We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Molly Murphy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Molly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?
Spreading kindness & freezing joyfilled moments
I hope to encourage others to see their photos as their own personal pieces of art. Photographing weddings allows me to document the start of a new family legacy. I love the joy I see in my clients faces when they see themselves through my viewpoint. Most everyone has insecurities about themselves but if I can photograph someone the way they FEEL inside or WANT to feel and show them how beautiful they truly are through a photograph, I’ve done my job.
And although I photograph the most happy moments in life, I know many times the moments I capture are used to bring back memories of family or friends that have passed away. Photographs are the first thing we turn to when someone we love leaves this Earth.
Molly, 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 am a wedding photographer based in Dallas, TX but gladly travel for my couples to all types of destinations. I began photographing weddings in 2014 when a friend asked if I could cover for another photographer that basically left a bride and groom high and dry a week before their wedding day. Before this, I had only ever photographed portraits of family and friends (and my own pets). I fell in love with wedding days that day and pursued this niche more through education specific to wedding photography, styled photoshoots and being the assistant wedding photographer for some other wedding photographers around the DFW area.
For years, I could not support myself and family through photography alone so I worked as a catering director and later a marketing director for years with my previous employer. Photography was my side hustle but the end goal was to always make it full time as a wedding photographer. We I got home from my then full time job, I would have photo sessions or I would be editing photos, or working on designing my own website (with no web design knowledge). All this took up a lot of my free time but I knew my dream to do this full time wouldn’t happen without this discipline. In April 2021, I was finally able to quit my job of 10 years to become a Full Time Wedding Photographer. And the ride has only gotten faster and more exciting ever since! It’s like that first leap out of an airplane as you sky dive to the ground. It’s scary but then you make the jump and it’s the most exciting experience of your life and you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
I am really proud of the following I have created through social platforms. I give free, specific, advice to couples planning their wedding. I know weddings aren’t cheap and a wedding photographer is a big ticket vendor. I want my couples to feel as if they know me already by the time they reach out to me. My online platforms have proved to do this time and time again. I also love that anyone can benefit from my tips! I had a bride message me from Australia an idea she learned from me to incorporate on her wedding day and I felt so much joy in that.
Overall, I want my clients and really anyone I come in contact with to know they can trust me and feel the kindness and love I have for everyone. Everyone deserves to feel beautiful and I have the privilege to give this feeling to others.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My husband and I had talked for years about me taking my business full time eventually. In 2018 I invested in a lot of education and was ready for 2019 to be the year I took my business to the next level.
Midway through 2019, my husband began chemotherapy and in September 2019, a stem-cell transplant.
Of course all the plans of leaving my previous job got put on hold. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I needed to be not only by his side at the hospital, but we also needed that financial stability of a salary at that time. He was now officially cancer free and we began talks of 2020 being the year I quit my job. I filed for my LLC in Feb 2020 and was on the path to my new career…and, well, 2020 happened and it was not great for the wedding industry. I kept up with my clients and continued to book through 2021. Weddings began to ramp back up and I was getting more inquires than ever. In April 2021 I was finally able to put in my notice at my job of 10 years.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
It may seem like a playful app to many but SO many of my leads come from this platform! I have spent 0% in ads through social media and have received so many inquires and bookings through Instagram. I booked a destination wedding in Santa Barbara, CA for July 2023 through a bride that found me through Instagram!
I also work with Brides of North Texas and absolutely love this partnership. Couples find me through their list of qualified wedding vendors on their website. I’ve received amazing wedding clients this way as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: mollymurphyphotography.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/mollymurphyphotography
- Facebook: facebook.com/mollymurphyphotography
- Other: Tik Tok: @molly.murphy.photography