We recently connected with Mollie Salazar and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mollie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I started in photography in 2005, and in 2008 I began my own business in Southern California. I spent years building up clientele, I shot hundreds of weddings. In 2019, I really felt that my business was really where I wanted it to be. I had just photographed my biggest bucket list wedding at Disney World at the beginning of 2020 and the rest of the year was full of amazing weddings that I was so happy about. 2020 was set to be a record-setting year for Mollie Jane Photography.

And then Covid hit. Every single one of my weddings was canceled or postponed indefinitely. It was devastating emotionally, psychologically, and financially. About June 2020, my husband and I decided that we needed to move. We didn’t know where but finally decided on Houston. I had never been to Texas, but, for some reason, it made complete sense to me and felt so right.

We wrapped things up in California and on January 1st, 2021 we left our home, my home for the 40 years I had been alive and the only home my children had ever known with 2 cars and a U-Haul stuffed with all of our earthly belongings.

Neither my husband or I had jobs, I had a few weddings in California that had been postponed that I had to fly back for, but that was it. Someone asked me if I was scared then. I think I was, but definitely not as scared as I should have been. We just knew it would work out.

And it has. With some savings and A LOT of hard work, I am a fully booked photographer a year and a half later.

Mollie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

In 2004, I was a senior at BYU, majoring in History Teaching. At the time, I was student-teaching. I always wanted to be a photographer, but I didn’t think that I could support myself with wedding photography, so I was going to be a teacher and do weddings on the side. One day I decided that I was done, I was going to go for it. I changed my major to History, graduated and then went back to school at the University of Utah and got my 2nd bachelor’s degree in Art with an emphasis in Photography.

While I was going to school, I worked at a wedding photography studio in the office and also 2nd shooting weddings and I shot my first wedding, solo, in 2005. After I graduated in 2007, I got married and we decided to move back to Southern California where I was born and raised. I, officially, started Mollie Jane Photography in 2008 and I have been a full-time wedding photographer since then.

Editing styles have definitely changed and progressed since I began. I started shooting at the very beginning of digital photography. but I have always loved a more light and airy look. I think, one thing that sets me apart from other photographers is how long I have been in the industry and how much change that I have seen. I have had a lot of time to refine my style, my business and my customer service to where it is today.

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

I think there a many times that my business has had to pivot. Since the beginning of my business, I have had 3 children. One of the reasons that I became a wedding photographer was so that I could be a mom that is present. Through pregnancy and the birth of each child, my business has changed and I have been able to shape it to the needs of my family without my clients feeling the pinch. Sometimes I took on fewer weddings for a year and focus more on portrait photography, but then the next year I took on more weddings. In my workflow, I made sure that my clients knew how long until they would receive their images. I also found programs that would make it easier to cull, edit, print images, and communicate with clients.

Our biggest pivot was when we moved to Texas, but it was also the best pivot. I have been able to shape my business into everything that I wanted it to be.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

One thing I have learned since we moved and I had to start my business over is that networking is so important. Working with and caring about other vendors in your community is the most important thing that you can do to build your social media presence. But not just other vendors, your “competition”. Understanding that there is enough to go around is paramount!

When we first moved to Texas, I started doing “styled shoots”. Other wedding vendors get together to show their best work. As a photographer, I was able to photograph these amazing vendors’ work and share it with them. These relationships have built my Texas social media presence and I am forever grateful for it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.molliejanephotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/molliejanephotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/molliejanephotography