We recently connected with Jake Westerfield and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jake, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
I have always had an inspiration to own a business, however being employed full time I thought it may happen after retirement and be something simple like a storage unit or car wash. That all changed in early 2009 when I attended a wedding for a friend and observed my first photo booth. I LOVED it! Free photos with friends all night, dressed up and looking our best, immediate prints. I had never experienced anything like it and I was intrigued.
I began to research the industry and soon realized there were not any manufacturers to purchase from that had modern cameras and printers. I found an online forum and began researching. My full time work hours were 6pm-2am so every night after work I would read articles and ask questions in this online forum. My Dad was a Custom home builder so I had confidence if I could draw the plans and research the required equipment that he could build it. After about 6 months I had plans prepared to accommodate for the perfect height for the camera cutout, had resourced casino slot machine buttons to activate the photo session, had taught myself how to solder electronics, and had purchased the largest expense of the project, the printer.
September 2009 we made our own website, built our own custom photo booth, and started a business that everyone told me wouldn’t make it past 5 years max.
The first year we did only 15 events. We had to educate and explain to each customer over the phone what a photo booth even was as they were intrigued but didn’t understand completely what it consisted of. The following year we grew to 36 events, the next year 52 events. We began receiving calls to purchase our booths. We sold a dozen or so from LA to Dallas to New Jersey. We had calls from the Jimmy Fallon show, NASA, The United States Embassy in Honduras for passport photos, and a place called the Straight of Gibraltar. There was a show called Shipping Wars that wanted to come film an episode at our shop of a shipment we had going to LA. Things were escalating quickly for a side business.
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?
We are one of very few businesses in existence that started as early as we did in 2009 with the digital version of booths well known today. I am a moderator on a large Facebook group with over 20,000 photo booth owners. I was selected due to expertise, knowledge, and experience. Excellence Photo Booths has been the recipient of awards that resulted from entries Worldwide in 2023, 2024, and 2025 at an international Photo Booth Expo in Las Vegas.
We have provided event activations throughout the United States including the PGA, NFL, Movie Premieres, Google, Sony, and many more. We also have been the sought after provider for personal events including high end weddings, corporate fundraisers, Galas, and private engagements.
In 16 years throughout many electronics and technology that we incorporate I am proud to be able to say that we have never not provided the experience we were hired to provide for our Client. It takes alot of preparation, knowledge, experience, back up equipment, well trained staff, and planning to be able to say that!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In 2022 the PGA came to Southern Hills Golf Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the PGA Championship. We were hired for a private event which was to be on the course and a headliner of Eric Church in a private tent for a small concert. Security was tight and identifications and permissions were needed well in advance in order to be able to enter. We had to enter to setup and then park miles off site and be bussed back in to work the event.
As the owner I personally worked the event to make sure it was flawless. At some point midway through I realized I was most likely being affected by a case of food poisoning from a previous meal. To attempt to call in a replacement staff member was impossible as they didn’t have the credentials needed and wouldnt be able to respond in time due to the event location on the course. I will spare you the details, but it involved visiting a conglomerate of a dozen or more publicly available outdoor Port-a-potties in 110 degree heat face first in between gaps in guests sessions. Long story short, the guests never knew, the event went off without a hitch, and no one was any the wiser on how difficult that event was to physically perform.
Have you ever had to pivot?
In our early years we were able to command a high price because of exclusivity. Fast forward 5 years or so and the market was becoming flooded with competitors. We had to make a decision as our competitors began at our established price point but began going lower and lower in price in an attempt to steal customers from us. We could play that game or we could do something different. We decided not to lower our price but to differentiate by RAISING our prices. Unknown at the time and definitely risky, it ended up being one of the greatest decisions we could have made. We commanded the higher end market, being corporate or high end event planners. Our name was literally “EXCELLENCE” and to go cheaper wouldn’t have made sense. We lost the lower end events but established ourselves as the company you hire when you want the best. Our motto “When Good isn’t Good Enough, choose Excellence” resonated.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Excellencephotobooths.com
- Instagram: @ExcellencePhotoBooths
- Facebook: @Excellencephotobooths
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-westerfield-09b7a146/
- Twitter: @ExcellencePhot1
- Youtube: @excellencephotobooths4602
- Other: https://excellencephotobooths.smugmug.com/
