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

Haley, appreciate you joining us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

I absolutely love serving joyfilled couples and their families by capturing beautiful portraits and candid moments during their wedding celebration! If I could start over, I would hire out the parts of my job that detract from the joy and purpose, sooner!! Hire out book keeping, hire an accountant, pay somebody to cull my images. Now, I get to focus on the important parts of my job, the passion, and prevent burnout by trusting others to accomplish the draining tasks for me! I am a better photographer for it!

Haley, 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?

Hi! I’m HALEY!

Most weekdays, I spend my time trying to entertain my 2 toddlers, enjoying a cup of re-heated peach herbal tea, working on a hand-knit pair of socks and eating cookies for breakfast. I admit, most days, I stay in my pajamas until the afternoon, unless we are spending our day at the Children’s Museum or a playground. I am deep in the toddler stage of parenthood… survival mode.

But, when my husband is home, taking over the job of entertaining our little monsters, this is when I get to serve deeply-in-love couples that care about their loved ones & who don’t know how to pose, or are afraid of not getting timeless portraits on their wedding day. The ones who want to feel beautiful, and pose like a professional, but have never done this before and are nervous about feeling and looking awkward, instead of authentic. The bride who would rather find joy in the moment, giggle through her entire session with her love, and look authentically happy, rather than looking stiff and unenthusiastic. The bride and groom that are excited about the future and enjoy the simple things in life, and want photos that reflect their personalities more than the standard “look at the camera and smile” photos!

There IS a different way. A way to have fun during your photoshoot, look and feel completely comfortable, and genuinely beam with joy.

Let me show you how Haley Thomas Photography engagement sessions and wedding photos can be fun, comfortable, and result in seriously gorgeous photos of you and your love, in an authentic and flattering way! From the moment we schedule your day, I will send you a guide that goes over what to wear, how to be best prepared, so that all we have to do during our session is be in the moment and have fun! I also use really unique posing prompts to make sure you have authentic smiles and giggles during our session, while still being posed in a stunning way. You won’t even realize I actually posed you with my prompts.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I bought my first DSLR camera in March of 2021, with the intention of taking better photos of my children. After only a month, I was hooked, and offering to take family portraits for anyone that would model for me. I started signing up for courses and watching youtube videos endlessly to learn how to use my equipment. I signed up to 2nd shoot a wedding for an amazing local photograher. Before I knew it, I was actually making legitimate money doing this job. I decided that I would build my protfolio up during the winter months, and hopefully by spring I wouldhave a fully booked wedding schedule. I worked really hard, invested in more gear and paying ti join styled sessions with model couples, and signed up to 2nd shoot at several weddings in the winter. Before I knew it, I had booked over 24 of my own weddings for 2022. The rest is history. The key milestone for me was perseverance, investing in myself, and marketing my services without getting discouraged or giving up!

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

The most difficult moment I have ever had as a wedding photographer so far, has been when I got severely sick and had to miss a wedding day. I was able to hire another photographer to take my place, so my couple was in good hands and still got beautiful photos from their important day, but my heart was broken to miss a day with a couple I had befriended, a couple that ultimately wanted me there on their wedding day, not a stranger. Nobody died. All was well. But it was not ideal!

Contact Info:

• Website: Haleythomasphotography.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/haleythomas.photography