We recently connected with Kim Hoover and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, thanks for joining us today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

I find this to be the most difficult part about being a business owner/solopreneur. I’ve gotten better about it, but it still always weighs heavily on my heart when I step away for a few days and choose not to look at email, social or texts. The best thing I could have ever done was to get a second phone. That phone doesn’t come with me on vacations and that does help a lot. I admittedly do jump on email every couple of days even while on vacation because someone has to keep this train humming. When you love what you do, it’s hard to step away when a lot of it doesn’t feel like work, however the mental load can burn you out really quickly if you aren’t careful.

Kim, 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?

It’s actually kind of a funny story how I got into photography. When I was pregnant with my first child 15 years ago, we hired a photographer for maternity and newborn photos. We were over the moon excited. It was one of those things where I had loved her work so much that when she replied that she was available, I signed that contract so fast without reading the fine print. Fast forward to our “viewing” appt where we got to see all of the incredible images that she had captured, tissue in hand… they were the most beautiful pictures I had ever seen of myself, my husband, and our baby. It wasn’t until she handed us a separate pricing sheet that in that moment I realized, what we had paid for did not include any images. No digitals. No art work. Nothing. We were given a deadline to choose to buy our photos or they would no longer be available. Being young, first time parents… we couldn’t afford the additional $2k she was suggesting. We ordered a handful of 4×6’s, one framed collage to try to get as many photos into a frame to save them and that was it. I was heartbroken. It still haunts me to this day.

I drove home from that appointment feeling like I was scammed. I was so mad that there were photographers out there that operated like this, and to each their own. If that works for them, that works for them. I appreciate artistry more than the average person and I always have being creative myself. From there, I became a little anti-photographer for a while and did my best capturing that first year myself. We had a pretty nice point and shoot at the time. When I was pregnant with second child, the motherhood brain plays tricks on us. I almost hired that same photographer again because I wanted the framed collage in my hallway to match with my second daughter. My husband was adamant that I do not contant her. It was then that he bought me my first “real” camera. The moment I had it in my hand, I was determined to learn and be just as good as she was. It was my mission to learn. 100% Self taught, I now have a very successful newborn business and I am so proud of that. I always think back on that experience fondly now because had it been different, I would likely have never picked up a camera. Having placed a camera in my hand with the right amount of disappointment, frustration and anger to fuel my motivation to create art – I am so thankful for that experience. When I decided to open my own business, I made a vow that I would never make a new mother ever feel that way that I did that day during my viewing appointment. Every single client of mine will get digitals with every single package. Always.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During Covid, when all of these moms were having babies and I had due dates all over my calendar and we couldn’t be in person for their newborn photos, they were devastated. I began training moms over Facetime and text messages to take photos of their newborn babies with their cell phones. They would then upload those photos into albums so that I could download them and professionally edit them.

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

Perfectionism. 100% perfectionism. When learning photography, you follow the rules. There is always the right way to do things and things you avoid. However, when it’s your own vision in mastering your own style in your art… you have to break the rules. That’s a fact. They don’t tell you this though. It’s something you have to play with for a long time. That’s how you learn to stand out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.appleofoureye.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/appleofoureye/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AppleOfOurEyePhotography
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