We recently connected with Halee Michelle and have shared our conversation below.

Halee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I think all the time what life would be like if I had a regular job.

There was a lifetime for me that I was thick in the stagnation of having jobs in places that weren’t meant for me. Not every job is the worst thing in the world but when you’re working just to pay bills it can be daunting. I would describe a regular 9-5 job for me as being in the in-between. I always knew I would leave each job before I even started it because it wasn’t right for me.

I went to college. I explored different types of jobs. I met so many amazing people. I am thankful for every little experience that has lead me to this point. But I will never go back to a “regular” job. It will always bring the same feelings.

My business feels like an extension of myself. I sometimes don’t even like calling it a business. It’s beautiful in so many ways that adding the business aspect of it kind of dims it. I make good money, but the incredible people and purpose it has given me is something unmeasurable. I can’t file that kind of stuff on my taxes, but it brings me more happiness than I can explain.

If you’re reading this and you’re considering opening your own business to do something that brings you fulfillment please do it today.

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?

I sort of stumbled into being a photographer. I’m a very nostalgic person. Photographs are meaningful to me.

I took photography classes for 3 years with no intention of becoming a photographer. This helped me later with knowing how to operate a camera. But nothing really teaches you how to create art. I learned how to develop a picture. I learned which chemicals to mix. I learned what different buttons do in photoshop. But nothing can teach you how to pull something raw and real into your sessions. It makes me very happy to know that everyone holds that special skill inside of them.

Nowadays I find myself gravitating towards motherhood sessions. It’s almost a reward for me when someone books some type of motherhood session. I have wanted to be a mother since I have learned what that word is. When I was a very young child the stories are told that I was very motherly. It’s almost painfully beautiful to me at times to see a mother with her children during our session. There’s this light – maybe an aura – around motherhood that I can’t stop trying to capture. And when I get it just right… I’d do this for free.

I think something that sets me apart from other photographers is I’m big time emotional. Emotions and connections in photographs is my top priority. I love a good background. I love getting to a location and seeing the flowers bloomed at just the right time. I love mountains. I love when birds fly over us. But, there’s nothing more I love than genuine deep laughter. I love nothing more than when a dad is wiping his child’s tears so gently and soothing to them. The kind of emotions and connections you cannot recreate. It’s the stuff you want to soak up after it’s over. It’s the pictures that makes you actually FEEL something.

I show up to sessions to take pictures but it always feels like I leave a little bit of myself in the session. Every family is so unique and deserves to be captured in their special way. I lost someone I love a few years back and the pictures that were taken of us were so in the moment – so real – sometimes more real than my own memory, and now it feels like I’m trying to provide that for others.

Anyways, if you read this far you can see the emotional aspect of me is true haha! But I’m also fun and I fall in love so easily with all the people I meet. It feels mostly like I’m meeting with a friend when I have a session even if I have never met them before. I want to provide an experience for someone, not just pictures that are lost to time.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I thought in the beginning the more people I had who liked or followed me would be a good idea for my business.

But, it really is quality over quantity.

I think being a genuine presence and being relatable and interesting will help. You just need to be who you deeply truly are. Some people won’t like it of course, and those people don’t follow my page, or maybe they do. I have people who comment on my page because they appreciate my work and I remember every single comment. Because my social media is ran entirely by me I think it feels more connectable.

I just be myself. My advice to anyone who wants to build their social media is to do the same. The people who like you will come. And it will be so amazing to have those people in your corner.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My photography business was never intended to be my full time career. I saw others doing it and I was so impressed and happy for them. It seemed like a far away impossible goal.

The day I quit my regular job I was so confident with my choice. I had put off quitting for so long with so many excuses. There comes a time where you know if you don’t do it now – when will you do it?

Working and trying to create a business at the same time is exhausting. I felt I couldn’t truly allow myself to develop my full potential until this was all I needed to focus on.

It’s scary. I think a milestone you need to reach is being confident you’ll be able to pay your bills. Everything else you can figure out later. I knew if it didn’t work I could just go back to a shitty job. And if it did work… then I would be free. And I am.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://haleemichelle.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleemichellephotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haleemichellephotography