Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Grammond
Hi Jay, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I purchased my first camera and lenses with money that I had saved up from working at the grocery store in Grey Eagle, Minnesota. That camera was a Canon AE-1 along with a 50mm, and 70-210mm lens. I had one photography class in high school, otherwise I am self-taught. I read how-to books, studied the work of photographers I liked; I even studied the photography on baseball cards!
In college, I started to do a lot of Sports Photography and Landscape Photography. With Sports I covered many sports at many levels. For Landscapes, I travelled Minnesota and North Dakota during this time. These photo adventures included farms, barns, fences, grain elevators, machinery, old cars and trucks, water towers, and those kinds of subjects.
As time went on, I really focused on the above mentioned type of subjects and kept on improving. All along, I worked a full time career with a photography business as a side hustle. Around 2015, the photography business side of things was really picking up for me and I felt like I was doing two full time jobs and something had to give.
I researched the idea of making the leap of faith to going full time with photography. I read books, I interviewed people that had done it, and I did this for four years. In late 2019 it was time to get off the bleachers and into the game! My last day at the office was Jan 3rd of 2020! I had my game plan, and the support of my wife, parents, and family and by mid-March; all of my plans ground to a halt.
The pandemic was unprecedented, and many people could choose to do nothing, or to create something good out of a bad situation. I got busy and made things happen. One thing I did was to develop a handful of online classes to offer to the Lifelong Learning community, that I had just left, a way to provide classes when in-person wasn’t an option. This went strong for two years. The other thing that I did was signing a book deal in June of 2020, and becoming a first-time author in February of 2022 “Fading Ads Of The Twin Cities”.
One piece of my business is planning and leading Photography Adventure Workshops across Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. I started doing that just before the pandemic, so when 2020 came along, I organized a multi-day, multi-session on-line photography workshop via Zoom that was very successful. I am still leading these adventures if anyone is interested.
A second piece of my business is public speaking where I present to Public Libraries, Historical Societies, and various types of groups, that has been amazing. I currently have about a dozen presentations to offer and am working on some new ones to add. Please reach out to me if you are in need of a presentation.
The third piece of my business is selling fine art to facilities that want art on their walls. Places such as Hospitals, Clinics, Schools, Businesses, etc. Contact me if you are in need of artwork for your walls.
Currently, I am doing all of the above mentioned things and constantly working on making a way on this journey.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has not been smooth, and I think that that is good. The rough road has made me stronger, more adaptable, and has taught me valuable lessons in being self-employed. I’m not sure that a smooth road exists in this arena. what would you learn from that?
My journey in being self-employed began with a struggle as mentioned earlier. I had a game plan for success right off the bat, and within two months all of that was turned upside down, and I had to pivot in a major way, again. Some of the struggles along the way had to do with suddenly wearing all the hats. figuring all of that out is an ongoing process. I guess the struggle over all is figuring out all the things, while constantly moving forward and improving in many areas.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At the moment, my business has four parts to it: 1) Fine Art. 2) Photography Workshops. 3) Public Speaking. 4) Passive Income.
I am a photographer and creative. I create healing art, wayfinding art, and inspirational art for facilities of all kinds. Most of this work has been sold to hospitals and clinics; but has also included businesses, schools, libraries, and more. I produce photography workshops that I call Adventures. These have taken, or take place in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Minnesota. We lead photographers on adventures to awesome locations that are not the typical locations that other workshops go to. I have a big list of presentations that I do for groups on topics such as history, travel, photography, and nostalgic topics. another piece of the puzzle is passive income streams like affiliate programs, stock photos, patreon support, book sales, and merchandise.
I am the most proud of the fact that I have not only survived my first five years of self-employment, but that I have continued to grow the business year after year. In a way, that set me apart from some; and other ways I am set apart from others is my ability to be great to work with, kind, and passionate about helping my clients with their needs. I put extreme importance into building relationships and helping others succeed.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
There are so many! I am fortunate to have had an amazing childhood, with loving family, relatives, and friends all along the way.
Having the freedom of childhood, playing games with my siblings, family and friends carry a lot of great memories. Also, my parents took us on family road trips in the station wagon a few times – so many great memories of that.
Over all, the feeling of being loved and cared for by my parents in every situation is my favorite memory.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jgrammondphotography.net
- Instagram: jgrammondphotography
- Facebook: J Grammond Photography
- LinkedIn: Jay Grammond
- Twitter: @JGrammondPhoto
- Youtube: @jgrammondphotography2618
- Other: Bluesky: @jgrammondphoto.bsky.social
