Hey everybody, Bob and I wanted the take some time and write about a important shift in our business or at least how we think about our business. … Even writing that doesn’t quite seem to capture what we are talking about. I guess maybe I’ll just start at the beginning and try to explain how we got here.
Roughly six years ago we started this business because we loved photography. We still do … more now than we did then.
So in the beginning we did what any eager young business people would do. We jumped and bought the equipment we needed, we worked hard in getting better, rented studio space and went about the journey of building a business together. It’s been harder and more rewarding than I can possibly explain. We’ve had times where we really wondered if it would work at all. Then we developed relationships with clients who make us feel like there is nothing else in this world that could be more rewarding. And on a lot of levels we have enjoyed remarkable success. But as we were always told growing up, with success comes responsibility. I’m not sure I ever really understood that but in the past few months it has been increasingly clear to me what those lessons were about.
We are in the celebration business. It’s one of the great things about this work. From weddings to high school seniors to newborns. All of them mark important milestones and reasons to rejoice. It’s funny, I used to think we were in the photography business. Haha. Bob and I often often talk about how fortunate we are. We get to go to a lot of parties. We get to be part of massive celebrations. I keep looking for the word to capture the feeling. The closest I come is community. We are welcomed into families. We have been welcomed into the family of people who provide services for couples getting married. From venues to churches to caterers and florists, we are part of a community. With that comes the responsibility of being a good citizen in that group.
So from now on, Bob and I will be making a contribution to the charity of our couple’s choice for each wedding we shoot. We will also ask each vendor involved with the wedding to do the same. We will also hold more mini-sessions at our studio and partner with charities in hopes that we can give back to the community that has supported us as we have grown our business. We have benefited from the generosity of our friends, clients and those we work with.
We think it’s time to give back.
Thank you so much for reading and if you want to be a part of this, please feel free to contact us. A community works best when everyone offers their help, ideas and inspiration.
Sincerely,
Bob and Chad
