We were lucky to catch up with Rachel Gazes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

As someone who has had “regular jobs” in the past, I can honestly say that I am happy to be a business owner. However, that does not mean that having the freedom to create my hours and build my success does not come with it’s trials and tribulations.

For instance, I sometimes struggle to create boundaries between my home life and work life. When you have a “regular job” you clock out and you are done with work and get to focus on your personal life. When you are a business owner, that boundary tends to get blurred because there is always something you should be doing for your business, even from the comfort of your home. Whether it’s responding to a client’s messages, returning phone calls, editing photos, updating my website, marketing, or accepting bookings on days I have scheduled off.

Almost 10 years in, there are still many times when I consider that life might be more peaceful working for someone else. Especially when you consider that when you work for someone else, your paycheck is a guarantee. When you are a business owner, your paycheck is not always guaranteed and is largely impacted by your efforts.

Rachel, 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?

My name is Rachel Gazes and I am a professional photographer and the owner of GOT Photography. While I mainly focus on photographing weddings and elopements, I also do family and maternity photoshoots. I have been very blessed to call this my full-time job for almost a decade and it’s truly something I am passionate about. I consider my work to be bold, yet true to color, and I have a bit of a flare for the dramatics. Whether it’s capturing a Viking wedding on a frozen lake, or portraits on top of a bolder overlooking Lake Tahoe, I love capturing unique moments and locations.

I knew that photography was something I wanted to consider doing as a career from the time I was a teenager. I was frequently told by teachers and family members alike that there was no way to make a living in photography and I needed to choose something else. So I took the advice of these people and went to college for something completely unrelated, only to fall into photography as a hobby where I photographed dogs at shows. As I began to share more of my work, I started having friends reach out asking if I could do their family photos and it quickly snowballed into a growing business. Before long, I could not balance my college courses and the photography business I had started and I chose to run with my dreams and never look back.

As I have matured and solidified my photography niche, I have found that weddings/elopements are my true calling. I love everything about them, even the chaotic moments. There is something so incredible about being such an integral part of one of the biggest days in someone’s life. There is so much hope, love, and happiness on a wedding day and they are filled with so much raw emotion. It’s such a blessing to be able to capture all of these emotions and preserve them for generations to come.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself.

As an artist, putting your work out there for others to judge can be daunting. Art is a deeply intimate form of expression, and it can be painful when people critique or dislike what you create. However, if you never share your work, you’ll never find those who love and support what you do. Embrace the possibility of embarrassment. Some of your posts might not gain traction, but it’s important to keep showing up and sharing your art. In time, the right audience will find you, and you’ll build a supportive community that appreciates what it is you create.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients is word of mouth. When you consistently do right by your clients and put forth your best effort, they will share their positive experiences with others. While anyone can search for a provider online, people are more likely to trust recommendations from friends or family members who have had a positive personal experience. Treat each client as if they may be your last because word of mouth is incredibly powerful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gotphotography.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renogotphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GOTPHOTOGRAPHY/