Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aurora Kretsch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Aurora, thanks for joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

I started my business at the end of 2018. I ended up leaving my full time job to pursue my dream of being a photographer. A lot of the time I wish I would have started sooner because I can’t imagine a time when I didn’t have my business. But, with how my life was going at the time, it really was the perfect moment in my life to be able to leave my job and have my husband handle our expenses while I built everything up so it ended up being the perfect time to start and I wouldn’t change a thing.

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

I’m a Nashville based elopement and intimate wedding photographer. I specialize in elopements (both local and destination). I can help my couples, plan and execute the perfect day for them.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a photographer and after I started my business I learned how much passion I had for couples photography. I love showcasing love stories. It’s my favorite thing when my clients tell me that they were able to see themselves in the photos I take. I try my best to highlight the best part about your love story and that’s who the two of you are as people and who you are as a couple. This past year I feel like I’ve really honed in on that feeling and have been so proud to see that reflected when my clients get their galleries back.

I wouldn’t be able to do that without creating trust with my clients and building that relationship. Most of my wedding and elopement clients come back to me whenever they want to document life changes. This past year the majority of my business has been repeat clients and that’s something that brings me so much joy!

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

As simple as it seems I’ve found that interacting with them on social media has been my biggest way to keep in touch and foster brand loyalty. Though I don’t see it as a way to get “brand loyalty” I’ve noticed that that’s what has ended up happening.

I don’t just interact with everything they post or when they post about my work. I genuinely interact with them. If they’re posting something that I’m interested in I’ll respond to a story or comment. It’s one of the easiest things that I do in my business, but it’s not just about the business aspect of it . I do it because I truly enjoy chatting with and keeping in touch with my clients and I think that’s why they come back because they enjoy chatting with and keeping up with me.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Early on in Dahlia Orchid’s story it was actually a partnership with my best friend who still lives in Minnesota.

After I moved to Nashville, it became pretty clear to both of us that Dahlia Orchid was more of my baby than hers and she just didn’t have the time or energy to dedicate to it. We had a long talk about it and decided that she would step down and leave Dahlia Orchid to me. There were no hard feelings of course and it ended up working out great for both of us. But, pivoting from a two woman show to a one woman show was definitely a struggle at first. I found I couldn’t delegate tasks anymore and just had to add whatever needed to get done to my endless to do list.

After a few months I started to get the hang of it though and was able to handle everything by myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: dahliaorchid.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/dahliaorchidphoto
• Facebook: facebook.com/dahliaorchidphoto