We recently connected with Dj Harrington and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dj, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

The biggest risk I took as a business owner was becoming a business owner. I enjoyed photography and videography as a hobby for years, and even had friends and family reaching out to pay me for photoshoots every so often, but every time I tried to take the business seriously something would come up that prevented me from doing so. In early 2023 I officially LLC’d my business, and intended on picking it up on the weekends and attempting to gain more clientele outside of my friends and family. I had just left my job of 5 years to pursue locksmithing at a local company. At the same time my wife had just left her job of 2 years to pursue a new career opportunity. We had a lot of moving parts going on. Within my first week of the locksmithing job, I felt like I had made the wrong choice of leaving my previous job. It was very clear that it was not going to be a good fit for me. I remember coming home from work one day and telling my wife, “Man, I hate that if I stay at this job I am going to be putting so much work into someone else’s business, instead of mine”. That’s when she replied back with, “Maybe it’s time to just take the leap and see where your photography can take you full-time”. We didn’t know how it would go. The market is extremely saturated in my area, and photography sessions are considered a luxury to most people. Within the first six months of business I was able to gain quite a few new clients, most of which were strangers, and it became very apparent that I was going to be able to feasibly maintain the business. Fast forward to today and I have now opened my own photography studio that is available to other local photographers in the area, and my wife and I are shooting 15-20 weddings a year with dates booking 3 years out already. We didn’t know things were going to be this way. It was a true risk for us to rely on being able to provide for our family without knowing where our income would be coming from, but it worked in our favor. The timing was right, our passion was apparent, and our clients mean the world to us. The risk was more than worth the reward.

Dj, 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 am a Michigan-based photographer that specializes in couples, weddings, families, etc. I started photography in 2016 as a hobby, and made it my full time job in 2023. Since then, my company has grown exponentially. Not only have we won several local awards, but we have been published in several magazines, sponsors several local sports teams and events, and even opened our own photography studio. Within the next couple years we are hoping my wife can also work for the company full-time as we continue to grow.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I started photography and videography as a hobby in high school. I remember telling my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife) that I was saving us to buy a camera I really wanted. After several months of saving my earnings from my one day a week movie theater job, I was able to buy my first DSLR for $300. I started taking pictures of anything that would let me take pictures of it. Mainly my wife, myself (with the help of a tripod), my car, and friends. Over time I had friends reach out for photos of their cars, or pictures with their significant other, and I would do a couple paid sessions a year for fun. I always wanted to do photos more often, but I never took the jump. It was never the right time. In early 2023 my cousin asked me to do maternity pictures for her. This was shortly after I LLC’d my business because I really wanted to try and make photography a solid side hustle. Around this same time, I was starting a new job that obviously became a bad fit for me pretty quickly. I finally took the jump shortly after and took things full time. Within the first month of taking things full time I was able to save up enough money to buy my next camera and lens. I believe it was $1500 for both. That camera really helped me learn and grow, but it only stuck around for a few months before I was upgrading again. I now have more cameras and camera gear than you could imagine, and I pinch myself every morning wondering how I got this far.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner is my wife. She was there when I bought my first $300 DSLR camera in high school, and she was the main model for me when I wanted to try something new with my camera. Sometimes she complained, but she always let me use her for my ideas. After high school we got engaged, bought a house, got married, ya know, all of those things. During that time, she pursued two degrees. One in Marketing and One in Entrepreneurship. She always knew she wanted to start/run a business, but every time someone asked her what kind of business she never had an answer. When the time came for me to take the leap to working for my photography business full-time, she was able to help with everything marketing and business related that I needed. Now we have a pretty good workflow. She handles most business and marketing back-end type work, while I focus on the creativity and everything needed for the actual deliverance of images.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.djharringtonphotography.com
• Instagram: @djharringtonphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djharringtonphotography

Image Credits

Emily Z Photography