We recently connected with Dan Cox and have shared our conversation below.

Dan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

This is something I go back and forth on all the time. At this current moment, I am happy being a business owner. I love the freedom to work at my own pace and take time off when needed. I also love the ability to express myself freely to my own standards rather than having to represent a company.

There are times where this job becomes overwhelming though, and it would be nice to delegate responsibilities or to have the safety net of a regular job. I have been burned out so many times throughout my career and have never had anybody else there to pick up the slack. There are times where I am either lacking motivation, not believing in my own abilities, depressed, etc., and I kind of wish everything didn’t ultimately fall on me.

Last year, I had a family emergency which had me visiting the hospital every single day for a month. During that time, I stopped working entirely–aside from shooting weddings. I don’t think that I would have been able to do that with a regular job and felt super fortunate with the flexibility. The only problem with this is that I had to make up all of the work that I pushed aside. So, a month backlog of editing and emails stacked on top of everything else. It was a lot to get through and it felt like I was drowning. I wished I had someone to help or even a situation where I wasn’t responsible for every aspect of my business. Getting through that time was incredibly challenging. I wish I could say there was something I learned from it, but it honestly just sucked. I am very lucky that my clients were all super understanding and patient with me, though.

Dan, 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?

I have been a photographer since I was a teenager. I used to do live music photography because I thought it would be a cool way to get friends on MySpace. I was then a music journalist for five years or so. I got into wedding photography after leaving the music industry and second shooting a few weddings. Right now, I only shoot wedding and engagement photos and think it will be that way for the foreseeable future.

I think what sets me apart is what sets anyone in an artistic field apart and that is just having my own perspective and way of doing things. I’m fortunate that people seem to like the way I take and edit photos but there is very little intention in how I approach anything artistic. I think most of this job is finding a way to connect with clients. I honestly just try to be the ultimate hype-man on a wedding day and make sure that everyone is feeling great about themselves.

The main thing that I want potential clients to know is that I try to harbor a safe environment for them since it can be vulnerable to have your photo taken. I also do not tolerate any form of bigotry so if you are a racist or homophobe or xenophobe, I don’t want to work with you.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Just making sure that couples and their wedding party have a good time and feel great about themselves on their wedding day. Obviously producing quality work is important but I think more clients remember how they felt than anything.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Yeah I think Karl Marx has had some really great thoughts that influence how I view entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy. Can’t recommend his work enough.

Contact Info:

• Website: dancoxphoto.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/dancoxphoto
• Facebook: facebook.com/dancoxphoto

Image Credits
Personal portrait of me: Jacquelyn Genevieve (https://www.instagram.com/jacquelyn.genevieve)  All other photos were taken by me