We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Henry Tieu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Henry thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
From my experience being an ICU nurse to photographing moments of a wedding day, I’ve learned that we can’t live our lives waiting for better days to happen. Life waits for no one.
I brought that life philosophy into my own life and work as an elopement photographer. I want to make sure my clients and everyone in my life get to experience each moment of their life fully and just really live in the presence. And while they get to slow down and enjoy the beauty and the power of now, I’ll photograph them in their happiest selves. I want my photos to become my legacy and the reminder that life is short, so live now
Henry, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Henry Tieu and I am a Destination Wedding and Elopement Photographer based out of Seattle Washington.
I was first a Cardiac ICU nurse. During my years as a charge nurse, I’ve experienced some intense days taking care of patients and their family. For awhile, life had become a bit dark. I needed to just spend time outside of the hospital so I went into hiking. From all my hikes, I started my photography hobby which then has become my career.
As an introvert who eloped and has a love for nature, I combine the two and have been focusing on helping couples finding joy in getting married INTENTIONALLY at the most beautiful locations instead of following society norms of what one should do at their wedding
What I am most proud of and what contributes to my success is my ability to filter out the external noise to focus on my craft. Being able to stay in my own lane and focus on where I am now versus where I had been really help me realize my strengths, my weaknesses, and what I need to do to grow without comparing my journey to other successful photographers.
It wasn’t an easy journey. It took many sleepless nights for introspection, acknowledgement, and acceptance.
I am so grateful to have arrived here mentally so I can be there creatively for my clients
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
My career started with instagram. The first 2 years of my business, all of my clients found me via instagram.
However, as social media has grown so fast and how each platform competes with one another for content, it can be taxing on the body and the mind for a small business to solely relies on social media to get clients
Within my first year of business, although I realized how my clients came from Instagram, my reach was never consistent and I’ve learned that I cannot build a strong business just on instagram. I focused on other marketing channels so I can spread my eggs over multiple baskets.
At the moment, I use social media to connect with other photographers and vendors in the wedding industry. This job can be lonely so connecting with fellow small business owners who go through the same struggles and successes as I do really is helpful.
I also use social media to nurture my current clients. I provide them with inspirations and stories so they can take them into consideration when planning their own wedding.
My advice to you is have fun with social media but don’t let that be the metric to your success. Numbers of likes and followers can come and go, what you get out of it is what will help you with the rest of your career
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I first started photography, I was still a full time registered nurse. I worked night shifts at the hospital and all of my phone calls, emails, and editing would happen when I got home in the morning until mid-day where I had to sleep in order to go back to work the next night.
For a couple of years, I would photograph 20 or so weddings while maintaining my full-time job. I was in love with both careers. I was also scared about letting go of a stable job as an RN.
I take risks in life but when it comes to something that can affect my family and more than just myself, I often get quite scared. I didn’t want a decision about my career that can cause drastic impact on my family. So I kept both jobs for a long time
I am grateful held on to both jobs for as long as I did because I was able to save up enough capitals so when I completely quit my nursing career, I was still able to support my photography business and my family financially while slowly growing my brand and my company.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.henry-tieu.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/henrysdiary/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HenryTieuPhotography/
Image Credits
All photos are by myself Henry Tieu Photography