We were lucky to catch up with Evelyn Toro recently and have shared our conversation below.
Evelyn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.
Thank you for having me! Family business is what our great country was founded on. From family owned farms to small family owned restaurants and businesses, it important to note that while it can be tricky to navigate it can be so incredibly rewarding.
I grew up in my teen years helping my father’s restaurant and cleaning company, while it was great to be able to make my own money with my dad, I learned it was not what I wanted to pursue. However I watched my father hustle to make ends meet and be able to work on his own schedule, I quickly realized owning my own business was something I was 100% sure I wanted to do.
I believe college is not the only way to success, even though that was not what I was taught growing up. I believe trade schools or going straight into owning your own business can also be a great way to make great money. While it took me awhile to finally start my own business, my only regret is not doing it sooner.
The great thing though with starting your own business is that there is no income limit. The harder you work the more you can potentially grow. You get out what you put in, but you will also fail over and over again so having your family to motivate you and support you is everything.
I would absolutely love for my children to join our family business but in the end when they grow up and move out, all I can hope for is that my husband and I gave them the tools to succeed in life and follow their dreams and passions.
As far as my views on family businesses, I believe it keeps the family together and it creates a bond like no other. When mom and dad leave a legacy to their children, they learn to work together to create something even bigger for generations to come.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Im a wife, mom of 3 boys and expecting our first baby girl and most importantly a believer in Jesus Christ. Im turning 30 this year and began our small business about a year and a half ago. My husband has been my biggest fan! He invested in my dreams and believed in me more than I did. In november of 2021, he bought me a camera for his birthday! Haha, yes I’m spoiled by him! I was excited and immediately began my photography career. From there forward, I learned everything I could to improve my craft and deliver an exceptional product to my clients. I would watch youtube videos, read articles, and even listen to many photography podcasts. On there is where I heard about photo booths and how great of an add on option it is for photographers. I was sold! Now all I had to do was sell it to my husband! Luckily, I have a background in sales, so it wasn’t hard! He again invested in this idea and not only did he just get me a photo booth but instead he got me the biggest package that included two photo booths with all the accessories included to jump start our photo booth business. I felt he took a huge leap of faith in me so I was determined to not fail!
Trust me, I was scared, it took me about 3 months to finally accept my first booking. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect because people were going to give me their hard earned money. I had worked so hard on my craft with photography that I wanted to do the same with the photo booths.
As hard as it is to put myself out there, I managed to figure out so many ways to get our name out there. I joined networking groups, interacted with other small businesses online, did many free events where our target client would be, and also I faked it till I made it on social media? How you may ask, I posted everyday on social media and repurposing content to make it seem like we were so busy till we actually were! Now I barely have enough days to post every event we do!
In our first official year in business we managed to do a total of 115 events, won top 3 wedding pro vendor of 904, served our city of jacksonville for the city council installation ceremony, got invited to be on a segment for News for Jax and expanded our team to a total of 6, all while being able to spend so much quality time at home with our kids!
Since then we have merged our photography and photobooth business and added on a walk-in magazine box rental along with an audio guestbook and stand. We wanted to create an experience for our clients where we can capture every important milestone without them having to worry about doing it themselves or relying on their guests to send them photos or videos. We are essentially able to capture every angle of their special day allowing them to not only enjoy their day but be able to relive the moment over and over again for years to come!
We are not only a family owned business but we are also a faith based, family and veteran owned small business. We don’t do this for just ourselves but for His kingdom and His glory. Every success and milestone we achieve is because God had allowed it to happen. We make it known we are a christian owned small business by not only mentioning it when we get the opportunity to but we let our clients know we are praying for their marriage after a wedding, or we are praying for a fast and speedy delivery along with a healthy baby after we serviced their baby shower. Along with that we proudly display the bible verse Psalm 121: 1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” because again the help of our small business growth comes from the Lord! This is also what we are absolutely most proud of and hope we can be a light to other even through our small business.
We are a family of almost 6 seeking to positively impact as many lives as we can. Both my husband and I have over a decade combined experience of customer service. We provide a first class experience to all our customers and ensure that we go above and beyond to meet the needs of our clients. We strive to give our clients a fun & relaxed experience by capturing both candid & posed images, giving gentle direction & prompts as needed so clients feel comfortable. We believe that the experience is more important than the photoshoot, and our mission is to tell real love stories in an authentic, emotional, and beautiful way. Our modern, open-air photo booths are equipped with the latest technology and top of the line photography equipment to capture amazing pictures in style. With 2 photo booths to choose from (digital & prints booth), advanced technological photo booths, professional staff, and transparent pricing. We pride ourselves on delivering an exceptional product.
Our Biggest advantage is that we value one thing, YOU! Tell us what you want and we will go as far as humanly possible to make it happen. Compare us and you’ll see how far we stand out.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
My husband and I met in high school but we are not high school sweethearts. I joined the army right out of high school and when I returned he ended up joining the marines. He came home for leave and we reconnected and in that one week we were together we decided to take a risk and do the long distance thing. We dated for two months techincally before I became his fiance. Ooh and as you probably guessed, yes he asked over face time! Next thing you know we booked my flight to Okinawa, Japan 2 month after he asked for my hand in marriage and I spent 10 days out there. We got married in the middle of it and when I came back he still had 7 months left till coming back state side. So yes, more long distance! When he finally returned, we ended being stationed in Yuma, Az. We lived there for 3 years before deciding to move to Jacksonville, Fl instead of going back to our home state of Virginia since he retired.
It was the best decision for our family, because here we were able to start our own business and grow to what we are today, together!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
My marketing strategy is truly to be ANNOYING as I like to say. I am constantly talking about our business along with constantly posting! Many will find me annoying but thats okay because OUR amazing clients won’t! Think about it, Mcdonalds, they are everywhere, they will have a commercial play 30 seconds after their last one just aired. You are constantly seeing it everywhere so when you want to go to get fast food who do you think of first? Mcdonalds, because they are top of mind! I’ve implemented the same concept to our small business. when you think of photography or photo booths you think of Toro Things Experiences…..hopefully.
Along with that, our main source of clients is through word of mouth and networking. When we do an event or session, we give it our all and ensure we can give the absolute best possible experience possible so that when they look at their photos and think back on their memories of that day, they feel happiness and joy. When we are able to provide that we don’t even have to ask them to send their friends and family our way, they do it all on their own!
When it comes to networking events though its probably the only time I don’t talk as much about the business. Yes I’ll mention it at the beginning when we have to introduce ourselves or at the beginning of a conversation but I’m not there to sell my business. I’m there to make true and meaningful connections. What does that mean exactly? It means I ask them about what they do, how they got started, and where I can find them. I ask what type of clients they are looking for so I can refer them out to who I know. Talking all about my business is great but only for me not for them! I’m not there just to take a business card and lose it, I’m there to make business friends that I can look forward to collaborating with in the future!
Contact Info:
- Website: ToroThings.com
- Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/ToroThingsExperiences Www.instagram.com/ToroThingsPhotography
- Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/ToroThingsExperiences/ Www.facebook.com/ToroThingsPhotography/
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@ToroThings
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/toro-things-photobooths-jacksonville?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/shop/torothingsexperiences?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_aipsftorothingsexperiences_N7P0ANZX8G7JBQKR68KD
Image Credits
Kelsey Correa Photography