We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christora Osters. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christora below.

Christora , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

One of the keys to success is not searching for the biggest achievements every single day. Rather sitting down and doing “the next best thing” can often be enough to propel one forward toward reaching their goals. So many people feel the daunting weight of how massive a goal is and they never realize that by breaking it down into smaller attainable steps not only does success become more achievable, but its usually faster to accomplish than what they remembered.

For example, when I first started my photography business I was still a high school teacher and I remember thinking how will I find time during my day to do the things the photography business needs done while still giving what I need to give to my students. I started small by dedicating 30 minutes of time after school immediately when I arrived home to focusing on aspects of the business. From there I was able to build my stamina and find other ways to incorporate work into both periods of my life.

I also think success is about discipline and not motivation. Too many people find they are motivated in the beginning and when a small setback occurs they lose that sense of excitement that was propelling them forward. Success isn’t a the feeling; its an action. And that action is a muscle that needs to be flexed day after day in order to grow it big and strong.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Back in 2010 I was living abroad in China working for an organization that taught English teachers of Chinese origin how to teach English more efficiently. I was part of a team and one of the gentlemen who was traveling with me had two cameras with him. He allowed me to take photos with one of them and then in the evening we would compare our pics of the day. And gosh darn it! His were always better than mine. So with a competitive spirit, my love of photography was born.

I soon moved to Louisville, Kentucky to become a teacher myself and with the moving bonus I purchased my first DSLR. I didn’t use it though for three years, until one of my best friends became engaged and I offered to take engagement photos for her. I fell in love with the human aspect of photographs. The emotions, the in betweens, the laughter and the glances captured forevermore made me so giddy. The quality of the images though did not. So, I got to work. I Googled and YouTubed and bought courses and upgraded camera equipment until I booked my very first senior session.

From there my work with high school seniors started to grow. It was a natural transition since I was already an educator. Then, two years later, I was asked to photograph a student’s sister’s wedding. And that was the day Green Apple Weddings was truly born.

There is something about a wedding day that is incomparable. The excitement, the stress, the melancholy and joy, I love it all. A wedding is a compilation of moments, a collection of days past, and of hopes for the future. It isn’t just romantic love that goes into the day. It’s the love of a family, of friends who have seen you through your hardest challenges, and biggest successes. It’s the love of the person who you’ve chosen to spend your life with and the support of all of those around you to help recognize that while life is hard, and yes, this too will be hard, for this moment it is exhilarating and free.

I’m so proud of the brand I’ve built. We have ten members of our team and we all cultivate the same values. Those are: the authenticity of your day will help you remember how it felt for years to come, that being present is the only way to slow down time on the best day of your life, and that artwork, or wedding albums, are essential to remembering why you chose your person. I love that we get to spend weekends with others. It’s a service I wouldn’t change for anything.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have a relatively large following on social media and the saying is true. Being yourself, or being authentic, really is the only way to grow. I posted my fifth TikTok in 2020 and it went viral. It was a simple TikTok of me directing a bride and groom into poses and how to get a lot of options in not a lot of time. Finding a problem and presenting a solution that was applicable in most situations allowed me to grow exponentially. On Instagram I found that using humor was a way to connect with my audience and draw them in.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I believe that people don’t quit businesses, they quit bosses, so I take being the boss as an incredibly important role. One of than things I’ve found is that having a review process for employees is key. Unless there is something incredibly daunting they did we have a dedicated time to discuss performance where they also are expected to bring a vice versa review of me. I am willing to grow and learn alongside them and I consider our relationship more of a partnership than anything else. I recognize that I am nothing without them and they make my life exponentially easier. If they don’t understand something it usually has to do with my communication skills and not theirs and so I take it as an opportunity to learn and grow from. We are of the mentality that growth mindset is essential. People with a fixed mindset don’t do well within our company.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.greenappleweddings.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenapplephotoky/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenapplephotographyky

Image Credits

Green Apple Photography