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

Hi Beth , thanks for joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

As I sit up late at night editing until three o’clock in the morning, I often wonder what it would be like to go to work full time and come home and get to bed at a normal time and more importantly to have the nights and weekends with my son and husband. Freedom comes at a price. I have to stay up late most nights and still wake up early to get my son ready for school or go surfing. Many years I spent editing while he’s in the background wanting my attention. On the contrary on my slower months, I was able to spend even more time with him going to LEGOLAND and the park and even more important because of this being my own business I can have control and of my own schedule and more importantly raise my own child. I never put my son in daycare one day of his life or hired a sitter because I would even take him with me on shoots many years. Another factor that has me wonder if getting a full-time job again in my other career is that I have consistent pay and benefits and also the lack of stress of trying to make sure I can afford my bills every month. So, in the end it was a blessing all these years I think the benefits out way the cons.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I define my style as capturing true emotion and moments from the heart and soul in my photos. I try not to overedit and over pose people and focus on natural moments. By the end of my photoshoot, I feel I understand the person and connect on a deeper level and try and show that through my work. Partly though I act like a clown or a comic during my shoots so that I can make people laugh and relax and be themselves. I truly love nature and animals as well, so I always encourage my clients to bring their pets and include the beauty of nature all in one. My goal is to get a photo that is something they can blow up on their wall and makes them smile when they reflect upon the piece. My specialty is in families and people, but I also have been shooting food photos for many years. I am proud of this and how far I have come along. I also had some of my nature photos chosen by national geographic a while back several times. I feel overall what makes me special is I make people feel very comfortable and free and happy during my photoshoots. I also do a variety of photos from action to close ups, so my clients feel they have a lot of different photos to choose from.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Definingly word of mouth has been the best source of my business. Ninety percent of the time I get told so and so referred you or I saw the photos so and so posted and thought they were amazing when they reach out to book the photoshoot.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

When someone sends me a photo of their portrait hanging on the wall blown up and it looks amazing it melts my heart.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bethjeffreyphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bethjeffreyphotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bethjeffreyphotography
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/bethjeffreyphotography