We recently connected with Kayla Shenk and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I have been a full time business owner and photographer since I was 21 years old which was a little over a year ago! From a young age I have always had a drive to complete a task that felt ‘impossible’. I always made it my mission to come up with a new idea or do something out of the ordinary. Going through High School I felt the urge to go to college to become a teacher but something didn’t sit well with me on that vision. It felt like I was just going through the ‘normal’ degrees that teachers said were good occupations and it wasn’t ACTUALLY something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Plus, I had my passion for photography and creating for fun in my free time. I decided to take a gap year after High School before going to community college for business. During that gap year I developed and engaged a clientele that kick-started my business and definitely made me realize how possible being a full time photographer would be. During my gap year I did an photo internship, worked as a waitress in a nursing home, did some Youtube, and was also building my business. Once fall 2020 rolled around, I felt fully secure to drop all other sources of income to pursue photography and be my own boss. It didn’t just happen though… I spent more hours developing and working on my business than the average full time employee would work. It definitely paid off but over time I definitely realized that although I can have a self driven mentality to my business, I need to balance my personal life and my business life too.

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?

I am a full time 22 year old photographer based out of Central Pennsylvania. My focus is on couples, weddings, elopements and seniors! I am most proud about finding my occupation and making a living off of a craft I love at such a young age. I would have never imaged I would be in the position I am today back in High School.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

First my love for photography started with my first DSLR camera which was gifted to me from my parents in 2014-ish. Ever since that moment I became obsessed with how documentation worked and the tools I had in order to create something amazing. In High School and early post High School I did photography on the side of my other jobs. Eventually after hard work and countless sleepless nights I could no longer keep up with working another jobs and decided to quit and pursue photography full time. It was definitely intimidating not knowing what my income was going to be each year plus business owner taxes are ridiculous which freaked me out hah! I have amazing family and a Fiancé that 100% believed in my goals.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It sometimes can be tricky to bond with non-business owners who don’t understand the drive and work that is poured into our businesses. Some think it was just handed to us when in reality they don’t see the ridiculous amount of work that goes in to each session, wedding, website design, location scout session, consultation call, social media posts, and more. It’s exhausting but worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kaylashenkphoto.com
• Instagram: @kaylashenkphoto
• Facebook: @kaylashenkphoto

Image Credits
Kayla Shenk Photography