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

Hi Stephen, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

If I am being completely honest, I think about this question a lot. Overall, I am extremely happy being a business owner and being my own boss. I work when I want and am able to work with who I want as well. I’ve met so many amazing other business men and women along my journey as a photographer, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about having a regular 9-5 job. Being a photographer doesn’t have a set work schedule and you sometimes are working a crazy amount of hours, I do sometimes wish I had a set schedule. I could go on and on listing the positives and negatives of being a business owner but I wouldn’t trade this for anything.

Stephen, 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?

My name is Stephen Mendoza, (pronouced like “Steven”) I am a 27 year old photographer and occasional videographer based out of Houston, Texas. I first started out as a photographer working for a studio. It was there were I first got the experience of how a business worked and how to communicate with clients. After working there for a few years, I decided to venture off on my own and start my own business. I now specialize in weddings, graduation photos and portrait photography but I do a little bit of everything! One of the things that makes me the most proud is to see my work displayed in my clients homes. Knowing that they loved the photos so much and are displaying them around their homes brings me joy. I hope any future clients reading this know that I can’t wait to meet you and that I’ll put all my work and energy into your photo session!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I believe that a lot of non creatives don’t get a chance to see all the behind scenes work the creatives do. As far as photographers go, we don’t just spend time doing the photo session, we also spend hours edited, location scouting and coming up with ideas. The job isn’t always easy and what people see in person, there is a lot of work that goes unnoticed.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I first started my business at the time that Instagram was starting to really become popular. I took that opportunity to follow and reach out to my friends and family to follow me back and to recommend me to their friends and family. I think friends and family play an important role in ones business, especially when first starting out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stephenmendozaphotography.com
• Instagram: stephenmendozaphotography
• Twitter: mendozastephen