We recently connected with Michelle Lytle and have shared our conversation below.
Michelle, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?
I’m a married gay woman, and my highest education is high school so I have some experience being “the only one in the room”. I completed a semester of college before deciding I was better off starting my business and getting to work, so I started my photography business in 2004. My wife and I started working together in 2011 once we were engaged, and we were married in 2013. This was when we started planning to open an event space in Chicago. We did a lot of networking and had a lot of meetings with other Chicago small business owners. I was often the only one without a college degree and many times the only gay person in the room. Personally, I have always found differences to be advantageous. I have been offered various programs and grants and opportunities for being both a self-taught professional and a person from the LGBT community.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a self-taught photographer who has shot over 600 weddings. I live in Chicago with my wife and our three children. My wife and I began photographing weddings together and were inspired by all of the beauitful locations we visited for events and weddings. We knew our dream was to own a venue of our own in Chicago. We were married in 2013, and our experience planning our own small wedding led us to want to open up a venue that provided the perfect spot for smaller, more intimate weddings. We found an old auto garage for sale by owner in 2016, and after a year of construction, we had built out our own live-work space with a residence on the second floor and a small wedding on the first floor. Our dream had come true.
Throughout my career I have always leaned into the things that I really enjoyed and actively dialed down on the things that brought me less joy. This has led to an amazing work/life balance where I never truly feel like I am working. These days I find the most enjoyment in watching people enjoy the ambiance that my wife and I have created where we are lucky enough to host the most important celebrations in our clients’ lives. I love thinking of ideas in my head and bringing them to life for people to explore, enjoy, and benefit from.
Just last year we decided we wanted to expand to a location outside of Chicago, and we found the perfect spot to open our second location–this location will focus on photography and production and host only a limited number of events. We have been working hard on this new space located in Downers Grove and are excited to share all of the details and design we’ve devised in the past couple years of working on this project. In addition to the mixed use function of the space as a studio, classroom, performance space and small venue, we’ve formulated an exciting initiative to support and foster youth entrepreneurship in the community. College was not the right path for me and I think that can be true of a lot of people. At our new space, The Lytle Auditorium, what I am most excited about is highlighting different available paths to guide kids towards a career where they too can feel like work is not something they need to dread and where they can fine tune their lives to have an ideal balance between career and free time.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think it’s important to be as self sufficient as possible. When you need to pay someone to do a website or take photos or advertise…that’s immediately creating an expense that will take away from any profit you make. It has never been easier to learn a skill. Everything is available to you online and all it takes is the effort. So many people quit before they even start and if they only kept going and kept trying, they would succeed in 90% of the situations. For these reasons I think the most important qualities are driven, organized, and communicative.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
We can be found on Instagram @thelytlehouse and @thelytleauditorium or you can explore our websites: www.thelytlehouse.com and www.thelytleauditorium.com.
At The Lytle House we have an art initiative that installed over $40,000 worth of public murals in the Edgewater neighborhood. For our newest location, The Lytle Auditorium, we want to give back to the community through knowledge and learning and encouraging entrepreneurship. Besides our primary offerings of photography and production and event hosting–we love connecting with others who want to get involved in our “giving back”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thelytleauditorium.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelytleauditorium/?hl=en and @thelytlehouse
Image Credits
Michelle Lytle Photography
