We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yazmin Raymond a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Yazmin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I think that any business owner, but I can only speak on creatives, has to eventually jump out of the safety net of what they “should” be doing with their life and go all in on what they want in life. This comes without security, certainty, or consistency. Living this way, in the world we live in, it’s not easy. It is a daily risk that we take, betting on these little dreams of ours, and pursuing these passions full-time.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a pretty typical 20-something, living my dream with my husband in the heart of the Queen City. As a typical 20-something, I am shamelessly obsessed with my dog, an advocate for unnecessary latte runs, and turn into a total cat lady by 9 pm.

I started my career in the wedding industry during the Spring of 2020, which was a fairly bold career move, considering the industry I was starting in was condemned during this time since all that we do was a public safety issue. But, during that time, a lot of things clicked for me regarding my priorities in life, and it was all about deepening connections. Truly human connections. Togetherness. Quality time.

This was not just a career shift for me, but if I’m truly the main character of this novel? I’d say my character arc was forming. That was the part of my book where the reasons that everything happened became clear. I thank this chapter of my life for many things, but, it seemed like I’d found my purpose. My place.

I’d often felt like I didn’t really fit anywhere, and I genuinely worried throughout my rather short-lived college experience if I would ever find a lifestyle that didn’t feel like I was sacrificing so much of myself, while still supporting a gnarly shopping addiction. When I realized I was good at this whole wedding thing, I eventually combined my newfound passion for weddings and gatherings with an old hobby I once discarded as a career path because I was afraid of the “starving artist” lifestyle. But, the moment I combined the two, everything made a lot of sense, so I took off and established my business.

Dropped the training wheels and took off.

Fast forward 4 years later, I am a fully self-employed wedding photographer and content creator, and I own two businesses; Yazmin Jade Collective & Honey Photobooth Co. Ever evolving, and finding new, creative, and fun ways to memorialize quality time.

Yeah, I am a bit of a dreamer, and I sure do like to romanticize life but I feel like that’s why my clients feel so supported and confident when they choose me to photograph these special times in their life.

I am just as sentimental about these times as they are, for these perfect strangers. It is obvious upfront that I am photographing whatever project I’m on with nothing but love and understanding of what’s important to my clients. A lot of my clients have told me that working with me felt like they had just made a new friend, and when it’s all said and done, there is nothing more rewarding than hearing you provide a safe space for people to feel confident beautiful and celebrated.

I look back at the path I walked to get here, and just feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for every domino that fell to get me here.

I feel the most proud of my journey because, despite all odds, obstacles, objections, and failures, I have realized how much of a gift it is to be truly present, how life’s big and small moments are equally worthy of a memory stilled forever. How privileged I am to be able to give those still moments to my clients of their love and connections with their favorite people. It’s taught me to acknowledge the beauty of life in my day-to-day life, and I just try to remain grateful for it all, being present in my life like I encourage my clients.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In the creative world with the rise of social media, I think it is really difficult for us all not to attach our worth to views, likes, and follows.

The imposter syndrome alone I think is the reason a lot of creatives wait, stall, or don’t make it passed the first few stages of their careers. It’s a lot of pressure, and it’s heavy to bare when the sole success of your business is on you and you alone. You lay your heart and your art bare for all to see, judge, and deem worthy. And how do you avoid attaching your worth as a person to your business’s success when the product you’re selling is… you?

So the first lesson I had to unlearn to overcome this was: that social media is not some Black Mirror episode that deems your worth. It’s a marketing tool. It’s a social network, period point blank.

So I took a long look in the mirror and came to terms with it. The reality is, that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, there is always a “better” artist with more experience, better equipment, or more followers.

But not everyone is me. And not everyone will celebrate people like I do. My experiences in life and my journey will never look like another’s, which means the lens I create art with will not either.

Then I stopped viewing social media as a vulnerable place for people to judge me and my art, and more as a tool that allows me to show my favorite images to people who genuinely feel moved by what I bring to the table, life got a little easier.

I had to learn to stop caring about it all and focus on showing up for my clients who had invested in me and believed in me. Connecting deeper with those folks became my motivation, but what a bonus if it results in a new lead!

I had to develop a sense of self-worth and pride in what I do to push through a lot of that imposter syndrome and doubt. I recognized how detrimental it would be to my business if I allowed myself to become so wrapped up in how others perceived me instead of just showing up as I am, showing up at all. I am a person, who does this for work. If someone walked up to me when I worked at Olive Garden and said they didn’t like how I waited my tables, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it- so why would I now?

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding moments of my creative experience come from the comments from people who claim they are “uncomfortable” in front of the camera, or shy, or struggle to feel beautiful and emboldened by their own confidence. Showing them the way that I see them, as a uniquely radiant individual, and seeing them see that for themselves… There is nothing like that feeling. Showing someone that they are worthy of beautiful photos of themselves. That they are beautiful and strong.

Or, well this is a bit morbid, but we see it a lot in this industry…

A wedding is one of two times in a lifetime when people from all walks of your life come together under one roof, the other being often a funeral. That photo I snapped of a family member eating a deviled egg during cocktail hour ends up being the last photo my clients have of that loved one.

Giving the gift of still memories with the most important people in someone’s life is priceless.

Contact Info:

• Website: yazminjadecollective.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/yazminjadecollective
• Facebook: facebook.com/yazminjadecollective

Image Credits
Ellie McKinney @elliemckinneyphotography