We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tristyn Fletcher. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tristyn below.
Tristyn, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
In 2018, I decided to run a Spartan Race. I signed up for a 5k and started to work out more regularly and rigorously. A few months later, it was time. I got out there and did my best, but one obstacle that really defeated me more than others was the tire flip—a 400-pound tire that I had to turn over, twice. I couldn’t even move it. I moved on, knowing I needed to train more. I went home, tired and sore, and trained for another year before jumping into the same race a year later. I got to the tire flip. It wouldn’t move. A kind racer nearby who was very obviously going to be able to help me asked if I wanted help. I looked at him then back at the tire, and I thought for a second before responding, “No, thanks. I need to do this myself.” He said he respected it and backed up, watching to make sure I didn’t get hurt. Other spectators nearby turned to watch, but I didn’t care about the pressure. I was there to prove something to myself. So I dug in, and I tried again. I breathed twice, and I pulled. Up. Up. To my knees. To my hips. To my chest. Boom. It hit the ground, now upside-down. I was surging with adrenaline at this point, but, regardless of why, I did it. Now I had to flip it back. So I dug in. I breathed twice, and I pulled. Up. Up. To my knees. To my hips. To my chest. I let out a scream, and boom. It hit the ground, having been flipped twice. Nobody said anything, I just screamed, beat my chest, and ran the rest of the race. And I beat my target time.
God has taught me a lot of lessons in my life, and he’s allowed me to be humbled by challenges, obstacles, difficulties, and experiences. The greatest lesson he’s taught me is this: sometimes, I’m wrong. I didn’t think I could flip the tire once, let alone twice. But I tried anyway, at the behest of my circumstances and my own ambition. God gave me strength to overcome a physical challenge, but he also has given me strength to overcome any other challenges life puts in my way. I turn to him for my strength, and it’s as real as my challenges are. The unseen God provides for me in seen ways, always.
In the years following, I worked to start a photography career. Along the way, Ive encountered a lot of unforeseen obstacles. But everything I thought I would never be able to overcome, I’ve overcome. The business startup, tax implications, imposter syndrome, finding work, paying bills, impact on my marriage and relationships, taking critical feedback, and so many other things have been great challenges for me. But every now and then, when I face something I don’t think I can overcome, I remember that tire, and I remember that sometimes, I’m wrong. Now, I shoot weddings most weekends. I edit and advertise on the weekdays. I love what I get to do. It doesn’t come or stay without hard work. But every challenge can be overcome.
When I need to be most resilient is usually when I’m most weak and unwilling. I don’t think myself strong enough, prepared enough, fast enough, smart enough, good enough, mature enough, skilled enough, or whatever the challenge demands. But my resilience comes from this: sometimes, I’m wrong. So, whatever the challenge is, I do it anyway, thinking it probably won’t go well, remembering that sometimes, I’m wrong. And I usually am. Life’s challenges are often impossible to truly overcome without God giving me strength. We are stronger than we often think, and when we are at our weakest is when we have the opportunity to be our strongest.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I have the privilege of photographing weddings as my career. I plan with clients, prepare and pack for the day of, show up, capture people and details, pose couples and families, keep track of the timeline, collaborate with other vendors, cull and edit photos in my own style, and deliver to clients extremely quickly without compromising quality and personal style. Photos are just light, captured. But to the viewer, they can each be something truly unique. I have photos make me feel something genuine and deep, something real and complex. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I think it’s more than that, something that can’t quite be captured in words. Memories corrupt and fade with time, but photos can last forever. Each person’s wedding (ideally) only happens once, so it should be treated as what it is: one of the most significant and special occasions in a person’s life, full of incredible moments worth remembering. And it’s my job—but also my pleasure—to serve people by capturing those memories, making them look true-to-life, and presenting them in high quality to my clients.
As I book out for 2025, I’m offering $500 off of any of my wedding photography packages listed on my website at tristynfletcher.com, and those all include guaranteed delivery of a handful of images within 24 hours and a full gallery within 2 weeks. I’m really excited to continue pursuing my passion and career but also to serve more couples and capture more amazing moments. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing!
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?
The three things that were most impactful for me getting started were direction, focus, and correction.
The right direction is so important, and going fast doesn’t do much good if I’m not going in the right direction. I keep a close eye on what I’m chasing, where my time goes, the people and influences around me, my spiritual life, my marriage, my community, and my attitude to make sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.
I love working hard and going fast, and it’s hard to go fast without focus. When I work, I work hard. I knuckle down and focus. Putting on some lofi or jazz and working through galleries with a cup of hot tea by my desk or in a coffee shop is when I get it done. On wedding days, I fuel up and get in the zone beforehand, so when I show up, I’m giving my clients 100% until I get back in the car to leave. I don’t take breaks on wedding days unless there is nothing to do, which is rare. I chase down the work, the shots, the moments. I don’t leave any stone unturned, because I would always regret missing a moment or a shot, but I will never regret being tired for a few hours.
Going fast and going in the right direction are great, but if I’m not willing to constantly keep on-course, then I might drift into the wrong direction. So I keep my hands on the wheel by retaining control of my business, by style, and my processes. I don’t compromise on things that might tempt me. I work to keep my priorities in order between work and other facets of life. I take advice and correction through feedback from others, professionally and personally. Personality is huge in this business, so I work to make sure I’m the best version of myself possible. Taking feedback from other professionals whom I respect and whose styles resonate with me is one of the best things for me. I still regularly send other photographers messages asking for feedback on recent photos, website updates, social media posts, and ideas for the future.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
Investing in my strengths is beneficial for a lot of reasons, most of them able to be intuited. But protecting myself from my weaknesses is equally important, for one very specific reason: I only know what my weaknesses are because they’ve become exposed through living life the way I do. Everyone has weaknesses, and, left unchecked, they can tear our lives apart and make our strengths irrelevant. So ignoring my weaknesses isn’t a winning strategy. I also don’t invest in fixing my weaknesses; I just acknowledge them and build a plan for keeping them at bay. For example, I’m an introvert, so wedding days can be exhausting, managing people and expectations and timing and posing and socializing and conversing and joking and maintaining tone and mood and…oh yeah photographing too. But I don’t try to make myself not introverted; rather, I make myself aware that I will run out of social energy eventually, so a big part of wedding prep for me is spending time alone, doing things that are fun and relaxing for me, even just for a few minutes in the morning if time is tight. This allows me to bring my a-game on wedding days without changing who I am and build longevity into what I do for work. I could do this for a long time, and, Lord willing, I think I will.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tristynfletcher.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/theoriginaltdog
Image Credits
Tristyn Fletcher
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