We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauren Gohn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

As a photographer I love asking my friends and family to support my business. I truly believe that you will not be successful without the support of your village. So far I’ve been extremely lucky having my friends and family support me in the best way that they can. Sometimes it’s just sharing a social media post or referring me to their friends which is so much more helpful than people give it credit. One thing that I do struggle with with friends is some expect to get a discount or free services. I feel like every once in a while it’s appropriate for something small however, I’ve had a friend ask me to shoot her bridal portraits, bridal boudoir, engagement session, and wedding all for free. I’m absolutely not only money focused however, that was a lot and it truly just wasn’t fair to my business. If I could go back in time I would have asked for payment instead of pretending it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Friends and family are some of my biggest supporters and I would not be where I am without them. I feel incredibly grateful to have such an amazing support system.

Lauren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Lauren Gohn, the photographer behind Lauren’s Photo Shoots. I started playing with cameras when I was 5 years old. At the time I definitely didn’t know what I was doing but I just loved taking pictures. As I grew up my interest in photography grew and never really faded even when others did. Once I got into junior high I joined Yearbook and that’s where I would say I truly got serious about my photography. I started doing paid shoots in high school while working on getting my diploma. After I graduated I decided to move to Dallas to pursue a Bachelors degree in Communication and Technology where I focused in Digital Production. Throughout my college career I studied photography, videography, audio, graphic design, and social media but I always felt myself leaning towards photography through everything I did. While in college I had the opportunity to work with the Marketing Department as a student assistant where I learned more about photography in the marketing realm and corporate world. After I earned my degree I moved on to work in marketing for a few years before deciding to just do photography full time. With the support of my fiance I made that jump to full time and haven’t looked back. Getting into the wedding industry was a challenge. I knew that I wanted to work in the wedding industry for a while before I got into it. I found a mentor who taught me the ropes of the wedding industry and he truly helped me grow my business, supported me while I learned, and allowed me to second shoot for him while I learned how the day goes, what shots I needed to get, etc.
The thing that I am most proud of as well as what I believe sets me apart from other photographers in the industry is the way that I support my couples. I’ve seen so many photographers who just take photos but I am the photographer who will bustle the dress, fix the hair, carry the bouquet, help calm your nerves right before you walk down the aisle, as well as anything else I can do to make your day the best day of your life because I truly believe it should be the best day of your life and you deserve to be treated like royalty.

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

I began my career in Marketing. For the longest time I believed that I would not be able to make a living off of photography because you don’t get a traditional like consistent check and so you can’t rely on a specific payday. I was so scared when I jumped to full time because I didn’t know when my next “paycheck” would be and I still have those bills that are due on a specific day. I started out doing weddings on the weekends only and working my regular 9-5 during the week. I was so exhausted all the time and had a really hard time keeping up with not only my growing business but my responsibilities at my corporate job. When it got to the point where I couldn’t handle it anymore I decided with my husband to quit my job and start doing photography full time. At the time it was stressful, I barely made enough money to pay my bills and had to lean on him often but as I shot more weddings I had more clients coming to me.
My first big milestone was hitting that one year mark with my business. It’s been said that your first year in business is your hardest year and I absolutely agree with that. There were several sleepless nights, a lot of anxiety, and a whole lot of 90 hour work weeks to build my business. I’m still not where I want to be with my business however I’ve grown a lot and I’m so proud of where I am today.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

My depression and anxiety does not define me. I have always been big on mental health. I’m very open with my struggle with anxiety, depression, and insomnia and the way that it has and does affect me as I run and build my business. It’s very easy to believe those doubts in your head saying you’re not good enough, you’re not worth what you charge, there’s better people out there, etc. but at the end of the day you have to believe in yourself and you have to believe in what you do.
I’m not going to lie and say I’ve completely “unlearned” and defeated these thoughts and doubts however I’ve made a ton of progress and I’ve worked very hard to improve my mental health.

Contact Info:

• Website: laurensphotoshoots.com
• Instagram: laurens_photo_shoots
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurenphotoshoots/