We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dominique Allen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dominique below.
Dominique, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I used to over think what it takes to be successful. I thought I had to either be the smartest person in the room, or have a ton of money, or have a natural gift. I have discovered that none of that matters. I think it takes one thing to be successful in anything you do. That is grit. Grit in the face of adversity, obstacles, and most important of all REJECTION. When you own a buisness you are going to face rejection on a daily basis in someway or another. You have to fuel yourself with optimism and belief that you will suceed despite the hard things that come along with owning a buisness. Having grit makes it so that you won’t let your circmustances limit or define you. You are in control of your destiny.
Dominique, 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?
My name is Dominique! I am a 27 year old mama to 1 and I own a boudoir studio and wedding photography buisness. I started photography as a way to be home during the day with my son and have a flexible schedule. However, it quickly became so much more than that. I fell in love with the art of photography. I also fell in love with who I was when I was taking photos. It brought out a confidence in my I never had before.
I mainly focus on wedding photography and boudoir photography. I love weddings because they are a story. The story of one of the most beautiful and emotional days of your life. Getting to capture that and add my own creative touch is such a blessing. It’s not lost on me that a lot of people have jobs where the regularly see people on the worst day of their life, so getting to be with people on the best days of their life is the most amazing thing and I find myself having so many pinch my moments when I am working.
I love boudoir because it is so empowering. I love getting to see. the look on womens faces when I show them a sneak peek of my camera and they are in complete awe that that is really them. The human body is so beautiful to me and I love showing women of all shapes and sizes that they are beautiful just the way they are,
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
CONSISTENCY. Showing up on social media is like another job sometimes. It can be really exhausting at times and it’s really easy to burnout. However, I have found that if I show up consistantly for my target audience it pays off. I think sometimes its easy to fall into the trap of posting for other photographers and being worried about what they will think, but I try to remind myself to focus on clients and potential clients and that has paid off for me.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Giving the best client experience I possibly can and holding space for my clients. I think of all the possible ways I can go the extra mile for them and I make it my goal from start to finish with my clients to make the experience about them 100%. Client referrals have been my main source of new clients recently and that has been such an amazing feeling knowing that people are so happy with their eperience that they share with their friends and family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shotbydomnm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shotbydomllc/
Image Credits
They were all my photos