Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cassandra Grant. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cassandra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
I would have to say my mom, Sharon, is my hero. We’ve been through quite a lot together, and I’ve always admired how freaking strong she is, how much she truly cares about people whether they are strangers or not, and how she always perseveres through whatever life throws at her. She’s been through breast cancer, divorce, working a job she hated, raising 3 kids, to finding a job (jobs) that she absolutely loves. Growing up she always encouraged us to express ourselves so we could figure out who we are. I’m talking dying my hair every color under the sun and cutting it in many different hair styles (and her getting up at 5 a.m. to help me do it), wearing those dreadful hot topic pants (yes the ones with the chains back in the day), going through huge tomboy phases wearing mens cargo shorts and tight tee’s, trying out different hobbies and sports, dating a wild array of people, doing a very pubic singing competition in front of the town, enduring up-all-night sleepovers, mission trips, and my teenage rebellion years. Had I not been able to express myself and figure out who I am, I would probably be a very different person than I am today. For that I will forever be thankful.
Growing up my parents were always super supportive of whatever journey we wanted to take after high school as well. They always encouraged us to experiment and figure out what we love, and to find a job doing that because “that job is something you will be doing for the rest of your life, so you might as well show up to something that you love doing.” She was always so supportive of my photography journey even if I didn’t know what the future held. She let me use her original film camera and purchased all the film for me. I remember taking trips as a teenager and taking that film camera with us and taking pictures of everything I could. She even taught me how to use it a bit. She would take me to Sam’s Club, Costco, and Walgreens back in the day to get it developed and I always loved getting it back and getting the prints. It was so cool, and I couldn’t get enough of it. When I decided to go to photography school, she bought me my first ever camera(s), and to this day still wants to help me buy new gear. She still has a couple photos I took hanging up in her den… and let me tell you, it’s great to look back and see how much I’ve grown and that I never fully gave up on it.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned from her is that showing love and kindness is important. She has worked as a nurse for as long (and longer) than I’ve been alive, and that is the one job that has always brought her joy. I always get to hear her talk about how much she cares for people inside and outside the hospital and I can tell how much she truly cares about each of her patients. She was there for me when we had our kid. She has taken middle of the night calls from friends of mine who were having a rough time, or having babies, and she would always make the effort to follow up with them and to visit them. She goes out of her way to make people feel loved and to be there for them whether they live close or far away. So when I started really focusing on this business and the experience I am giving my clients, love and kindness made the top of the list. Because everyone deserves to feel loved and treated with kindness.
I still learn new things from her all the time, but the thing I will forever be grateful for is her presence. I never actually moved far from home, I’m currently 2 hours away, but she has always consistently been there for me whether it is on the phone or in person. She would drive 2 hours round trip to have lunch with me at a previous job. She helped me pack and move several times. She had sleepovers and watched trashy girly movies with me. She answers my calls at all hours of the night. Drove my husband and I to the hospital when it was time to deliver our kid. And, now drives 4 hours round trip to visit just about every week so she can have a relationship with our kid and watch him grow up. For that I will be thankful for the rest of my life. This is just a glimpse into everything I love about this woman, and I can’t imagine doing life without her. I love you with my whole heart Mamma! <3
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?
My name is Cassandra Grant, but you can call me Cassie – like Sassy Cassie. I am a Wedding and Family Photographer based right outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. I’ve been married to my high school sweetheart Mitch for 6 years, and we have a 2-year-old wild child named McCalla. We also have two dogs named Claude Van Damme Grant and Margaret Rose Grant. If that wasn’t chaotic enough, I also work full time as an e-learning graphic designer/developer.
Photography has always been something I was interested in. In high school I was able to attend two different schools – my “home” high school and a technical high school called “Career Center”. I took most of my core classes at my home school and was able to choose some technical classes at the other one. I remember vividly the decision being between cosmetology and photography. Both seemed super exciting and like something I would enjoy! Ultimately, I chose the photography class, and absolutely loved it. I learned how to properly shoot film, use a light meter, develop my own film, and print my own prints in the dark rooms at the school. It was always like magic watching the pictures develop in the darkroom. I got to participate in photography competitions and won first place the first year, and third place the second year. Which meant I got to travel to the national competition! I placed 13th in the nation! It was such a wild experience to travel and compete in something that I loved. After that, I decided I wanted to continue my journey of photography into college and attended Randolph Community College. While in school they taught us everything we could possibly know about the history of photography and how to properly use our cameras. The entire first year was nothing but black and white film from small format (35mm) to large format (4″x5″). It was challenging but so darn fun. The second year, we were required to pick a concentration – Portrait Photography, Photojournalism, or Commercial Photography (there might be one I’m missing). I chose the commercial photography route and learned everything about photographing products. After that I did two internships with Kreber and ended up with a job offer when I graduated! I worked there learning all about photographing products and creating some fun coworker and client relationships! It was so much fun! It was also during my time there that I realized how much I missed photographing people. So when I left that job 3.5 years later and moved to Raleigh for love, I told myself I would freelance for a little bit.
In 2014, I was working in restaurants and decided I was going to go back to school to learn about graphic design at the local community college here. It was really fun to focus on something different and learn all these new skills in Photoshop and Illustrator. Learning everything about type, fonts, spacing, etc. and that there could be a job doing that. I felt like it went hand-in-hand with photography and would be really beneficial for my future. I was still taking on random photo sessions here and there, but it wasn’t anything consistent. So I ended up losing my spark and not doing it for a while. So much for that freelancing right?
Flash forward to 2017 where I was hired as an Associate E-Learning Graphic Designer for my current day job. I finally have a job where I could be creative and have stable income (and insurance). It is exciting! I work with some amazing people, have learned about about making training courses for healthcare professionals. I have even been able to utilize my photography skills to help with custom photo and video shoots. I ended up finding that photography spark again all because of a co-worker who was also on his own photography journey. He always talked about the sessions he did, and how much he loved it and wanted to make it a full-time job. Up until then, I never realized that being a photographer could be a full-time job. It lit a spark it me to pick up my camera again, even if it was to take pictures of my friends. I remember the first paid session I got after that was headshots for my husband’s boss! It was so fun and exciting to photograph people again, and to be creative away from the computer. After that, I made a point to talk to people about my passion for photography and was able to do it more often! I even gained clients from my day job, who are still repeat clients to this day!
After that I took on second shooting gigs for weddings and attended a couple different photography educational workshops and styled shoots. It was so much fun to be back behind the camera again doing something I loved. In 2020, I booked my first ever wedding photography client! I was so excited but realized quickly that I was going to need to file some sort of legal paperwork to become a business – because I received a check written to my business! So, in the middle of the COVID pandemic, I filed to be a business. I honestly didn’t think it was something I would ever do, but that one push was everything that I needed. I ended up taking on more sessions and trying to figure out how to run a business. In 2021, I received a message from my coach Kate about a Leading Lady Photog (LLP) Mastermind she was putting together, and how it was going to focus on how to run a successful and effective photography business. Of course, I signed up, and it was then that I made a promise to myself, “I will never stop doing this because it makes me happy!” Up until I took that class, I never thought I would ever make that big-wild dream of being a full-time photographer a reality. But 9 months later and two LLP courses later, I am working towards becoming a full-time photographer! I haven’t left my day job, but I have hopes to within 3-5 years!
Okay, so now that you may have made it through my long-winded story above, here’s more about my core business value, why I do what I do, and why I feel it’s important!
I am a Wedding and Family Photographer. I chose and love both types of photography because I am documenting a story for my clients. I am documenting different parts of their love story, their adventures, their growth every year, new additions, and their very important loved ones. The one thing I have learned over the years is that we aren’t on this Earth forever, so having photos of and with our loved ones is meaningful and important. This is something I value and take with me into every session I document. They are welcoming me into their lives to document some very intimate moments and I always take this as an honor that they feel comfortable enough and trust me enough to share these moments with me. So with that realization, I started treating each of my clients like family because they are welcoming me into their family, and I am welcoming them into mine. I started at the very staged posing the first couple years but began moving towards the very candid style over the last 2-3 years. I made this decision for one big reason – yes staged and posed photos are nice with the big cheesy smiles, but the candid ones show the relationship, the love, the happiness that they all share together. They capture some of the beautiful raw emotions that we remember the stories behind. They capture how parents interact with their kids, and how siblings run around and play with each other. They show how your grandparents look at each other and how grandpa is drooling just a little because he was laughing so hard and kept giving my grandma bunny ears and “she paid to have me take their photos as a professional.” They show how your partner makes you laugh that deep belly laugh because the favorite thing from their first date was “the steak!” Those are the emotions I want to capture and have hanging up in my house of my own family, so I try my hardest to capture those for my clients.
It has been fun and eye opening to watch (and read here) how much my journey has changed over the past 12 years and even the past 2 years. It’s also amazing to realize how much I’ve grown as a person, how my outlook of owning and running a business has changed, and how I am finally working towards making my dream come true.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?
For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of being in the creative field is being able to touch and capture so many people’s lives with my craft. I chose photography because I feel that preserving the memories of my clients and my own family are important and meaningful. They are welcoming me into some very intimate moments in their lives. They are openly sharing their lives with me and trusting me to document them. When they hire me, they are trusting me to document them and their loved ones to preserve those moments in time – right now. I want them to always look back and think “I love the way Grandpa laughed and always gave Grandma bunny ears!” or “Look at that cute squishy laugh our kid had when she was younger.” or “Look how beautiful my mom was!” or “I can tell that mom really loves dad by the way they look at each other.” because those are the moments I want to capture and remember with my own family. Our family wont ever look back and judge us for how we looked, what we wore, or what weight we were. They will look at their photos remember the relationships they had with their family and friends, all the laughs that were shared, the family vacations, the friend dates, and the movie nights with blanket picnics in the living room. These sessions have allowed me to create meaningful and amazing relationships with people in my community and I will forever be grateful they choose me.
If you’ve ever considered hiring a photographer – Do It! I promise you will never regret it because you will forever have those pictures to hold on to and remember your people.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
In all honesty the two biggest streams of gaining new clients for me over the past couple of years are: “word-of-mouth” referrals and social media. Up until the pandemic hit a majority of clients came from my full time job and have been repeat clients since. They have been amazing for word-of-mouth referrals for their friends and families.
Social media has also played a pretty big role in bookings over the past year or two. Over the past 8 months I really tried to put more effort in showing up consistently and trying to educate my clients on planning sessions, what to expect on wedding days, wedding photography tips, and so much more. When I started doing that, I noticed more interactions and more interest in folks booking my services.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.momentsgranted.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momentsgrantedstudios/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momentsgranted
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandragrant/
Image Credits
Images by Amber Robinson Amaris Photo