We recently connected with Danielle Ambry-Fogarty and have shared our conversation below.

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

Being successful is all about taking risks and embracing your fears. Fear of failure and lack of self-confidence often hold us back from pursuing our dreams. However, taking imperfect action can lead to growth, learning experiences, and ultimately success. Failure may happen, but I urge you to NOT look at it as a negative outcome. Instead failure is an opportunity to become stronger and wiser, and to use that knowledge to achieve better outcomes in the future!

I remember when I first started in photography. It was really hard for me to transition from my corporate job as a graphic designer. With my safe corporate title. For me, “graphic designer” held so much weight and meaning. Plus I had spent so much time and energy and MONEY going to college to get this degree that landed me said job. I was so worried about what other people would think of me instead of just owning my path.

I mean I had a piece of paper, a degree, that said what I was! No one could question the fact that I was a designer! Let me just say it was a stark transition from that to purchasing my new camera and not knowing what all the little buttons meant on the back of my camera and expecting people to call me a photographer.

I actually remember the day I made my new Instagram page for my photography business. I was SO nervous to share it with my friends and family. Zero followers. No portfolio. I could have easily been swayed by the fact that there were a million other photographers out there doing amazing work. But instead of asking myself “Where or how would I fit into the industry?” I just kinda owned it.

And I don’t even want to know what my world would look like right now if I had let my fears hold me back. Instead I owned my new title of Photographer and I ran with it. Now I run a successful photography business, I’m my own boss and make my own schedule.

So it’s important to note that by taking action, even if it’s not perfect, you are moving forward and closer to your goals. Don’t let fear stop you from living out your dreams.

Danielle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Danielle Ambry-Fogarty is a born-and-raised midwest wife, photographer, educator and entrepreneur who aims for two things daily: to serve others with her photography and to be an educational resource for female business owners.

Danielle graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in 2011 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and a minor in Business Administration and Marketing. For the next seven years, Danielle would work in the advertising industry at several notable marketing firms in the St. Louis area. While her design work fulfilled her passions as a creative, there was something missing. Outside of her day job, Danielle began pursuing photography as a side hustle. In 2018, she made a life-changing decision when she purchased her first camera and decided to leave her 9-to-5 to pursue her passion for photography full time.

Danielle is now the proud owner of a luxury wedding photography business, Danielle Ambry Photography based in St. Louis and serving the Midwest and destinations including Mexico. In her first year Danielle photographed 29 weddings, and in her second year she achieved six figures for the very first time. By year three, she was building a team of photographers to work with her. Danielle Ambry Photography has won The Knot, Best of Weddings consecutively in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and was recently inducted into The Knot, Hall of Fame in 2023. Danielle also specializes in both commercial and personal branding sessions for business owners and entrepreneurs. With her background in marketing and design, Danielle is uniquely qualified to equip businesses with a cohesive and consistent set of images that convey quality and help to attract ideal clients.

Danielle’s newest venture is partnering with Ashley Nordman, of AN Skin & Beauty to found The CEO Tribe – a community dedicated to bridging the gap between budding entrepreneurs and experienced CEOs. With this community, both aspiring and current female business owners are able to network and access resources to help them achieve the professional goals they set for themselves.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

To build a successful social media presence, you first need to find out which platform your target audience is using and focus on that. For me, it’s Instagram and TikTok. Personally, I’ve built my following by showing up on my stories almost everyday and sharing behind-the-scenes of my business. By pouring my personality into my channel, it helps my audience feel more connected to me and like they have a personal relationship with me. It’s true – everything is content! I’ve even invested in hiring assistants to film me behind the scenes. If this is an option for you and you have the funds to invest, I highly recommend doing so. If not, setting up a tripod can also work. The important thing is to make sure your content is visually appealing and engaging.

Engaging with others is also critical if you want to get engagement on your content. You can’t just be a ghost follower, you must engage with others by liking, re-sharing, commenting, and sending DMs. The algorithm factors in all of these metrics, so it’s important to give engagement in order to receive it. It’s truly the circle of life for social media!

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Yes! My side gig has now become my full-time career! It’s funny because when I was a full-time graphic designer, my side hustle was photography. As I started dedicating more time to my photography, graphic design kinda become my side hustle. I used my graphic design skills to supplement my income and transition from leaving my 9-5 salary at the advertising agency to fully supporting myself independent of an employer.

It just goes to show that when you’re trying to transition to owning a full-time business, it’s important to have multiple streams of income or a backup plan to make money. Even though I technically don’t have a job using my college degree, it fully funded my current business, and I still use the skills I learned in college to this day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danielleambryphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielleambryphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanielleAmbryPhoto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleambry/
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@danielleaphotography

Image Credits
Danielle Ambry Photography, credit is me!