelance jobs, doing school portraits, wedding portraits, and other contract jobs is how I learned more in my craft. I finally got the opportunity to open my own studio in 2015, I bought out Pink Photography a well known Boudoir Photography studio in Richmond, Virginia, slowly over the years I turned that brand in to my own and created the empire I have today. We closed our Richmond Studio doors in 2019 and became a remote studio working allover the country.

In 2019 I moved to Joshua Tree California in hopes of opening my own tourist boudoir studio, as we all know the pandemic happened and work was at a standstill. That wasn’t the only life changing event that year for me, I also found out I was pregnant! Becoming a mother has been a blessing and all my fears of not being able to keep my business going while being a full time single parent have been washed away.

Within the past decade of my career I have toured with world renowned bands, photographed over 100 weddings, photographed many clothing brands, helped over 300 people love their bodies through boudoir, published a book of my poetry/photography, worked with talented models/creatives/business owners/bloggers, worked on movie sets, and were still going. Life never stops and you just gotta roll with the punches.

My biggest clientele now a days is content creators, models and performers (of Pole and Burlesque Variety). I have also worked with many international brands like The Pretty Cult, Born Scum, Stegmann Clogs, just to name a few.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

The most amazing thing that I have been able to accomplish in my career is creating community with my clientele. I love hosting events where we all hang out laugh and carry-on like old friends. It has been awesome watching my client become my friends and then become friends with each other. No matter where my career takes me my clientele will always seek me out, I still have a large client base in Virginia where I am from and a growing one in California. My goal is to create safe spaces for people from all walks of life to come celebrate them selves and hang out with like minded people that also enjoy the creative art form of photography.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The book I always tell people to read is “The Art of Asking” by Amanda Palmer. This book really helped me put in to perspective that being in a creative career that you can make money, not be ashamed to ask for help and that support comes in when you least expect it. Sometimes our biggest supporters are strangers that connect with us through our art. I have also listen to the works of Brene Brown, Kathrin Zenkina, Jen Sincero, and Gary Johnson Bishop. I listen to a lot entrepreneur ted talks, I do reiki work, energetic healing, and Askashic Record clearing. When you are a business owner or have a trade you have to forever stay a student and learn from every person you meet along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.soundsnapphoto.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/soundsnapphoto
• Facebook: facebook.com/soundsnapphotographyrva
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mari-loth-4717a387/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/soundsnapphoto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashleyloth3252/about
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sound-snap-photography-richmond
• Other: www.soundsnapboudoirphotography.com facebook.com/soundsnapboudoir

Image Credits
Headshot by Megan Willis of EightEighteen Photography Photo 1 Samantha Mack by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography Photo 2 Kimber Woods by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography Photo 3 Sonnie Slagle by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography Photo 4 Mars by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography Photo 5 Brendon Queue by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography Photo 6 Isabel Astrum by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography Photo 7 Orville Peck by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography Photo 8 Tina Turntables and DD Starr by Mari Loth of Sound Snap Photography