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

Bethany, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Looking back, I’ve always been interested in photography but up until recently never did anything with it other than self-portraits on my iPhone. About a year ago, I started experimenting with more poses just using my selfie camera. I discovered that I was a fast learner and I noticed that I really enjoyed spending my time learning the craft. As I practiced week by week, my poses and angles quickly improved and I eventually upgraded to my first Canon camera. I am very grateful for the time that I put into learning how to pose while looking at other photographers for inspiration. Looking back, I think something that would’ve sped up my learning process was knowing and understanding my camera settings. Before I bought my camera, I had never really picked up a camera but I think if I had learned my settings earlier I would be farther along in my skills. I wish I would’ve sought out a mentor or friend to help me with them because even though I know how to pose individuals, I don’t quite feel as confident as I would like in my camera settings.

I’ve been doing videography for a little under two years now and sometimes I laugh at how I first started making videos because it all happened so fast. A friend of a friend asked me if I could help him edit some videos for some projects he was working on for a ministry. I wasn’t excited about it but said, “sure” and that grew into me asking a lot of questions about what the film world involved. As he taught me how to edit YouTube videos, then eventually taught me every step of film from planning to posting, I loved every minute of it. An obstacle that stood in the way of me learning faster was that my friend lived out of state, and I didn’t know anyone in my area that did videography. We spent countless hours on Zoom calls planning videos, scripting, filming, editing, and posting them on YouTube. A lot of times it still feels like an obstacle for me to continue learning from my out-of-state friend because it’s twice as hard to learn over video calls but now I have some people in my life that also know film and I’ve been learning from them too. I wish I had met them sooner but I’m glad I know them now.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am a 21-yr-old who has been learning the photography and videography world for roughly 1-2 years. It was a little bit of an accident how I stumbled into it because I didn’t have anybody in my life creating photos and videos, however, because of the hours and hard work I put towards photo and video, I own a small business called Mellas Studios. I offer video and photo services. I do portrait photography and in addition to portraits I have incorporated people’s passions and talent in those portraits. Say you play an instrument – in your photo session, along with taking creative portraits of just you, I will take some pictures of you with your instrument and showcase your passion in our time together. I love hyping up the people I’m taking pictures of, making them feel beautiful, confident, and will do anything I can to make their session a memory that they will treasure forever. Along with photography, I offer video services. I have done a lot of scripted interviews, music covers, game videos, trailers for YouTube channels, promos for businesses, and I’ve been a second shooter on several projects. I love taking ideas from friends and clients and creating a story that will connect with each viewer. I still have a lot of work learning the trade of videography, but I have a very willing and eager heart to continue learning and growing and working with different creators. I am passionate, driven, and easy to work with. I love working with people and always do my very best to use the ideas my friends and clients have, even if I don’t think it’s the best idea. I want to create a space that respects and values you. I’m here to serve you!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Something that I originally struggled with in starting my own small business was the fear of the word entrepreneurship. I’ve never wanted to do this because I value stability in my life and starting my own business didn’t offer that to me. The only thing that I saw was chaos, frustration of doing things by yourself, and a lack of passion. Why I had this view, I’m not sure. When I was considering starting Mellas Studios and thinking through this fear of finding my own clients, eventually supporting myself, and being my own boss, I had to put that fear in the back of my head and really lean into the fact that I had a passion for creating videos and taking photos. I LOVED what I did. I don’t know about other people, but I didn’t start Mellas Studios to be an entrepreneur or have that title, but I started it because I LOVE videography and photography. I love learning the crafts and meeting and working with other creators. For now, Mellas Studios is a side hustle for me, but I think in the future I want it to be my main source of income. Just because of the fact that I love everything that I do so much. It truly is one of my biggest passions in life right now.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

For me, the most effective strategy for growing my business and clientele is word of mouth. I have cold-emailed and cold-called a bunch of places and got one or two clients from that, but I got way more client interest from word of mouth. Because I’m so passionate about what I do, I would naturally talk to people about what I do, and they would ask questions about it and either show interest in working with me or they would refer me to someone who they know would need me. I have clients lined up to work with me and while cold calling / emailing is not a bad place to start, I would suggest just bringing it up in conversations that you have. It’s been shocking to me how many people want my video services or want portraits taken of them. Even skills that I want to learn but haven’t learned yet, people are asking me to do those things. And it’s also solely because I talk about it with everyone I know.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mellasstudios.wixsite.com/home
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mellasstudios/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mellasstudios
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuCVZIadgnfjbWLEXeHw7Pw

Image Credits
Pictures 1-6 are taken by Bethany Mellas.
The second to last one (burgandy shirt). PC: Brianna Mellas
The last one. PC: Brennen Faelin