Meet Amanda Wyman

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Wyman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Amanda , so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

This is something that is an ongoing practice for me and something that rears it’s ugly head quite often still in my day-to-day life.

My best trick to silence that critical voice is to remind myself of all the things that DO make me a qualified professional in my business. I’ve taken courses, I’ve invested time, money, and energy into learning my craft, I’m open to constructive criticism and I recieve it well, and I always strive to learn more and be better. So while I know there’s always room for improvement, I also remind myself that I do, in fact, know what I’m talking about pretty darn well.

I also notice imposter syndrome pops up a lot when I feel intimidated either by my peers or by a particular client I’m holding on a pedestal. So I remind myself that, they’re only human too. They have flaws and insecurities and they make mistakes just like me. I belong in this space every bit as much as they do.

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 am a stay-at-home mother of two beautiful children. I quit my job back in 2018 just before I delivered my first child. My husband and I felt very strongly about our children being raised by one of us rather than in daycare and since he had a higher salary than me, it made sense for me to be the one to stay home.

Over the years it became increasingly apparent that we needed two incomes to make ends meet. I tried a variety of business endeavors from in-home personal training to painting commissions, gig work like Shipt and Instacart and others, but none of them either paid enough for it to make sense for me to be away from my children or brought me any sense of joy or fulfillment. I knew I didn’t want to go back to food service or retail and I needed something that would allow me to work mostly from home. So I figured I’d try my had at portrait photography.

I’ve always loved photography. I took a number of photography classes in middle and high school growing up and it was always so much fun. Then, as I got older, I mostly just dabbled in landscape and nature photography, flower macro photography, things like that. Unfortunately, those genres are super hard to generate income with, so portrait photography is where I landed.

I absolutely fell in love with it and realized pretty quickly that the motherhood genres of birth, maternity, newborn, breastfeeding, and family are where my passion really lives. I just adore helping mothers to tell their stories through custom portraiture and I love getting to put them in the spotlight.

I’ve recently pivoted my business model to be more in line with a luxury service model so that I can make sure I’m giving each and every one of my clients a truly concierge experience that allows us to create stunning works of art together. This new service model gives my clients an elevated experience to include wardrobe styling and vision planning, professional hair and make up and grooming services, wall art curation, and bespoke album design. I go to every length to take care of each minute detail for my clients so all they have to do is show up to their session and the rest is taken care of for them.

Implementing this service model has really allowed me to dive deeply into the creative and artistic aspects of my photography while simultaneously allowing me more freedom to spend time with my family and pursuing other passions of mine like camping and personal growth.

I’m currently in the thick of fall portrait season so I’m not running any special promotions at this time, but I do have a few fun things in mind for the new year, particularly in the way of branding Photography and headshots to help small, local businesses refresh their imagery in the first quarter. As for 2024, I do still have a couple of spots still available for fall and holiday photos, but they’re going fast so if anyone is wanting to fet in with me for family photos this year, I’d love to set up a discovery call with them ASAP!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I would say for photographers just starting out to focus ore heavily on the business end of their photography in the first 2 years. It’s amazing how little time you spend actually doing photography things in those first two years. The majority of your time should be spent building connections, establishing brand awareness, and developing a solid marketing strategy. Practice your photography skills as much as possible, but really focus heavily on the business side of things. Oh, and as far as pricing goes, charge based on what you need to charge to run a profitable and sustainable business. Don’t base your pricing off some arbitrary number that you think people will pay or what others are charging in your area. Look at your numbers, factor in things like cost of doing business, cost of goods, continuing education, how many weeks in a year you want to work, how many clients you want per week, and, most importantly, what salary you need to live the life you want. This is your business. You’re the boss. Charge your worth.

My next piece of advice would be invest in education over equipment. Of course we all want the latest, greatest camera bodies and the fanciest lenses, but quality education and mentorship will take you so much further so much faster than expensive equipment will. Start with the bare minimum and only upgrade once your skillet has surpassed what your current gear can do performance wise.

And finally, make sure to take time off and schedule in things outside of photography. It can feel exciting to book yourself solid and spend hours editing, but that is a surefire way to burn yourself out sooner rather than later. It also leads to creative blocks and loss of passion and interest. Taking time away from photography helps keep balance in your life and keep those creative juices and drive flowing strong.

How would you describe your ideal client?

My ideal client is someone who views photography as, not “just pictures,” but memories frozen in time. They know that life passes us by all to quickly and they recognize the importance of having photos to look back on and share with future generations. They’re someone who is proud of their family and wants to display their photos for anyone and everyone to see and to be reminded themselves of all they’ve accomplished.

My ideal client is someone who values high quality artwork and a tailored experience. They’re someone who feels strongly about preserving important milestones and memories in their lives and is willing to invest in someone who will listen to them and meet their every need. They’re someone who believes in quality over quantity and they’re willing to pay a premium price for the right photographer to deliver that quality.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All images copyright of Berkana Photography LLC

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