Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emily Bohannon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Emily, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?

I wish I had started my photography career sooner! In high school I practically lived in the art classroom. I always dreamed of doing something creative in my work life, but was told by everyone that I needed to become a teacher and so that’s what I went to college to study. Even starting out I knew I loved working with the children, but education was not my passion. Photography became a hobby of mine in middle school and I had my first paid client session before I graduated high school, but I never thought I could actually make a living from it.

As the COVID pandemic hit I was able to stay home more with our first baby and had time to consider options, so I decided to go to school for cosmetology! Again, it was something I was interested in and it was creative, but more importantly I was regularly reminded “everyone needs a haircut” so I thought it would be a “safe” option financially in the creative world.

While I did truly enjoy building a career in cosmetology, I found myself taking art commissions on the side and starting up a part time photography career. The photography business scaled quickly and soon I was making just as much as I did as an educator and was able to work flexible hours to stay home with my baby and still provide for our family.

I wouldn’t say I regret that I didn’t just start out in photography to begin with, because each degree and career gifted me with so many valuable life lessons that I believe all came together to help me be a successful self employed photographer and provide my clients with a great experience. But, I do regret not believing in myself as an entrepreneur earlier on. I played the comparison game and saw so many amazing creatives in my area and felt that I had nothing to add.

I would encourage any creative reading this that you can do it, and there’s only one you!

Emily, 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’m Emily, an eclectic artist and entrepreneur! I have had *many* careers over the years including: ESL education, art education, cosmetology, branding & graphic design, custom art commissions, and photography and videography.

I truly enjoy working in all areas of the creative world and feel that having experience in all these fields help me to combine all of them to give my clients a very personal and helpful experience!

I have always loved art, and am beyond grateful that I’m able to have an artistic career while spending time at home with my children!

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

As I mentioned earlier, my career had shifted from education into cosmetology right as the pandemic hit. Once I graduated cosmetology school and began working it was going well, but with the rise in inflation supplies for the salon industries were not spared. Within the first few months of working some of the essential items I needed nearly tripled in price meaning my prices for clients had to go up as well. Understandably, many clients had to spread their appointments out and I began to bring in less money monthly.

In addition to that I was not loving working so late into the evenings with a young child at home, and I was really missing photography that had previously been only a hobby.

I decided to advertise myself as a photographer initially to supplement some of my income, but it quickly grew and I was absolutely loving it!

I remember being asked to be a second shooter for my first wedding, and I was hooked. Later in the year I shot my first wedding, and the rest is history.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Initially I was very worried of how to start my business. I had a rather cheap camera and definitely no money laying around to purchase a new one. I took only small photo shoots at first and slowly began to scale and put back money towards a higher quality camera. I found that if I saved up and purchased things a little at a time I had the essentials and was able to fully launch my business!

My best advice is to go for it! Start with what little you have and build a business you love. You don’t have to have to most fancy equipment to get started. I still love many of the sessions I had with my old camera!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://photo.embocreativeco.com/
• Instagram: @em.bo.photoandfilm

Image Credits
Emily Bohannon Photo and Film