Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Matthew Wetzler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Matthew, appreciate you joining us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

I started my job as a full-time photographer at the same time as a cross-country move from Central Texas to Northwest Montana. I never had any delusions that establishing my business in a new market where I quite literally had no connections would be easy, but I underappreciated how difficult it actually would be. I also couldn’t done more research on the wedding industry in particular in this region being very seasonally focused, and been prepared for my first full year here being extremely lean business-wise, having largely missed out on the booking window for that year’s summer weddings. Ultimately I did get an okay start in weddings by joining a regional wedding association that allowed me to network with other vendors, but I could’ve diversified that networking by getting more involved with the local chambers of commerce to get my foot in the door for more commercial, branding, and editorial work outside of weddings and family portraits, which make up the bulk of the work I do.

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 spent 15 years as a full-time graphic designer in a wide variety of roles from print design to web development and design, to branding, you name it. I had the opportunity to brand South by Southwest in Austin two years in a row and was a digital art director for a beloved Texas travel publication. Ultimately though after that time, I simply started to struggle with severe burnout. I was doing good work, but nothing that I felt was “great,” and thus wasn’t feeling all that fulfilled.

During this time I had been using photography as a creative outlet, on the side as a hobby, helping friends photograph weddings, and even doing the occasional photo job for my employers. As these photography opportunities increased I began considering making the jump full-time. While they’re both creative pursuits, for some reason I don’t have an issue with someone simply saying they do or don’t like my photography without being able to explain why, whereas when you’re working on a design solution for someone, that open-ended feedback can be extremely frustrating.

Ultimately—via unrelated circumstances—an opportunity to move across the country presented itself and I took that as the sign I needed to walk away from full-time design and pursue photography.

I do feel this background in design definitely informs how I frame my photos because I simply can’t shake the thought that maybe this photo will be used in a layout somewhere, and may need to be used to tell a narrative about whatever it may be.

And while weddings and family portraits make up the bulk of income-generating work, I also photograph a lot of headshots, live theatre and music, and even motorsports which is a bit out of the ordinary from your typical wedding photographer. I love diving into these seemingly disparate disciplines because it keeps me creatively challenged, and affords me the opportunity to learn new techniques I may be able to apply to those other types of photography.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Maybe not a specific resource necessarily, but I don’t believe I appreciated how key networking is for a successful small business. Even though I’m essentially a one-person operation from start to finish and work directly with couples, families, or individuals, having relationships with other vendors in adjacent businesses has proven an invaluable tool to grow my business, and continue increasing my revenue each year I’ve been a full-time photographer, even through the COVID-19 pandemic.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve alluded to this previously, but ultimately I felt I had to pivot away from my graphic design career simply from a mental health standpoint. I simply wasn’t fulfilled in the work I was doing. It was good work, and I was able to deliver for the clients’ needs both internal and external, but failed to make myself happy with the end product consistently. I simply needed a change, and was fortunate to be in a position where I could do so, and continue doing something in a creative field.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewmattphotography.com
• Instagram: @thewmatt and @thewmotorsportimages
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwetzler/
• Other: https://www.threads.net/@thewmatt

Image Credits
Portrait of Me: Amber Lynn Photography All other photos: Matthew Wetzler