We recently connected with Dreah Photography and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dreah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Being a business owner is challenging but so worth it! I could never see myself doing anything else than what I’m doing now, capturing people’s love stories. I appreciate my life and the opportunity on doing what I love every single day and I thought about how my life would look like if I had a different job, a 9-5, and honestly… it makes me sad only thinking about it! I never take it for granted because getting to where I am now, it hasn’t been easy; there were many days when I felt like I’m not good enough or that my business won’t succeed, but it did. My hard work paid off and now I get to enjoy it so much that most of the times it doesn’t feel like I’m working.

Dreah , 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 gal born in Europe, that moved to the United States just a few years ago. I always had a passion for photography and I pursued it on and off in my teenage years, but I started to take it serious a couple years before I moved to Phoenix. I went to a photography class to learn the basic things and started to take photos of all my family and friends. I knew that I want to be a photographer, but at that time this dream job was far from becoming a reality. You may wonder why I moved here… it’s because years back, when I was travelling, I met my now husband, who is originally from Chicago. He was living here, in Phoenix, and after a few years of doing long-distance, we decided that we can’t live apart anymore. So, here we are! I left everything, packed all my things in two suitcases and moved to the US not knowing how my future is going to be. Adventurous? Crazy? Maybe both!
It took me a little while to get used to my new life, being in different country, not knowing anyone apart from my husband, not having family or friends close was a definitely an odd period of my life. I wanted to pursue photography here and start a small business, but I was afraid of failing; I was doubting myself a lot, because I didn’t know how the photography market is here, what people like, or where should I start in the first place.
My husband was the one that encouraged me to pursue my dream, and he believed in me when I didn’t. If I am being honest, if I didn’t have his support, I wouldn’t be here today, and that’s a fact!
I started to reach out to people from the industry, offer my services so I can build a portfolio here and without even knowing, I was a photographer in the United States.
Building my brand was one of the most challenging and beautiful things I have ever done, and I am proud of it. You asked me what is something that sets me apart, and I would say my heart for people. I am not just someone’s photographer, that comes to take your photos and leaves. I love to develop a special relationship with all my clients, and with some of them I became close friends. I love being the one that tells your story the way it is, raw, authentic; capturing your everyday love. The type of story that you will show your grandchildren one day.

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

My personality and the love for people and for what I do, for sure. To build a reputation in a saturated market like photography isn’t easy. There are so many other talented photographers and creatives in Phoenix, which can make it difficult to stand out. I recently started to offer mentorships for new photographers, where I teach them everything they need to know to start a photography business, and I always tell them: your work alone will take you so far. Something else needs to be behind the brand and the photos you take, and that’s you.
People love to connect with a real person behind any brand, and they need to be authentic, they need someone that they can relate to, that understands them and that doesn’t see them as a dollar sign.
Developing a relationship with my clients and other small business owners in the industry helped me the most on building my reputation. I am trying my best to offer an amazing experience for anyone that’s working with me, because in my opinion, it’s one of the most important things that you can do as a small business owner. Every client is so different, and they have different visions and needs, and you need to be open for a challenge.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I feel like social media is the most important asset when it comes to a small business. Without a social media presence, I can’t see how a brand can succeed; we are all on our phones all day everyday, and being in front of people is crucial for selling your product/services. When I started building my brand, I started a new and fresh Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest accounts, and I had 3 followers: my parents and my husband. Although is not easy to start fresh, it’s the best, most organic way to grow your following.
The best advice I can give for someone just starting to build an online presence would be to just post, all the time. I know that reading this you might say that “of course you have to post”, but I feel like many people and small business owner hold back from posting because they may be thinking that their work is not good enough yet, they need to grow more and post the “perfect” photo, or that their feed needs to match perfectly with previous posts. That is the worst thing you can do for your online growth. People love to see what you created, what you worked on and they love diversity. Holding back from posting until you make it “perfect” is going to cost you, and not only business, but people will forget about you.
I learned this the hard way, I was exactly the person I described, I was stressing so much about my photos not looking the same, until one day I realised that people don’t really care about that, but they care about your growth, your failure, your struggle. As I said before, they need to relate to the person behind the brand, and people easily lose their interest in seeing a perfect person and a perfect brand all the time.
With that being said, just post. Be proud of your work, show everybody that you are working hard towards your dream, be in front of people at all times, and your social media will grow with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dreahphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreahphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074262951440&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: Pinterest: https://pin.it/5h9Ueof