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

Alright, Autumn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

Before I became a photographer in 2020, I was in the Air National Guard for over 6 years. The day I turned 18 I entered a very disciplined world that I called work. From the very beginning I didn’t fit in. I was actually excited to be there, excited to be part of a team and to grow and learn. My flame was quickly dimmed by the suffocating negativity and toxicity in the work place. In 2020, Covid-19 brought me 2 months paid time off so I finally had time to slow the heck down and cultivate my own routine filled with love, patience, and creativity. I soon realized that this was the type of life that I wanted to live. Through deep mediation, I also realized that my entire world is capable of change. Inside and out. It was very jarring going back to work and feeling literally drained by those around me. The biggest lesson was learning that I had to actually embody the qualities that I needed around me to keep myself happy. Embodying love, patience, kindness, and intention only got me half-way. I had a passion, set my intentions and changed my entire inner world before I was ready to do the work. But I also had to do the work. This meant working for almost nothing, just to gain experience. Between my passion for capturing memories, my disciplined back-ground, and motivation to become successful, I made my dream life a reality!

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

Getting into the wedding industry was a very happy surprise. Dream’s main priority is to create a personalized experience for every one of my clients. I really want to get to know my clients so I have many points of contact. The process I take my clients through typically goes like this
Inquiry
Phone call
In person
Engagement session
Timeline planning session
Venue walkthrough
Final phone call
Your wedding day!
In the sea of moments happening on your wedding day, my second shooter and I need to know what moments are going to make you cry tears of joy later on down the road. I think I’m most proud of the rapport and actual friendships that I’ve created with my clients. It’s the most rewarding feeling when my bride comes back for maternity pics! Another thing I want readers to know about DreamStudios is that I am inclusive and supportive of all religious backgrounds as well as a proud LGBTQ ally and want any readers that may need a photographer that’s a safe space!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Oh my goodness yes. I believe reading self help books in general has significantly improved my way of looking at business. It was always so intimidating to purchase equipment, get an LLC, open up a banking account, keep track of my taxes, get insurance, and so on. I really needed to work on balance in my life. I wasn’t saying no to inquiries ever and quickly filling up my schedule which brought stress. Slowly getting burned out and just very emotionally invested in everything that I did. I picked up “The Four Agreements”, by Don Miguel Ruiz. It’s very spiritual yet practical summary of the Toltec’s 4 agreements to follow, in order to bring peace to your life. I learned that my fears of failure and not being good enough were in front of the wheel at that moment and I needed to slow it down again. It taught me to be impeccable with my word. That sounds silly but to actually do this, you have to be impeccable with your word to yourself too. To tell yourself you’re going to do something and actually do it. I created a false sense of productivity when I scheduled myself to sit down and edit for 12 hours. Our words are like magic. They can create happiness or they can destroy it. This is something I tell my daughter and nephews now, ‘when something doesn’t go my way, I am going to be okay. I give to life my all and best and let the universe handle the rest’.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

This lesson I had to unlearn was indoctrinated into me at a very early age. ‘Wait for directions’. Not knowing where to start was debilitating. All I knew is that I just had to start so that’s what I did. Now I’ve brought this into every accept of my life. I finally began my journey to homesteading and am currently working on how I’m going to homeschool my daughter. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need to know everything before I start something.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dreamstudios2022.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dream_studios2022/profilecard/?igsh=MTl4OGxwZmp2ejRodA==

Image Credits

Brides and Beyond in st Henry’s Ohio
Bethany Turner with the Flower Coop
Makeup by Sheer Hotness