We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mindy Wiseman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mindy below.

Mindy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later?

If I could go back, I would have started my business straight out of high school. I am middle aged (I think – is 35 middle aged?). When I was in high school, it was when social media was just beginning – Tom was my first friend. My generation ALWAYS had a camera, because our phones didn’t take selfies then. I found myself, even as a junior and senior, taking photos of more than just my friends. I was extremely drawn to landscape photography and I did some of my classmates senior photos. When I was at the age where I was looking to my future, we were made to believe that art could be a hobby – but not so much a career. I spent the next decade and a half trying to find a job I liked, but consistently feeling unfulfilled. I think that if I had found my purpose – my thing – sooner, I probably would have been more focused on my goals and personal and professional growth.

Mindy, 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 a 35 year old wife and mother of five children. I’m in Central Ohio, living in the town where I was born and raised. I have genuinely had a camera in my hand or pocket since I can remember, going back to the Kodak disposables and the iZone instants. I actually began collecting antique cameras as a young child – that should have been my first sign. I own two separate photography businesses, that reflect the things I am passionate about. The first one, The Guild Photo Co. is the business I started first. The Guild is my portrait business, covering Weddings, Seniors and Families. The second one, MG Sports Photography, is the volume side of my business where I cover team and individual sports, action shots and schools. The Guild began because I already knew my way around a camera, and I think that moments with the people we love hold so much weight. MG Sports happened shortly after because we are a baseball family (it’s how I met my husband) and I started taking photos of my own children. Each of my businesses have grown exponentially, and I am so grateful to be doing what I love.

My absolute favorite things to photograph is Weddings. Not only do I get to witness love and moments (I cry at almost every client wedding. I can’t help it), I thrive in the chaos. I have always been wired and energetic, so the chaos of a wedding day feels like home to me. It is truly my element – I get lost in the day capturing moments and fully immersing myself in my surroundings. I have never wanted to be a point and shoot, one and done, business only photographer. I do what I do successfully because of the relationships I have built with my clients. My favorite compliment, that I hear quite often, is “Mindy feels more like a friend than someone we hired.” What I do demands connection – I become a part of the big moments, the small moments, the quiet intimate moments, and everything in between. My clients become friends and family to me, and I am grateful – because without my clients, this would all still be nothing more than a dream. I truly could not do this without them and I consider myself lucky to make a living capturing human emotion. The most important aspects of my brand are adventure, laughter, friendship and authenticity.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My local market is pretty saturated with extremely talented photographers. One of the most important things for me, from the beginning, was to not view them as competition. Other creatives are not my enemy – as a matter of fact, they are some of my best friends. Being new in a saturated market can be intimidating, but as you grow, you learn that most of us are here for each other. From the beginning, I realized that I was most drawn to the creatives that were unapologetically themselves. The truth is that none of us are perfect, and we are all our own worst critic. I knew from the beginning that my personality was simply too big to hide behind a logo, and so I started focusing not only on the work I provide to clients, but also the experience. I make it a point to have FUN at my sessions, and make sure my clients do too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say “I really don’t like my picture taken” and by the end of it, they are laughing and forgot they were even nervous. I pride myself in making sure people know they can be comfortable with me, and they are free to be exactly who they are. I don’t want to take photos of someone pretending – I want to capture my subjects in a real, raw light. Every single person has a story, and I love to try to tell each persons story through imagery. This is probably why so many people have gone from client to friend – because I take the time to get to know them.

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

This was a side hustle for me for a few months. I actually hadn’t had a camera in a few years, and my husband got me my first professional level camera as a wedding gift. At the time, I was working 60+ hours a week in a factory and I hated every single minute of it. The money was good and was what I needed to help support my family, but my soul was craving more. I stepped back behind the camera and started doing sessions for people I knew. As they shared them, more people began reaching out. Finally, one day, I came home and boldly told my husband and my family that I was done with the factory and I was going to do photography full time. I’m pretty sure they all thought I was insane – and they had every reason to. When I set my mind on something though, I achieve it. I don’t stop until I do. And that is exactly what I did. I poured everything I could into this, and took in just as much. I spent more time learning that first year than shooting. I googled things constantly, I utilized youtube, I never put my camera down and I spent lots of time talking with those who were kind enough to give me advice. I knew that this was what I was meant to do – and I didn’t let myself accept anything less.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theguildphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theguildphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theguildphoto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindy-wiseman-1b9655a5/