We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bonnie-Love Douglas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bonnie-Love below.

Hi Bonnie-Love, thanks for joining us today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

Vacations or even staycations are absolutely necessary, especially for us creatives. Every year since I started working at the age of 15, I’ve taken a week long vacation between Christmas Eve and New Year’s. I followed in my mother’s foot steps in this tradition. I absolutely love that I get some time with family and truly enjoy my favorite holiday – Christmas! As the years went on and especially once I started my own company more than 11 years ago, I’ve added on more time to my end of year break.

For many photographers, myself included, the last quarter is a crazy, crazy, busy time. Burnout is real and to avoid it, I start my holiday sessions early and end by the first week of December. This year I took 3 weeks off and let me tell you, it was amazing! I’d love to say that I was on a beach somewhere sipping on Margaritas, but that was far from my experience. Instead, I opted for winter sangrias by the Christmas tree, in my favorite cozy pjs, cuddled up with my 2 daughters and hubby. I also took care of some home projects that had been on my list for months. It always feels great to cross items off my list.

The best part of my annual relax and rejuvenate break is that I come back on January 4 ready to conquer the year. I’m ready to try out new lighting techniques, poses and new creative sets. The first week of clients were just different. I felt so recharged and much more creative. I highly recommend that all creatives take some time off, even if it’s just a staycation. We need to fill ourselves up, so we can pour in to our clients.

Bonnie-Love, 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?

It’s not a surprise I became an entrepreneur. My grandfather had several businesses, my mother owns a hair salon and my father owns an advertising agency. I’ve been in or around a photography studio since I was a child. Never in a million years would I have thought I would end up as a photographer, though. I was an MUA and a wardrobe stylist for a while. When I met my husband, we started a digital creative agency together serving small businesses through video production and website design. Somehow that transitioned into branding photography. Then, one day it just clicked. I swear I became a photographer overnight. That’s kind of how things work with me. If I get a little interest in something, I go deep, learning all that I can in a matter of weeks/months. Well, I fell in love with portrait photography about 4 years ago. I absolutely love combining all my past industries in to one: Beauty, Marketing, Photography.

I love working with everyday people. I love the challenge of working with a self-proclaimed “non photogenic” person. Once they’re in my session, it’s my job to get them to forget about all their worries. For that small moment in time they are free to be whoever they wish. I create a comfortable environment, where my clients feel comfortable letting go and having fun. The result is beautiful photos that they are proud to share for years to come. I’ve accomplished a lot over my career, but capturing my client’s trust is what I’m most proud of.

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

Prior to the pandemic, we were doing a lot of event video production and event photography in our main business D2D Creative. Due to the events industry taking a hit, my time freed up and I was able to focus on my portrait photography business. It began flourishing almost immediately. More and more people were getting pregnant (I guess all the free time on their hands ha ha) and they were coming to me for newborn portraits. Slowly, I started to get in to maternity portraiture and my love for the genre blossomed. I have never been more happy to be working in my life. It feels great to be doing what I love everyday.

One of the reasons I feel my business hit the ground running is because of they systems and procedures I put in place from the onset. With my prior knowledge from running a business, I knew that in order for me to succeed with  the little help, I need to use automated tools and repeatable processes to free up my time to do what brings me joy…photographing people.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I love making people feel good through my artform which is photography! I also love sharing my knowledge with anyone who is willing to listen to help them along their journey. My ultimate goal for my photography career is to become an international photography educator. I’d love to travel the world sharing my techniques and business advice. Until that time comes, I work with interns that are either entry level photographers or interested in a similar creative field. This is my teeny tiny way of making the world a happier place.

Contact Info:

• Website: d2dfocus.com
• Instagram: @d2dfocus
• Facebook: d2dfocus

Image Credits
Bonnie-Love Douglas, D2D Focus