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

Hi Sherina, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

When I look back on my childhood, I didn’t realize it until now that I really had a love for photography. I’d create terrible make-shift studios with wrinkled bed sheets and take pictures of my friends. During high school, the passion faded and moved into a different kind of art. I dabbled around with different jobs while going to college, not really knowing what I wanted. Once I had my baby girl, I picked up the camera again. I am not tech savvy but knew I had to honker down and really “learn” the camera if I wanted to improve. Now this was in 2006, so it was much harder to study and gain information than it is now! I read the boring camera manual and then guess what? I read it again! I started asking pro’s questions and for every 10 questions, I might have received one answer. I felt defeated but the inner drive in me became stronger to succeed. It was a giant and scary risk, but I approached my husband about starting a career in photography and with his support I started FreeSpiritFoto. I failed a lot but with each new challenge, I just learned and adapted and took tons of notes. Before each session, I would read my notes and take a mental picture of how I was going to work the session. I offered inexpensive sessions (like dirt cheap) to build my portfolio. Over the years, I built a strong business and gained more experience and clients. I’ve now been featured over many publications and even made national attention on my personal projects. Everyone has to start somewhere my friend, the real scary part is putting one foot in front of the other and move forward. If your heart is in something, you will succeed…eventually.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I am all self-taught. Tons of reading, asking questions, taking notes, and in the field working has made me into the photographer I am. My biggest compliment is repeat business which most of my work is just that…clients that have used me over and over. I have some amazing clients that have used me for every special occasion in their life which is such an honor! I am most proud of the dedication and tears that have created my personal projects. I hit a brick road personally in 2015 and from those trying times I had a choice. I could have given up on life and my business or use the bad and turn it into good. Which is what I did! I was struggling so much mentally, but prayed and asked God to let me help others and the first project, The Forgotten Project was envisioned. It was a story in pictures showcasing the day in the life of a caregiver and depicted my dad who was the caregiver of my mother, who had Alzheimers. The question was….who is the forgotten, the caregiver or the patient? And I can proudly say it was a success! I was all over the local news and held a beautiful photo reception at a local houston art museum and I had everyone in tears! So many people came to me that were personally touched by my work.

That project rolled into another project called, “More Than 4.” It was another photo series of 6 pediatric cancer families and I documented their journey over six months. This project was bigger and even went national!

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

What I think helps build a reputation is customer service. I work hard to take care of my clients, making sure we are always on the same page as to what they envision with their session. I help every step of the way and even have wardrobe to help keep their stress level down. So many people want pictures done but trying to figure out what everyone is going to wear is too burdensome so they don’t book. With that being said, I’ve slowly built a wonderful client closet and clients come over all the time trying on clothes and allowing me to help. During the session, I try and connect as much as I can with each person and make it super fun for the kids. I am also quick to edit and turn the pictures around pretty fast. I think all of the work I do to make sure they are not stressed, helping with wardrobe, making it fun at the session, and giving their product in a timely manner helps with a successful reputation.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I keep in touch with my clients throughout the year, touching base with them to see if they need anything from me. I also give freebies to repeat clients because I honor their business SO MUCH and understand they can go anywhere but chose me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.freespiritfoto.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/freespiritfoto_by_sherina
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/FreeSpiritFoto