We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tonya Tomory. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tonya below.
Tonya, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.
I would definitely adjust how the definition and achievement of success is presented and received. I was taught in school and by the societal views of growing up in a rural small town community that being successful meant going to college, making money, getting married, and having children. That’s it. That was the big “secret of life.” Not once did I ever hear of or consider success to be, or even include, happiness until I went off to college. Every person is unique and created to go down their own individual paths in life. Not every path is the same, as no two people are the same. Success is defined differently by everyone. To me, if I’m not happy, I’m not successful – regardless of my career, marital status, tax bracket, etc. I wish this mentality had been taught and presented earlier in life, especially in high school. There is no one size fits all to success, and there is not a universal checklist of what you have to do or be to achieve it.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a photographer, dog mom, and small business owner. I began my photography career back in college, where I attended Pittsburg State University and majored in Communication with an emphasis in journalism. A majority of the way through my undergraduate career, I took a photojournalism class as an elective and fell in love with the camera and communicating life through photographs. From there my career aspirations changed and I continued my education by obtaining a Master of Arts degree in Communication: Photojournalism. I began my side business, Expressions Exposed Photography (EEP), upon graduating college. The first several years it was simply a side hustle, as I taught college courses as my main job. Eventually that flipped, followed by shifting to being solely a full time photographer as of last year.
In the early years, I tried my hand at photographing several different subjects and ages. I found my niche to be in wedding, engagement, and high school senior sessions, while also taking on occasional entertainment photography opportunities. I believe my photojournalism background sets me apart from others, as I photograph more editorially rather than artistically. I provide photography services to my clients who yearn for clear, rich toned photographs that communicate their true selves in the best lighting and angles. I’m most proud of building this small business solely from the ground up and being able to provide a treasured product for clients while fulfilling my heart and career desires by doing what I love every day.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I began EEP when I was a senior in college as just a hobby. A few months into my hobby, I realized I could grow and learn and turn it into a side hustle to build on and see where it went. I never once intended or dreamed of doing photography full time. I always tried to be “logical” when it came to finances and consistently told myself over and over again what had been embedded in my mind throughout life: “You need a dependable, full time, 9-5 job. You need benefits. You need retirement. You need to know exactly how much will be coming in each week/month/year.” For these reasons, I remained closed minded and stuck on obtaining a full time, structured, corporate career of some sort and run my passion as a side business for supplemental income and emotional fulfillment.
This was an excellent model to follow in the beginning. While I was financially stable and steady on monthly income through my then job as a college instructor, I was able to creatively experiment and build business on the side with no financial pressure, no deadlines, and nothing to lose. This worked great for the first few years! Until my side business grew greatly, clientele continued to build, and my heart began yearning for more of what I loved, not just what I liked as a teacher. Eventually the two careers flipped – I began taking on more clients and sessions as my primary source of income became my little side business, and I began cutting down the number of college courses I taught each semester to compensate for EEP’s growth. It was a lot of work, a lot of learning, a lot of growing, but SO worth it! The last few years I only taught 1-2 college courses each semester, as my schedule simply didn’t have room for anymore. Finally, after a good reflection process and change of routine throughout the pandemic, early last year my heart was ready and happily able to let go of teaching and focus solely on my business and creative development. I have been extremely blessed and am incredibly grateful for the continued growth and success this leap of faith has brought me. The amazing relationships formed and being able to focus fully on growing and honing my craft have been priceless.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Running a small business is not for the faint of heart or thin skinned. As I said “yes” to almost any and every opportunity to photograph something in the beginning years, this wore on me mentally, physically, and emotionally. There came a couple of distinct pivot points throughout the last decade that defined what my business is today and who I am today – both personally and professionally.
As a young artist, it’s natural to want and accept so much of what is placed in front of you to explore. My first two years as a photographer, I gave everything and all types of sessions a fair shot to see what I liked, disliked, and was indifferent to. Also as a young artist, you’re living and thriving for the experience and networking, not fairly or accurately charging your worth. I think any entrepreneur (especially those in the creative realm) can relate to the feeling of being in high demand at the beginning of the journey in part to offering “beginning” pricing. After some time of growing and building to be better, I received some advice that has been pertinent and continuously implied to this day: “Know your worth.” After evaluating where I was at in my artistry, experience, and what I would be happy coming away from each session with, I was able to confidently and firmly establish a pricing menu I was happy with. It’s interesting how certain sections of clientele dropped off after that point, but that is not a bad thing in business. It simply makes you available and open to take on the clients who truly value your time and worth to create for and service them. Blessing in disguise!
In regards to the types of photo sessions I was offering, this is an area I really narrowed down and zoned in on once I got my footing as an artist and a direction of where I wanted to go and to see in the future. I’m not a “kid” person. But in the beginning, several clients were interested in booking children and newborn sessions. After a few of these, I realized this was not my area of specialization or skill set. I didn’t enjoy photographing children – at all. And if I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing and who I was working with, it wasn’t going to grow me, I wasn’t producing my best work, and anything less than my best ability is not acceptable to offer my clients. As soon as I began marketing and scheduling only wedding, engagement, high school senior, and entertainment sessions, the game changed. These were the clients I wanted, and these are the clients I was blessed to start receiving. Many in my coverage area have labeled me as “the photographer who doesn’t shoot kids.” While some might gasp and think that’s negative, I find it factual and upfront. It means I’m established well known for what I DO offer in my specialty areas, rather than wasting time constantly receiving and deferring messages of interest from those who want services and sessions I do not offer.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.expressionsexposedphotography.com
- Instagram: @eepkansas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eepkansas
Image Credits
Expressions Exposed Photography