Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dana Goodemote . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dana , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.

I began my full-time business at the age of 22, and it took off right away. My primary focus was wedding photography. Being a woman and marrying young, I had a large, relatable clientele that wanted to hire me. This was back in 2007 when the industry was more male-dominated than female-led. I started booking 30 or more weddings a year and continued to do so for about nine years.

In 2016, I wanted to diversify my business and added portraits to our offerings. I took on a business partner, my best friend at the time, who had been working with me for the past eight years. We rented a studio space and thought clients would flock to us, but that didn’t happen. It was a struggle to attract people to our studio, even with a pre-existing clientele. I was still photographing 30 or more weddings a year, and this continued until 2023. Our partnership was a disaster, and it wasn’t until she decided to leave after a year that the portrait business really took off.

I knew I needed help to grow into the next phase of the portrait business. It was very difficult, as I was essentially running two full-time businesses on my own, which was never my intention. So, I hired a business coach and worked with her for a year. It helped me get into the mindset I needed to succeed. The businesses were doing well, but I was exhausted, and my family and personal life were suffering. I knew I needed to pivot once again, and this decision came at the end of 2019, just before COVID hit.

With COVID, weddings were being canceled left and right, and my studio was shut down. I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to niche down and focus on what I really wanted to photograph. I hired another business coach in the genre I wanted to succeed in, which was Business Branding Photography. This decision was a game-changer. With a lot of hard work and significant investments in my company, I emerged from COVID having one of my most profitable years ever.

What I’ve learned through the last 16 years of business is that when it gets hard, doubling down is essential. The most difficult points in my career have been the most significant times of upleveling for my business. Don’t give up when it gets tough because you’re likely right at the cusp of something great on the other side.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Dana Goodemote, and I am a professional photographer specializing in business branding photography for small businesses. I help business owners step out from behind their logos and get in front of the camera because people want to do business with individuals they like, know, and trust. It’s crucial to be visible to your potential clients, and that’s where I come in. I assist my clients in creating a strategy for their personal brand within their business, and from there, we create images that capture that strategy. These images are used on their websites, social media, and in print marketing materials.

I have been a professional photographer for over 20 years. My journey began with photographing weddings in high school, and from there, I pursued a college education at Villa Maria, majoring in photography. I graduated with an associate’s degree in photography and fine art. Before opening my own studio in 2007, I gained experience by working with different photographers in both wedding and commercial photography. I have never worked outside of the field of photography; it has always been my career.

I started my business by photographing weddings and lifestyle portraits, eventually transitioning to studio-style portraits for women and branding photography for small businesses. It hasn’t always been an easy path, but it has been a successful one overall. Along the way, I’ve learned not only about running a business but also about myself.

I am most proud of not giving up and consistently pushing forward in my business. My primary goal has always been to help others feel beautiful, and my camera provides the means to do that. I love capturing an individual’s personality and essence, and I am a people person through and through. Learning my clients’ stories, who they are, where they’ve been, and where they want to go brings me great joy. Telling their stories through my lens is fulfilling for me, and I take pride in helping others leave a visual legacy.

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

In 2016, I took on a business partner to expand a new genre within my business. She was my best friend at the time and had been working with me for several years. I believed it would be a great fit, but it wasn’t. She had never run a business before and approached it with an employee mindset, while I came in with a business-oriented perspective. I knew it would be challenging, and we wouldn’t be making money right away, but it proved to be even more difficult than I had anticipated.

At that point, I had been working by myself for eight years. I had a hard time delegating, and she struggled with self-motivation. We often had disagreements, although we would reconcile afterward. Unfortunately, our negative energy was driving clients away. We weren’t working together effectively, and we couldn’t attract clients to our business. Despite both of us trying to make it work, the business was losing money, and I had to use funds from my other business to keep it afloat.

Towards the end of our partnership, she wasn’t contributing in any way and decided to leave. During this period, I experienced a miscarriage, the loss of my dog, a strained marriage, and I wasn’t being a present mother to my daughter. I was on the brink of bankruptcy, and it was a very dark time in my life. However, I knew there was more life to live, and this wasn’t the end of my story. It took me about a year to heal from this experience.

I learned a great deal about myself during this challenging period, and I was able to mend my relationships and my business. One of the key lessons I’ve learned is that life can either shape the person you become or you can choose the person you want to be. Today, my business is thriving, my marriage has never been better, and my daughter and I are best friends.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I asked for help earlier in my career. I started hiring business coaches about five years ago, since then my business has grown rapidly. If I had the courage to invest in coaches earlier I would be much further than I am now.

Contact Info:

• Website: adorephotostudio.com
• Instagram: adorephotobuffalo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adorephotostudio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-goodemote/

Image Credits
adore photo studio