Photo by Meg Thomspon
Today’s couple didn’t start business together as some other have. Jenn was already a successful photographer and needed a second shooter. She thought since she trusts Steve to raise their children - she could possibly trust him in this job too. He was already doing videos, but he also had a 60h/week job so a lot was at a stake.
The bet paid off: only a year of training and now she’s mesmerised by his work. That’s how a fantastic duo came to life.
They talk about feeling lonely at times, a huge responsibility about running business together, hurdles of raising children while being away most weekends, and beauty of working together and owning a business.
The bet paid off: only a year of training and now she’s mesmerised by his work. That’s how a fantastic duo came to life.
They talk about feeling lonely at times, a huge responsibility about running business together, hurdles of raising children while being away most weekends, and beauty of working together and owning a business.
— How did you two meet?
- Jenn:This is not Steven's favorite story but we both attended a conference in college together. I approached two mutual friends of ours and Steven in the middle of a conversation to say "Hi". I didn't want to be rude so I waited for a break in the conversation.
While that was happening, Steven, who I didn't know at the time looks at our mutual friend and says in a very disinterested tone "Who's this?". I introduced myself in an "I can't believe this just happened" tone. We got to know each other a bit more during the conference as well as the following weeks.
I learned he was not the best with first impressions but that he was hilarious, confident, and had a lot in common. We became best friends and were dating a couple of months later.Steve:It all happened exactly the way Jenn said it happened. I thought I was whispering to a friend to enquire about who the person was who jumped into our conversation without stopping the flow of the conversation. It has been pointed out to me though that I am unable to functionally whisper on multiple occasions before that moment and also afterward. So, it was an awkward first impression and not the least bit charming.
“Who would have been a better choice than someone I trust to raise children with?”
— How did you start working as a couple?
- Jenn:I made him do it. He was slightly interested since he had a background in video productions. I wanted a second shooter I could bring to weddings with me.
Who would have been a better choice than someone I trust to raise children with? I trained him for a year but he had already had an amazing eye. Soon as he started shooting with me he quickly fell in love with capturing photos. Now, he comes home with photos from his shoots that take my breath away.Steve:Jenn's first wedding doing photo was my first wedding doing video. She had already sold the couple on her as a wedding photographer but then upsold the couple on me for video as a package deal. So, while it took some time for us to start shooting photos together, we were working together from the beginning. I played a small part in the business for the first year, helping out mostly with the website and backend and sometimes assisting Jenn on shoots (holding reflectors).
The second year of the business she had a string of poor experiences with second shooters, so when she asked if I would want to second shoot with her I jumped at the opportunity to spend more time with her (I was working like 60 hours a week and then she was gone on the weekends shooting weddings, so it was really the only way I could spend more time with her). She helped me transition from shooting video to shooting photo, which at the time felt incredibly difficult (like rewiring my brain).
Photo by Meg Thomspon
— What's the hardest part about working together?
- Jenn & SteveHonestly, we are pretty lucky. We work really well together, but there are two things that are difficult. First, it is really hard to turn "work mode" off which makes it hard to have a social life when you capture weddings. It can be lonely at times. When you run your own business, you are responsible for everything.
If we aren't working, no one is working, so that definitely takes a toll on our free time.
We have to go the extra mile to keep up with friends. It might be harder than it is for the 9-5ers, but those are things that are really important to us and it's worth the extra work. We've started delegating a lot of our work the last few years to try to make more time for each other, because it's hard to do everything and doubly hard to do things we don't like to do. Yes, it means additional expenses, but it's helping us not feel burnt out and helping us to have better relationships with our friends and family and a better relationship with each other. This is after 10 years of shooting together and working out the kinks though.
The second thing, is that we have two kids. This year has been better than most because they're both doing school at home so we get to spend a lot of time with them. It's been really difficult though in other years to feel like we're spending enough quality time with the kids because they have school or preschool all week and then on Saturdays and Sundays we're gone shooting weddings.
We've been lucky that our parents live close and help watch the kids when we work, but it takes a toll on you mentally to know that most weekends you're going to be sending your kids off to grandma and grandpa's house and that you don't get to spend the day hiking or playing soccer with them.
But in the summer and over winter break we have a lot more flexibility than people with 9-5 jobs, so there is at least one advantage.
Photos by Van Elk & Co
— How did you organise home schooling between you two?
- Steve:Jenn started working for a photo start up last August on top of working for our company. As a result, she's a lot busier than I am right now. So I handle almost all of the home schooling with the kids. Jenn is able to work from home most of the time, so she helps with the kids whenever I have to do a shoot for our company during the week. It's a lot of juggling schedules to make sure someone is always available for the kids and able to help them, and it also means a lot of working at night and on the weekends. As wedding photographers, we were already used to working nights and weekends though so it isn't too bad. This year has just meant doing more editing and office work on the nights and weekends instead of just shoots. But, honestly, we really can't wait till there's a viable vaccine and the kids can go back to school so our lives are a little less crazy.
“Someone needs to be in charge and make the executive decision”
— How do you address disagreements? Jenn & Steve: Willingness to let the other person make the decisions is crucial when we disagree. If we cannot agree on a shoot, we typically go with the decision of the person that is leading at the time. A wedding, corporate, or portrait shoot is not the time for a disagreement. Someone needs to be in charge and make the executive decision. If it's big enough, we can talk about it in the car on the way home. After 11 years of working together, we've become really good at figuring out what is and what isn't important to discuss. We've learned that it is rarely important enough to dive deeper after the shoot. When we disagree about business decisions, not on a shoot, we sit down and discuss the problem. We discuss the pros and cons of the different solutions and then decide on what we mutually think is best. This can be frustrating, but it's always helpful to look at the problems from a different perspective and a lot of times we come out of these talks with a completely new idea that neither of us had contemplated before we talked. Disagreeing can be incredibly beneficial as long as we both remember to listen to each other. |
— What's the tip you'd give to other couples considering a business together?
- Jenn & SteveOh, we could write a whole book on this but here are a few of our top tips.
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First, if one of you struggles with the other being in charge, it's probably not the best fit. There has to be "give and take." Steve has always been okay with me being boss, but when he has his own gigs, he is the one in charge. We love being able to switch up the roles in our business a bit.
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Second, find a good accountant that understands your field well. This will save you thousands. We understand this is just good advice for anyone running a business, but money problems are often cited as a reason for divorce. So it just makes sense if you're running a business together that you want to make sure you have all of that stuff taken care of by a professional so it doesn't become a source for conflict.
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Third, start putting money aside for taxes and retirement. That was the biggest mistake we made our first few years. We recommend putting aside 30% of each payment for taxes and 15% into retirement. This is hard if you are used to your job doing this for you, but it's a habit you should create. If you start this early, it will make it so much easier in the long run.
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Fourth, find what you are good at and focus on those things. Steve is really good with details and writing, so he culls our photos and writes blogs. That is a big part of his job when we're not out shooting. Jenn handles all our finances and organizes our business. She's also great at sales so she sits in on all of our calls with prospective clients. We find playing to our strengths leads to success.
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Lastly, but one of the most important, meet often to talk about what the future looks like and set goals. This will help create growth in your business and you both will be on the same page. We try to do bi-weekly meetings to talk about what's working, the well-being of our clients, what we need to change, and what we can do to make our company better.
— The best thing about working as a couple?
- Jenn & SteveWe are together all the time. This might drive others crazy, but we genuinely love to be around each other. We find ways to have our own time and space, working in separate rooms or doing different tasks, but it's a joy to be able to see each other whenever we can throughout the day.
Our favorite thing to do is go on walks together in the middle of the day. We feel incredibly lucky to spend so much time with each other. It's cheesy, but we both got to marry our best friend. So we genuinely like to be around each other.
— Do you have a guiding star, a reference in photography business, or simply someone you consider a legend and admire their photos?
- Steve:My guiding star when it comes to running a photography business is Jenn. She started the company with very little help from me and grew it to the point that I was able to quit my job to work with her full time a few years ago. Now that she's splitting her time between our business and a start up, I am handling a lot more responsibility for our business and I find myself thinking what would Jenn do a lot of the time.
Other than Jenn, it would mostly be the friends I made the last few years while making a podcast about wedding photography. It's a little nerdy, but Ulices Del Toro, Josh Withers, Morgan Roberts, James Kelly, and Ross Eaglesham have rapidly become people I look up to and who I go to for advice when I need it. They're all excellent photographers and great resources, plus they all run their own podcasts that give out lots of great advice. Of course, my co-host of my podcast, Dustin McKibben, is also a great resource as well (and I listed him last to frustrate him).
- Jenn:Awe, thanks, Steven. I try to keep my photography my own vision but I think it's important to continue to educate yourself in how to run an amazing business. My list has changed through the years, but something has always stood true, I desire to reference people who are successful and kind.
As of now, I really admire Jonas Peterson. He's always done his own things. His work to me really stands out among the rest. Although we don't have a similar style, Katelyn James has always put her clients first which I think is crucial to keeping your business going.
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