We recently connected with Bridget Couwenhoven and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bridget thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I am first and foremost a mom, and being able to work while still being at home with my kids was very important to me as I was pursuing different career options. Wedding photography allows me the opportunity to be home with my two young children for most of the week, while also being able to work outside of the home. I average now about 25+ weddings per year, so that is 25 days I get to spend on one of the greatest milestones of my client’s lives. I absolutely love it.

I started out as a wedding photography assistant, not really knowing where that would lead me and not intending to necessarily shoot weddings for a living, I just wanted to be creative. I was then getting inquiries to shoot as lead photographer, and with the push of my friend and mentor started pursuing that. It started out small, 1-2 weddings at first then grew to about 10. I kept my day job until I was absolutely sure this is what I wanted to do and could no longer do both jobs. In that time, I worked hard on building up my equipment to be top tier, did several. mentorships across the country and tried to learn as much as I could through online workshops and podcasts. I devoted all my spare time, effort, energy and funds to building up my wedding photography because I knew I could be great and it would pay off in the long run when I could be home with my kids and still have a career.

Looking back, I don’t think I would have sped anything up. I think it was a good thing that I took my time before diving in to full-time weddings. I was able to truly build up my portfolio and take mentorships with the money I had from my day job, and I didn’t feel like I had to book clients if they weren’t a good fit. I think when you are just starting out, figuring out what makes you excited and alive within the photography realm is so important, and will pay dividends in the future if you take the time to really think through what makes you tick! For me, that is by far the wedding day.

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?

My name is Bridget Couwenhoven and I live in a suburb of St. Paul, MN. I am a wedding and engagement photographer and have been in the wedding industry for over 10 years now! I shoot weddings full-time and am also home with my two young kids during the week. They are ages 1 and 2 – it’s pure chaos. I have been married to my husband Luke for 14 years and he has wholeheartedly supported me in pursuing photography and is always encouraging me to continue to grow in my business. It’s sometimes hard as a mom to spend money or time away from your kids, but he is always there to help with them, take on more responsibility at home, and validate me that I can and should continue to pursue a career in weddings even in the midst of this busy season of life.

I am most proud of not only giving my clients beautiful images, but my demeanor throughout the wedding day. Nearly every wedding someone comments on how my attitude for the day has helped them stay calm, be more themselves, or helped them relieve stress. I also visibly love being at weddings and multiple clients comment on how that has a positive affect on them too. I try my hardest to help my clients see the big picture and thoroughly enjoy the day, even if minor details go wrong (as they inevitably do.) I love leaving the wedding feeling like I made about 20 new friends.

As far as the wedding images go, in helping my clients feel like they can be themselves in front of the camera, I hope that they see a natural candidness to the photos, with soft, clean editing.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Several years ago when I was considering going full-time in weddings I did a mentorship with India Earl in Utah. India is a relatively well-known international photographer and is obviously great at what she does. I wanted to learn more about how she captured what she did and also have her better direct me in my business.

I went into the mentorship meeting thinking I was a pretty good photographer at that point, but she saw me as a total amateur. I had a pricing guide I made myself in Microsoft Word, a super basic website, my editing wasn’t very refined, I was too shy to fully direct my clients, and I didn’t know how to make them feel comfortable. Prior to meeting India I wasn’t fully aware of any of these things. She took the time to speak into my business with a critical eye and made me 100x better for it. I left the mentorship nearly in tears (I did cry later) unsure at that point if I was cut out to be a professional photographer. After a few days of sulking, I deep down decided I wanted to continue to pursue photography, and had an iron will to fix all of the things she saw as amateur and better myself because of her critique. It was simultaneously the hardest and best thing I ever did for my business.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

When I was just starting to consider quitting my day job for photography I read a book called “You are a Badass at Making Money” by Jen Sincero. It helped me think through my pricing more comfortably, that I can charge an earnest living wage, and not feel like I have to give discounts. It’s a hilarious book with invaluable financial wisdom, a must read for anyone creating their own “salary.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bridgetcouwenhoven.com
• Instagram: @bridgetcouwenhoven

Image Credits

My profile photo was taken by Benj Haisch.