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

Alright, Beth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

My parents are absolutely my hero’s. I am from a family of farmers who just recently celebrated fifty years in business, which is so incredible. Fifty years is huge for any business and especially for people in agriculture, so I’ve always known I had so many resources in my own home for how I wanted to go about running my business. Though they didn’t teach me anything about photographing weddings or navigating a more creative profession, they have inadvertently taught me so much about what it takes to be successful, and to also define success for myself and what that really means to me. Being your own motivator, going with your gut instinct, taking risks and ultimately sacrificing a lot to feel good about what work you’re doing are all things I’ve learned from them. Being self-employed is a privilege and I’m so thankful to have that modeled for me my whole life.

Beth , 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?

My name is Beth and I’m a lifestyle and wedding photographer serving *almost* every corner of New York and parts of New England. Photography is quite possibly the only thing I’ve ever really loved to do and I’ve done everything I could do to ensure that I could pursue it full time one day, and here we are!

What pulled me towards this kind of work the most is the people, lovely and interesting people. I’d like to think that at the very core of who I am and how I run my business is striving to meet people exactly where they are in their lives. I’m not here to change anyone or fit them in a mold of what I’d like them to be, I’m going to meet them in a place that feels genuine and from there we can create really special images together. It’s so important to me to be able to make those deeper connections and be a safe person that is in their corner who allows and encourages them to be themselves.

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

I think the biggest thing that helped this shift was surrounding myself with other photographers and folks in the industry ( videographers, MAU, wedding coordinators.etc.) that are also full- time pursuing their goals. I did my best to surround myself with all these positive influences and said yes to every wedding, session, networking event, assisting / second photographer gig that I could get my hands on. I now feel like I have this huge community of professionals that I can confide in and we can push each other while also giving each other opportunities we maybe wouldn’t have had without those relationships.

Looking back it’s so wild to me that I went full time in October of 2020, in the true heart of our world being so uprooted and the future unknown. Everything was so uneasy and for some reason I was compelled to leave a full time remote job ( that I was so very grateful to have) and go all in with this business. It all feels like a blur now but I’m a believer that there is no perfect time to make a change, you just have to give it a go and do your best. Taking “failure” out of your vocabulary is also essential, there is no failure, there is only redirection.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I get a majority of my clients from my current clientele and other vendor referrals, which has been huge for me! Selfishly I get to see a bunch of people I’ve worked with before, getting the chance to stay in touch with them, and for my future business having that established reputation is so helpful.

I make a very conscious effort to become a familiar face to everyone I work alongside, a small shared moment can lead to so many good things.

Contact Info:

• Website: bethclevelandphotography.com
• Instagram: bethclevelandphoto

Image Credits
Beth Cleveland Photography