We recently connected with Jazsmyne Betts and have shared our conversation below.

Jazsmyne, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Without a doubt, success is something that everyone strives for and it can look differently based on the individual. Some people may base their success on the amount of money they make or by the amount of popularity on social media. For me success is based on my willingness to never give up. It’s easy to throw in the towel when things get tough, but the ability and desire to fight through my adversities is one of the most rewarding things. Success is having drive, diligence, optimism when things don’t seem hopeful, being committed to my craft, having the desire to improve my skills and learn new skills, the ability to overcome the obstacles that may arise and not giving up at the sight of a challenge, working past fear and difficulty in order to be where I want to be and achieve the greatness that I deserve. I acknowledge that every obstacle is a set up for my next best season. On my road to success, I know that anything worth having will take time, so patience is necessary on my journey. The goal is not to move fast, but to move correctly, with pride in my accomplishments along the way. Success is being able to take risks; stepping out of my comfort zone but having the faith that everything will work out for the best. I believe that in order to be successful it is good to be able to take constructive criticism and allow that to motivate me to be more efficient with the service I offer. However, that is not to be confused with letting other people’s perception of me or my work to validate my worth. Success is knowing my worth and the worth in the service I offer. Doing what I love and what makes me happy is a success in itself.

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?

My name is Jazsmyne Betts, and I am a photographer from Nashville, Tennessee. My interest in photography and videography started around the time I was in high school, but it wasn’t until around 2017, when I was practically done with college, that I purchased my first camera and began photography as a hobby. I started by taking pictures around my college campus and of my family and friends whenever I could whether it be spontaneously or at our planned family functions. Shortly after taking on photography, I knew I wanted to pursue photography as more than just a hobby and now I have been working as a professional photographer for about four years. Not going to lie, I thought that starting a business would be an easy task, but I was one hundred percent wrong; it is definitely rewarding to know that I have built a brand, something that is mine, and seeing it flourish, but the stress, challenges and constant feeling of being overwhelmed can get to me at times. Since making the change from doing photography as a hobby to now being a professional photographer and establishing a business, I have put a lot of time and work into creating a brand, perfecting my craft, and providing a great service to my clients. The main service I offer is portrait photography, photographing for maternity session, family portraits, proms, graduations, weddings, and much more. After finding my footing as a photographer I had gotten comfortable with providing customers with photography session that required me to do the bare minimum, and that just does not sit well with me. I want to go above and beyond the minimum and provide my clients with a service that they would want to come back for. I forever want to challenge myself to learn more and do more as a photographer and offer more and better services to my clients and that is what led me to want to learn and gain experience as a videographer. When people book a photography session with me my goal is to make sure they leave their session pleased with the experience and highly anticipating their photos, I want them to know that I am dedicated to my craft, and I aspire to always give them my best and produce the best products. Trying to create and run a business has its moments and I have faced a few adversities and moments of uncertainty along the way; from building and maintaining clientele, establishing prices for my services that don’t seem overly expensive but still enough to compensate me for my time and talent, creating a website, advertising, paying for equipment that I need, and everything else that comes with running a business. I have doubted myself and wondered if this venture was worth it, and the worst thing that I could have ever done while aspiring to be a photographer was compare myself to other photographers because as a result that made me question my worth and feel like I had to be in competition or rush to get to a certain level within my craft rather than to take my time and practice at bettering myself…lesson learned. I know that I am not on this journey by mistake and I have to take a chance on myself, and it is the best thing I could have ever done for myself. I now know that anything worth having takes time and nothing rushed is worth having; patience is a venture and is a skill worth having. One thing that makes me stand out as a photographer and business owner is that I truly value customer service. I want my clients to be pleased with their sessions and in love with the photographs I produce for them. I value the constructive criticism that my clients, friends, and family have to offer so that I may better prefect my craft and provide a better service for future photography sessions. Through it all I am most proud of my drive and determination; I feel like I could have easily given up on this journey or continued my business with a mindset of mediocrity, but my determination and desire to be the best that I can. The growth that I have gained from the time I started photography to now is gratifying. I am also most proud of my support system. My family and friends have been nothing short of supportive and I could not ask for a better support system. They keep me focused and grounded and encourage me to keep pushing. I am worthy of all of the great things that have come to and that is sure to come, and I cannot quit on myself.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Truth be told, I am still not at the level I would like to be when it comes to my clientele. I would love to have more clients and more social media engagements, but I also acknowledge that I still have a good amount of clients. Majority of my clients are my friends and family, and I appreciate them thinking of me and utilizing my services. They truly support me, and I am grateful for it. Because of the support of my friends and family they gladly advertise my services to their friends, other family members, and colleagues. Word of mouth has been a great way for others to be aware of my business. When I do photography sessions at birthday parties, baby showers, or other events that also gives me the opportunity to network and promote myself so that I may grow my clientele. One of my struggles with my business is staying consistent on social media; I’m just not used to posting regularly on social media platforms. Nonetheless, over the past five months, once I began posting consistently showing photography sessions and the finished images from my shoots, I noticed that I my engagements had increased and I have received more inquiries about my services, which is a wonderful thing. I am finding that consistently posting on social media and having my friends and family talk about my business is essential growing clientele and business overall and so far, it has been the most effective way for me to grow my clientele.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

4. There are plenty of lessons that I have had to unlearn. Most of them needing to be unlearned because I, like many people, often expect certain things to happen for me out of convenience and ease; we want what we want when we want it, and I am definitely one of those people. Ideally, I would have loved for my photography business to have taken off four years ago when I made the decision to pursue this and told people that I was embarking on this journey and to conveniently have everything fall into place; that is exactly what I had expected. I had to unlearn that just because you start a business that does not mean your business will blow up overnight; you have to put in the work, be patient, take the time to sow into yourself and business in order for you to see your growth. Anything worth having takes time and anything rushed is not worth having. I had to unlearn having a rushed mentality and learn to be patient, diligent, and take my time with creating a business worth having. It’s okay to slow down, this is not a race. I had to unlearn comparing myself to others because all that did for me was create doubt and insecurities. When other photographers are doing something that I am not, I should not have looked at it as me being inferior or lacking in my craft, but rather to take the opportunity to observe and learn about what they are doing differently, network with other photographers, and allow that to be an inspiration for me to challenge myself and give my clients a unique and worthy product. I had to unlearn striving for perfection. Instead, improvement is the objective. I am human, I am not perfect, and it is okay to make mistakes and experience failure. Sometimes you have to get it wrong to get it right. Turning mistakes into lessons aids in my growth. I had to unlearn people pleasing. While I understand that I am in the business of customer service, I still cannot let other people’s perception of me to dictate who I am. I cannot conform or diminish who I am or what my vision is just because of people’s opinion of me. I had to unlearn doubt and fear; those are afflictions and I know I have what it takes to succeed and there is more than enough room for me to flourish in this business, and I did not come this far to give up. I had to unlearn being hesitant. This is my time, this is my moment, and the seeds that I have planted are beginning to harvest and I am beyond blessed to have accomplished as much as I have. I am worth it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbettsphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jazsmynebetts.photography

Image Credits
1. Jazsmyne Betts, Jeff Betts, Jayla Betts, & Jeffrey Betts 2. Bailey & Rushi 3. Mikaya 4. Jasmine & JaJuan 5. Dezmon 6. La’Mia & Taran 7. Taria & Chanel 8. Holley