We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sacred Amos a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sacred, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?
I recently gave birth to my third child. At the moment of writing this it has been 3 weeks since my delivery. The delivery itself was very complicated, scary, overwhelming and at the same time such a blessing. The baby and I almost didn’t make it, having that experience can be draining and shape your present perspective. My recovery has been tiresome, at times overwhelming and it has taken a lot of work on my part to get some rest, relax and heal. I couldn’t cook for two weeks. I don’t know what I was thinking I would be able to do after my C-section, but standing up to cook for my family wasn’t a part of the healing process. And in order to heal, I needed to eat.
By week two I am very hungry for something really good. I started cooking with my daughter and preparing to make broccoli cheddar pot pies and black eye pea soup with honey cornbread. But in the process I was becoming very tired and hindering my recovery, I was hurting myself and doing too much.
I am sitting on the couch, taking a break. This truck pulled up in front of my home. I was confused because no one had informed me that they were coming by. I recognized the person in the vehicle as they backed up into my driveway. It was one of my brothers. I go out on the porch with the baby to greet him. I ask, “what are you doing here?” He answers, “what family does!” He begins to pull out a big box of diapers and several pans of food from his restaurant, Smokey G’s Smokehouse.
I almost cried. He proceeded to tell me that he felt bad that he hadn’t been able to get by to see us before I had the baby. That he was glad that he followed his first mind and came on that Sunday when things had slowed down a bit for him and I had time to heal. He was feeling glad that he came and sad that it hadn’t been sooner…I was just grateful he was my brother at that moment.
He hadn’t known that he was in perfect alignment with us. He arrived just minutes before I was going to do what strong people do, and get the job done, why not. Further hurting myself to make sure we were fed. He hadn’t known that his food was just what I needed to heal, salmon and vegetables. He hadn’t known that I almost died the week before and his kindness was what I needed, from the heart and greatly appreciated.
Sacred, 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 Sacred, a photographer, wife, mother. I started Moon Reflections Photography in 2009, a little over 3 years ago my husband, Supreme, and I joined forces to create Moon Reflections Productions where we offer photography and videography services. We specialize in Branding, High School Seniors, and Headshots. We also offer Wedding, Event and Freelance services to organizations, magazines and newspapers.
Our goal is to provide our clients with a one of a kind experience that allows them to work with us to create a custom session. We offer a stress free experience, we handle all the details, strategy and logistics behind the scene so our clients are not stressed about the creation or their participation and yet they are getting just what they need for their brand, family or event.
I think our chemistry as a husband and wife team is what makes Moon Reflections Productions special. We cater to every client together. I am most proud that we can spend every day together, grow together, create together, raise a family together and then give our clients all that positive and loving energy, together. I feel like we can do it all TOGETHER.
How did you build your audience on social media?
There is a lot of pressure to be present on social media when you have a brand. To show up multiple times a week, to connect with potential or ideal clients, to respond to everyone that reaches out, to put out videos, reels, and create multiple posts that have a bit of a personal feel, to share and over share. It can become invasive and exhausting. But in today’s environment it has to be done.
Building our audience before we were able to hire a team to help us keep our brand consistent I was very overwhelmed with striving to create a strategy, not to mention execute that strategy. I was stressed and I was not getting the results that I was looking for. At some point you have to be realistic about the things that are not your strength when running a business, especially if you want the business to be successful.
We had to be honest, we needed help! When you are just starting out there can be a cash flow shortage or a lack of clientele forcing you to do it all yourself. Hiring a social media manager isn’t in the budget, this is when it’s time to sacrifice. Which meant there were times when we did not get paid. Do you need to do your own hair, eye brows, nails for a few months? No eating out, less events and activities. Do you need to cut back on something that is a want rather than a need.
We built our audience with the support of our community, by being honest and doing good work. Networking while shooting events and freelancing has also been a big help. Make sure you get out there and meet people. For some of us introverts this can be difficult, but here is where sacrifice and being a little uncomfortable for the greater good is important.
While you are making the money to build that team don’t be afraid to get help from coaches in your industry. A 1-hour consultation or coaching session in an effort to build your social media presence and/or create a strategy is an investment and usually it isn’t too expensive.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
I would say that my passion turned into a hustle that turned into a business. I have always loved photography, even as a child. I still have images of photo shoots I used to put together for my friends when we were in high school. I just never knew that I could run a photography business, nor that there were options other than running a portrait studio.
I would say it was a hustle because I tried everything else before I had the support from my husband to start my own company. I went to the military, worked in the high roller poker room at The Bellagio Casino, I took college classes, I worked retail at Caesars Palace in Vegas, I was an assistant, a substitute teacher, I was a hair stylist, I worked at Target with Lifetouch studios, I shot graduations as a contract hire for colleges. I did everything in an effort to be an entrepreneur, more importantly a photographer. I never strayed from that dream, I just took the long route there. The entire time while I worked all those odd jobs, I was building my portfolio as a novice photographer, learning and honing my craft.
While attending the University of Michigan, I joined the campus literary and fine arts journalism club and was published for the first time. That is when my hustle began to take shape into something much more. I decided to travel abroad with the UofM School of business marketing and advertising department to Italy for 2+ months. We had the opportunity to travel the country on the weekends. Those travels allowed me to capture some beautiful images that I was later able to use to start my art photography business and enter my first art fair. That was the year I started Moon Reflections Photography, LLC. My passion became my hustle and grew into a business.
That hustle has turned into corporate and international contracts. We were hired to work in Paris, not once but twice. My husband and I partnered, that was MAJOR! Working with the one you love, creating and doing it together, there is nothing better. Freelancing for magazines and newspapers was the ultimate dream! The icing on the cake, starting a non-profit, Young Creators Art’s & Enrichment, helping to nurture the passions of the youth.
Oh, I almost forgot, writing my first ebook! Visit our website to find out more about the upcoming release of our ebook, Location Scouting. www.
Contact Info:
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Website: www.
moonreflectionsphotography.com -
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
moonreflectionsphotography/ -
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
MoonReflectionsPhotography -
Linkedin: @moonreflectionsphotography
Image Credits
Sacred’s Headshot, Image courtesy LeoSage Images