We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alyssa Hunter. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alyssa below.
Hi Alyssa, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
If I’m being completely honest, owning my own business was never something I wanted to do. It’s incredibly hard work that doesn’t stop, but it can also be very isolating. Once I decided to start Alyssa Hunter Photography, I knew it was going to be difficult. If I don’t put in the work, no one else was going to pick up my slack. There’s always something to be done, and you get very good at time management in order to accomplish it all. I love my job so much that I find all of these little things I need to do rewarding at the end of the day. I’ve made friends with other small business owners, and it’s so great to have built a wonderful community.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’ve been photographing events and families for 6+ years, and my main goal is to make your picture taking experience full of joy! Whether it be your annual family photos or celebrating a special someone in your life, it’s my job to make you feel completely at ease.
Over these 6+ years, I’ve narrowed down my focus so that I’m mostly photographing events that are all about the kiddos. I do love celebrating events that are centered around adults too. I started my business mainly capturing families. When I moved to Los Angeles, I picked up more events and put capturing families on the back burner. I’m happy that this year I’ll be putting more of a focus on family photos.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
When you have your own business, patience is necessary. Especially when working with kids, it’s easy to get overwhelmed or lose control of the situation. Even if you don’t work with kids, you have to deal with clients day in and day out with patience and kindness.
When you are able to figure out how to outsource different aspects, that is a game changer. I hired a bookkeeper a few months ago to take that off my plate. I purchased a new website template as well to level up my site without having to do it myself. There are so many different ways, both big and small, to outsource in your business.
Find your tribe! Working in your business all day everyday is exhausting. Making friends who can understand everything that you’re going through is huge! Plus they will always rally around you when you feel at your lowest and bring you back up.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is a family (we love and support any and all versions of family at Alyssa Hunter Photography) who are looking for fun family photos. They don’t take themselves too seriously and are willing to be silly with their kids. When the chaos comes, they embrace it and don’t get upset or angry. A big thing is also that everyone is willing to be in the photo, looking at you dads. I promise to make it as fun as possible!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alyssahunter.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssahunterphoto/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssa-hunter-25b6608a/
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/alyssahunterphotography/
Image Credits
Photo of myself by: Branding by Kaysha
