Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Lake. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sarah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I first entertained the notion of starting my business after feeling reluctance to return to teaching as my children started school. (I had resigned after becoming burned out and- as much as I loved my students- dreaded the thought of returning.) But it was the spark and passion I felt creating really compelling photos of children that made decide that it was ALL I wanted to do from now on.

Thankfully, when I started my business, I had a husband who was (and still is) my biggest cheerleader. And it was equally beneficial that we had learned to live on his income only. So, I had the privilege of being able to build my business slowly- exactly the way I wanted- without worrying about needing my business to provide for our family. It took several years of (rarely) paying myself a salary and investing EVERYTHING back into my business before I became profitable. Now, thankfully, not only am I profitable, but my income actually does help provide for our family.

I have fallen in love with my business, the photographs I make, the clients I work with, and the freedom I have being my own boss. Sometimes I wish that I could have started my business immediately out of college- I mean… imagine how big my business would be now! But realistically, I’m not sure that I would have succeeded had I started earlier. Part of why I was successful (I believe) was that I KNEW the love a parent has for their child, and that’s what drove me to create the photographs that my clients adored. I don’t think I could have done that in my 20s. I also think had I not experienced the burnout from a job I had loved, I wouldn’t have been compelled to start my own business doing something else that I love.

Every experience before this has prepared me to be able to have a successful business today. So, though I sometimes wish I had started sooner- because I imagine how my business could have grown through all those years- if I could go back and do things over, I don’t think I would. I feel like the only way my business could exist (as it does today) is by having all of those experiences, and after becoming a parent myself. I believe everything in my life has led me to where I am- and I don’t want to be anywhere else! So, it may have taken a while, but I’m right where I need to be.

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 have always loved photography- and from a young age was drawn to the artistic aspect of composition, story, and all of the elements that make a really compelling photo. However, my education and degrees are in biological sciences. So perhaps it was my education or just what I felt was common sense, but I never considered photography a viable career for myself. Others maybe, but not me. That was, at least, until I had my own children.

In my previous career, I was a middle school and high school biology and chemistry teacher. And though I LOVED teaching and loved my students, I unfortunately worked in a poorly functioning school district and quickly became burned out. And after my husband and I moved again AND found out we were expecting our first child, I decided to stay home with her- something I had always hoped to be able to do with our children.

Like most new parents, I quickly became obsessed with photographing our baby girl. I remember telling my husband that our small, point-and-shoot digital camera was completely insufficient and that I refused to let our daughter’s childhood pass without having proper photographs of her! I knew very early on that photos of my children were of the utmost importance to me. So, we bought a entry level DSLR, (a Canon Rebel, the camera my parents owned and I had used many times) and from then on I photographed my daughter every single day. It truly became my hobby.

After several years, our daughter started Kindergarten soon after our son began preschool. They were now at the age where I began contemplating what I would do once BOTH of them were in school full-time…. Would I return to teaching?? If so, I’d have to get re-licensed in our new state, pass licensure exams, and that’s all before applying for a position- ugh. Just thinking of returning to teaching made my heart sink. I loved my students, but the burnout was real. And I didn’t want to experience that again.

One day not long after, some friends with a sweet 3 year old daughter were over for a cookout. They’d been talking about how the only options in town for their family photos were the big-box portrait studio (that had notoriously bad photos). I had become pretty adept and taking great pictures of my own kids, so I offered to take their family photos! We met a few days later at our city park, around high noon (the absolute worst time for photos!) and I captured them with their sweet little girl. And even though the lighting was not great, I enjoyed every minute of it! I remember feeling almost giddy on the drive home afterward… I had LOVED taking photos of a loving family, and I felt like that was all I ever wanted to do from then on! It was never logic or reasoning that made me first dream of starting my business. It was that unmistakable feeling in my stomach that day- that feeling of butterflies, of having found my passion- that truly made me think that perhaps I could do this for a living.

After that, I spent hours and hours poring over every article I could find online about starting a photography business. I spent hundreds of hours learning and practicing the detailed technical aspects of photography and portraiture. While my son was at preschool, I made myself learn, learn, and learn some more. I slowly realized that not only COULD I do this for a living, I wanted to and WOULD. Once I made this realization, I remember not being able to sleep that night. I was too excited thinking about my new career!

8 years later, I’m still just as excited about my business. I love what I do and love being able to choose work that I’m passionate about. The thing that I’m most proud of is how many return clients I have. My dream was to be the person these families called whenever they knew a special season of their life was coming and they wanted beautiful photographs to commemorate it. I’ve come to get to know them and their children, and it’s truly a joy knowing they value and appreciate my art and the joy that it brings to their family.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During 2020, my husband was away almost the entire year. THe pandemic hit when he was out-of-state for an important training related to his military service. After driving home from that in May, he was home for only about 6 weeks before deploying overseas. He was gone most of the rest of 2020. (That was NOT the ideal year to be parenting completely alone!) Non-essential businesses were ordered to close. And, since we had only moved to out new area about 6 months prior, I didn’t have an established client base in our new town yet. So, I went on a hiatus of sorts and simply focused on helping my children with their remote learning.

I noticed that in other parts of the country and in Canada, there were many photographers that were still extremely busy. (I knew this because of the several photography forums I’m on in social media). I realized that I could still “work” while my children were on their computers for school- if worked on retouching and editing other artists’ images, instead of shooting my own.

So, I made a simple advertisement on social media and within 48 hours had 3 different photographers ready to regularly hire me as their photo editor. I stayed busy on my computer every single day! And even though they weren’t my own images, I truly enjoyed bringing their photos to life with beautiful editing. And I still had the flexibility to help my kids whenever they needed it.

I am so thankful that being my own boss allowed me to focus on my family when necessary, yet have the freedom to completely change up my offerings if circumstances required it.

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

I’d like to think that 2 things have worked for me. The first being that I ALWAYS think about how I can best serve my clients. In everything I do. I run my business by the Golden Rule: I always treat them the way I would want a service provider to treat me. I believe that if I always do this, I will never fail as a business or as an artist. Not only that, I simply try to make them feel at ease, enjoy their experience with me, and make them feel as though they’ve gained a friend- because they have! My clients have shared their experiences with friends and recommeded me many times. It’s an honor that I’m truly thankful for, and it certainly has helped build a positive reputation.

And secondly, I have worked extremely hard since the start of my business to improve my work, and to improve every aspect of my photography so can create images that are truly impactful. And it took several years, but I finally have come to feel that my work truly is good. I have made sure to share images that are important to me and that I’m proud to have created. My website and social media are filled with these images, and they’re the ones that seem to strike a chord with my potential clients.

I know that I’m making meaningful, impactful work when I have new clients book and tell me the exact image they fell in love with… and it’s almost always one of MY favorites, too. So, my own style and vision is shining through. And I think that has helped me build a reputation as a successful (and good!) newborn photographer.

Contact Info:

• Website: sarahlakephotography.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/sarahlakephotography
• Facebook: facebook.com/sarahlakephotography

Image Credits
My headshot: Hannah Whaley Photography