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

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

I believe the word “successful” can be subjective. I believe being successful are the goals you want to achieve and actually achieving them. In the years that I have been photographing, I’ve learned a lot through trial and error and to this day I am still learning. I grew my business from practicing everyday, editing every chance I got, and practiced some more. My goals early on were to get as many clients as I could to practice on, learn to edit in different styles I liked, to network with other photographers in the community, and to make this a legit business. I achieved all of those goals in a span on 5 years, and that to me is what it takes to be successful. Being successful is the hard work that you put in to reach your goal. After that, you keep going.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started taking pictures back in 2016 when I was gifted my first Canon camera. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I loved taking pictures, so I just went for it. I was in my undergrad at the time, getting my nursing degree, and so in my free time I would ask all of my friends to model for me and offered free shoots to literally everyone I knew. From that point on, I grew my clientele list by word of mouth, then by 2017 I was getting into the wedding industry. I went into the wedding industry full force not knowing what I was doing. I never shadowed anyone before taking on my first wedding, I just did some good ‘ole research. I did however try to connect with other photographers and asked for advice and how a wedding day should flow, so I wasn’t completely blind. And the entire time I was in college, I was teaching myself how to shoot in manual, edit pictures, and just how to be a better photographer in general and what I needed to do in order to become a wedding photographer. Fast forward to 2020, I finally made the leap to get my LLC because I felt that I was adequate enough to make my business legit. I got my LLC and quit my nursing job in 2021 and now I am full time wedding photographer. When I think about it, there isn’t a good starting point to how I got into the wedding industry, I just sort of jumped right into it and now I have other beginner photographers asking me how to get into the industry and I always start with, “practice until your confident’.

I primarily do weddings now, but I still do all types of portraiture from families, to studio, to seniors and events. I do have to say, I love all types of photography, but weddings are my niche. I am one of those people who could be classified as a “hopeless romantic” and so that’s why I am drawn to weddings. Being a wedding photographer does have its days where it is hard both the business side and photographing side. Some days are really long and some days are short and sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Now, when a wedding day comes and the stress of the day starts to effect my couples, I definitely step in and try to solve the problem. I am a firm believer that my couples should not have to stress on the most special day in their lives. I take it upon myself to do everything beside the scenes for them to make sure everything goes smoothly so they don’t have too. There have been times where I had to wear many hats for the day and I am totally okay with that. I think that’s a part of what makes me stand out. I try to go above and beyond for my couples and help in anyway they need and I always become friends with my couples even after the wedding. And not even just my couples, all of my clients. At this rate, I might have more client-friends than I do actual friends! My brand, my main business model, is to become friends at the end of the day. I am here for my clients 24/7 and I take the most pride in that. I don’t believe in showing up, doing the job, and just leave. That’s not who I am as a person and the person that my couples meet is always 100% me. I don’t sugar coat anything on any of my social media platforms or my website to make myself “look” better or look “more” professional. I represent myself as I am in real life. And the best part about it, is my clients leave their session or leave their wedding day feeling like they’ve known me for years and that’s what I am most proud of (aside from my work).

To my future potential clients, I am not your average wedding photographer. I am not a fly on the wall and I am not a quiet one. I am the biggest hype woman and the most genuine photographer-friend you will ever meet. I take great pride in my work and I would not be here without all my wonderful clients making it happen, but I take the most pride in meeting you. You are the priority and as I say to everyone, “we friends now”! So, if you need some fun and who is very involved, I am that gal.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what helped the best with my reputation was networking. I love networking and talking to other people who are both in the same industry as me and who just own businesses in general. I didn’t limit the the amount of people I talked too, I just talked to everyone about what I do and what I can do and actually kept-in-touch even after the initial conversation. I stepped out of my comfort zone and went out to content day shoots and met with other vendors and connected and stayed in touch. Therefore, by helping them with their reputation and their exposure, they helped me too.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I become friends with all of my clients. All of them. I talk to my couples like we have been friends for years. I ask my clients about their lives, what they do for a living, their home life, the plans after the wedding, plans after high school, etc.. I make sure to text them once in awhile to just catch up, even meet for coffee. When my clients come back for another session, its because that initial contact with them I was already making them the priority. I made sure I listened to what they wanted and needed and to make sure I solved all their problems before it could happen. Putting them first AND making them feel so comfortable, is key to brand loyalty. Be true to yourself and they will come back because they will remember how fun you are and how you made them feel so important and the awesome service you did for them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.erishyllmaephotography.com
• Instagram: erishyllmaephotography
• Facebook: Erishyll Mae photography LLC

Image Credits
Erishyll Mae Photography The Stanley Event Space Bliss Plaza Events Space Tobacco Barn Farm Macelis Banquet Hall