We recently connected with April Jones-Taylor and have shared our conversation below.
April, 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 should literally be my middle name lol. At a young age, I endured many challenges after my Mom and Dad divorced. By the time I was 13 I had to basically escape a violent environment within my home along with other tragedies in the process. Being so young , I was forced into a lot of change which caused me to have to grow up a bit faster so that was my first experience with resilience. I believe many of my life’s challenges have taught me strength I didn’t know I had and I had to find faith and spirituality on my own. Having to go through so many rough challenges at such a young age and into adulthood it paved the way for me in starting my own business as a photographer. I was faced with many road blocks , and at the time it was a very male dominated industry in 2009 when I started. Every other photographer had the latest and greatest equipment and I literally started with an old Nokia Flip phone , then eventually I was upgraded and gifted an actual real camera which was a blessing, I was very humbled literately starting from the bottom and so that alone was very hard and discouraging trying to use my old pixelated phone to capture images . I was very eager and passionate and was determined to make a way out of what seemed impossible but I was Goal driven and full of desire to make a name for myself and capture beauty in a still image.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a published Awarded freelance Photographer. My passion is fashion/Glamour photography
I would love to eventually, have a larger studio and have a group of photographers/makeup artists etc that work with me on different jobs , events etc and perhaps one day even have an events venue .
My most recent successes is being Awarded for Best in my county 2020-2023 .
Best of Gwinnett County
Currently, my most popular Package is my Birthday Portraits where I set a party scene with colors of choice , it’s always a good time and I love sharing milestones with my clients . .
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?
You definitely must have tough skin lol, and to try not to get discouraged because this business is very over saturated, and technology is always coming out with new amazing camera phones and apps that are causing people to book professionals less, so you have to focus on your niche and be creative to set yourself apart from all the others, and always try to stay a step ahead of your competitors but remain humble and be open and receptive to change and eager to help others along the way, that’s my advice that has helped me along the way,
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing my Mother did when I was 14, she told me I had to work and buy all the things that I wanted for myself that was outside of the basic necessities that she would provide to me like shelter, food etc. I was mad at the time especially after having to live and escape a violent environment and start our lives over, I felt I deserved more from her, like she owed me after what I went through but I’ve realized she was teaching me to be independent, resilient and responsible all lessons and things I needed to be where I am today. I never ask anyone for anything, which is good and bad sometimes but I have learned to handle my situations no matter what. I dust myself off and stand up and keep pushing!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.Photosbyalove.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/Photosbyalove
Image Credits
Model : Ronson Wylie Model : Hailee Anastasiya
