Meet Rachel Graff

We recently connected with Rachel Graff and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Findiing my purpose as a wedding photographer took me longer than some. I’ll fully admit, when I started my photography journey, I just really loved taking great photos. While that is a great reason to start a photography business, it’s not a very compelling story to tell potential clients about why you do what you do. However, my purpose around this business really shifted when I lost my sister unexpectedly in 2021.

My sister, Lauren, passed away only one month after our other sister’s wedding. That wedding day was the last time my family was all together. Therefore, every single image we have of her from that day is sacred. We never could have guessed that this would be the last time we saw her or some of the last photos we’d take. That loss had a profound effect on me as a wedding photographer, and it guides me as I capture my clients’ weddings and the important people who are a part of it. Now, I approach wedding days focused on the families as a whole versus just the bride and groom. I see the beauty in all of the interactions, not just the decorations or the dress. I think my clients will pick up on that in my work and it sets me apart from others in the industry.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m Rachel Graff, a senior picture and wedding photographer in Minneapolis, MN. I love delivering elevated natural and timeless photography to seniors and couples to celebrate life’s biggest milestones. From high school graduation to a wedding day or welcoming a baby to the family, I want to capture the joyful moments in my clients’ lives to turn them into tangible memories.

I have been photographing high school seniors and weddings since 2015, and I just can’t get enough! Photography has introduced me to some of my best friends, brought me to amazing places, and let me into emotional moments I will never forget. Recently, I’ve really embraced travel in my work and want to continue to pursue more destination work. I love the challenge and excitement of shooting a new place and discovering its beauty.

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 most impactful skills I’ve gained in the course of my journey are the business-related skills I obtained in the corporate world before I took my photography business full-time. While I’ve learned plenty of important skills in shooting and editing photos, I think the customer service and marketing skills I’ve gained have helped set me apart. I am strong with SEO, and focusing on that has really helped me gain traction in my senior business to a point where I have to do very little daily advertising. I am also skilled at technology and have adopted as much technology as possible to automate workflows or make editing and culling fast in order to make my business efficient and scalable.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The number one obstacle I am currently facing in my business is becoming a mom and adapting to being a business owner and mother. I am so proud to have built a successful business that allows me to be home with my son a lot, but juggling his needs as well as my clients’ is difficult at times. I’m constantly tweaking my workflow and testing my capacity to find a balance that works well for me. I know finding a balance will constantly ebb and flow, and it will never be perfect. However, I have toyed around with the amount of childcare I need in order to do my work. I also attempt to use time-blocking to increase my efficiency and have really narrowed down the services I offer in order to best serve my clients and achieve the work/life balance I want.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Rachel Graff Photography

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