Today we’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Reese
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I got bitten by the entrepreneurial bug in college – I never had the big dreams of a corner office or a long commute into the city. I started a very simple fashion blog when I was 18, and covered my love of Fashion Week, travel, and the best eats along the way. Writing in a more casual way helped me connect with people who shared similar interests, and it was a nice way to build friendships along the way.
My great-grandmother was an author, and I always loved reading her books. It might be what pushed me towards writing in the first place. The first business I started was ghostwriting for small companies that needed marketing content – freelancing with smaller agencies in Minneapolis and London in the UK – but I always felt that it wasn’t what would keep me going on the entrepreneurial track. My heart wasn’t fully in it – which to me, especially in a creative field is a necessity.
After the pandemic, I found myself in corporate America, which was full of incredible learning experiences. I created and hosted an industry-leading podcast, spoke on international stages, and co-authored an ebook on sustainability. As incredible as these experiences were – I still found myself itching to do something for myself again. Something that gave me more creative fulfillment, inspired me more and allowed me to travel to lesser-known places with folks that create incredible products that more people should be able to see. I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself into only three weeks of vacation per year to do this, I needed to do it full-time again.
Looking back, as my interests evolved, so did my brand. Instead of covering fashion and travel, I began to share heritage brands, small distilleries and vineyards, and local makers that have a strong history and a unique story to tell through immersive, cinematic photography. It brought me more joy than I ever expected, and it became an incredible way to explore my own community as I started to utilize these products to facilitate special moments and capture them in photos.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think any time that you are in an entrepreneurial path, it’s never going to be as smooth sailing as you think.
You see a lot of folks that have what seems like these overnight success stories, but a lot of times what you don’t see is the behind-the-scenes where they were pushing for three, four, five years, sometimes even as many as 10 years to make it happen.
I mentioned that I had started a blog when I was 18 and now being nearly 28, my story’s about 10 years old and I was only finally able to take this dream of being fully in charge of my own schedule and starting my own business – actually incorporating it – last year.
For me, it took nine years to make it work.
Part of that was having it be as a side hustle when I was in college and a side hustle when I was in corporate America, but it’s not always the overnight success story that it seems like it could be. Of course, there are going to be instances where you have a financial investment and maybe you’re not getting the amount of eyes on your business as you would like immediately, but that’s not the end of the world when it comes to getting started.
A lot of times what I found when it comes to some of the struggles that I experienced was just continuing to show up and continuing to put my work out there. Even if it wasn’t getting the response I wanted yet, I knew that my folks were still out there, the folks who wanted me to come and capture photography for them, the ones who wanted me to capture the moment that their products helped facilitate, I knew they were out there.
It was simply knowing and keeping that belief in myself to keep myself going, quite frankly, to make that happen.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
By trade, I’m a photographer and a digital marketer. I specialize in immersive and cinematic photography for heritage brands – specifically, wine and whiskey brands.
I love capturing moments of connection that the products from these brands create – focusing on the human element of product photography, not just capturing the product itself.
As a viewer I hope that folks can picture themselves in the moments that are captured on-screen, and want to recreate the moments in their own lives with the products too.
Alongside photography, I also love helping new business owners define and grow their brand. I offer 1:1 branding support for entrepreneurs in the younger stages of business – helping them master the art of communication, making one to many feel like 1:1.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Now, for a full confession – I’m not much of a city person anymore; although my favorite parts about Minneapolis are the unique (and incredibly vast) food scene and the HUGE amount of sporting events to go to.
I grew up playing sports and love to go to Twins games as much as possible – but came into cooking after college and really started to appreciate the restaurants that were available so much more.
As for dislikes – it’s just a bit too much city for me anymore. I prefer being closer to the mountains in the north of Minnesota instead.
Pricing:
- Photography packages start at $3,200
- 1:1 Branding support packages start at $2,497
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gretchenreese.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchen_reese
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gretchenreeseofficial
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-reese
