We recently connected with Sarah Willey and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I love this question because it’s honestly not talked about enough. While I am extremely happy as a business owner, I find myself thinking about a new career often. Running your own business is not for the faint of heart, it’s hard. You deal with things you don’t think you’ll ever have to, and you have to come up with solutions on your own. Everything will rise or fall because of you, and how you handle certain situations with your business. I find myself extremely happy to be able to dictate my own schedule, work when I want to, and take on the clients I want to. I struggle with the possibility of failure, and inconsistency. With wedding photography, we often work seasonally and pretty heavily March – November, and then hibernate for a few months. During those few months, it’s filled with anxiety about “am I going to stay busy this year?”. Especially with covid, the anxiety is even worse after most of our businesses crumbled in a few short months and years of our income was taken away. I think I still have a bit of anxiety surrounding the fact that my entire business can be closed overnight if a pandemic hits, if a bad review comes, if a customer is unhappy. Overall, I am extremely happy creating images for my clients and freezing memories in time for them, but I do think about switching careers and wonder if I would be happier with the consistency of a stable job. But then again, the grass is always greener right?

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’m a full time photographer specializing in weddings, engagements, and maternity. I have always loved taking photos as long as I can remember, but I really dove into photography about 7 years ago. I picked up my camera and asked a friend if she wanted model for me and the photos turned out amazing. I posted them on social media, and before I knew it, it had been 7 amazing years. Friends kept reaching out, and then it turned into a full time business. For the first few years while I was building my brand, I would easily work 70-80 hours a week. I was constantly shooting, editing, taking on any and every project, and collecting reviews from clients. I feel so incredibly grateful for how things worked out for me. I always chalk it up to hard work and a bit of luck. I’ve worked tirelessly over the last 7 years building my brand for myself and my clients.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What helped me build my reputation was absolutely collecting reviews. I made sure to provide top notch quality to every single person I worked with, and encouraged them to review my services on multiple platforms and to their friends. If there’s one piece of advice I could give to any small business owner, that would be it. My business went from $0 to 6 figures in a couple of years and I think the main reason is because I make sure to treat each client like family. Not only that, but I want them to refer me to other clients who know I’ll take care of them. I truly think that reviews are such a foundation for success.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is when clients tag me in photos, show me their framed photos, or share kind words with me about how much they love their photos. There is truly nothing more rewarding than making someone feel beautiful, or giving a family photos that they will cherish forever. I’ve done every type of session, including extremely hard ones in the hospital or rainbow bridge shoots for pups that are on their last day. I feel so incredibly fulfilled and lucky being able to be there for my clients hardest or best moments. The fact that people trust me to be by their side in those intimate moments gives me such a good feeling, and there really isn’t anything better.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sarahlynnphotographypdx.com
• Instagram: sarahlynnphotographypdx
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/photographybysarahlynn