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

Maddie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I had been a photographer for a few years, and eventually worked up to doing weddings. I always enjoyed weddings when I shot them, but I knew they weren’t my end all, be all. I had young kids and was starting to be pretty protective of my nights and weekends – two things you lose pretty quickly as a wedding photographer. I knew I needed an exit strategy, but I was still enjoying myself and my work was great, so I wasn’t in a hurry. I noticed at weddings that one of my favorite parts was working with other vendors: planners, DJs, florists. And I LOVED sharing photos with them after the wedding day. I loved that I could provide them with something they could use to market and grow their business. That was so rewarding to me. Around the same time, I started to share more of myself on social media. Not just my work, but me as a person – headshots and photos of myself behind the scenes. Other photographers noticed and asked if I could take photos of them like the ones I had created for myself. That’s how it started. Once I realized brand photography was a thing, I knew that was it. I had a background in digital and social marketing (I worked a marketing day job until 2019!), and this type of photography married the best of both my worlds. I started out charging $350 for brand sessions just to build my portfolio and show people what a brand session could look like. Now my clients invest $3000+ per session and I work with large and small personal and commercial brands. I could not love my job more.

Maddie, 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 first picked up a camera as part of a photography requirement in college. I honestly didn’t like it much – I found it pretty confusing. But at the end of the semester, I was just curious enough to keep learning. I went home over Christmas break, got a camera, and spent days watching YouTube videos and reading blogs. I learned the bulk of photography from The Pioneer Woman’s series called ‘What the heck is aperture?’ I started taking photos of friends and family for $50 a pop in literal back alleyways (such an aesthetic!) as I figured out my style. I started with families and kids, then moved to seniors, swearing up and down I’d never shoot a wedding. My skills improved and eventually I felt confident enough to take on wedding photography. I knew I wouldn’t do weddings forever, but I loved the people I met and was so proud of the work I was doing. All this time I was working a day job in social and digital marketing. I’m maybe a bit of a weird entrepreneur because I actually always loved my job. I loved the industry I worked in, I had great coworkers, and great bosses. But my family was growing and I was very much burning the candle at both ends. I knew I needed to pick a focus, and I couldn’t imagine not giving my all to my business to see what happened. I left my job in the summer of 2019 after I had 6 months of savings and enough weddings booked to feel secure. Within a few months, I had began the pivot to brand photography once I realized that was something that existed. Finding brand photography completely changed my life and business. I had never felt that kind of alignment with my job before. It’s also allowed me to pursue a really incredible balance with my life. I don’t feel like I have a “job.” I feel like I’ve really created a life that fulfills me in both the work I do and the person I am. It’s totally intertwined now and it feels so good. I can truly be myself and thrive.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media has always been a huge part of my brand strategy. Ultimately, I’m a big fan of personal branding. I think sharing about yourself as well as your business is a great way to create connection with an audience and give them someone to be invested in. We’re taught that business has to be this professional, buttoned up thing, but we forget that people do business with people. We want to like the people we do business with. It’s a lot easier when we do! There have certainly been times I’ve shared things on social media that have been polarizing. I don’t think it’s everyone’s cup of tea to share about social justice issues or politics, and that’s fine, but it’s something I try not to shy away from. Business is affected by so much. I see it as this giant spider web. I’m not going to hide my beliefs or passions in order to be more accepted. I’m going to be me, in every area of my life, and the people who like that are my people. It’s tricky because as humans we so desperately want to be liked. That’s definitely my achilles heel – I just want to be liked. But I’ve found it’s way more important that I am *myself*. Me being my authentic self is beneficial for everyone I come in contact with, even if they don’t like my authenticity. The world needs more people who aren’t afraid to be who they are. I’m certainly not saying I’m never afraid, but I don’t want to get to the end of my life thinking, I wish I would have…

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

When I started my business, I was under the impression there was a right way and a wrong way. I’ve learned that there is a whole lot of gray. I’ve seen so many people build so many different kinds of businesses, so many different ways. There is simply no one right way. What’s really important is what YOU as the business owner want. Women have an incredible sense of intuition, but we haven’t been taught how to listen to that and trust it. It’s such a superpower, but we’re taught to view these kinds of emotions almost as a weakness. That has been my biggest unlearning – that the feelings I have mean something. Whether that’s not feeling quite right about a client, or knowing I need to change something even though it seems to be working well, or following the fun even if it doesn’t feel like a great business decision. When I follow my intuition, it all just works. I’m done fighting that. I’m using it as the asset it is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maddiepeschong.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maddiepeschong/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maddie.peschong
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddiepeschong/

Image Credits
Rhody Ray Photography Natalie Kristeen Photography