We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacey Sikes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacey below.

Jacey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later?

I definitely wish I would’ve really leaned into my business sooner. I shot my first sessions and weddings while I was still in college. I was already unsure of where my degree was going and photography was the first thing I felt confident in, but it wasn’t even my degree. My college degree was pretty much picked for me. And not by my parents but by my first advisor and dean of my department at the time. I’m so glad it happened, but I went into college with a few very diverse ideas in mind regarding a major. I had actually made a HUGE switch last minute (like two weeks before move-in last minute) and decided to go to a different university. Even at that school, I had two majors in mind and about five backup plans. The first two were Environmental Science and Photography. With backups in Literature or Landscape Architecture or Architecture (the first school was well known for this program) or Pre-Med. What can I say, I liked learning about a lot of things! As I rambled this to a person helping me decide on classes at the university I switched to, he took me to the current dean of Art & Design who enrolled me in Fine Art. I declared a major the next semester in Graphic Design with an emphasis (kind of like a minor but fewer hours required) in Illustration. And that’s what I graduated with! I actually loved it. Even after I knew I wanted to be a photographer professionally. Which made it hard to commit to a lot of the work because I was a pretty average designer. It definitely influenced my technical understanding of photography and it’s made me better in my career now. But because I lacked the confidence as a designer and felt the need to try and still do well to graduate, I held off on really diving into my business. People knew me as a photographer and I still had clients (if you want to even call them that since I did most of that work for free to gain the experience) but I held back. And I don’t necessarily regret trying to be smart about focusing on school and making connections in other ways. But I do regret it because I got in my head. The more I put off jumping in, the more I thought I wasn’t ready, wasn’t good enough yet to start a business. Those thoughts haunted me throughout four years after graduation at other jobs. I loved my time at those jobs, of course. I still had clients, of course. The catch-22 of this situation was that I’m so thankful to have a lot of knowledge and experience I didn’t expect to gain that helped me so much when I finally took the leap to be fully self-employed as a photographer. It’s hard to not say that I wouldn’t trade that, but in the end, it wasn’t ever what I wanted. And for the first year or so of doing this, I’ve seen where my fears have hurt me and hurt my business. When I have conversations with people about my journey, especially younger entrepreneurs, I always tell them to just go for it. Don’t wait. You’re never really “ready” so don’t let your fears keep holding you back. Yes, be smart about it financially and whatnot. But not to the extent where you sacrifice the momentum you have in chasing your dreams.

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

Formally, I introduce myself to others as a portrait, wedding, and editorial photographer. I have clients that range from families to seniors in high school and college, to couples, to those planning a wedding, to local businesses needing visual content for their website or social media, to individuals needing headshots for their own careers, to event capture, I’m open to it all! Having a degree and experience in graphic design, I have a couple of clients I provide services a bit more under the radar for. That includes some design work that is at least above Canva capabilities (no dig on Canva use!!), simple website design and maintenance, and even social media management.

I’ve always had an interest in photography since I was in high school, but I didn’t really engage with it until I took a class in college. The professor was a local photographer named Josh McCullock who had, at the time, been a wedding and portrait photographer for over 12 years. He was also stepping into photographing for a local food magazine, Edible OKC. At the start of the semester, he talked about his life, his career, and what he looked forward to teaching us. He mentioned that first week about how he’d had interns in the past and if someone was interested, he was potentially open to that. That first week I knew I was going to work for him. And I did. Toward the middle-ish or later in the semester, I approached him and told him I was interested in learning more about being a photographer and wanted to be his intern. He definitely seemed hesitant and like he forgot he even mentioned it to us, but also maybe he regretted that he did. But I was persistent! That summer I had a paid internship with a church in Edmond, OK and two to three times a week I drove to downtown OKC to work with Josh. I mostly watched him edit and he talked to me about workflow and dealing with clients and the second half of the summer I designed wedding albums that people ordered from him. We worked in a studio with another local wedding photographer named Aaron and I just remember daydreaming constantly that what they were doing could actually be my life. It was the first time that I actually believed I could have a successful creative career.

I started my junior year and was determined to keep learning and keep shooting. It helped that my boyfriend (now husband, who was also a graphic design major) was a talented videographer and was already booking weddings and making videos for different organizations on campus and we motivated each other to keep doing what we realized we were good at. That fall, Josh asked me second shoot a wedding with him. WHAT?! I had no idea what I was doing. And I told him that, ha. I was so scared and I busted my ass all day and night to make sure I looked professional and like I knew what I was doing and to make sure the photos I took were good. I don’t even know if they were good but apparently good enough because I worked with Josh until he eventually retired from the wedding industry in 2021. Not only did I second shoot weddings with him, but when he was wanting to phase out and focus on other work, he paid me to cull and edit his sessions and weddings. He was also our wedding photographer and has taken family photos for us. We’re not only good friends now and ride bikes together, but since he’s out of weddings, he’s been working as creative lead for a huge bike race that happens in Stillwater, and my husband gets hired by him to shoot and edit videos they produce for the race. It’s wild where my journey has taken me, but I owe a lot to Josh for trusting me and seeing in me what I couldn’t always see in myself. I’m thankful for him as a mentor, former employer, and friend.

One of the biggest things he taught me (along with a few other key people in the industry) was how to treat my clients when they’re in front of the camera. It’s to treat them like people. Human beings. Not models, not my own personal muses, not canvases for my art. It’s not my job to make them into something I want them to be so my business gets boosted, or make them think that they have to be or look or act a certain way to be worthy of my time. I really want that to be what sets me apart – that people are comfortable coming to me just as they are and trust me to capture THEM, who they truly are. I particularly hold this philosophy during weddings. It can be applied in other contexts as well, in families and seniors, and couples. Side note, editorials, and commercial work are a bit different but I’m still my client’s biggest cheerleader no matter what. But weddings are sacred ground. Weddings are where I don’t exist. I’m trusted enough that it shouldn’t be so apparent that I’m there. All of it would happen whether I’m there or not so why should anything I do dictate the day? Weddings are a place where I go full-on documentarian. And it’s beautiful. There are so many layers to our lives and a lot of those layers unfold on a wedding day. They’re generational, they’re intersectional, they’re full of joy and grief and longing and excitement and so many other emotions. Photos can be an integral part of a wedding day, I mean I get hired to be there and formal family and couple portraits are just as important as the candid, documentary ones. Both can exist. But I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t want my couples to feel like I have to have some control on their wedding day for them to get what they want. This is their day, their memories, their life. I’m always just honored and humbled that they’d trust me to capture it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The same month that I left the job I had as a graphic designer for three years, was the same month that I got pregnant. We were trying to start a family, being very intentional after about a year of health issues for me but it still was really surreal when it all happened. This was just last year! Feels like a lifetime ago, but a lot has happened! That sounds about right when you have a baby I guess. The tricky part was that I left my job in the middle/toward the end of a wedding season (which was just the area of my business that I had the biggest goals in) and had my baby at the beginning of the next. So the timing felt very weird. But weddings weren’t my only source of business. Thankfully my time obviously freed up and my families and smaller portrait sessions blew up and I had my busiest season for those! I also had time to explore some editorial work, creative directing with a good friend, and shot a couple of insanely gorgeous and creatively motivating shoots.

After I gave birth and stepped into motherhood, my perspective totally shifted. Everything shifted; the focus of my time and energy. While I was riding a wave of excitement from finally taking the leap into my dream of being a photographer full-time, I was also a little caught off guard at how much I really loved being a mom and focusing on my baby. I mean, the career I had been dreaming of had the perks I wanted of being flexible to motherhood, but I didn’t imagine how much I would be okay with not booking more clients. I’m obviously still invested in my business and don’t have negative feelings about continuing to book clients, I’m still saying yes to a lot of opportunities. But things have definitely shifted. I know there will come a time when my drive ebbs and flows in the other direction, but I’m currently in a stage of just being chill and loving on my baby. And that’s okay.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I have clients that I’ve known and have continually taken their photos for YEARS. Like, since I’ve started kind of loyal. It’s something I’m most proud of. They trust me. You know why they trust me? Because I treat them like people, I treat them with kindness. I get to know them. The hardest part of new clients is not knowing them as well and putting them in such a vulnerable position: in front of a camera. They feel like they have to perform, be on their best behavior (or have their kids be on their best behavior), look their best, etc. But the key to breaking down those walls and letting people feel like they can be themselves is just to get to know them. You never know what’s going on in people’s lives, and if you treat them with kindness and intention and show them that they matter, they’ll trust you. And then they’re comfortable with you because you know each other now. It’s a beautiful cycle and I love meeting new clients because a lot of them turn into “old” clients that just stick around and become like family.

Contact Info:

• Website: jaceyraesikes.com
• Instagram: @jaceyraesikesphoto
• Facebook: Jacey Rae Sikes Photography

Image Credits
credit to Brian Lawes for the photo of myself holding the camera