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

Alright, Mona thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

When you start your business, you see a vision of it being successful. The commitment you make to yourself for always working hard and never giving up even in hard times is what it takes to be successful.

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 graduated from UCF with a bachelor’s in Psychology. This foundation led me to other pursuits. I started as an equities trader and later became an accomplished photographer. I am also a proud mother of four beautiful girls and married to a wonderful man who’s my biggest supporter. I have been photographing weddings in the Orlando area since 1998. After several years of working in the corporate world, I felt a strong desire to step away from my career and feed my creative spirit. My love for Photography and family grew almost simultaneously.

Sona came from the Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi languages, meaning gold, beauty, and preciousness. Sona photography aims to communicate and document moments in time for my clients to cherish for years. I specialize in photographing Multicultural weddings. My specialty came naturally as I’m South Asian. The more weddings I captured, the more my experience grew, and my portfolio expanded to include a wide array of cultures and backgrounds. I have captured everything from western farmhouse weddings to large Asian ballroom extravaganzas. I am honored to have had the opportunity to create such a diverse portfolio. I have learned and evolved so much personally by being a part of all these unique cultures and customs. Meeting people from various backgrounds, traveling to remote areas, and photographing destination weddings and intimate affairs have given me opportunities to be a part of so many happy moments for so many couples and families.

I have captured over 500 South Asian Weddings. I Lead all my weddings; however, I only take two weddings per month. I believe in quality over quantity. My company is entirely referral based. I strive to capture authentic and candid moments and create memories that last a lifetime and beyond. I capture emotions and tell a story from my images. Photography is about much more than taking pictures. It’s about capturing emotions and preserving every moment. My specialty is unobtrusively capturing your most important moments. I aim to capture the nuances, smiles, tears, and other emotions experienced at a wedding. My photos create memories that last for generations. For multicultural couples, my 20-year experience, background, and familiarity with various cultural customs facilitate capturing all the critical moments on this momentous day.

I am proud that I believed in myself, never gave up hope, and continue to achieve my goals. Today, Sona Photography is exactly where it needs to be and heading in the right direction. This has a lot to do with the love I have received over the years from my clients, who have become friends. My clients love and appreciate my work; their continued support is a big part of my success. I am also proud of my example for my four amazing daughters. Being a female entrepreneur comes with challenges, but I hope I have taught my girls that if they set their minds to something, they can achieve it.

Traveling and being a part of different cultures and traditions is one of the most life-affirming things I have done for myself.

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

I take great pride in my ability to develop relationships with my clients. I ask many questions and understand my client’s needs. Because the wedding day is very unpredictable, the photographer must be patient, a great problem solver, and a crisis manager. I always want to ensure Sona Photography delivers its needed products and services in any situation. Due to this, I have never had a bad review in my 20 years of photography experience. I want all my clients to be happy and their investment in Sona photography to last years to come.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to share your artistic perspective with the world. It is gratifying to use your hands, explore various lighting techniques, innovate new ideas, and create a perfect photograph. It is always so satisfying to show my clients their final images that they also can love for years to come.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sonaphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonaphotography/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SonaPhotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mona-chaudhry-a8945268/

Image Credits
“My personal image” was taken by @theinspiredstorytellers ( Instagram)