We were lucky to catch up with Erica Connolly recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Erica, thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?
A musical changed my career trajectory! In 2022, I saw the musical Come From Away for the first time. It’s the true story of all the flights that were grounded in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, during the attacks on September 11th, 2001. The musical shares the many beautiful ways the community and passengers united during a tragic time. I was so touched by this musical that two months later, I decided I’d go to Gander, Newfoundland, to experience it for myself. My trip just so happened to be timed with the yearly migration of the icebergs from Greenland. Every year, icebergs break off the glaciers in West Greenland and spend up to three years riding ocean currents and eventually, some end up on the shores in Newfoundland. Unexpectedly coming across giant icebergs really moved me, and I decided I wanted my next trip to be where these icebergs came from–Greenland. In 2023, I found a small group that sails in a remote fjord in Eastern Greenland and decided I wanted to be a part of it. That trip was the best thing to ever happen to my confidence in my photography, and helped me to build a more interesting portfolio. I was soon Arctic obsessed, and in 2024, I traveled to Svalbard, another remote island in the High Arctic, building my portfolio even more. Flash forward to today, I just arrived home from my dream assignment, photographing on a luxury ship in Southern Greenland, preparing to return to Greenland in less than a month for more work. Sometimes I feel like I’m following tiny breadcrumbs (err, tiny icebergs?) as I try to navigate my way forward in my career, but I’ll never grow tired of looking back on the chances I took to help me arrive to where I am today.
Erica, 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 Erica, a travel, lifestyle, and portrait photographer and print shop owner based in Dallas, Texas. I photograph for small businesses, brands, and families here in Dallas, and also for editorial clients and travel-related businesses around the world. For as long as I can remember, I have been consumed by wanderlust. I grew up the daughter of a pilot, constantly begging my parents to take us on adventures. I remember being completely absorbed in the cultural studies we’d do in elementary school, eager to learn about traditions and customs of places I could only dream of visiting one day. I’d always been interested in photography, but after moving abroad to Madrid, Spain, after college, I began teaching myself everything I could and investing in better and better gear. When I moved back to Texas, a friend took me under her wing and mentored me while we photographed weddings and families together. She taught me so many helpful editing and technical skills while I tried to develop my own style. Eventually, I shifted into the travel sphere, focusing on my print shop, licensing travel photos, and shooting for editorial and commercial travel clients.
My deep desire to experience the world shapes the way I document it. I love the challenge of capturing a destination’s heartbeat, which lives in all the tiny, vibrant intricacies that are often overlooked. Whether it’s the way the ice takes shape against the frigid water in Eastern Greenland, the weathered hands of artisans in Oaxaca, or the vibrant tiles beneath balconies in Madrid, I take pride in stringing together the intricate details to reveal the true essence of a place. My job as a storyteller is one of my greatest sources of joy. I believe my past experiences of living abroad and working as a flight attendant have helped me cultivate a business rooted in hospitality, communication, empathy, and adaptability.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I studied Public Relations in college and shortly after graduating, I started an amazing job at a global aerospace company. Every day on my way to and from work, I cried the whole way in my car, wondering how I could be okay with sitting in an office every day for the rest of my life. After three months of feeling miserable, I quit my job and moved abroad to teach English in Madrid, Spain. I stayed for two years, traveling as much as I possibly could, while developing an eye for photography. When my two years were up, I moved back to Dallas, eager to continue refining my photography skills. I started another PR/marketing job, while a dear friend mentored me, patiently teaching me all the ins and outs of running a photography business. After three years, I kept asking myself what my dream job would be… and the answer was always: I want to travel the world and take photos. Finally, I saw Southwest Airlines was hiring flight attendants. I decided to apply on a whim and was hired shortly after. I spent my first three years as a full-time flight attendant, shooting whatever and wherever I could on my days off. As my photography business began to flourish, I was able to cut back on flying and photography finally became my primary source of income.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
As a creative, I love the book Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert. She talks about how ideas are almost like living things, and when they visit you, they hope you’ll latch onto them. They’ll only stick around for so long before they give up and move onto someone else who might actually execute them. I’ve learned to pay attention to the ideas I have, even if I’m short on time, or they feel farfetched. Some of my most rewarding projects or experiences have been because an outlandish idea chose me, I raised one eyebrow pondering the risk versus the reward while weighing the effort and time, and decided to execute it anyway.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theonewithwanderlust.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theonewithwanderlust
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theonewithwanderlust
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-connolly-14431a20/
Image Credits
Photos by Erica Connolly