We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shantel Auguster. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shantel below.

Hi Shantel, thanks for joining us 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?

Neither. I believe I chose the perfect time to start my business. I had been doing photography prior to buying my first camera in college. When I was in high school, I’d practice on my neighbor’s Sony and my ROTC instructor would let me borrow his camera for the football games so I had a good bit of knowledge ahead of time. My dad also did photography when he worked as a private investigator so he passed down a lot of his equipment to me. In college, I had a huge support system from my peers and the organizations I participated in so that’s where a lot of my clients generated from. If I were to start sooner, I definitely think I would have been more hesitant to start. Moving back to Jacksonville from Orlando, that support I was used to in college declined once I came back to the city so it was a bit discouraging at the time.

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?

In college, everyone had their own craft or “side hustle”. Being a DJ or a photographer was really beneficial as they were always behind many events and parties. I networked with a group of creatives that really encouraged me to pursue photography and they would invite me to shadow along at their photoshoots. I was in different organizations around the campus so for the events we would put on, I’d take advantage of the opportunity to capture the moments. When I started getting more requests to attend events for my photography, that’s when Proficient Image really got off the ground. I had DJ and MC friends that worked in Downtown Orlando at different nightclub venues, so I’d serve as their photographer and I swear it felt like I was on tour. I even joined a few party promotion teams as the photographer so that was a really fun experience. I just like doing different things with my camera, whether that’s club photography, events, portrait, outdoor, groups, etc.

I think all businesses has its good moments and bad but you should always remember why you started out. In regards to my photography, I actually don’t like to think of it as a business because it didn’t start out that way. It was a hobby. It was something I enjoyed doing on my own terms. This is not a full-time job for me and I am perfectly okay with that.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I hate to bring astrology into this, but I will say as an Aries, I do tend to make impulsive decisions. I’ll tell you, photography equipment is absolutely not cheap and after purchasing a lot of things, I understand why photographers charge the prices that they do. People think it’s just snapping a picture and quickly editing and it’s just not realistic. You have to pay a subscription fee for the software to edit. You have to pay for the different lens you use for the camera. It doesn’t come automatically with the camera, each sold separately! Lenses range from $500-1000+ (the good ones at least). The backdrops and backdrop stands, your lighting setup. You really have to factor all of that in and also studio prices if you have to rent that out for a shoot so you’ll definitely be spending some money but it’s a great investment by all means.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being a photographer is the ability to capture and preserve moments for later appreciation. I grew up in the era where families took hundreds of pictures on Kodak cameras and put together photo albums. That was missing in my family for some time now so being the photographer and bringing that back not only for my family but for a lot of clients I come across is just amazing. You can tell how special it is to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/proficientimage
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proficientimage
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProficientImage/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/proficientimage

Image Credits
@Proficientimage