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

Megan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I am proud to say that I am now earning a full time living doing what I love most, photography. This has been a long journey and in my heart I knew it was always going to happen.

From as far back as I can remember I had always held a camera in my hands. After I graduated high school in 2001 from Minnesota I went off to College (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee) to pursue a degree in the arts. I tried so many different mediums, non of which were photography, and fell in love with ceramics and art history. I graduated with a bachelors of arts and no idea what to do next. It took me a year to find my footing but eventually I opened an art gallery hosting shows for many local artists. Opening up my gallery was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Looking back it was one of the greatest life lessons that I still hold onto to this day. I had to figure everything out on my own at such a young age with zero business knowledge, which I did but did not make much money. To some this may look like a huge loss, to me, I took this as a win. I learned so much with every stumble, that I got back up, learned from my mistake and figured out how to do better.

After two years I had to say goodbye to find a more stable paycheck. This lead me to become the director of marketing for a home heath care company. Here I thought I can use my creativity and outside of the box thinking, this will be great! Nope, all I did was push paper and design a few websites. I did learn many valuable business lessons that I still use in my business today but it was not what I had dreamed of nor did it ignight my creative soul.

Five years later I gave birth to my twin girls in 2012. They were born at 27 weeks and spent a little over three months in the NICU. By the time I was supposed to go back to work they were still in the hospital. It was at this time I knew I need to make a career change. It was not until I took my girls in to have their newborn photos done that I realized this is exactly what I want to do. That was it, there was no going back. I

I had always known I was going to work for myself but taking that leap from a full paying job with a 401K and benefits to start a business from nothing was terrifying. It did not happen for me right away, the idea was there and I was not turning back. I would work on my photography late at night and work at my job during the day. I did this for about 6 years until I was able to start paying myself a full time salary.

I started working out of the back of my car, traveling with a trunk full of gear, props, newborn equipment, etc I was going to figure this out. After a few years of that I had built a small studio in my basement which was a wonderful space for a few years until I ended up outgrowing it. It was about this time, I was starting to actually make and save some money and I knew if I wanted to get to my next goal I needed to act now.

October of 2019 I had locked in a wonderful storefront location in a quant little busy town. I thought I was going to have all this time to move in and get things settled. What I did not realize COVID was right around the corner. Instead of letting this get me down, I tried to stay positive. Once it was safe to get back to work, I went full force. I was so scarred of saying no that I drove myself into exhaustion. I will say this time made me creative in ways I never thought possible. With all the restrictions, I had to figure out safe ways to keep going with my passion.

My journey to self employment was hard, every dollar I made went right back into the business in some way. Once I found my retail location, I knew I needed to get a handle on how to successfully run a business while making a living wage. One book I read that really hit home for me was a book called “Profit First”. As a visual learner, I needed to actually see where my money is allocated and make sure I pay myself.

Looking back on my journey from where I started to where I am now, I would not change a thing. Every mis-step, mistake, heartache and tears got me to where I am today. If I could tell my younger self a piece of advice, I would say, take those business classes in college. Learn the business basics and how to sell so you can keep creating.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

When your kids are born, their birth journey imprints on your heart and becomes part of your family story. It’s become my life’s journey to document that for people through timeless and thoughtful images of the newest members of their family.

Like many, the story of how our beautiful twin girls came to us was filled with many tough times. Failed IVF cycles, heartbreaking losses, a difficult pregnancy, and a traumatic birth experience were not on my bingo card of life, but all of that melted away once they were here and in my arms. After three long months in the NICU, we brought our family home.

When we had newborn photos done of my girls, a light went off in my heart. I fought so hard for this family, and I knew that my next life journey was to become a maternity and newborn photographer.

I’m originally from Eagan, MN, so you betcha I am both Minnesota-nice and Wisconsin-nice
I love to swim and swam on the UWM swim team for 2 ½ years
I hide my addiction to yarn by knitting the newborn hats and wraps you see in my photos

Now I’m lucky enough to have a beautiful studio in Wauwatosa that I moved into in 2019, helping capture the beauty and power of motherhood and their children in a safe and understanding space.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the trust my clients put in me to document their story, their legacy. Being able to print art to put up in their home or treasure in an alum is my passion. I love seeing my photos in print. These tangible memories are something their kids will look back on and cherish an knowing I have done that for them brings me the most joy.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My girls. They are my why. I want to show them that they can follow their dreams, whatever they choose, the hard work, not giving up and just going for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.meganpapachristou.com
• Instagram: @meganpapachristouphotography
• Facebook: Megan Papachristou Photography