We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Teresa Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Teresa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?
The best boss I ever had? Easy. It was my dad, Harry Williams.
My dad was an entrepreneur and owned his own law practice for over forty years. At the age of twelve, I started working for him. My starting pay was $5.25/hour, and I was thrilled to have my first job! One of my first tasks was to make copies of forms and documents. Occasionally the document would be double sided and I would have to copy it on the copier glass, as opposed to the feeder. The first time I copied a document on glass, it came out crooked, half the words were missing, and it was sloppy. I took it to my dad, and it was in that moment that he showed me the exact quarter inch of the glass to line it up against so that it came out right. My dad taught me one of the most important life lessons in that moment: he taught me that when you do a job, if you do it right, you don’t need much time. He also taught me that with anything you build or take on in life, you build it to last.
My dad, Harry Williams, passed away in December of 2021. I struggle most days to understand why my dad passed away at the young age of sixty-four.
I can’t help but realize his quality of life reflected his quality of work. Just like any job well done, my dad didn’t need much time. He only needed sixty-four years to do his time on earth right. And in those years he was here, he built his legacy to last a lifetime.
Teresa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
If you’ve ever seen “The Sound of Music” or “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” you’ll basically get to know where I came from. I’m the youngest of seven (one boy, six girls) in a big loud Lebanese family. I grew up performing around the country with my family, and grew a love and appreciation for the arts and family from a young age.
In 2013 I started my business freshman year of college. I was a double major studying Graphic Design and Photography, and it was that year that I photographed my first wedding. In 2017 I graduated from college, and it was that year I landed a job in corporate working as a Web Designer. While working full time, I built my wedding photography business up to full time, and went full time as an entrepreneur in January 2020. I moved to Chicago in October of that year, and Chicago has been my home ever since.
A wedding photographer, course creator, and educator for photographers and business owners.
I brought on and scaled an associate photographer team for three years, and learned so much in management during those years. I have since then gone back to myself as the sole photographer, photographing couples in Chicago and worldwide. As I like to say it – I am a photographer that provides photographs that will tell your stories for life.
To me, at the heart of what I do – it’s always been about family. Whether that’s family by blood or by choice, I think those humans are so important.
My late father, Harry Williams, is the reason I have this business today. He taught me everything I know about owning a business, going above and beyond, the true meaning of professionalism, thriving in the chaos, and how to keep going when it gets hard. My favorite moments in a wedding day are the moments involving family.
When my dad passed away, I searched for just one more picture – one more photograph of him. I searched through my sibling’s wedding galleries and clung to every photo that was taken of him on each of their days. I’ve since had many couples come to me and thank me for the photos of their loved ones that are no longer with them. Those photos meant a lot to them at the time in receiving them, but my goodness they mean everything to them now.
To me, a wedding day isn’t just about two people getting married. It’s about two worlds coming together. It’s about two humans and all of their people coming together, joining hands, and joining lives. It’s a day when everyone feels joy. It’s the kind of day when everything just feels right. And as a wedding photographer, it’s the joy of my life to photograph not only the two humans getting married, but the people around them who are so blessed to experience this moment. And how lucky the couple getting married is to have the family and friends they have there to witness. I will never have my dad physically there at my own wedding. And I have made it my life’s purpose to photograph the moments with the people closest to them that matter the most. That is what sets me a part as an artist. Family, at the center of it all.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
It was 2020. We all had to pivot that year, didn’t we? Well I don’t know about you, but I was crying every day. I had around twenty weddings rescheduled, it was the first year I was full time as an entrepreneur, and I was on the phone with my dad every day. I called him one day, and was having a moment of feeling sorry for myself. He said “Teresa, you have five minutes to cry. I’m starting the timer right now. So you have five minutes, let it out, and after those five minutes are over, you get back to work.”
Little did I know that on that day, my dad was prepping and teaching me for the pain I would be living through two years later when he passed away.
About a month after losing my dad, I found myself sitting on my living room couch for what felt like the hundredth day in a row, numb. I couldn’t focus. I had months worth of work to do, but no matter how hard I tried, every time I went to sit down, I found my mind replaying over and over again what I had just experienced.
I heard my dad’s voice. I was reminded of his words when he allowed me those five minutes. I timed myself. I let myself have five minutes, and then I made a todo list. I strategized, came up with systems and processes, and I got to work. Within one month’s time, I edited and sent out twenty-nine galleries. Twelve of them were weddings.
Dad always told me that I need a system and process for everything within business. And my goodness was he right.
Grief is not easy. It doesn’t have an ending. It changes and forms you. And it pushes and stretches you to walk through and face difficult.
There are moments to question it all and cry and hug your people. And I believe there are moments to grab the oatmilk iced latté, sit down, and get to work.
I realized that my work and my time here on earth isn’t done. It’s just beginning. And I have a legacy to work towards.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I mentioned in another section, the story of what my dad taught me in doing a job well done. That taught me everything in business. And I truly believe that is one thing that shaped me into going the extra mile in all that I do.
When you do a job, do it right. And do it with heart and care. Go the extra 5%. As a wedding photographer, most people won’t go the extra 5%, and it matters.
I go the extra 5% in: problem solving, in getting only the best angles, being aware in family dynamics, staying on top of timing, paying attention to hand placement, etc.
These are the little details that matter, and details that will set you apart.
The details that help a photograph to go from ordinary to extraordinary. Do the job right. And go the extra 5%.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://teresa-williams.com
- Instagram: @_teresawilliams