Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chelsea Nye & Melissa Shanahan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Chelsea Nye & thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Creating success is in the details of problem solving and not getting wrapped up in the idea of success. It’s about every decision, critical thought, and plan, combined with unending drive to reach your targets. Plans are ever evolving and take time to implement, so when you finally reach a milestone, you are already working towards the next objective(s). Taking on challenges and not letting fear or inexperience stop you from trying. Every step you take to move your business and career forward is an opportunity to learn, learn about process and what works, navigating and troubleshooting issues, making quick decisions, and trusting yourself to pivot when something isn’t working.

Chelsea Nye &, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We’re Melissa Amy Shanahan and Chelsea Rose Nye, East Coast based Co-Founders and Freelance Commercial Photographer Duo behind Amy Rose Photography & Motion. We specialize in crafting specific lighting scenarios and stories that encourage connection through our captures, that blend seamlessly with our client’s brand and aesthetic. Our client list included Magnolia, Wayfair, Birch Lane, All Modern, Joss & Main, Berkshire Blanket, Wolverine Worldwide, Perigold, Brilli, Innocor, and Mackenzie & Co, to name a few. We are dedicated to customer experience and make great efforts to ensure the experience of working with us is fulfilling and impactful. We pride ourselves for being quick on our feet, problem solvers, passionate artists, and determined to achieve our goals as business owners and creatives.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

We both feel extremely lucky that we’re able to make a career and business out of our creativity. That’s not the case for a lot of artists out there and we get it! We each got into the profession through different avenues. Growing up, Chelsea was surrounded by the arts so no surprise when she was a kid and got her fist camera (a disposable!) she fell in love with photography. Chelsea began working in a professional studio as a teenager and launched her career. Melissa, on the other hand, had a job in communications (originally thinking she would ultimately retire in that field) before realizing how unfulfilling it was and decided to switch careers. As scary as that was, she persevered, went back to school, and worked tirelessly to polish her craft. The ethos behind the work is the moment when the client sees the imagery for the first time and is completely blown away because they can experience their idea/concept as a real thing. Experiencing that on-set is the ultimate reward!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

We came together as a duo and created Amy Rose in 2019. At that time, no one could have predicted what the next few years would bring. To be honest, if we had known, we likely would have gone in another direction. After doing all of the behind-the-scenes work to develop the business (on top of working for clients!), we had a launch party in March 2020, two weeks later the pandemic forced us to shut down. We were devastated. Those first few weeks of the shutdown were a huge blow, we felt lost and scared for the future of our new business. But we took a step back and asked ourselves ‘what are the things in our control and what action can we take?’ When we changed our perspective from doom and gloom, to taking action, things began to fall in place. It wasn’t easy by any means, but we carried on and made it work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theamyrose.com
• Instagram: @the.amyrose
• Facebook: @AmyRosePhotoAndMotion
• Linkedin: @amyroseproductionsllc
• Youtube: @amyroseproductions
• Other: www.amyroseproductions.com (photo studio website) Instagram @amyroseproductions

Image Credits
Bio Picture credit Mark James Dunn