We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erin Goodrich a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Erin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

In the creative industry it has taken me patience and perseverance to grow a successful business- it certainly doesn’t and did not happen overnight and it is a very saturated market. I worked a full time job in the corporate world for over a decade while deciding what I wanted to do professionally. I knew from a young age I wanted to be in the art industry but had to figure out what that meant for me and how I could make it financially possible. I started out like most do, with one client. That one client told someone they knew about my work who in turn shared my work with others and from there my reputation grew a little each year. Thanks to social media I was able to reach a larger audience and use social media for marketing in addition to word of mouth. I will always be incredibly grateful to those first few clients and supporters who shouted my name in a room full of opportunities! Without those relationships and the patience to prove myself to others I never would have grown my business to what it is today.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a portrait photographer from Metro Detroit who loves capturing emotive photography. I love vibrant, colorful, real moments and am a sucker for a classic black and white- aiming to provide timeless photography for my clients to be passed on to future generations. Consultations with clients prior to our sessions make sure each one is catered to their needs and expectations are met for their shoot. I am proud of the relationships built after meeting and working together and love being able to call most of my clients friends afterward! I would say this is the most important thing to me in my work, building relationships and hearing people’s stories.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The one thing that helped build my reputation more than anything is people, consistency and listening to clients. I strive to deliver images that are unique to their family or brand and word of mouth built my reputation from clients talking to their friends, family and businesses when they were in need. It is important for me to deliver high quality work that is in line with my portfolio that people have reviewed beforehand on social media and my Web site.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Initially I wasn’t sure if I could build the clientele needed to make this a full time career. While working full time in an office I would shoot nights and weekends. Eventually I was turning down side hustle clients to go to my 9-5 and I realized I wanted to give it a go and turn this side gig into a full time reality. I never looked back and have continued to grow my network and client base ever since. It was a lot of hard work, sleepless nights and straight up grinding but I am so happy and proud of what I have built! I realized that working for someone else just was not for me when I could be working just as hard to make my own dreams come true.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elliefrancesphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliefrancesphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliefrancesphoto

Image Credits
All images uploaded showcasing work are Ellie Frances Photography My image for the cover was done by Shelby Dubin Photography