We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Breeanna Farmer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Breeanna below.
Hi Breeanna, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss? What did you learn from them? Maybe you can share a story that illustrates the kind of boss they were or maybe you can share your thoughts on what you think made them an awesome person to work for?
I got my first job in high school.. which was actually working for my dad at a local restaurant!
Initially I was hired on to host, then later learned to serve (even though I was terrified of the idea at first) and ended my career there as a shift supervisor shortly before moving away for college.
My dad was the best boss I’ve ever had, not only because he was my dad, but because he expected your work to be done well and for you to be doing something productive while you were on the clock. The motto that we often joke about now was, “if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.”
At first, as an employee my dad would come off as tough on the exterior because of the level of expectations he had for his employees. In reality, the really he had a heart of gold and cared so deeply about all of us.
Even though my dad expected a lot from us, he was there to try to help workers who were struggling with things in their lives, while still holding them accountable and giving them opportunities to succeed and grow.
To this day, I’m a very hard worker and often attribute this to the work ethic and core values that my dad taught us both in and out of the workplace.
Breeanna, 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?
I’m Breeanna and I’m a wedding photographer and videographer! I specialize in small and non-traditional weddings and elopements.
A few of my fav things to shoot are backyard/AirBNB weddings, national park elopements and helping couples plan engagement sessions that feel more like a date night than an hour spent posing for the camera.
My creative heart soars when my couples fully soak in every moment of their day with the people they chose to have there… even if it’s just the two of them! This allows me to take a step back and truly document the connections between the most important people in their lives so that they can be beautifully preserved forever.
There’s no right or wrong way to plan a wedding, but I love encouraging my couples to do things THEIR way. Whatever is right for the two of them – not for their mother in law or to meet their bestie’s expectations.
Love is love and I support all different kinds of it here. <3
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I first started my photography business, I was taking on a little bit of everything. I’d still shoot weddings and engagement sessions, but I’d also shoot seniors, newborns, family photos and whatever else would end up in my inbox!
After dipping my toes into a lot of the different types of photography, I learned what sessions I looked the most forward to and which ones lit me up inside. Spoiler alert, my fav was photographing couples!
The first major pivot in my business was when I decided to niche down and stop taking jobs that didn’t fit into this category.
It was really hard to let some of my family clients go. A lot of the time it felt like I was letting them down by not saying “yes” to every job. For a while I even kept my calendar open to repeat clients who wanted to book family photos, but eventually I knew in my heart that the right choice was for me to refer these awesome clients out to someone who loved photographing families like I loved photographing couples.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think that being reliable, delivering on my promises and consistently showing my couples that I’m here to serve them throughout the process is huge!
As a business owner, it’s important to make sure you (or someone else) is responding to emails in a timely manner and anticipating your clients needs. I’ll send out wedding questionnaires to my couples so that they can share anything they have on their hearts with me and I can take that information and be sure that I’m delivering exactly what it is they’re looking for.
Some couples might place more value on the little details, while others don’t care so much about that, but they definitely want to see the big belly laughs between guests having a blast at their reception… and a lot of couples fall somewhere in the middle!
Every couple is different, so it’s important to cater to them and actually listen when they tell you things.
Contact Info:
- Website: breeannakay.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/breeannakayphotography
- Facebook: Facebook.com/breeannakayphotography
Image Credits
These are all my images.