We recently connected with Valerie Wei-haas and have shared our conversation below.

Valerie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

After I graduated from high school, I remembered thinking it would be a huge risk to study photography. I felt like there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to make a living with a degree in photography, but I had this pull to follow that path and see what happens. So I went to a tech school and studied photography and videography, after graduating I said yes to any gig that came my way and began working with a restaurant marketing firm in Tulsa, OK. Now, over 10 years later, I’m still working with food and restaurant clients as well as many other commercial clients in Tulsa.

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 began working with a restaurant marketing firm as their lead photographer and a few local publications back in 2014, from there I continually would meet business owners through those photoshoots and would build relationships and connections in my city. I specialize in food/restaurant and commercial photography and videography. My husband is a web designer and we run a company together called Wei-Haas Creative. I get to work with non profits, restaurants, and all types of businesses here in Tulsa, OK. I also travel for work quite a bit, I have been to Vietnam, Indonesia, Morocco, Mexico, Spain and Hong Kong for my work. I try to create work that is meaningful and useful for my clients, I’m always thinking about and strategizing on how the photos or videos will be used for branding and marketing. One of my favorite types of projects to work on are cookbooks, I’ve photographed four published cookbooks to date and I’m so proud of all those projects. I really enjoy working with small businesses owners to help tell their story, whether that’s through photography and/or video, it’s one of my favorite parts of my job.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I began my photography career over a decade ago, I had just graduated from college and I needed to say yes to every opportunity that came my way – so I did. I took on every single photo or video gig I could possibly take and it really helped me make more connections and get even more opportunities down the road. But throughout the years I’ve also learned that one of the most important things you have to learn as a business owner is when to say no, you just can’t do it all. It’s better to specialize and maintain standards than try to do everything that comes your way. I have found that I’m more successful and clients tend to trust me more because I specialize in a specific area of photography. It’s also so easy to be over committed and try to wear all the hats, but you actually can get more done when you delegate work and say no when you need to.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One area that I find most rewarding but can also be the most stressful part of being in a creative industry is when the client is happy with the work and I get to see the photos or video out in the world. Producing high quality work is extremely important to me and I love when everything comes together and I get to see my work in print or on tv. I also love hearing success stories from my clients when an ad campaign did extremely well or their new business has taken off after launching their website with Wei-Haas Creative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.valerieweihaas.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valweihaas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valweihaas
• Other: https://vimeo.com/weihaascreative
  https://www.weihaascreative.com/

Image Credits

All photography by Valerie Wei-Haas