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

Janaya, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

When I first started to even think I wanted a business with my name on it. I didn’t want my business to literally have my name in my business name, I wanted it to stand out and to be different. Things I have always done has been unique, so I knew from the start I needed fatally unique photography as my business name.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

How did I get Into photography? I have always wanted to do photography but everyone knows you have to have money to make money, being the fact that at the time I was only working a grocery store job, I was not making enough to build a dream I wanted, I barely even had time off to consider doing what I wanted. Time came to where I had to make time and make my dream come true. My husband and I had our first child and that put me into another set back, my husband made a big career change which was the best decision for both of us. That gave me the opportunity I needed to start my dream. Taking off was hard, I gave alot for free so that I could build a portfolio to show people my work and to also bring people to me so that they would want to work with me again after seeing the magic I could do with a photo. Once I got my business off the ground I was booming with it, I took off but I had to work hard to get to that point, I opened my photography door to every type of photo session possible, even if I had never done those kinds of photos I stepped up and ventured out of my zone and did anything a client needed. It helped me grow because now I’m not afraid to take any challenge tossed at me. It’s hard being a military wife and mother we move a bunch so for me I have to push and advertise a bunch, each new state we move to I have to start all over, for example we now live in North Carolina, so I lost all my clients I had in El Paso Texas where we just came from. Coming to North Carolina I am having to build myself from scratch again and it’s a big challenge cause you come to states that already have amazing talented photographers, but I have to put myself out in advertisements, social media, word of mouth. I challenge myself everyday in this business from building my clients, making sure every client I get is happy with everything they get from our session, to making them feel excited, happy and comfortable. Because more then often I get a bunch of clients that are nervous, and shy. That’s when I have to break that wall so that they trust me to do what I need to do for a lifetime of memories in a snap of a photo. I can look back on everything though and say I am proud of myself, between being a mother of three kids, a military wife, moving alot, from starting out as a grocery store worker at HEB. To where I am now I am proud. I have accomplished and achieved all my goals. Got my own business fatally unique photography, built amazing relationships with most of my clients. Worked with a model agency and models. From getting published in my first magazine to now being published in 35 magazines and making cover in three of those magazines. To being on the news for working with a rental company In El Paso for the seniors when covid had started. Photography means everything to me, I have pushed myself to be where I am. With that I will continue to push myself to stand out and give anyone the opportunity to get the best moments in a snap of a photo.

Fatally unique Photography

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Covid, a time no one will ever forget, when that hit. I knew my business was gonna be hard to keep going. Not only cause everyone was scared to get covid which was definitely a good reason to be scared. The distance everyone had to keep from eachother, at that moment I got scared cause I knew if anyone did want photos I would have to first off risk myself to exposing myself to covid, two I had to make sure that Clients knew that i would do anything in my power for our session to take precautions, to be safe, to make sure they were comfortable and let them know they were safe and keep my distance. During the beginning I got a few sessions here and there not enough to bring in what I needed, but I did what I could and was grateful and understood the situation. It was hard and a scary time. Then one day I got the call I never thought I would get. Rocio in El Paso owned a hall that she rented out for weddings etc. she told me she was having a hard time knew that senior graduation was coming up and wanted to link together to one give the seniors graduation photos that we both knew was hard to get. Two give people the chance to see her hall and three give me the opportunity to get people. I didn’t hesitate I took the offer. She told me she was gonna supply 5 different backdrops for them to take photos in front of. She wasn’t going to charge anyone anything and that it was completely up to me if I wanted to charge. At that time I knew I was taking a risk to not make anything but I wanted these seniors to have memories, so I told her I will not charge they can tip if they like. We managed this Friday through Sunday for an entire month. We got so booked to the point that I had sessions back to back as soon as one would come in several were waiting to come in right after, I would do 15 mins for each person, they would leave we would clean sanitize next person in. We wore masks at all times. I never expected the outcome that we got, but it’s a moment that I actually achieved alot during that time when I never thought I would, from that moment I was booked so much with photos because clients knew they could trust me through hard times

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

For my situation my husband is military he is in the army, when I started I knew I would have to manage things slow because it would be coming out of his checks to get me started, budget was big for us! I bought the essential stuff I needed, once I started to bring in sessions from each session that would go right back into my business to buy what I needed. Backdrops, props, lighting, dresses since I do have a client closet for maternity photos. All my apps I use such as for editing (Lightroom), to deliver photos (pixieset). To book appointments (Session) all of that cost me money as well. A lot of the times when I do have a session for example I can do a cake smash, and all that money I made of that session can go into anything I need to go back into my business not all the time does it go to me. That’s why my pricing for sessions factor into alot

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/fatallyuniquephotography?igshid=Y2IzZGU1MTFhOQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fatallyuniquephotography?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Janaya alamillo