Meet Michelle Zelina-Stice

We recently connected with Michelle Zelina-Stice and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My parents. They have been entrepreneurs and business owners my entire life and have been a huge influence to me and I have always looked up to them. They worked together and would include my sister and I in the business from a young age and taught us different skills, such as office work. This really helped me as I entered the work field as an adult since I had experience from years prior.

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 photographer and co-own my photography business with my dad. We have had some dealings with photography whether behind the camera or modeling for over 30 years. We decided to combine our efforts and strengths and build our company, Zelina Photography, together. We specialize in weddings, engagements, elopements, portraits, headshots, events, festivals, branding, and editorial.

Our passions are driven by the people we work with and we love to collaborate to capture the real you in our photos. Each shoot is a little different because of this. We want to feature and showcase what makes you who you are and bring out your best self. We are based in East Tennessee, but we are available to travel.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
#1 would have to be a good contract. So many people start their photography journey without any contracts and that can cause you a lot of problems. Even with family and friends or free shoots, always get a signed contract!

Next would be having a good website that showcases your business in the best way possible. If your website doesn’t meet the standards of your work, you could be losing customers. This is an area I would be sure to invest in.

Last but not least, always be open to learning. No matter how much experience you have, there is always something you can learn. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or find a mentor who can help you grow.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
It can be easy to get overwhelmed or burnt out as a photographer. After spending time marketing, and branding, and prepping, then the actual shoot followed by hours of editing, it can leave you feeling really burnt out and hating what you do. Whenever I start to get this feeling, I take a step back and take the night off. Even if I’m behind and really need to finish a gallery, I do something else that I want to do and then it refreshes me and helps get me back in a good headspace to love what I do again!

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Zelina Photography

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