We recently connected with Jenny King and have shared our conversation below.

Jenny, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I always wanted to be a florist when I was younger. I love being around plants, blooms & organic energy. While my dream of being a florist was never fulfilled, when I started my wedding company Jenny King Photography, I named all of my collections after flowers. In 2017 my husband & I visited France & we explored Monet’s Garden. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. We walked around for hours looking at plants, flowers, bumble bees, all the things. I have always been a fan of dahlia flowers but only had the pleasure of seeing them in a bride’s bouquet on wedding days. While at Monet’s Garden, they were growing from the earth. I photographed so many flowers that day & still look at those images for inspiration. I also have a love for lamps & chandeliers. I have a quite extensive collection of unique lamps at home as I love ambient lighting in the evenings. #nobiglights I especially like photographing chandeliers from the bottom perspective. Going to Paris, there were chandeliers EVERYWHERE of all different shapes, sizes & styles. A lot of times they resemble flower petals. Combine the two & we came up with Black Dahlia.

Jenny, 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?

I have been a full time wedding photographer since 2015. When Covid hit in 2020, my entire business came to a grinding halt. Wedding venues could no longer operate therefore, causing all my weddings aka income to postpone until the following year or even longer. My husband is also a business owner & his business was one of the last business to have permission to open back up after 6 months of being closed. We have three children & bills just like the rest of the world. I got to thinking, how can I work & follow the rules? At the time you could work in a room with 7 people or less. This is when the idea of boudoir photography hatched. I had been shooting boudoir for my brides through my wedding brand but decided push the boundaries & do a trial run in July of 2020 to see how it would do. I shot 26 boudoir sessions that month! In December of 2020 I officially launched the yin to my yang brand Black Dahlia Boudoir & we have been growing each year since!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Before I was a photographer, I was a loan officer at our local credit union. I quit when I went on maternity leave with my third baby. After quitting, I knew that I didn’t want to go back to corporate work & wanted to pursue an occupation in creativity & arts. I have always loved photography & learned to develop film in high school. I had a small retirement account set up while working at the credit union. I withdrew everything from that account & invest in one camera, one lens & a website. For the first year or so all the money I earned went right back into my business as I do not believe in taking out business loans. I still an always investing in my business to make it better & to continue growing with the ever changing times.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

It is so important to represent your truest self online & not to pretend to be something you are not. When I first started my career in photography I thought I had to only portray my socials in a certain way. While sharing my work is a priority, I realize that people related more to me than anything else. If your audience can feel connected to you, they will trust your expertise & allow you to truly commit to the creative process. This in turn gives them something that is truly unique to them while also fulfilling your wants & needs as an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blackdahliaboudoir.com
• Instagram: @blackdahliaboudoir
• Facebook: @blackdahliaboudoir
• Other: TikTok: @blackdahliaboudoir

Image Credits
Black Dahlia Boudoir