A Role Model

My mom and me at my wedding after-party in Pennsylvania five years ago. 

Thirty-three years ago, today, my mom unlocked the door of the corner storefront she had just started leasing in Erie, Pennsylvania, and officially opened her photography business for the first day.  She had no idea that her humble idea would go on to serve thousands of couples on their wedding day, become a joint venture when she met my dad a couple years later, provide for our family for over three decades, and become the stepping stone into my own photography career.

How did her business thrive in a store front where no other business had succeeded for more than a few years? It wasn't just hard work, though she's never been afraid of sweat and extra hours, and invested plenty of both. It was the relationships she built with her clients, the way she could calm nervous couples before they walked down the aisle, her smile that made babies laugh. It was the way she and my dad became a strong team through raising kids and running a business together. The reaction she had when she knew she had taken a special photo, and shared that excitement with her subjects. 

Jeff and I are so lucky to continue to have my parents as business role models and we attribute a large part of our success to working alongside them for many years to learn how to work hard, be a friend to our clients, and share the excitement we feel to be able to make our living this way.