We were lucky to catch up with Emma Cleary. recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Emma, thanks for joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
When people look at my company today, they often assume it grew overnight. In reality, scaling up took years of experimentation, persistence, and refining what worked. When I first started, I didn’t just shoot weddings—I tried everything: fashion, events, corporate jobs, commercial shoots, and family portraits. Exploring these different areas taught me not only technical skills but also how to work with a wide range of clients and creative demands. Over time, I realized weddings were where my passion and the market aligned best, and that became our main focus. But today, our studio still covers all those areas—weddings, commercial work, corporate events, and family photography—because each one has shaped who we are.
The growth really came when I stopped thinking of myself as just a solo photographer and started running a studio. At first, I handled everything—shooting, editing, client communication—but there are only so many hours in a day. As demand grew, I began building a team of photographers and videographers, training them to work in a consistent style so our clients could trust they’d receive the same quality regardless of who was behind the camera. We added an editing team, created detailed workflows, and established backup systems to handle the unexpected.
Along the way, I learned how important it is to prepare and systemize as much as possible. When you scale, every detail matters—timelines, processes, client communication, even how files are named and backed up. Planning and accounting for every step ensures consistency and protects both the client experience and the artistry. Those lessons became the backbone of how our studio operates today.
Looking back, scaling wasn’t glamorous. It was years of testing, reworking, and gradually building a structure that could support more clients without losing the personal touch. But that’s also what makes our studio strong today: we’re versatile, experienced across multiple areas of photography, and able to deliver consistent, high-quality work at scale.
Emma, 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?
About Me & My Business
I’ve always been drawn to storytelling through images, and photography became the perfect outlet for that passion. When I first started out, I explored many different areas of the craft—shooting fashion, events, commercial projects, corporate work, and family portraits. Each experience taught me new skills and broadened my perspective. Over time, I discovered that weddings felt like the perfect intersection of art, storytelling, and human connection. Capturing the emotions of a wedding day—moments that can never be recreated—was something I felt called to do.
That was the beginning of Emma Cleary Photo & Video, which has since grown into a full-service photography and videography studio. While weddings are our primary focus, we continue to serve clients across corporate events, commercial shoots, family sessions, and more. Our goal is to provide high-quality, consistent imagery while offering the reassurance of a trusted, experienced team.
For our clients, we solve two big challenges: trust and consistency. Planning a wedding or event is stressful enough, and couples or companies need to know they’re in capable hands. We provide a team that is not only creative but also reliable—insured, prepared with backup systems, and trained to deliver seamless coverage. Because we’re a studio rather than a single photographer, we’re able to match clients with the right team members for their vision and ensure that no matter what happens, their memories will be beautifully preserved.
What sets us apart is that balance of artistry and professionalism. Our work has an editorial, timeless quality, but it’s never forced or overly trendy. We believe in true-to-life colors, elegant black and white, and capturing people as they really are. At the same time, we’re proud of the structure we’ve built behind the scenes—processes that make everything run smoothly for our clients.
I’m most proud of the relationships we’ve built over more than a decade. We’re trusted by some of New York’s top venues and planners, and we’ve had the privilege of documenting thousands of meaningful moments for families, couples, and brands. What I want potential clients to know is this: when you work with us, you’re not just hiring someone to take pictures—you’re hiring a team that genuinely cares about your story, is invested in your experience, and is committed to delivering timeless imagery that will matter just as much fifty years from now as it does today.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
The funny thing is, I really did start with nothing. In fact, I sold my first wedding packages before I even owned a camera. That leap of faith was the push I needed to invest in the right equipment and start building a career. From there, every dollar I earned went straight back into the business—upgrading gear, building a website, marketing, and eventually creating the systems that allowed me to expand into a full studio.
I never had outside funding or investors; it was all organic growth. I took on all kinds of photography work in the early days—fashion, commercial jobs, events, families, and weddings—and used those earnings to gradually scale. That resourcefulness and scrappiness shaped how I run the business even today: always reinvesting, always improving, always making sure the client experience comes first.
Looking back, starting with no camera and just determination feels a little wild, but it taught me that you don’t need everything figured out to begin. Sometimes you just need the courage to take the first booking and the discipline to keep building from there.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t always practice what I preach when it comes to social media—but the good news about working in weddings is that your clients and their guests can naturally become your audience. Weddings are inherently social events, and if you approach them strategically, you can grow quickly. One of the best things you can do is upload previews to Instagram right away. Share sneak peeks first with your couple, collect their information, and invite them to collaborate on posts if they’re active on Instagram. That way, your work gets shared not just to their feeds but to all of their friends and family too.
Another strategy is to use your slow season wisely. When you’re not in the middle of wedding coverage, create reels or carousels with helpful tips for couples—things like what to wear for engagement photos, how to plan timelines, or what shots not to miss on a wedding day. This type of content positions you as an expert while also keeping your account active and growing.
Social media can be time-consuming, and that’s why I joke that I don’t always keep up with my own advice. But even if you’re not posting every day, being intentional with the content you do share—sneak peeks, collaborations, and educational posts—can go a long way in building an engaged audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://emmacleary.com
- Instagram: emmaclearyphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmaclearyphotography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-cleary-b3618323/
Image Credits
Emma Cleary Photo and Video