We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shannon K Dougherty a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shannon K, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Let me be perfectly honest, if you would of asked me when I was younger if I’d ever have and run my own business…I’d think you were talking about someone else. I grew up incredibly shy and it was hard to break out of my shell or speak up in crowds. Feeling that way made it hard to know what I wanted to do career wise. I thought it was easiest to just work in an office but I was bored. During my last semester of college, I started to bartend at a super busy bar. Long story short with that job, I learned a lot about talking with people and breaking out of my shyness. Around that same time, I started to play with a camera more and more and even started doing photography professionally.
When I decided to do a photography business on my own years ago, I actually was pretty excited about it. I knew there would be a lot of difficult things but I also knew I was doing what I love and what I feel like I’m meant to do as a career.

Shannon K, 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?

I actually started as a painter and wanted to move into the art world. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with that so I went to college and graduated with a Bachelors in Studio Art. After school, I lost a lot of the passion I had for painting but loved creating photos and working in a dark room developing my own work. I always had a love for Art History and I think a lot of that shows in my work. I love giving photoshoots a fine art and classic look for my clients to love for many, many years.
Every session for the client is a day for them. It’s important they are taking care of and giving a glamorous day in the studio.
The best part for me is when they get to see their images for the first time and fall in love with these images we created.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I always want to listen and communicate with my clients. Before a client books, I will have email communication with them and then set up a phone call consultation to go over session details. I never want anyone to walk in the studio not knowing how their day will go. This is a day to feel glam and all about them so proper communication the whole way is important.

I think their excitement and comfort translates in their images from the photoshoot.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Something I had to unlearn was comparing myself and my business to others. It’s so easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, especially with social media. I still find myself doing this at times so I make sure that if I get lost in comparing, that I give myself compassion and remind myself how far I’ve come in my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shannonkdougherty.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/shannon_k_dougherty
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ShannonKDoughertyPhotography