We recently connected with Amanda Reed and have shared our conversation below.
Amanda, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Resilience is something that I have started developing since I was only 10 years old, and is something I constantly use in my business journey and daily life. I’d always been a hard worker, but when I was faced with my parents divorce and everything that comes along with that, it was a make it or break it moment: would I use the pain as a driving force to get me to where I want to go, or would I let it overtake me?
I used the pain of my parents divorce to put my head down, work hard, and push myself to become better, and I applied this in all areas of my life – school, friendships, family, romantic relationships. I learned that inevitably, hardship will come about, but from every hardship there is something to learn. I used these challenges to adapt, grow, and learn from the actions of those around me to become someone who is determined, hardworking, and persevering. These lessons are the one thing that have helped my business grow into what it’s become today.
While my parents divorce was only just the beginning of a series of hardships, after every lost friendship, move away from home, and heartbreak, you’re faced with the decision to either throw the towel in, or to wipe your tears, pick yourself back up, and use your new circumstances to forge a better path for yourself. Life’s challenges are not meant to deter you, but they are there to teach you something and allow you to evolve into a person better than the person you were yesterday.
Although they’re in a completely different realm, the challenges I have faced in my personal life have taught me things that I consistently use in my business. Every obstacle is an opportunity to challenge yourself, learn something new, and to grow. Being successful is not something that just happens and no one is guaranteed – it’s what you do with your circumstances that will determine your level of success.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am so excited to introduce myself as the owner and lead photographer of an intimate wedding and elopement photography business. I focus on your personal experience and making sure you have the best time, while still creating those jaw-dropping images you want to hang on your wall and post everywhere on social media. Weddings and couples are my love, my passion, my dream.
Photos are something that have been important to me my entire life. If you go into the storage setting on my phone, you’ll see that most of the space taken up on my phone is from photos and videos. I get the need to have good quality, unique photos that encompass the most important moments of your life.
I am not a photographer who takes photos just for my instagram – I am a photographer that wants to ensure that you have the most amazing, unique to you experience, while still having a simple process and being able to capture the most gorgeous images without making it feel too curated, posed, or not candid. My business isn’t about photos, it’s about YOU.
I am on my way to becoming a destination elopement photographer, and by 2024 I am planning to be a full-time elopement photographer – ready to photograph couples anywhere and everywhere in the world. When you hire me, you won’t just be ghosted until your wedding day. I will be there with you every step of the way to help in this crazy experience of planning a wedding. You’ll receive everything from a detailed elopement guide to vendor suggestions to activity ideas for the actual day.
You can think of me not only as your photographer, but as your assistant planner, friend, wedding therapist (yes, you can vent to me about any concerns or stresses you’re having!) Planning a wedding is an extremely personal experience and I want to ensure you feel the most comfortable around me and can rely on me for anything you need.
Let’s plan your dream wedding!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
There are very obviously a few different qualities I possess that have allowed me to bring my business to where I am today – having a hunger for learning, being a dedicated worker, and having trust in myself.
When I first began on my photography journey, I very quickly realized that there is always something to learn. There are so many different aspects of this career, from the camera itself, to editing, to the client process, to business logistics. To some, this may be incredibly overwhelming, but for me it was exciting. I have a huge hunger to learn, and this is something that really kickstarted my business. I jumped on every opportunity possible to learn or try something new, and I didn’t let the velocity of things to learn overwhelm me and freeze me in place. Even to this day, I still have that same hunger to learn and still take every chance I can to learn from those around me. This hunger allows me to learn, implement, and grow my business every day. You will never know everything when it comes to owning a business – whether you’re in your first year or 20th year, there will always be something to learn, and wanting to learn it is something that is so important when it comes to success.
Being the dedicated worker that I am has been super impactful in my journey. Whether it’s been school, developing a skill, starting a hobby, I am someone who will put their all into it without looking back. In the beginning stages of starting my business, I would spend every spare minute I had working on my business, even if I was tired from working full time at another job. This may not be something super easy for everyone reading this, so here’s what I suggest you do if you can’t find endless hours to pour into your side hustle: create your to-do list for the week, and then divide it up so you have around 3-5 tasks for the day. Breaking it up into more manageable pieces will help get rid of some of that overwhelm and allow you to actually get tasks done throughout the week. It’s all about starting small!
Having trust in myself is another quality that has allowed me to bring my business to where it is today. Working by yourself for yourself requires a lot of dedication and keeping yourself disciplined, so you have to be able to trust yourself to know that you’ll be able to get everything you need to. Of course, trusting yourself is a lot easier said than done, and is definitely something I am still working on today. It starts with the small things you do every single day – doing what you say you’re going to do, setting boundaries, and being able to understand your body’s needs. If you can’t trust yourself, how do you expect a client to trust you?
How would you describe your ideal client?
Simplicity and trust are the values that Amanda Reed Photos is built on. These two things are so important to me in my client process and I try to reflect in the way I work with others. I want to keep the entire process as simple and easy as possible – every aspect of planning can be stressful and confusing for those planning their very first wedding, and the last thing I want is to make a couples an experience more stressful. Everything is kept super simple and easy for you, from the booking process all the way to after the wedding.
Trust is so important to my business, and as I’ve already spoken about it I’m sure you can understand why. As my clients, I want you to trust me and know that I have only the best intentions when taking your photo. It can be nerve wracking and a leap of faith to get a complete stranger to photograph you, so I do everything I can to build establish a trust between us – through getting back to you quickly when you have a question, fully prepping you for our shoot and telling you exactly what to expect, and by delivering photos with consistent quality.
Trust is something that goes both ways in this business, and it’s just as important for me to trust my clients as it is for them to trust me. I need to be able to trust that my clients are going to show up open to hearing what I have to say and willing to do something that is likely out of their comfort zone. If I can’t trust that I am going to have a client’s full willingness to get those photos they really want, it’s difficult to create those images that they are coming to me for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amandareedphotos.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandareedphotos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amandareedphotos
