We were lucky to catch up with Jessi Nichols recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I hope my legacy is that I served people whole-heartedly with kindness, understanding, and encouragement. I also hope my legacy is beautifully curated images that tell other’s stories, as well as my own.

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

My name is Jessi Nichols, lead photographer and owner at Jessi Nichols Photography in Greenville, SC. I have always loved photography, even when I was little, I’d use disposable cameras to take photos of my dogs and stuffed animals. Through high school, I always had my camera to take photos with my friends and of our events. In college, I got my first DSLR as a Junior and used it as much as I could. During my senior year, I started photographing my friends’ senior photos, and from there my little business grew thanks to word of mouth. We launched JNP in 2013 and never looked back!

I provide a timeless wedding photography experience – one where brides feel cared for, encouraged, and beautiful in front of my camera. I also wanted my couples and families to always feel at ease, knowing that I’ve got their back and that I’m always putting my best foot forward for them. My goal was always to be more than just their photographer – but to be their hype girl, their number one fan, and to provide beautiful images at the end of the day.

Being a wedding photographer comes with many hats. There’s scheduling, timeline creation, culling, editing, and so many emails. Not to mention, keeping up with invoicing, receipts, expenses and taxes. It’s a fully encompassing industry where you use many skills aside from just photography.

I am most proud of the people I’ve met along the way on this journey. I’ve had amazing brides, couples, and families along the way. I have felt so included, loved, and encouraged by the sweet people I get to photograph. I am also most proud of the team I’ve built over the years. I’ve had 3 interns and 3 associate photographers over the years, and they’ve become some of my favorite people!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is an ever evolving beast. In 2013, Instagram and Facebook were the number one ways to promote your business for free. I started by creating a business Facebook page, this is where I’d share recent shoots and galleries. I created my Instagram in 2012 and slowly started posting some of my work. Instagram wasn’t that big yet, but I consistently posted something from every session I did. This slowly created brand awareness, and let people know that I was doing photography full-time. As instagram grew, I did my best to keep up with posting once a day, every day.

Over the course of a few years, posting consistently every day helped me build a following. I dabbled in sharing hashtags, tagging different accounts, etc, but what I found most successful was consistently posting. From there came more clients who saw my work on instagram, saw their friends photos, saw a family member I photographed, etc. Word of mouth is a powerful thing!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is that there is no such thing as capping out on your potential. You can always grow, learn, and evolve your craft. That is fuel to creative fire!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jessinichols.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessimnichols
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessinicholsphotography

Image Credits
Jessi Nichols Photography