Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to BREANN FIELDS. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
BREANN, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
To be successful you need to be driven and determined. You need to have a goal in mind, one big one and a few little ones. You have to know what it takes to own a business. You need to be patient and understand that there will be failures, there will be hard times but know that you will always have God, your friends, and family in your background cheering you on. You need to know that God would never put you through something you couldn’t handle and only the bad will make you stronger. Any failure that your business takes you through, learn from it and grow from it.
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 back background and context?
Hi y’all! My name is BreAnn Fields. I am that little 5 foot nothing girl you’ll catch behind the camera or selling her western style clothing. I am a 5th generation agriculture enthusiast that grew up through the 4-H, FFA and other agriculture related programs. TEN years ago I started my photography business after realizing I no longer wanted to go to school to be a teacher (a week before graduation) and after attending a college fair at my local community college. That day at that college fair set me up for the rest of my life. I am going to talk a little bit about each of my businesses. They are different but jive very well together when needed.
Ten years ago I formed B Photography & Designs after realizing I no longer wanted to be a teacher. I always loved taking photos and watching other photographers at livestock shows growing up. I bought my first camera and started taking photos of family and close friends. It quickly became something I never imagined. I attended a college fair at my community college right before my associates graduation day. I read up on the Communications and Digital Media major at University of Maryland was offering and I was instantly hooked. It was the best 2 years at UMD Shady Grove. I am so glad I get to say that I use what I went to school for every single day. I specialize in portrait photography with my favorites being seniors, maternity, business branding, families and couples. What sets me apart from other photographers is my editing style, my prices, and the time frame it takes me to edit photos. I can get a whole session edited back and to my clients in a week to two weeks sometimes even a few days if I’m not super busy. I try my best to stay personable with my clients and let them feel comfortable around me as if they have known me for years. I strive to make first time clients become family and return year after year. I am proud to say I have multiple clients whom have been with me since the start 10 years ago!
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
When I initially started my photography business, I had no intentions of making it full time nor did I ever think I could I could support myself being self employed. I started my business with every intention of keeping my full time job. I just hustled really hard in the evenings after work, taking photos until sunset, editing until midnight and answering clients on breaks from my 9 to 5. It took 5 years for me to become self employed, and leading up to that I offered sessions for free or discounted in order to get my portfolio up. Once I got my name out there and people started telling other people about me, it started to take off. I remember the day when I called my accountant and asked him if I should quit my job and go full time. He looked at my numbers in years past, and said, if you don’t take this chance, you will someday wish you did. So, that day, I gave my two weeks and never looked back. It was the best decision I ever made. Once I announced that I was going full time and forming an actual LLC business, it was like people started supporting me more than ever. Granted, I did have to do sessions I didn’t typically favor (i.e. newborns, weddings) just in order to continue to get my name out there and make as much money as possible. Once I got comfortable, which has taken me 10 years to get to that point, I can finally say that I no longer HAVE to do weddings or newborn photography to make money. I have marketed myself and my business enough to where I am doing 1-3 sessions a day, Monday – Thursday, and some weekends to keep me busy enough and to live comfortably.
I can’t really comment on my boutique in this category because my boutique and photography business are both considered full time for me. I never considered my boutique as a side hustle, it has always and will always be just as important as my photography business. It keeps me just as busy but it is a nice balance because if I feel as though I am getting burnt out with one business, I can focus on the other a little bit more to give myself a break. This helps me not lose my passion and drive for my businesses. But I will say that I would have never been able to grow my boutique as fast as I did without the following my photography business has.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
It is definitely scary starting a business and investing money not knowing if you will ever make it back or not. I saved up a large amount that I was making at my regular 9-5 to invest in a camera for my photography business. It took a little bit but eventually I did it and the plunge really paid off. I also took out a small credit card that had 0% interest for 12-24 months in case I did not make the money back right away, I had time to pay it back.
For my boutique, I used money that I had made in my photography business to invest in this and with my boutique, the investment and overhead is a lot more, but with learning how to budget money it helps a lot!
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Image Credits
HEADSHOT PHOTO CREDIT: Caroline & Co.