We were lucky to catch up with Elissa Pace recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Owning a business in a saturated industry calls for bucking the standards. One of the biggest challenges is finding ways to customize your clients’ experience in your own personal way. It’s so easy to compare yourself to others in the industry and feel like you’re not doing enough. Being myself, encouraging communication and making a connection with my clients is something I do that I believe is vastly different from the standard.

Elissa, 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?

I am a wedding photographer in the Dallas area going on 4 years. I capture weddings for romantic, elegant, modern, madly in love couples. I not only serve the DFW area, but also travel all over as a side kick to my couples capturing engagements and weddings. I have a heart to serve and a love for creating beautiful things. When I see my couples on their wedding day, I want to feel like more than their photographer. I’m their friend. And I emphasize how willing and open I am to be there for them each step of the way!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Starting my business was a bit of a slower process for me. Instead of taking out a loan, using a credit card or making payments, I chose to buy each of my equipment slowly as I had the money. Working a full time job allowed me to set aside money to save up for equipment. When I first started, I was either not charging at all or charging very little. So I used my full time job to pay my bills and survive, while saving every penny from my business to buy my equipment, put out ads and increase my clients’ experience.

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

I wish I knew of the many educational resources for wedding photographers out there when I first started photography. When I first started photography, I knew I ultimately wanted to be a wedding photographer but thought it would take me years and years to get there. Once I discovered the many resources and courses offered by incredibly talented wedding photographers (ie. Katelyn James, Amy & Jordan, etc.), I quickly realized that wedding photography wasn’t quite so far out of reach. One other incredibly helpful resource is the community within the wedding photography industry. There are so many amazing people that helped me get to where I am today and I just wish I could have met them sooner.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elissapace.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/elissapacephoto
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/elissapacephoto

Image Credits
Elissa Pace Photography