We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Anderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Laura thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?
To say Im happy as a business owner, would be an understatement. It’s hard to put into words how much I love what I do. It fuels me every day and fills me with so much purpose and gratitude. I get to make my own hours, and in general, choose who I work with/photograph after establishing a connection, and I not only get to express myself though my art, my clients get to treasure it as their own heirlooms, which is just second to none, the best feeling in the world. And then… There are times when it’s just…hard. Really hard. And really expensive! Weather it be a tough session where a baby or child is uncooperative and there’s nothing I can do but pray that I captured enough to make a full gallery and please the parents (somehow that always happens) or I have to invest in all the usual overhead costs during a slower month, it can feel a bit terrifying not being 100% sure what day will bring what outcome. I have to be very purposeful with my mindset so that I don’t fall into those worries and can keep moving forward. I always start my day with a conversation to myself: “Today is a new day and today is my day! Im so excited accomplish everything I need to do, and grateful that people invest in me and value me to do what I love!” It really helps a lot. Last month I did actually have the thought of, what would it be like to have a regular job? It was a particularly slow month, which in my business, has not been the usual until this year in all of the 13 years that I have been doing this. It was really starting to stress me out but It didn’t stay in my head too long before I came back to reality as I just really can’t imagine it. I think Id be really terrible at it at this point after so long of working for myself to have to work for someone else. The con list is high, while the only pro I can really think of is that Id have that regular secure paycheck. But I feel like I would be missing out on so much more in life, like being able to be there more for my daughter, which as a single mom, is highly important to me. I feel proud of myself every day for what I have built, and what I will continue to build. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Laura, 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 specializing in newborn, baby, and maternity photography for 13 years. I started my professional journey as an outdoor photographer at first, and then fell head over heels for studio photography, especially newborns and babies. I have always been especially obsessed with babies. They are just my all time favorite humans! They change so much more quickly than older ages and I love capturing that fleeting time for parents as I feel it is really one of the most emotionally rewarding things to capture, but also for the parents to treasure their finished photos and wall art. You can’t get back time. But you can revisit it in photographs. I love that. Something that sets me a little more apart in my industry and genre, is that I come from many years of a fine art background, and I use this to add to my photographs, often digitally painting on them or doing fine art composite work. I love standing out in this way. That combo of having very intentional art meet something that might be considered a little more documentary is so interesting and fulfilling to me. I am most proud of the years I have accumulated in meeting so many wonderful families, them telling their friends and family about me, (seriously the best feeling) and opening my brand new studio just this past December!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Absolutely what helped me build my reputation in my market was my different fine art style, and my work ethic. I am the photographer who goes all out to make the vision happen! The connections I make with my clients are special because we get to plan the sessions together with their initial ideas, and my creative ones to make something completely new and exciting. A lot of the time, My families don’t know exactly what the set is going to look like until they walk into the studio. We have talked about it and bounced around ideas, shared inspiration images to get a good feel, but I tend to just want to surprise them withe the final outcome on the day of which is both her wracking and exciting. It is the best to see the look on their faces as they see it for the first time! When I first started I was. definitely more nervous about those things than I was excited, so I did go back and forth with them a lot more and shared my progress to make sure everything was ok, but after so many years of learning and creating, Im now in this marvelous place where my families completely trust me to knock it out of the park and that is such an honor.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Something that I find is vastly misunderstood about any creatives journey by non creatives is why we cost what we cost for our services. I wouldn’t say I let too much of that bother me because I know and trust in my worth and the families who find me and book with me are doing so because they also see my worth, but when I see on my local communities social media pages, post after post about looking for a creative, weather it be a photographer, baker, hairstylist etc, and say “Im looking for a _______ who doesn’t cost an arm or a leg” or “I’m in search of an affordable _____” It can feel so constant sometimes that I worry about the health of those industries, as those statements could potentially condition people reading that to expect creative professions to be cheap. And there are many creatives who respond in the comments because they are out there, unfortunately doing themselves a disservice by not charging a livable wage, and conditioning the consumer to think that’s what it should cost when it really shouldn’t. Creatives such as myself, spend many thousands of dollars on equipment, education, all the online services we have to have subscriptions to to run a business, in some cases, like me, a studio rent… it adds up quickly. But one of the most valuable things a creative does for their client, is to spend their time, focus and expertise on them and I think a consumer has a hard time seeing so much of that behind the scenes work involved.
Contact Info:
- Website: lalalu.photography
- Instagram: @lalaluphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lalaluphotographyart
Image Credits
Lala Lu Photography